Daphnis

“ None in those days, Daphnis, drove the pastured oxen to cool streams; no four-footed thing tasted the river nor touched the grassy sward. Daphnis, the wild hills and the woodlands repeat how even Punic lions bemoaned thy decease. Daphnis ordered the harnessing of Armenian tigresses to the car; Daphnis the processions of Bacchus' revellers and the soft leafage wound round their supple shafts. As the vine adorns her tree, as her grapes the vine; as bulls the herds, as corn the rich fields; so thou art all the ornament of thy people ”

“ Then Daphnis in his turn sweetly began to sing:
Daphnis.
"And me, not long ago, fair Daphne whistly eyed
As I drove by; and said, I was a paragon:
Nor then indeed to her I churlishly replied;
But, looking on the ground, my way still held I on.
Sweet is a cow-calf's voice, and sweet her breath doth smell;
A bull calf, and a cow, do low full pleasantly.
'Tis sweet in summer by a spring abroad to dwell!
Acorns become the oak; apples, the apple-tree;
And calves, the kine; and kine, the Neatherd much set out."
Thus sung these youths. The Goatherd thus did end the doubt:
Goatherd. ”

“ Dorcon was the first to speak.
"I," he said, "am taller than Daphnis. I keep oxen, whilst he keeps goats; and just as an ox is more valuable than a goat, so is a herdsman, like myself, superior to a goat-herd. My skin is as white as milk, my hair as golden as ripe wheat; I am as fresh as the leaves in spring. And no wonder, for it was my own mother, not an animal, that suckled me when I was a babe. Daphnis is short and puny, with no more beard than a woman, whilst his body is as tawny as a wolf's skin. By living, too, among his goats, he has contracted a goatish smell. ”

“ Daphnè yielded to her heart—and let him kiss her hand without resistance.
"But alas!" she said, "I can't be always guarding a flock. What will the poor shepherdess do?"
"Am I not your shepherd? your Daphnis?" cried Hector, as if inspired—"trust to me, Daphnè—to my heart—to my soul! This hand shall never be separated from yours: we shall live the same life—in the sane sunshine—in the same shadow—in the same hovel—in the same palace; but with you, dearest Daphnè, the humblest hut would be a palace. ”

“ Draw from the city, my songs, draw Daphnis home.
Fetch ashes, Amaryllis, out of doors, and fling them across thy head into the running brook: and look not back. With these I will assail Daphnis: nothing cares he for gods, nothing for songs.
Draw from the city, my songs, draw Daphnis home.
See! the embers on the altar have caught with a flickering flame, themselves, of their own accord, while I delay to fetch them. Be it for good! something there is for sure; and Hylax barks in the doorway. May we believe? or do lovers fashion dreams of their own? ”

“ Daphnis has forgotten me: he is dreaming of a wealthy match. Why did I make him swear by his goats instead of the Nymphs? He has abandoned them as he has abandoned Chloe: even when he was sacrificing to the Nymphs and Pan, he felt no desire to come and see me. Perhaps he has found some handmaids at his mother's house whom he prefers. May he be happy: but I can live no longer. ”

“ Daphnis became to him the embodiment, the concrete image, of eternal youthhood, of adolescence in the abstract, the attribute of an idealised humanity. To lead the pure Daphnis life of simplicity, stainlessness, communion with beautiful souls, was to lead the highest life. ”

“ Here there is no fixed or formal posing, if we except the attitude adopted (after a preliminary and irrelevant twiddle) by certain Nymphs to indicate, appropriately enough, their grief over the inanimate form of Daphnis. The dances in which, to the mutual suspicion of the lovers, Chloë was circled by the men and Daphnis by the maidens, were a pure delight. There was one movement, when heads were tossed back and then brought swiftly forward over hollowed breasts and lifted knees that had in it an exquisite fleeting beauty. ”

“ Then Daphnis, having collected all his pastoral equipments, distributed them as (54>) offerings to the Gods. To Dionysus he consecrated his wallet and goat-skin, to Pan his pipe and flute, to the Nymphs his crook and the milk-pails which he had made himself. But - so much sweeter is that to which we are accustomed than strange and unexpected good fortune - Daphnis wept as he parted with each of these things. ”

