[20,20] καὶ δὴ τὰς μὲν ἐν Ἰλίῳ νύμφας καὶ παρθένους ἅτε τύραννος ὢν ἠτίμαζε καὶ οὐκ ᾤετο ἀξίας τυχεῖν, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὰς Λυδῶν τε καὶ Φρυγῶν τάς τε ἐν Λέσβῳ καὶ τὰς ἐν Μυσίᾳ γυναῖκας ὑπερεώρα. πυνθανόμενος δὲ ἐν Σπάρτῃ τινὰ εἶναι Διὸς λεγομένην θυγατέρα, Μενελάῳ συνοικοῦσαν, ἀνδρὶ βασιλεῖ καὶ βασιλέως ἀδελφῷ τῆς ξυμπάσης Ἑλλάδος, ἣν ἐμνήστευσάν τε καὶ ἔσπευσαν λαβεῖν πολλὰ ἕδνα καὶ δῶρα διδόντες οἱ πρῶτοί τε καὶ ἄκροι τῶν Ἑλλήνων· καὶ δὴ καὶ ἀδελφῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐλέγετο εἶναι Πολυδεύκους καὶ Κάστορος, Διὸς υἱῶν γενομένων· ἐπεθύμησεν (21) αὑτῷ ταύτην γενέσθαι τὴν γυναῖκα. ἄλλως μὲν οὖν οὐ πάνυ τι ἡγεῖτο δυνατόν, εἰ δὲ θεός τις ὑπόσχοιτο καὶ δοίη, τάχ´ ἂν γενέσθαι τὸ τοιοῦτον. καὶ τίνα δὴ θεὸν ἄλλην εἰκὸς τὰς τοιαύτας χαρίζεσθαι χάριτας ἢ τὴν κρατοῦσάν τε καὶ ἄρχουσαν τῶν περὶ τοὺς γάμους τε καὶ ἔρωτας; οὔκουν ἐκείνης διδούσης ἀδύνατον ἡγεῖτο τὸν γάμον. πῶς ἂν οὖν ἐκείνην πείσαι χαρίσασθαι ἢ εἰ τρόπον τινὰ γίγνοιτο αὐτὸς προσφιλὴς τῇ θεῷ καὶ δωρεάν τινα καὶ χάριν δεδωκώς; ἀλλ´ οὔτε χρημάτων αὐτὴν τυγχάνειν δεομένην, ἅτε χρυσῆν οὖσαν καὶ πάντα χρήματα ἁπλῶς κεκτημένην, οὔτε θυσιῶν· πάντας γὰρ αὐτῇ πανταχοῦ θύειν· οὔτε ἄλλῃ τινὶ ὁμιλίᾳ καὶ δεήσει ῥᾳδίως ὑπακοῦσαι ἄν· ἀλλ´ εἰ οὗ μάλιστα ἐπιθυμεῖ καὶ ὃ πάντων τιμιώτατον νενόμικε, τοῦτο προσθείη τις αὐτῇ καὶ μαρτυρήσειεν, ὥς ἐστι καλλίστη, τάχ´ ἂν ἀγαπῆσαι αὐτήν. (22) νικᾶν δὲ καὶ προκρίνεσθαι κατὰ τοῦτο τίνος ἄν ποτε ἀξιώσειεν ἢ θεῶν τῶν πρώτων καὶ μεγίστων, Ἀθηνᾶς τε καὶ Ἥρας; καὶ ἔτι μᾶλλον, εἰ φαίνοιντο ἐκεῖναι μεγάλα καὶ θαυμαστὰ παρεχόμεναι δῶρα ἕνεκα τῆς νίκης. οὕτω δὴ διελθών τε καὶ ἐξεργασάμενος τὴν αὑτοῦ δόξαν καὶ ἐπίνοιαν, οἷον ψυχῆς ἐν ὕπνῳ φαντασίαις καὶ δόξαις ἐπακολουθούσης καὶ μακρόν τι καὶ συντεταγμένον ὑφαινούσης ὄναρ, κριτής τε ὑπὸ τοῦ Διὸς γίγνεται τῶν θεῶν, καὶ τὰς μὲν αὐτάς τε ὑπερεῖδε καὶ τὰ δῶρα αὐτῶν, τὴν δὲ προέκρινεν ἐπὶ μισθῷ τε καὶ δώρῳ τῷ λαβεῖν τὸν γάμον ἐκείνης τῆς γυναικός, (23) ὑπὲρ ἧς ἐνεθυμήθη τε καὶ εὔξατο. εἰ μὲν οὖν αὐτὸ τοῦτο βουκόλος καὶ ἰδιώτης ἔτυχεν ὤν, οὐδὲν ἂν πρᾶγμα ἀπήντησεν ἐκ τοῦ τοιούτου ὀνείρατος. νῦν δὲ ἐπειδὴ τύραννος καὶ δυνάστης ἦν καὶ πλούτῳ τε ἰσχύων καὶ ἀρχῇ πόλεως τῆς τότε μεγίστης καὶ τῇ τῶν γονέων πρὸς αὐτὸν εὐνοίᾳ, τὰ λοιπὰ ἤδη ἔργῳ ἐξειργάσατο ὡς ἐπὶ τούτοις ἀληθῶς γεγονόσι, ναῦς τε ναυπηγησάμενος καὶ ἑταίρους συναγαγών· καὶ πλεύσας ἐπί τε τὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ Σπάρτην καὶ εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν ἀφικόμενος τὴν Μενελάου καὶ Ἑλένης καὶ ξενίων τυχών, ἀναπείσας καταλιπεῖν αὐτὴν τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα ἧκεν ἄγων εἰς Τροίαν πολλῶν καὶ χαλεπῶν πραγμάτων καὶ συμφορῶν (24) ἀρχήν. οὕτως αἱ μὲν ἰδιωτικῆς καὶ ἀδυνάτου ψυχῆς ἔννοιαί τε καὶ ἐπιθυμίαι ὑπηνέμιοί τε καὶ ἀδρανεῖς, καὶ οὐδὲν ἀπ´ αὐτῶν γίγνεται χαλεπόν, ἀλλ´ ὥσπερ τὰ τῷ ὄντι ὀνείρατα ἀναστάντων εὐθὺς οἴχεται καὶ οὐδὲν αὐτῶν, ὥς φασι, τὸν ἥλιον οὐδὲ τὴν ἡμέραν ὑπομένει, παραπλησίως καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἔχει ἐπιθυμήματά τε καὶ ἐλπίσματα. τὰ δὲ τῶν μονάρχων ἢ πλουσίων ἢ ἄλλην τινὰ ἐχόντων δύναμιν ἐπὶ πέρας ἀφικνεῖται πολλάκις χαλεπόν τε καὶ φοβερόν.

