Name: On Virtue: Second Lesson (Visions)
Author: Zosimus of Panopolis

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On Virtue: Second Lesson (Visions) continues the dream visions of Zosimus of Panopolis, the Egyptian alchemist active around AD 300. Longing to climb seven steps and see seven punishments, Zosimus loses his way and falls asleep. In his dream a little barber in a red robe leads him on and is himself thrown into the fire and consumed, and a very white-haired old man named Agathodaimon appears. Waking, Zosimus concludes that the vision concerns the composition of liquids.

The second lesson develops the allegory of the first, with the 'copper man' and the burning of bodies standing for stages of the chemical work. Its dream narrative, strange figures and closing interpretations make it one of the most vivid pieces of ancient alchemical literature.

About this edition. The Greek text comes from the Eulogikon open corpus of public-domain editions (standard reference: CAAG II 115–117 (III.v)). Every word has been analyzed with odyCy, a neural language model for Ancient Greek — click or tap any word for its dictionary form, part of speech, and complete morphology, together with the full entry from the Liddell–Scott–Jones Greek–English Lexicon (LSJ).

Ancient Greek · Science & Medicine

On Virtue: Second Lesson (Visions)

Zosimus of Panopolis · every word parsed

2.116
ΖΩΣΙΜΟΥ ΠΡΑΞΙΣ Β Μόλις ποτὲ εἰς ἐπιθυμίαν ἐλθὼν τοῦ ἀναβῆναι τὰς ἑπτὰ κλί μακας καὶ θεάσασθαι τὰς ἑπτὰ κολάσεις, καὶ δὴ ὡς ἔχει ἐν μιᾷ τῶν ἡμερῶν, ἤνυσα τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ ἀναβῆναι. Διελθὼν δὲ πολλάκις ἀνῆλθον ἔπειτα εἰς τὴν ὁδόν. Καὶ δὴ ἐν τῷ ἐπανέρχεσθαί με ἀπέτυχον πάσης ὁδοῦ, καὶ ἐν ἀθυμίᾳ πολλῇ γενόμενον, μὴ ἰδόντος μου πόθεν ἀπελθεῖν, . 
2.116·2
ἐτράπην εἰς ὕπνον. Καὶ θεωρῶ κατὰ τὸν ὕπνον μου ξυρουργόν τινα ἀνθρωπάριον ἠμφιεσμένον στολὴν ἐρυθρὰν, καὶ βασιλικὴν ἐσθῆτα, κα ἱστάμενον ἔξω τῶν κολάσεων, καὶ λέγει μοι· «Τί ποιεῖς, ἄνθρωπε;» Ἐγὼ δὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔφην· «Ἵσταμαι ὧδε ὅτι πάσης ὁδοῦ ἀστοχήσας ὑπάρχω πλανώμενος.» Ὁ δὲ λέγει μοι· «Ἀκολούθει μοι.» Ἐγὼ δὲ ἐξελθὼν ἠκολούθουν αὐτῷ· πλησίον δὲ γενομένων τῶν κολάσεων, θεωρῶ τὸν ὁδηγοῦντα με, ἐκεῖνον ξυρουργὸν ἀνθρωπάριον· καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐνεβλήθη ἐν τῇ κολάσει, καὶ ὅλον αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα ἐδαπανήθη ὑπὸ τοῦ πυρός. 
2.116·3
Ἰδὼν ἐγὼ ἐξέστην καὶ ἐτρόμαξα ἀπὸ τοῦ φόβου, καὶ διυπνίσθην, καὶ λέγω ἐν ἑαυτῷ· «Ἆρα τί ἐστι τὸ ὁρώμενον;» καὶ πάλιν διεσάφησα τὸν λόγον, καὶ διακρίνων ὅτι ὁ ξυρουργὸς ἐκεῖνος ἄνθρωπος ὁ χαλκάνθρωπός ἐστιν, [ἔχων] ἐσθῆτα ἐρυθρὰν ἐνδεδυμένος, καὶ εἶπον· «Καλῶς ἐπενόησα, οὗτος ἐστιν ὁ χαλκάνθρωπος· δεῖ δὲ πρῶτον ἐμβα λεῖν αὐτὸν εἰς τὰς κολάσεις.» Πάλιν ἐπεθύμησεν ἡ ψυχή μου τοῦ ἀναβῆναι καὶ τὴν τρίτην κλίμακα. Καὶ πάλιν μόνος τὴν ὁδὸν ἐπορευόμην, καὶ ὡς ἐγενόμην τῶν κολάσεων πλησίον, πάλιν ἐπλανήθην, μὴ εἰδὼς τὴν ὁδὸν, ἱστάμενος, ἀπονενοημένος. Καὶ πάλιν τῷ ὁμοίῳ τρόπῳ θεωρῶ πεπολιωμένον γηραιὸν λευκὸν πάνυ, ὥστε ἐκ τῆς πολλῆς λευκότητος αὐτοῦ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ἀπεμαυρώθησαν. Τὸ δὲ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐκαλεῖτο Ἀγαθοδαίμω ν . Καὶ στραφεὶς ὁ πεπολιωμένος ἐκεῖνος θεωρεῖ με ἐπὶ πλείστην ὥραν. 
2.117
Ἐγὼ δὲ τοῦτον ἐπεμελούμην· «Δεῖξόν μοι εὐθεῖαν ὁδόν.» Ὁ δὲ πρὸς . 
2.117·2
μὲ οὐκ ἀνεστράφη, ἀλλʼ ἤνυσεν τὴν ὁδὸν αὑτοῦ σπουδαίως· καὶ διερχόμενος δὲ ἔνθεν κἀκεῖθεν ἤνυον σπουδαίως τὸν βωμόν. Ὡς οὖν ἤνυσα ἄνω ἐπὶ τοῦ βωμοῦ, θεωρῶ τὸν πεπολιωμένον γηραιὸν, καὶ ἐνεβλήθη ἐν τῇ κολάσει. Ὦ οὐρανίων φύσεων δημιουργοὶ, εὐθὺς ὅλος ὑπὸ τῆς φλογὸς πυρίφλεκτος γέγονεν· ὃν καὶ τὸ διήγημα, ἀδελφοὶ, φρικτόν· ἐκ γὰρ τῆς πολλῆς βίας τῆς κολάσεως οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῦ πλήρεις αἵματος γεγόνασιν. Ἐπηρώτησα δὲ λέγων αὐτὸν· «Τί ἐνταῦθα κατάκεισαι;» Ὁ δὲ μόλις ἀνοίξας τὸ στόμα αὑτοῦ ἔφη μοι· «Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ μολυβδάνθρωπος καὶ βίαν ὑπομένω ἀφόρητον.» Καὶ οὕτως ἐκ τοῦ πολλοῦ φόβου διυπνίσθην, καὶ ἐν ἐμοὶ τὴν αἰτίαν ἠρεύνων τοῦ πράγματος. Καὶ πάλιν διέκρινα καθʼ ἑαυτὸν καὶ εἶπον· «Καλῶς ἐπενόησα ὅτι οὕτως δὴ ἐκβαλεῖν τὸν μόλυβδον, καὶ ἀληθῶς τὸ ὅραμά ἐστιν περὶ τῆς συνθέσεως τῶν ὑγρῶν.» 

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Text: Perseus Digital Library, licensed CC BY-SA. Dictionary: Liddell, Scott & Jones (Perseus, CC BY-SA). Morphology: odyCy — machine parsing, corrected against the AGDT & PROIEL treebanks and Morpheus.