Chapter XVI: Book X (2)

"Be it as they please," replied Theagenes. "But what is to be the nature of the contest?"--"Wrestling," said the king.--"Why not with swords, and in armour?" returned the other, "that either by my fall or by my victory I may satisfy Chariclea, who persists in concealing everything which relates to our connection, or perhaps at last has cast me off."

"Why you thus bring in the name of Chariclea," replied Hydaspes, "you best know; but you must wrestle, and not fight with swords, for no blood must be shed on this day, but at the altar." Theagenes perceived the king's apprehension lest he should fall before the sacrifice, and said, "You do well, Ο king, to reserve me for the gods; they too, you may be assured, will watch over my preservation." So saying, taking up a handful of dust, he sprinkled it over his limbs, already dripping with sweat, from his exertions in pursuit of the bull. He shook off all which did not adhere; and stretching out his arms, planting his feet firmly, bending his knees a little, rounding his back and shoulders, throwing back his neck, and contracting all his muscles, he stood anxiously waiting the gripe of his antagonist. The Ethiopian seeing him, grimly smiled, and by his contemptuous gestures seemed to slight his adversary.

Making a rush he let fall his arm, like some mighty bar, upon the neck of Theagenes--at the echo which it made the braggart laughed exultingly. Theagenes, trained in the wrestling-school tricks from his youth, and familiar with all the tricks of the Mercurial art,[25] determined to give ground at first, and having made trial of his adversary, not to stand up against such tremendous weight and savage ferocity, but to elude his undisciplined strength by skill and subtlety. Staggering back, then, a little from his place he affected to suffer more than he really did, and exposed the other side of his neck to his opponent's blow; and when the African planted another hit in that quarter, purposely giving way, he pretended almost to be falling upon his face. But when waxing stronger in contempt and confidence, his antagonist was now a third time, unguardedly rushing on, and about to let fall his upraised arm, Theagenes got within his guard, eluding his blow by a sudden twist, and with his right elbow struck up the other's left arm, and dashed him to the earth, already impelled downwards by the sway of his own missed blow; then slipping his hand under his armpits, he got upon his back, and with difficulty spanning his brawny waist, incessantly kicked his feet and ancles, and compelled him to rise upon his knees, strode over him, pressed him in the groin with his legs, struck from under him the support of his hands, and twining his arms about his temples, dragged his head back upon his shoulders, and so stretched him with his belly on the ground.[26]

An universal shout of applause, greater than before, now burst from the multitude; nor could the king contain himself, but springing from his throne--"Ο hateful necessity," he cried, "what a hero of a man are we compelled to sacrifice!" and calling him to him he said, "Young man, it now remains for you to be crowned for the altar, according to our custom. You have deserved a crown too for your glorious but useless victory, and transitory triumph; and though it be out of my power, however willing I may be, to preserve your life, whatever I can do for you I will. If therefore there is any thing you wish to have done, either before or after your death, ask it freely." So saying he took a crown of gold, set with precious stones, and put it on his head; and, while he placed it there, was seen to shed tears.

"I have but one thing to ask," said Theagenes, "and this I earnestly beseech you that I may obtain. If it be impossible for me to avoid being sacrificed, grant that I may suffer by the hands of this your newly recovered daughter."

Hydaspes was annoyed at this reply, and called to mind the conformity of this request to that made just before by Chariclea; but, as the time pressed, he did not think it necessary to inquire particularly into the reasons of it, and only said, "Whatever is possible, Stranger! I encouraged you to ask, and promised that you should obtain; but she, who performs the sacrifice the law distinctly declares, must be one who has a husband, not a maiden."

"Chariclea has a husband," said Theagenes.--"These are the words," replied Hydaspes, "of one who trifles and is about to die. The altar has declared her unmarried and a virgin--unless indeed you call this Merœbus her husband (having somehow heard the rumour); he however is not yet her husband--he is yet in accordance with my will, only her intended."