[20,20] and so he began to despise the nymphs and maidens of Ilium with a prince's disdain and to think them not Worth his winning, and in the same way also he despised the women of Lydia and Phrygia, and those in Lesbos and Mysia. But learning that in Sparta there was a certain reputed daughter of Zeus, living in wedlock with Menelaus, a king in his own right and brother of the king of all Greece, a woman whom the first and foremost of the Greeks had wooed and sought to win by offering many wedding-gifts and presents and, to crown all, that she had, according to report, brave brothers twain, Polydeuces and Castor, true sons of Zeus. So he coveted this woman for his wife. Now in the ordinary course of events he thought that this was not at all feasible, but that if some god should promise and give her, so wild an ambition might perhaps be realized. What goddess, then, he asked himself, was likely to grant favours of this kind other than she who held authority and ruled over all that pertained to marriage and to love? Therefore, if she offered him this bride, he thought the marriage not impossible. How, then, could he persuade her to grant him this favour unless in some way he should ingratiate himself with the goddess by giving her some boon or favour ? But he reflected that she did not stand in need of wealth, since she was ` golden ' and possessed all the wealth in the world, absolutely ; nor sacrifices either, since all men everywhere offered her sacrifice ; nor would she readily heed anything else one might say or any mere petition. But if, he thought, one were to present her with the thing which she desired most of all, what she had looked upon as the most valuable thing in the world, and should bear witness for her that she was the most beautiful goddess, perhaps she would consent. Then to win the victory and to be preferred in this contest of beauty—over what divinity, he asked himself, would she think she could afford to prevail except over the foremost and greatest of them, Athena and Hera ? And this would be all the more so if these two should put in an appearance, offering great and wonderful gifts for the sake of winning. So after canvassing the matter in this way and elaborating his own imagining and conceit, like a soul which in its sleep follows out its phantasies and imaginings and spins out some long and coherent dream, he is appointed by Zeus, he fancies, umpire over the goddesses ; and as to the other goddesses, he disregarded both their persons and their gifts, and chose the third in return for the bribe and gift of winning that woman as wife who had been the object of his thoughts and for whom he had prayed. If, then, he had been nothing more than a herdsman and a commoner in rank, no trouble would have come to him from that ambitions dream. But as it was, since he was of kingly blood and a mighty prince, and of great influence owing to his wealth and the dominion