But after you put off the
part of Pythagoras what other did you assume ?
Aspasia, the courtesan from Miletus.
Whew, what a yarn! So Pythagoras became a
woman on top of everything else, and there was
once atime when you laid eggs, most distinguished
of cocks; when you lived with Pericles in the
capacity of Aspasia and had children by him and
carded wool and spun yarn and made the most of
your sex in courtesan style?
Yes, I did all that, and I am not the only one:
both Tiresias and Caeneus the son of Elatus preecded
me, so that all your jokes at my expense will be at
their expense too.Tiresias struck a pair of mating serpents with his staff, and turned into a woman ; seven years later he once more saw them and struck them, becoming a man again (Ovid, Melam. 3, 316 ff.). Poseidon turned Caenis into a man at her own request after he had wronged her (Metam. 12, 189 ff.).
How about it? Which life did you find the
pleasanter, when you were a man or when Pericles
dallied with you ?
Just see what a question you have asked there!
Even Tiresias paid dearly for answering it !Zeus had said that Hera’s sex enjoyed more pleasure than his own. Hera denied it; Tiresias was called in as umpire and held with Zeus, whereupon Hera struck him blind (Metam. l. c.).
Whether you tell me or not, Euripides has settled
the business well enough, for he says that he would
sooner stand in line of battle thrice over than bear a
single child.Medea 251.
I'll remind you of that before long, Micyllus, when
you are in child-bed; for you too will be a woman
again and again in your long cycle of existences.
Hang you, cock, do you think everybody hails from
Miletus or Samos? They say that while you were
Pythagoras and young and handsome you often
played Aspasia to the tyrant.
But what man or
woman did you become after Aspasia ?
The Cynic Crates.
Twin brethren! what ups and downs! First a
courtesan, then a philosopher !
Then a king, then a poor man, and soon a satrap ;
then a horse, a jackdaw, a frog, and a thousand things
besides ; it would take too long to enumerate them
all. But of late I have often been a cock, for I liked
that sort of life; and after belonging to many men,
both rich and poor, at length I am now living with
you, laughing at you every day for bewailing and
lamenting over your poverty and for admiring the
rich through ignorance of the troubles that are
theirs. Indeed, if you knew the cares they have,
you would laugh at yourself for thinking at_ first
that wealth was a source of extraordinary happiness.
Well then, Pythagoras—but tell me what you
like best to be called, so that I may not muddle up
our conversation by calling you different names.
It will make no difference whether you call me
Euphorbus or Pythagoras, Aspasia or Crates; I am
all of them. But you had better call me what you
now see me to be, a cock, so as not to slight a bird
that, although held in low esteem, has in itself so
many souls.
Well then, cock, as you have tried almost every
existence and know everything, please tell me
clearly about the life of the rich and the life of the
poor, each by itself, so that I may learn if you are
telling the truth when you declare that I am happier
than the rich.
Well now, look at it this way, Micyllus. As for you,
you are little concerned about war if you hear that
the enemy is approaching, and you do not worry for
fear they may lay your farm waste in a raid or
trample down your garden or cut down your grapevines; when you hear the trumpet, at most you
simply consider yourself and where you are to turn in
order to save yourself and escape the danger. The
rich, however, not only fear for themselves but are
distressed when they look from the walls and see all
that they own in the country harried and plundered.
Moreover if it is necessary to pay a special tax, they
alone are summoned to do so, and if it is necessary
to take the field, they risk their lives in the van as
commanders of horse or foot, whereas you, with but
a wicker shield, have little to carry and nothing to
impede your flight, and are ready to celebrate the
victory when the general offers sacrifice after winning
the battle.