Τόξαρις ἢ Φιλία

Lines

1 – 1 2 – 2 3 – 3 4 – 5 6 – 6 7 – 7 8 – 8 9 – 9 10 – 10 11 – 11 12 – 12 13 – 13 14 – 15 15 – 16 17 – 17 18 – 19 19 – 19 20 – 21 22 – 23 23 – 24 24 – 24 25 – 26 26 – 26 27 – 27 28 – 28 29 – 29 30 – 30 31 – 32 33 – 33 34 – 35 35 – 36 37 – 38 38 – 38 39 – 39 40 – 40 41 – 42 43 – 43 44 – 44 45 – 46 46 – 47 48 – 48 49 – 50 50 – 50 50 – 50 51 – 51 51 – 52 53 – 54 54 – 55 55 – 57 57 – 58 59 – 60 60 – 60 61 – 61 62 – 63 63 – 63

İngilizce İngilizce İngilizce Yunanca

43 But let me tell you about another man equally honoured, Belitta, cousin of that same Amizoces. He saw that his friend Basthes had been dragged off his horse by a lion (it chanced that they were hunting together), and already the lion, lying upon him, had fastened upon his throat and was tearing him with his claws. Springing to the ground, he attacked the animal from behind and tried to draw him away, provoking him, diverting his attention, inserting his fingers between his teeth, and endeavouring in every possible way to extract Basthes from the grip of his jaws, until at last the lion left Basthes halfdead and turning upon Belitta, seized and killed him. In dying, however, he at least succeeded in stabbing the lion in the breast with his sword, so that they all died together, and in burying them we made two barrows in close proximity, one for the friends and one facing it for the lion.This tale, with its lion (in South Russia, about a.d. 150!) and the poetic justice of the animal’s entombment, distinctly suggests a literary source, perhaps an epigram.