“ Daphnis, however, stood still: a shaggy goatskin served him as a coat, a new scrip was suspended from his shoulder, in one hand he carried some fine cheeses that had just been made, whilst with the other he held two sucking kids. If ever Apollo tended the herds of Laomedon, he must have appeared as Daphnis appeared now. The youth did not speak a word, but with a flush suffusing his face, bowed his head and presented his offerings.
"This, master," said Lamon, "is the young man who tends your goats. ”

“ Daphnis, having no suspicions of her motives, got up and followed Lycænium, who led him as far as possible from Chloe; upon arriving in the thickest of the wood, near a fountain, she bid him sit down beside her.—"You are in love, Daphnis," she said; "the Nymphs informed me of this, last night; they told me of the tears which you shed yesterday, and have commanded me, for the sake of your relief, to teach you love's mysteries. These are not limited to kisses and embraces, and the doing what is done by the rams and goats; [8] they result in much greater pleasure, and are longer in duration. ”

“ As the spring drew nigh the snow melted, the earth displayed itself, and the grass began to grow. Then the shepherds and herdsmen again led their flocks to pasture, and Daphnis and Chloe were earlier than all others, for they themselves were guided by the mightiest of shepherds, Love. ”

“ It is time for us to reveal what we have so long concealed. Whatever may become of our herds and all that belongs to us, though I myself be left without employment, like an old ox in the stall (as the saying is) , I swear by Pan and the Nymphs that I will no longer keep the history of Daphnis a secret. I will tell how and where I found him exposed, I will explain how he was nursed, and I will show the tokens which were left with him. That vile Gnatho shall be enlightened concerning the youth whom he would fain carry away. All that I ask of you is to have the tokens ready! ”

“ He was brought up by the nymphs, or by shepherds, and became the owner of flocks and herds, which he tended while playing on the syrinx. When in the first bloom of youth, he won the affection of a nymph, who made him promise to love none but her, threatening that, if he proved unfaithful, he would lose his eyesight. He failed to keep his promise and was smitten with blindness. Daphnis, who endeavoured to console himself by playing the flute and singing shepherds’ songs, soon afterwards died. ”

“ Daphnis, however, was under no apprehension on this head, but felt confident of praise, for the herd, which he had received in charge, was now increased two-fold; not one of the goats had ever been captured by a wolf, and all of them were already fatter than sheep. However, being desirous of inclining his master favourably in regard to his marriage, Daphnis displayed every care and great activity, driving his goats to the fields very early and only returning late, leading them to the water twice every day and selecting the richest pastures. ”

“ After they had poured libations to Dionysus, they ate, crowned with garlands of ivy. Then, when the time came, after they had celebrated the praises of Bacchus and chanted Evoe, Dryas and Nape sent Daphnis on his way, having first filled his wallet with bread and meat. They also gave him the wood-pigeons and thrushes to take to Lamon and Myrtale, since they knew that they would be able to catch as many as they wanted, as long as the winter and the ivy-berries lasted. Then Daphnis departed, after kissing them all - Chloe last, that her kiss might remain pure and without alloy. ”

“ Shew yourself then, my preserver, and enable me to triumph in my suit; if you refuse, I swear by Bacchus, that I will seize a dagger, and after eating until I can eat no longer, will stab myself before the door of Daphnis, and then you will no longer be able to call me your sweet Gnatty, [12] as you are used to to do." The good-natured young man, who was no stranger to the power of love, moved by his blandishments and tears, promised to ask Daphnis of his father, under pretence of requiring him for a slave, but in reality to be the favourite of Gnatho. ”

“ One of the servants was sent to tend the goats; and Daphnis and the rest of the company after sacrificing to Jove the Preserver sat down to a banquet. Gnatho was the only person absent; for so great was his fear on account of Daphnis that he remained in the Temple of Bacchus as a suppliant throughout the day and night. The report that Dionysophanes had found his son and that Daphnis was master of the estate soon spread abroad; and early the next morning numbers of people flocked to the cottage from different parts, offering congratulations to the youth and presents to the father. ”