"Nor will he ever be her husband," said Theagenes, "if I know aught of Chariclea's sentiments; and, if being a victim, credit is due to me as inspired by prophecy."--"But, fair Sir," said Merœbus, "it is not living but slaughtered victims which afford knowledge to the Seers. You are right, Sire, in saying that the stranger talks folly, and like one just about to die. Command, therefore, that he be led to the altar; and when you shall have finished all your business, begin the rites, I pray you."

Theagenes was being led away; and Chariclea, who had breathed again when he was victorious, was once more plunged into grief, when she saw it had profited him nothing. Persina observed her tears, and feeling for her affliction, said--"It is possible I may yet have power to save this Grecian, if you will explain more clearly all the particulars relating to yourself."

Chariclea, who saw that there was not a moment to be lost, was a second time preparing to own everything; when Hydaspes inquiring from the lord in waiting whether any ambassadors remained who had not had audience, was told only those from Syene, who were that instant arrived, with letters from Oroondates, and presents. "Let them too approach, and execute their commission," said the monarch. They were introduced, and delivered letters to this effect:--

"Oroondates, Viceroy of the Great King, to Hydaspes, the king of Ethiopia.

"Since conqueror in fight, you are yet more conqueror in magnanimity, in restoring to me a viceroyalty unasked, I have little doubt that I shall obtain a slight request. A young maiden who was being conducted from Memphis to my camp, became involved in the perils of war, and as I am informed, was sent by you into Ethiopia. This I have learnt from those who were with her and who escaped: I beg she may be sent to me, both on account of the maiden herself, as well as for her father's sake, who, after having wandered over half the globe, in search of his daughter, came at last to Elephantine, and was taken prisoner by the garrison. When reviewing those of my soldiers who survived, I saw him and he earnestly desired to be sent to your clemency. He is among the ambassadors, his manners and bearing show him to be of noble birth, and his very countenance and looks speak strongly in his favour. Dismiss him then, Ο king, I beseech you, happy and contented from your presence. Send back to me one who is a father not merely in name but in reality."

Hydaspes, having read the letter, inquired who it was, who was come in quest of his daughter. When he was pointed out to him, he said, "I am ready, stranger, to do every thing which Oroondates requests of me. Out of the ten captive maidens whom we have brought hither, one assuredly is not your daughter; examine the rest, and if she be found among them take her."

The old man, falling down, kissed his feet. The maidens were brought, and passed in review before him; but when he saw not her whom he sought, he said sorrowfully--"None of these, Ο king, is my daughter."--"You have my good will in your behalf," replied Hydaspes. "You must blame Fortune if you have not discovered your child. It is in your power to search, if you will, through the camp; and to ascertain that none else has been brought hither besides these."

The old man smote his forehead, and wept; and, then after raising his eyes, and looking round him, he suddenly sprang forward, like one distracted; and upon coming to the altar, he twisted the end of his long robe into the form of a halter, threw it over the neck of Theagenes, and pulled him towards him, crying out--"I have found you, my enemy! I have found you, man of blood, detested wretch!"--The guards interposed, and endeavoured to resist and pull him away, but keeping a firm hold and clinging closely to him, he succeeded in bringing him before Hydaspes and the council.

"This, Ο king," said he, "is the man who stole away my daughter. This is he who has rendered my house childless and desolate; who, after ravishing away my daughter from the midst of Apollo's altar, now sits as though he were holy beside the altars of the gods."

The assembly was thrown into commotion at what was taking place. They did not understand what he said, but wondered at what they saw him do; and Hydaspes commanded him to explain himself more plainly, and say what he would have; when the old man (it was Charicles), concealing the true circumstances of the birth and exposure of Chariclea, lest, if she should have perished in her flight or journey, he might come into some collision with her real parents, explained briefly such matters as could produce ηo ill results.

"I had a daughter, Ο king! and had you seen her various and uncommon perfections, both of mind and person, you would say I have good cause for speaking as I do. She lived the life of a virgin, a priestess of Diana, in the temple at Delphi. This noble Thessalian, forsooth, who was sent by his country to preside over a solemn embassy and sacrifice to be celebrated in our holy city, stole her away from the very shrine, I say, of Apollo.

