Timon, or the Misanthrope (41-43)

TIMON Come, pick, be strong for me now and don’t flag in the task of calling Treasure out of the depths to the light of day. O Zeus, god of miracles! O gracious Corybants! O Hermes, god of gain! Where did all this gold come from? « Is this a dream? I am afraid I may wake up and find nothing but ashes. No,

verily it is coined gold, red and heavy and mighty good to look upon.

O gold, thou fairest gift that comes to man!

Euripides, Danae, fr. 326 Nauck. In very truth you stand out like blazing fire, not only by night but by day.[*] Come to me, my precious, my pretty! Now I am convinced that Zeus once turned into gold, for what maid would not open her bosom and receive so beautiful a lover coming down through the roof in a shower?

O Midas! O Croesus! O treasures of Delphi! How little worth you are beside Timon and the wealth of Timon! Yes, even the king of Persia is not a match for me.

Pick and darling coat of skin, it is best that I should hang you up here as an offering to Pan. For myself, I purpose now to buy the whole farm, build a tower over the treasure just large enough for me to live in, and have it for my tomb when I am dead.

“Be it resolved and enacted into law, to be binding for the rest of my life, that I shall associate with no one, recognize no one and scorn everyone. Friends, guests, comrades and Altars of Mercy[*] shall be matter for boundless mockery. To pity one who weeps, to help one who is in need shall be a misdemeanour and an infringement of the constitution. My life shall be solitary, like that of wolves; Timon shall be my only friend,

and all others shall be enemies and conspirators. To talk to any of them shall be pollution, and if I simply see one of them, that day shall be under a curse. In short, they shall be no more than statues of stone or bronze in my sight. I shall receive no ambassadors from

them and make no treaties with them, and the desert shall sunder me from them. Tribe, clan, deme and native land itself shall be inane and useless names, and objects of the zeal of fools. Timon shall keep his wealth to himself, scorn everyone and live in luxury all by himself, remote from flattery and tiresome praise. He shall sacrifice to the gods and celebrate his feast-days by himsclf, his own sole neighbour and crony, shaking free of all others. Be it once for all resolved that he shall give himself the farewell hand-clasp when he comes to die, and shall set the funeral wreath upon his own brow.