“ At some emotional crisis the youngsters bemoan to themselves their lot. Chloe, falling in love with Daphnis when she sees him bathe in the cave of the Nymphs, laments the pain in her heart that is worse than a bee-sting. [241] After Daphnis has been recognized as the son of the great Dionysophanes, Chloe weeps at being forgotten, is sure Daphnis is breaking his oath of faithfulness and bids him farewell since she will surely die. [242] Daphnis makes moan more often. When the kiss of Chloe has set him on fire, he complains that his heart leaps up; his soul is weakened ”

“ The greater influence which women seem to have had over old men than over young, will already have been noticed in the cases of Alcman and Anacreon. The phenomenon could easily be explained, if it were necessary to explain it.—Vide e.g. Eur. Suppl. 1098 seqq.
[60] That in the original form of the legend Daphnis refuses to yield to love, and dies sooner than submit, has been shown by Reitzenstein, Epig. u. Skol. p. 193 seqq.
But the passage from Aelian (Var. Hist. x. 18) never says that Stesichorus told the story of Daphnis. ”

“ Gnatho, who knew nothing except how to eat till he could eat no more, and to drink till he was drunk, and was all throat and belly and lust, had carefully observed Daphnis when he brought the presents to Astylus. Being naturally fond of boys, and (48>) finding Daphnis handsomer than any of the youths in the city, he resolved to make advances to him, thinking that he would find no difficulty in seducing a simple goatherd. ”

“ The pirates had only swum a little way, when the weight of their armour dragged them down into the depths: Daphnis easily threw off the clothes he had on, yet it cost him some effort to swim, since he had hitherto only swum in rivers: but soon, under the impulse of necessity, he reached the cows by an effort, and, while with each hand he grasped one by the horns, he was carried along between them without difficulty, or danger, as if he had been driving a cart: for an ox swims far better than any man: it is only inferior to the water-fowl and fishes. ”

“ Theocritus, Idyll vi. and xi. Lucian, Dial. Doridis et Galateæ. Ovid, Met. L. xiii. 739-870.
The Sicilian Daphnis, like the Arcadian Pan, was the son of Mercury and of a mountain nymph, and excelled in playing on the syrinx; but his form was entirely human and the most beautiful that could be imagined.
The guardian of fair kine, himself more fair. ”

“ Observe what fine sound horns they have; and how fat and long-haired they are in body. Moreover, he has taught them to understand music, and all their movements are regulated by the pipe."
Clearista, who was present and heard what was said, expressed a wish for some proof of this assertion and desired Daphnis to pipe to his goats in his usual manner, promising him for his pains a cloak, a tunic, and a pair of sandals. Then Daphnis, standing under the shade of a beech-tree with all the company disposed in a semi-circle around him, took his pipe from his scrip and breathed into it very softly. ”

“ Astylus expressed himself pleased with the offerings of Daphnis, and immediately betook himself to hare hunting, as was natural in a young man abounding in wealth, nursed in luxury, and who had come into the country merely for some change in his amusements.
Gnatho [6] being a fellow whose whole science consisted in eating and drinking to excess, and who was nothing, in fact, but a compound of gluttony, drunkenness, and sensuality, [7] had narrowly watched Daphnis as he was offering his presents. ”

“ Neither do Thou good Astylus, take it ill, that now thou art to have but a part for the whole Inheritance. For to any man that's wise, there is no possession more pretious then a brother is. Therefore esteem and love one another, and for your riches, compare and vie yourselves with Kings. For I shall leave you large Lands, Servants, Industrious and True, Gold and Silver, all that the fortunate possesse. Onely in Special I give to Daphnis this Mannour, with Lamo, and Myrtale, and the Goats that he has kept. ”

“ The Lityerses-song connected with this tradition was, like the{367} Linus-song, one of the early plaintive strains of Greek popular poetry, and used to be sung by corn-reapers. Other traditions represented Daphnis as beloved by a nymph who exacted from him an oath to love no one else. He fell in love with a princess, and was struck blind by the jealous nymph. Mercury, who was his father, raised him to heaven, and made a fountain spring up in the place from which he ascended. At this fountain the Sicilians offered yearly sacrifices. ”