"Justly may he be considered to have insulted you by profaning your national deity Apollo and his temple, Apollo being identical with the Sun. His assistant in this impious outrage was a pretended priest of Memphis. In my pursuit, I came to Thessaly; and the Thessalians offered to give him up should he be found as one accursed and deserving death. Thinking it probable that Calasiris might have chosen Memphis as a place of refuge, I hastened thither. Calasiris, I found, was dead; but I learnt all particulars concerning my daughter from his son Thyamis, who told me that she had been sent to Oroondates at Syene. After being disappointed at not finding the latter at Syene, and having been myself detained prisoner at Elephantis, I now appear before you as a suppliant, to seek my child. You will, then, deeply oblige me, a man of many griefs, and will also gratify your own self, by not disregarding the Viceroy's intercession." He ceased, and burst into tears.

The king asked Theagenes what reply he had to make to all this. "The whole charge," said he, "is true. To this man I have been a ravisher, unjust, and violent; but to you I have been a benefactor."--"Restore, then, another's daughter," said Hydaspes. "You have been dedicated to the gods; let your death be a holy and glorious sacrifice--not the just punishment of crime."

"Not he who committed the violence," said Theagenes; "but he who reaps the fruits of it, is bound to make restitution. Do you then restore Chariclea, for she is in your possession. The old man, you shall see, will own your daughter to be her whom he seeks."

None could repress their emotion: all were in confusion. But Sisimithres, who had hitherto kept silence, though long since understanding all that was being said and done, yet waiting till the circumstances should become yet clearer, now ran up and embraced Charicles. "Your adopted child," said he, "she whom I formerly delivered into your hands, is safe: she is, and has been acknowledged to be, the daughter of those whom you know."

Upon this Chariclea rushed out of the tent, and overlooking all restraints of sex or maidenly reserve, flung herself at the feet of Charicles, and cried out, "O my father! Ο not less revered than the authors of my birth, punish me, your cruel and ungrateful daughter, as you think fit, regardless of my only excuse, that what has been done was ordained by the irresistible will and appointment of the gods." Persina, on the other side, threw her arms round Hydaspes, and said, "My dear husband, be assured that all this is truth, and that this stranger Greek is her betrothed." The people, on the other hand, leaped and danced for joy; every age and condition were, without exception, delighted--not understanding, indeed, the greater part of what was said, but conjecturing the facts from what had taken place with Chariclea. Perhaps, too, they were brought to a comprehension of the truth by some secret influence of the deity, who had ordered all these events so dramatically, producing out of the greatest discords the most perfect harmony: joy out of grief; smiles from tears; out of a stern spectacle a gladsome feast; laughter from weeping; rejoicing out of mourning; the finding[27] of those who were not sought; the losing[28] of those who were in imagination found; in one word, a holy sacrifice out of an anticipated[29] slaughter.

At length Hydaspes said to Sisimithres, "Ο sage! what are we to do? To defraud the gods of their victims is not pious; to sacrifice those who appear to be preserved and restored by their providence is impious. It needs that some expedient be found out."

Sisimithres, speaking, not in the Grecian, but in the Ethiopian tongue, so as to be heard by the greatest part of the assembly, replied: "Ο king! the wisest among men, as it appears, often have the understanding clouded through excess of joy, else, before this time, you would have discovered that the gods regard not with favour the sacrifice which you have been preparing for them. First they, from the very altar, declared the all-blessed Chariclea to be your daughter; next they brought her foster-father most wonderfully from the midst of Greece to this spot; they struck panic and terror into the horses and oxen which were being prepared for sacrifice, indicating, perhaps, by that event, that those whom custom considered as the more perfect and fitting victims were to be rejected. Now, as the consummation of all good, as the perfection of the piece,[30] they show this Grecian youth to be the betrothed husband of the maiden. Let us give credence to these proofs of the divine and wonder-working will; let us be fellow workers with this will; let us have recourse to holier offerings; let us abolish, for ever, these detested human sacrifices."

