Aegypius and Neophron
Previous tale: Cragaleus (Tale 4). This page is Tale 5 only. The tale is headed, in the Greek, with its source: Boeus relates it in the first book of his Ornithogonia. Greek and English are given paragraph by paragraph, so each paragraph can be checked against the other. All 41 tales are on the site; see the Antoninus index. Tales 6–41 are Greek only for now.
1
Ἱστορεῖ Βοῖος Ὀρνιθογονίας α΄.
Ἀνθέως τοῦ Νομίονος ἐγένετο παῖς Αἰγυπιός· ᾤκει δὲ παρὰ τὴν ἐσχατιὰν τῆς Θεσσαλίας καὶ αὐτὸν ἐφίλησαν θεοὶ ὁσιότητος ἕνεκα καὶ ἄνθρωποι ὅτι ἦν μεγαλόφρων καὶ δίκαιος.
Boeus relates this in the first book of his Ornithogonia.
Aegypius was the son of Antheus, son of Nomion. He lived near the borderland of Thessaly, and gods loved him for his piety, and men loved him because he was high-minded and just.
2
οὗτος ἰδὼν Τιμάνδρην ἠράσθη· μαθὼν δ' ὅτι ἀνδρὸς ἦν χήρα, πείσας χρήμασιν ἐμίγνυτο φοιτῶν εἰς τὰ ἐκείνης οἰκεῖα.
Seeing Timandra, he fell in love. Learning that she was a widowed wife, he persuaded her with money and lay with her, coming to her house.
3
πρὸς δὲ τοῦτο Νεόφρων ὁ παῖς τῆς Τιμάνδρης χαλεπῶς εἶχε, τῷ Αἰγυπιῷ δ' ἦν ἡλικιώτης, κἀκείνῳ δόλον ἐβούλευε.
Neophron, Timandra's son and Aegypius' contemporary, took it badly and plotted a trick.
4
δοὺς <δ' οὖν> πλεῖστα δῶρα καὶ ἀναπείσας Βουλίδα τὴν Αἰγυπιοῦ μητέρα καὶ ἀγαγὼν εἰς τὰ οἰκεῖα εὐνάζεται σὺν αὐτῇ· προμαθὼν δὲ τὴν ὥραν, ἥν εἰώθει παρὰ Τιμάνδρην ὁ Αἰγυπιὸς φοιτᾶν, τὴν μὲν αὐτοῦ μητέρα καθ' ἥντινα πρόφασιν ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας μετέστησεν, ἀντὶ δ' ἐκείνης τὴν Αἰγυπιοῦ μητέρα παρήγαγεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον ὡς ἐπανήξων πρὸς αὐτὴν καὶ ἀμφοτέρους ἐξηπάτησεν.
Neophron gave many gifts, persuaded Bulis, Aegypius' mother, brought her to his house, and lay with her himself. Then, knowing the hour of Aegypius' usual visit, he removed his own mother, Timandra, on a pretext and put Bulis in her place, as if he were going to return to her, deceiving them both.
5
Αἰγυπιὸς δ' οὐδὲν ἐπιλεξάμενος ὧν εἰς αὐτὸν ἐμηχανᾶτο Νεόφρων μίγνυται τῇ μητρὶ δοκῶν εἶναι Τιμάνδρην· καὶ ἐπεὶ αὐτὸν ὕπνος ἔλαβεν, ἡ Βουλὶς ἔγνω τὸν παῖδα τὸν ἑαυτῆς· καὶ ἀναλαβοῦσα ξίφος ἐβούλευεν ἐκείνου μὲν τὰς ὄψεις ἀφελέσθαι, ἑαυτὴν δὲ κτεῖναι· βουλῇ δ' Ἀπόλλωνος ἀνίησι τὸν Αἰγυπιόν ὁ ὕπνος· ὁ δὲ γνοὺς οἷον ἔργον ἐμηχανήσατο Νεόφρων ἐπ' αὐτῷ καὶ εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀναβλέψας ηὔξατο σὺν ἑαυτῷ πάντα<ς> ἀφανισθῆναι.
Aegypius, noticing nothing, lay with his mother, thinking she was Timandra. When sleep took him, Bulis recognized her son, took a sword, and planned to take his eyes and kill herself. By Apollo's counsel, sleep released Aegypius. Realizing what trick Neophron had played on him, he looked up to heaven and prayed that all of them might vanish together with him.
6
Ζεὺς δὲ μετέβαλεν εἰς ὄρνιθας καὶ ἐγένοντο Αἰγυπιὸς μὲν καὶ Νεόφρων αἰγυπιοὶ ὁμώνυμοι, χρόαν δὲ καὶ μέγεθος οὐχ ὅμοιοι, ἀλλὰ ἐλάττων ὄρνις αἰγυπιὸς ἐγένετο Νεόφρων, ἡ δὲ Βουλὶς ἐγένετο πῶυγξ καὶ αὐτῇ τροφὴν ἔδωκεν ὁ Ζεὺς μηδὲν ἐκ γῆς φυόμενον, ἀλλὰ ἐσθίειν ὀφθαλμοὺς ἰχθύος ἤ ὄρνιθος ἤ ὄφεως, ὅτι ἔμελλεν Αἰγυπιοῦ τοῦ παιδὸς ἀφελέσθαι τὰς ὄψεις· Τιμάνδην δὲ ἐποίησεν αἰγιθαλλόν· καὶ ἐφάνησαν ἐπὶ ταὐτὸν οὐδέποθ' οἱ ὄρνιθες οὗτοι.
Zeus changed them all into birds. Aegypius and Neophron became vultures of the same name, differing in colour and size, Neophron the smaller. Bulis became a poyx, and Zeus gave her as food nothing from the earth, only the eyes of a fish, a bird, or a snake, because she was about to take her son's eyes. Timandra he made an aegithallus. And these birds were never seen together.
Notes
- Draft status: the English here is the first draft as presented, not yet passed through a review file, unlike Tales 1 to 4. Corrections are welcome and will stand.
- Paragraph 2, “a widowed wife”: ἀνδρὸς χήρα is kept as a stated relation, not smoothed to “a widow.”
- Paragraph 3, ἡλικιώτης: “contemporary,” of the same age.
- Paragraph 4, ὡς ἐπανήξων: left literal, “as if he were going to return to her.” Whose return is meant is not spelled out in the Greek.
- Paragraph 4, <δ' οὖν>: an editorial supplement in the source; nothing in the translation rests on it.
- Paragraph 5, “by Apollo's counsel”: the text does not say why Apollo intervenes, and no reason has been supplied.
- Paragraph 5, πάντα<ς>: the ς is supplemented in the source.
- Paragraph 6, the birds: πῶυγξ and αἰγιθαλλός are left transliterated, not assigned to a modern species. The πῶυγξ identification is not secure; the αἰγιθαλλός is a small bird, often identified as a tit or goldfinch.
- Paragraph 6, Bulis' food: eyes only, because she was about to take her son's eyes. No reason is given for Timandra's change, and none has been supplied.
- The shape of the tale: unlike Tales 3 and 4, no god punishes anyone here. Aegypius prays for all of them to vanish, and Zeus answers by transformation.
- Edition check, still open: this Greek text has not yet been checked against a Teubner or critical edition.
Next tale: Periphas (Tale 6). Corrections are welcome via the contact form; please say which paragraph you mean.