Phoeis preserves from early times the memory of the union between
Orestes and Pylades, who taking a god as witness of the passion
between them, sailed through life together as though in one boat.
Both together put to death Klytemnestra, as though both were sons
of Agamemnon; and Aegisthus was slain by both. Pylades suffered
more than his friend by the punishment which pursued Orestes.
He stood by him when condemned, nor did they limit their tender
friendship by the bounds of Greece, but sailed to the furthest
boundaries of the Scythians-the one sick, the other ministering
to him. When they had come into the Tauric land straightway they
were met by the matricidal fury; and while the barbarians were
standing round in a circle Orestes fell down and lay on the ground,
seized by his usual mania, while Pylades 'wiped away the foam,
tended his body, and covered him with his well-woven cloak' acting
not only like a lover but like a father.
When it was determined that one should remain to be put to death,
and the other should go to Mycenae to convey a letter, each wished
to remain for the sake of the other, thinking that if he saved
the life of his friend he saved his own life. Orestes refused
to take the letter, saying that Pylades was more worthy to carry
it, acting more like the lover than the beloved. "For,"
he said, "the slaying of this man would be a great grief
to me, as I am the cause of these misfortunes." And he added,
"Give the tablet to him for (turning to Pylades) I will send
thee to Argos, in order that it may be well with thee; as for
me, let any one kill me who desires it".
Such love is always like that; for when from boyhood a serious
love has grown up and it becomes adult at the age of reason, the
long-loved object returns reciprocal affection, and it is hard
to determine which is the lover of which, for-as from a mirror-the
affection of the lover is reflected from the beloved.
Source.
From: LUCIAN, The History of Orestes and Pylades
from Amores (Second Century
A.D.), Translated by W. J. BAYLIS
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© Paul Halsall, 1997, 2023
