Page:The poems of Robert W. Sterling, 1916.djvu/26

 Καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν πατρῷον τάφον ἐτέθη τὸν ἐπὶ τῇ ὁδῷ τῇ κατὰ τὴν Δεκέλειαν φερούσῃ κείμενον πρὸ τοῦ τείχους ἕνδεκα σταδίων.…… καὶ τοῦτον τὸν τόπον ἐπιτετειχικότων Λακεδαιμονίων κατ’ Ἀθηναίων Διόνυσος κατ’ ὄναρ ἐπιστὰς Λυσάνδρῳ ἐκέλευσεν ἐπιτρέψαι τεθῆναι τὸν ἄνδρα εἰς τὸν τάφον· ὡς δ’ ὠλιγώρησεν ὁ Λύσανδρος, δεύτερον αὐτῷ ἐπέστη ὁ Διόνυσος τὸ αὐτὸ κελεύων. ὁ δὲ Λύσανδρος πυνθανόμενος παρὰ τῶν φυγάδων τίς εἴη ὁ τελευτήσας καὶ μαθὼν ὅτι Σοφοκλῆς ὑπάρχει, κήρυκα πέμπψας ἐδίδου θάπτειν τὸν ἄνδρα.

'And he was laid in the tomb of his fathers, that is situated eleven furlongs in front of the wall, on the road leading past Decelea.... Now Decelea had been taken from the Athenians and fortified against them by the Lacedaemonians; to whose general, Lysander, the god Dionysus appeared in a dream, bidding him give leave for the man to be buried in the tomb. When Lysander made light of it, the God appeared a second time with the same behest. Then Lysander inquired from deserters who the dead man was; and learning that it was Sophocles, sent a herald with permission for the burial.' 4