When Sisimithres had uttered this, in a loud voice, Hydaspes, speaking also in the Ethiopian tongue, and taking Theagenes and Chariclea by the hand, thus proceeded:--

"Ye who are this day assembled! since these things have been thus brought to pass by the will of the deities, to oppose them would be impious. Wherefore, calling to witness those who have woven these events into the web of destiny, and you whose minds appear to be in concert with them, I sanction the joining together of this pair in wedlock and procreative union. If you approve, let a sacrifice confirm this resolution, and then proceed we with the sacred rites."

The assembly signified their approval by a shout, and clapped their hands, in token of the nuptials being ratified. Hydaspes approached the altar, and, in act to begin the ceremony, said, "Ο lordly Sun and queenly Moon! since by your wills Theagenes and Chariclea have been declared man and wife, they may now lawfully be your ministers." So saying, he took off his own and Persina's mitre, the symbol of the priesthood, and placed his own upon the head of the youth, that of his consort upon the maiden's head.

Upon this Charicles called to mind the oracle which had been given to them in the temple before their flight from Delphi, and acknowledged its fulfilment.

In regions torrid shall arrive at last,
There shall the gods reward their pious vows,
And snowy chaplets bind their dusky brows.[31]

The youthful pair then, crowned by Hydaspes with white mitres, and invested with the dignity of priesthood, sacrificed under propitious omens; and, accompanied by lighted torches and the sounds of pipes and flutes, Theagenes and Hydaspes, Charicles and Sisimithres, in chariots drawn by horses, Persina and Chariclea, in one drawn by milk white oxen, were escorted, into Meröe (amidst shouts, clapping of hands, and dances), there to celebrate with greater magnificence the more mystic portions of the nuptial rites.

Thus ends the Romance of the "Ethiopics," or Adventures of Theagenes and Chariclea, written by a Phœnician of Emesa, in Phœnicia, of the race of the Sun--Heliodorus, the son of Theodosius.

[Footnote 1: In. Bk. viii., 98, Herodotus gives an account of the Persian system of estafette--comparing it to the torch race:--"Kατάπερ Ἔλλησι ἡ λαμπαδηφορίη, τὴν τῷ Ἡφαίστῳ επιτέλεουσι." See also, Xen. Cyrop. viii. 6, 17.]

[Footnote 2: Solinus describes these fabulous creatures as "alites ferocissimæ et ultra omnem rabiem sævientes;" others speak of them as resembling an eagle in the upper part, a horse in the lower.--See Æsch. P. V., 395 and 803.]

[Footnote 3: See Blakesley's edit. of Herod. iii. 98: where mention is made of boats made of bamboo, used by the Indians, of which Pliny says, that the length of the boats, made of the internodal wood, often exceeded five cubits, and that they would hold three persons.]

[Footnote 4: Herod. i. 216, states the same concerning the Massagetæ, and assigns the same cause:--"Τῶν θεῶν τῴ ταχίστῳ πάντων τῶν θνητῶν τὸ τάχιστον δατέονται."]

[Footnote 5: Τὴν ἐσχάρα.]

[Footnote 6: Taλaντεύει καθ' ἡμας ἡ μοῖρα.]

[Footnote 7:

"Gratior et pulchro veniens in corpora virtus."
Virg. Æn. v. 344.
]

[Footnote 8:

"Immunis aram si tetigit manus,
Non sumptuosa blandior hostia
Mollivit aversos penates
Farre pio et saliente micâ."
Hor. III. Od. xxiii. 17.
]

[Footnote 9: See Book IV.]

[Footnote 10: In the version printed in 1717 is a curious blunder in the word ἐλέφαντα--"a spot black as ebony, resembling an elephant."]

[Footnote 11: Tὸ ὄμμα δὲ οἱονεί κέρας ἥ σίδηρον εἰς τὰ ὁρώμενα τείνας.

... "ille--immota tenebat
Lumina, et obnixus curam sub corde premebat."--Æn. iv. 331.
]

[Footnote 12: See the speech of Agamemnon, in the Iphigenia in Aulis, 1242.]

