Laudator Temporis Acti

HERMES. But do you see the masses, Charon, the men voyaging, fighting, litigating, farming, lending money, and begging?

CHARON. I see that their activities are varied and their life full of turmoil; yes, and their cities resemble hives, in which everyone has a sting of his own and stings his neighbour, while some few, like wasps, harry and plunder the meaner sort. But what is that crowd of shapes that flies about them unseen?

HERMES. Hope, Fear, Ignorance, Pleasure, Covetousness, Anger, Hatred and their like. Of these, Ignorance mingles with them down below and shares their common life, and so do Hatred, Anger, Jealousy, Stupidity, Doubt, and Covetousness; but Fear and Hope hover up above, and Fear, swooping down from time to time, terrifies them and makes them cringe, while Hope, hanging overhead, flies up and is off when they are most confident of grasping her, leaving them in the lurch with their mouths open, exactly as you have seen Tantalus served by the water down below.

ΕΡΜΗΣ. τὴν δὲ πληθὺν ὁρᾷς, ὦ Χάρων, τοὺς πλέοντας αὐτῶν, τοὺς πολεμοῦντας, τοὺς δικαζομένους, τοὺς γεωργοῦντας, τοὺς δανείζοντας, τοὺς προσαιτοῦντας;

ΧΑΡΩΝ. ὁρῶ ποικίλην τινὰ τὴν διατριβὴν καὶ μεστὸν ταραχῆς τὸν βίον καὶ τὰς πόλεις γε αὐτῶν ἐοικυίας τοῖς σμήνεσιν, ἐν οἷς ἅπας μὲν ἴδιόν τι κέντρον ἔχει καὶ τὸν πλησίον κεντεῖ, ὀλίγοι δέ τινες ὥσπερ σφῆκες ἄγουσι καὶ φέρουσι τὸ ὑποδεέστερον. ὁ δὲ περιπετόμενος αὐτοὺς ἐκ τἀφανοῦς οὗτος ὄχλος τίνες εἰσίν;

ΕΡΜΗΣ. ἐλπίδες, ὦ Χάρων, καὶ δείματα καὶ ἄγνοιαι καὶ ἡδοναὶ καὶ φιλαργυρίαι καὶ ὀργαὶ καὶ μίση καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα. τούτων δὲ ἡ ἄγνοια μὲν κάτω συναναμέμικται αὐτοῖς καὶ συμπολιτεύεται, καὶ νὴ Δία καὶ τὸ μῖσος καὶ ὀργὴ καὶ ζηλοτυπία καὶ ἀμαθία καὶ ἀπορία καὶ φιλαργυρία, ὁ φόβος δὲ καὶ αἱ ἐλπίδες ὑπεράνω πετόμενοι ὁ μὲν ἐμπίπτων ἐκπλήττει ἐνίοτε καὶ ὑποπτήσσειν ποιεῖ, αἱ δ᾽ ἐλπίδες ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς αἰωρούμεναι, ὁπόταν μάλιστα οἴηταί τις ἐπιλήψεσθαι αὐτῶν, ἀναπτάμεναι οἴχονται κεχηνότας αὐτοὺς ἀπολιποῦσαι, ὅπερ καὶ τὸν Τάνταλον κάτω πάσχοντα ὁρᾷς ὑπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος.