Thesauros Literature satire Νεκρικοὶ Διάλογοι

Νεκρικοὶ Διάλογοι

Νεκρικοὶ Διάλογοι Lucian of Samosata

2

AEACUS
I will answer you in defence of Eros. He will say that he may have been the cause of the love of Paris, but that you, Protesilaus, were the sole cause of your own death; for, when your fleet was approaching the land of Troy, you forgot your new-wed wife, and made that mad adventurous leap ashore before any of the others; you were in love with glory, and because of her were the first to die at the landing of the army.
PROTESILAUS
Then, Aeacus, I shall retort with an even stronger argument in my defence; the responsibility lies not with me, but with Fate and the way the thread was spun from the start.
AEACUS
Quite right; why, then, blame the present company?
 
Protesilaus, Pluto And Persephone
PROTESILAUS
O master and king, and Zeus of our world, and you, daughter of Demeter, scorn not a lover’s prayer.
PLUTO
What do you ask of us? Who are you?
PROTESILAUS
I am Protesilaus, son of Iphiclus, from Phylace, one who served with the Achaean army, and first man to die at Troy. I beg to be released and restored to life for a little.
PLUTO
That’s a love that’s common to all the dead, but will come to pass for none of them.
PROTESILAUS
My love, Aidoneus, is not for life, but for my wife, whom, while still but newly wed, I left in her bower and sailed away; and then, by evil fortune, I was slain by Hector, while I was landing; and so my love for my wife is eating my heart out, my lord; could I be restored to her sight even for a short while, I would gladly return here again. 5
PLUTO
Have you not drunk, Protesilaus, from the waters of Lethe?

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