Libanius → Demetrius

Δημητρίῳ. (358/359) Ἐμοὶ δέ γε τρεῖς χάρτας κατ’ αὐτάς που τὰς θεὰς ὁ Δόμνος δίδωσι σοί τε παρέχων γράφειν καὶ σὰ γράμματα φἐ- φων καὶ προστιθεὶς ταῖς σαῖς ἐπιστολαῖς ἀεί τινα περὶ σοῦ διήγησιν. ἡμεῖς δὲ αὐτὸν καὶ τὸ πρῶτον ἐξειλόμεθα τῆς ἐπηρείας <τῆς> διὰ τὴν μέλλουσαν κηδείαν καὶ νῦν ρώτερον ἐπ’ ἀδείας κατεστήσαμεν <ἢ> πρότερον καλῷ δείξαντες, ὡς ἀλγεινὸν ἡμῖν, εἴ τι βιασθείη Δόμνος. καὶ τυγχάνοι γε θεῶν εὐμενῶν ἐκεῖνος ὃς οὔτε ἔφυγε τὴν χάριν οὔτε ἀηδῶς ἔδωκε. νῦν δ’ ἤδη καὶ πρὸς Εὐθάλιον τὸν γενναῖον πεποιήμεθα λόγους, οὓς οὐκ ἀφῆκε γενέσθαι μακροὺς τῷ πρὸς τὴν χάριν τάχει. τοῦτον δὲ τὸν ἀγαθὸν γέ- ροντα κἂν ἀναγκάσαιμεν ἤδη· παρὰ γὰρ τοῦ Γάμου καὶ τοῦτο ἡμῖν, ὃς ἐκέρασε τὰ γένη. τὰ μὲν οὖν Δόμνου πρὸς τοῦτο ἀσφαλείας ἥκει· τὸν δὲ ἥδιστον τουτονὶ καὶ καινὸν τῆς γῆς τῆς ὑμετέρας τόκον νέος μὲν ᾔδειν, διὰ μακροῦ δὲ νῦν εἶδον. καὶ ὅπως μή με ταχέως ἐπιλίπῃ τὸ δαρὸν, πράττω δια- ταμιευόμενος καὶ κελεύων φείδεσθαι τοὺς οἰκέτας. οὕτω δὲ ὂν ἡδὺ φαγεῖν ἡδίονος ἔτυχεν ἔτι <τοῦ> μέρους, ἐν ᾧπερ ἤκεις ἱπποκένταυρόν τινα συντιθεὶς Ἀργεῖον. οὐκ† 15 Ἀργεῖον, ὥσπερ ἐγκαλῶν τοῖς πρώτοις τοὔνομα θεμένοις, ὅτι μὴ καλῇ φορᾷ καλον ἐξεῦρον. Ἡρόδοτος δὲ ὁ χρυσοῦς οὐκ ἄν μοι δοκεῖ κατοκνῆσαι πάσῃ μὲν οὖν σπουδῇ φέρων ἂν ἐν- θεῖναι τοῖς λόγοις, ὅπως δόξῃ πολλὰ εἰδέναι. πάντως δὲ οἶσθα τὸν ἄνδρα. ἀλλὰ σύ γε εὖ ποιῶν ἔδεισας τὴν ἀηδίαν. τό τε γὰρ ὄνομα μακρὸν τῶν τε πέντε συλλαβῶν δυοῖν γραμμά- των ἐν ἑκάστη τὸ δεύτερον ἄλφα, ὥστ’ ἐπιεικῶς ὅ γε ὀνομά- ζων ἐπιγελᾷ· τοιαῦτα ὑπὸ τῆς προσηγορίας πάσχει τὸ στόμα. τῷ μέντοι μεμνημένῳ τῶν τοῦ Εὔνεω μέτρων τῶν χιλίων ἐξῆν που μνησθῆναι καὶ τῶν Λεύκωνος μεδίμνων τῶν ἐπὶ τοῖς μυρίοις τρισχιλίων.

**To Demetrius** (358/359) Domnus gives me three delights at once: he provides you the means to write, he carries your letters to me, and he always adds to your epistles some account of how you are doing. We ourselves first rescued him from the harassment arising from his intended marriage alliance, and now we have established him in a security greater than before, having shown a certain powerful man how painful it would be to us if any violence were done to Domnus. And may he enjoy the favor of kindly gods — he who neither shrank from granting the favor nor gave it grudgingly. And now we have also had words with the noble Euthalius, words he did not allow to become lengthy, so swift was he to oblige. As for this good old man, we could even compel him at this point, for this too is ours by right of the Marriage that mingled our families. So then, Domnus's affairs have reached a point of safety. But this most delightful novelty, this fresh produce of your land — I had known of it for some time, yet only now, after a long interval, have I tasted it. And so that my long-awaited supply not run out too quickly, I am rationing it and ordering the servants to be sparing. But delicious as it is to eat, it found an even more delightful portion in the part where you composed a kind of hippocentaur — an "Argive" one. Not an Argive one, you say, as if reproaching those who first coined the name for not discovering a fine word with a fine ring to it. Golden Herodotus, I think, would not have hesitated — he would have made every effort to work it into his histories, so as to seem a man of vast knowledge. You surely know the fellow I mean. But you did well to fear the unpleasantness of the name. For it is a long word of five syllables, and in each syllable the second letter is an alpha, so that the man who tries to pronounce it practically bursts out laughing — such is the effect the name has on one's mouth. Still, for one who remembers the thousand measures of Euneus's wine, it would have been quite possible to mention also the thirteen thousand bushels of Leucon.