The Ferry (23-25)

Receive these people, Tisiphone-a thousand and four.

Indeed, Rhadamanthos here has been waiting for you a long time.

Bring them forward, Erinnys. You, Hermes, officiate as herald and summon them.

Rhadamanthos, in the name of your father, produce me and examine me first.

Why?

I have a great desire to accuse some one of the evil deeds I know he committed in his lifetime, and my testimony would not be worthy of credence unless it has first been shown what my character is and how I passed my life.

And who are you?

Kyniskos, my good sir, of the philosophical persuasion.

Come here and stand your trial first. Hermes, call for the accusers.

If any one accuses Kyniskos, the defendant, let him come forward.

No one comes.

But this is not enough, Kyniskos. Take off your clothes, so that I may judge you by your brands.

How should I be a branded slave?

Every evil deed that one of you commits in his life brands invisible marks on his soul.

Here I stand stripped, so look for these brands you talk about.

He is spotless from head to foot, except for these three or four blurred and very indistinct brands. But what is this? Here are the prints and traces of many burnings, but they have been washed out somehow, or rather cut out. What do these mean, Kyniskos, and how is it that you look spotless again?

I will tell you. I used to be wicked because I was ignorant, and won many a brand by this means. But as soon as I began to take to philosophy, I washed off, little by little, all the stains from my soul, by the use of this so excellent and effectual medicine.

I dismiss you to the islands of the blest, to the society of the noblest, after you have accused the despot you mention. Summon the others.

My case, too, Rhadamanthos, is a trifling one, and calls for a short inquiry. I am stripped for you already, so examine me.

Who may you be?

Mikyllos, the shoemaker.

Well done, Mikyllos; you are

Let Megapenthes, son of Lakydes, appear. Which way are you turning? Come forward. I am summoning you, the despot. Shove him out, Tisiphone, head-foremost into the middle.

But you, Kyniskos, accuse him now and expose him utterly, for the man is at hand as defendant.