Gnomic Epigrams 255Übrisqeòß par1 tinoß moico ̄ kaò pörnoy,
meqysto ̄, kl6ptoy kaò ve7stoy kaò óon6zß
però t0n aJt/ symbebhkötzn Çóhº
™gâ mên oJk aÉtioß t0n symbam1tznº
oJ g2r q6lzn p6óyka toio ̄toß Ýlzߺ
sá dê t0n sayto ̄ para5tioß ptaism1tznº
Óper g2r oJk Çlabeß par2 to ̄ pl1stoy,
ta ̄ta kaò poie¦ß kaò ó6reiß kaò bast1feiß.
“A man bald, dumb, and with only one hand, short, swarthy, and with a
speech impediment, bowed legged and with crossed eyes, when he was insulted
by a certain adulterer and fornicator, drunk, thief, liar, and murderer,
remarked on the accidents of fortune: “I am not responsible for my mishaps,
for in no way did I want to be like this. But you are to blame for your
shortcomings, for the things you did not get from the creator are the very
things you do and bear and cling to”^36. In a postscript to his edition Krum-
bacher published some comments by Kurtz, one of which reads: “S. 360, 93 ff.:
Offenbar Aesop”. Anyone familiar with the Life of Aesop, a text that was
extremely popular throughout the Middle Ages, will immediately understand
that Kurtz was right: the ugly but clever person whom Kassia describes is most
certainly none other than the famous Aesop^37. True enough, the story told by
Kassia is recorded nowhere else, but it is very similar to a number of anecdotic
tales about Aesop we find in the Life of Aesop and other sources. For instance,
in the Life of Aesop the hero tells the inhabitants of Samos who jeer at him
because of his ugliness, that it is not his fault that he was born ugly and that
they should consider not his appearance, but his prudent counsels. In the
Apophthegms of Aesop we read: “When he was mocked for his deformities he
said: “Do not mind my looks, but look at my mind” (m8 moy tñ e¾doß, äll\ eœß tñn
no ̄n prösece – a Byzantine dodecasyllable). And one of the metrical Sayings of
Aesop has this to say: “Whoever laughs at a disfigurement, is a disgrace
himself; for it is not a flaw of character, but a fault of fortune”^38. Whereas in
the Life of Aesop the people laughing at him are respectable citizens, Kassia
portrays the crook who makes fun of Aesop as a “fornicator, drunk, thief, liar
and murderer”, a person who is hideous not because of his outward appear-
ance, but on account of his evil nature. He alone is to blame for his horrible
sins, for God created him, like the rest of mankind, in His image and likeness
(^36) KRUMBACHER 1897a: 360–361 (A 93–103). Translation of vv. 1–5: TRIPOLITIS 1992: 117.
(^37) See, for instance, the prologue to version G of the Life of Aesop edited by PERRY 1952:
34.
(^38) Life and Apophthegms: ed. PERRY 1952: 62–63 and 248. Sayings: ed. MAAS 1903: 306 and
ODORICO 1986: 190 (G 640).