over the greatest city of those days, and the affection which his parents bore for him, he forthwith realized the rest of his dream, just as if the first part had actually happened; and after building ships and assembling a retinue, he sailed for Greece and Sparta, entered the home of Menelaus and Helen, where he was hospitably received, induced her to leave her husband and Hellas, and then returned to his home, bringing into Troy the beginning of many grievous troubles and disasters. (24) Thus, whereas the thoughts and desires of the soul of a man in private station and without influence are wind-begotten and ineffectual, and no difficulty arises from them, but just as real dreams are gone at once when the dreamers rise from their beds, and no part of them can endure the sun or the day, as the saying is, so it is with desires and hopes of this kind ; yet those of monarchs, on the other hand, or of men of wealth or of those who possess some other power, quite often reach a fulfilment that is both grievous and terrible.

[20,25] καὶ ἔστιν ὅμοιον, ὥσπερ ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, τὸ τοιοῦτον ὑπηνεμίοις γεννήμασιν. φασὶ γὰρ δὴ ᾠὰ γίγνεσθαι οὕτως ἄνευ συνουσίας τε καὶ μίξεως ἄρρενος, ἃ καλοῦσιν ὑπηνέμια, ὡς ὑπ´ ἀνέμῳ προσπεσόντι γιγνόμενα. ὅθεν δὴ καὶ Ὅμηρος, ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν, οὐκ ἀδύνατον ἡγησάμενος οὐδὲ ἀπίθανον τοῖς ἀνθρώποις φανῆναι ἵππων ὑπηνέμιον γένος, τὸν Βορρᾶν ἔφη ἐρασθέντα Τρωικῶν τινων ἵππων ἐμπλῆσαί τε αὐτὰς γονῆς καὶ γένος ἵππων ἐξ αὐτῶν γενέσθαι. {πολλάκις ἔκ τινος ἐνθυμήματος ψευδοῦς καὶ ἀδυνάτου ἀποβῆναι πρᾶγμα ἀληθές.} (26) εἴρηται δέ μοι πάντα ταῦτα ἀπ´ ἐκείνης τῆς ἀρχῆς καὶ ἐκτροπῆς, ὅτι δεῖ τὴν ψυχὴν ἐθίζεσθαι τὰ δέοντα πράττειν καὶ διανοεῖσθαι πανταχοῦ τε καὶ ἐν ἅπαντι θορύβῳ καὶ ἐν ἁπάσῃ ἡσυχίᾳ. εἰ δὲ μή, τὸ τῆς ἐρημίας τε καὶ ἡσυχίας οὐδὲν μεῖζον καὶ ἀσφαλέστερον τοῖς ἀνοήτοις τῶν ἀνθρώπων πρὸς τὸ μὴ πολλὰ καὶ ἄτοπα διανοεῖσθαί τε καὶ ἁμαρτάνειν.

[20,25] And this sort of thing, in my opinion, is just like wind-begotten products of generation. For they do indeed say that some eggs are produced in this way without the intercourse and impregnation of the male seed, and they are called wind-eggs as if begotten by a gust of wind. And this is the reason, as it seems to me, why even Homer, in the belief that it was not impossible or incredible that a wind-begotten breed of horses should have appeared to men, said that the North Wind, becoming enamoured of some Trojan mares, impregnated them with his seed so that a breed of horses came from them. In like manner, what begins with a mistaken and impossible idea often ends in an accomplished fact. All that I have said follows from that initial digressive remark that the mind should accustom itself to do and think what is essential to it everywhere, even in a perfect din as well as in perfect quiet. Otherwise seclusion and quiet offer no advantage and no greater safeguard, for men who are fools, to keep them from conceiving and committing many strange and wicked deeds.