[Footnote 13:

"Ostendent terris hunc tantùm fata, neque ultrà
Esse sinent."--Virg. Æn. vi. 870.
]

[Footnote 14: "Et serves animæ dimidium meæ."--Hor. I. Od. iii. 8.]

[Footnote 15: εἱσαγγιλεὺς. See Herod. III. 84.]

[Footnote 16: It would be unfair to deprive the reader of the very quaint rendering of this passage in the version of 1717: "Merœbus, young and bashful, and wonderfully tickled at the thoughts of a bride, blushed through his black skin, his face looking _like a ball of soot that had taken fire_."]

[Footnote 17: Οὔτως ὠγύγιος. See the description and bearing of Dares.--Virg. Æn. v. 368, 385.]

[Footnote 18: Τῶν παρ' αὐτοῖς ἀραχνιών--literally, of spiders, see Tatius, B. iii.]

[Footnote 19: In the original it is "ant-gold" χρυσόν μυρμηκιαν, turned up by the "myrmex," an animal between a dog and fox in size, supposed to be the ant-eater. See note vol. i. p. 378, of Blakesley's Herodotus. William Lisle, the poet, thus improves upon the "ant-gold:"--

"A yoke of gryphons chain'd with that fine gold
Which emmots, nigh as big as Norfolke sheepe,
At sand-hill side are said to gath'r and keepe."

The reader will of course remember Milton's allusion to the _gryphons_. Paradise Lost, B. ii. 945.]

[Footnote 20: αυτοσχεδίως κατηγορηθέν.]

[Footnote 21: This animal was among the number of those, in the destruction of which the Emperor Commodus exhibited his skill in the arena.--See Gibbon, i. 153, (_note_).]

[Footnote 22: Suetonius mentions an exploit similar to this of Theagenes, and performed by a Thessalian, as he was (Claud. cap. 21). "Præterea _Thessalos_ equites qui feros tauros per spatia circi agunt, insiliuntque defessos, et ad terram cornibus detrahunt." The above exploit was called ταυροκαθαίρια. It is represented in one of the Arundel marbles.]

[Footnote 23: Τοῖς συνετοῖς ἀσύνετα φθέγγομαι.]

[Footnote 24:

... "caput altum in prælia tollit,
Ostenditque humeros latos, alternaque jactat,
Brachia protendens, et verberat ictibus auras."
Virg. Æn. v. 375.
]

[Footnote 25:

"Mercuri, facunde nepos Atlantis,
Qui feros cultus hominum recentum
Voce formasti catus, et _decoræ_."
_More palestræ._--Hor. I. Od. X. 1-4.
]

[Footnote 26: A wood-cut, in some degree illustrative of this description, will be found at p. 708 of Greek and Roman Antiquities, under the article "Pancratium."]

[Footnote 27: By Hydaspes.]

[Footnote 28: By Charicles.]

[Footnote 29:

"Time and tide had thus their sway,
Yielding, like an April day,
Smiling noon for sullen morrow,
Years of joy for hours of sorrow."--Scott.
]

[Footnote 30: Literally, the torch of the drama, Λαμπάδων δράματος.

"φαίνετε τοίνυν υμεῖς τούτῳ
λαμπάδας ἱερὰς χάμα προπέμπετε
τοῖσιν τούτου τοῦτον μέλεσιν
καὶ μολπᾶσιν κελαδοῦντες."--Aristoph. Bat. 1493.

See similar allusions in the Eumenides of Æschylus, 959, 979. (Müller's Edit.)]

[Footnote 31: See Book II.]

THE END.

THE LOVES OF DAPHNIS AND CHLOE, A PASTORAL NOVEL, BY LONGUS.

MOTTO.

Ah! what a life were this! how sweet, how lovely!
Gives not the hawthorn bush a sweeter shade
To shepherds looking on their silly sheep,
Than doth a rich embroidered canopy
To kings, that fear their subjects' treachery?
Oh yes it doth; a thousand-fold it doth.
Shakspeare