Letter 132: Dorotheus's absence makes Procopius count the sailing days and mistake others for him.

Procopius of GazaDorotheus, correspondent of Procopius of Gaza|c. 515 AD|Procopius of Gaza|From Gaza, Palaestina Prima|AI-assisted
late antique Greek letters; Dorotheus; voyage; Poseidon; longing; friendship; letter; absence
The letter turns prayer to Poseidon and a mistaken name into evidence of intense friendship.

I would never have expected beforehand how much you would pain me by sailing away, if experience had not taught me. Since you left me behind, I have not stopped traveling with you in thought, marking harbors and sea within myself. Often saying, "Hear me, Poseidon, earth-holder," I asked him to make the sea kindly for you, and I counted the days of the voyage on my fingers.

I was so entirely with you that, when I tried to call someone, I often failed and addressed him as Dorotheus. He laughed; I was pained at my mistake. Perhaps you did not know how much charm you left in me. Often, seeing someone approach from far off, by the gods I thought I saw you, my eyes easily deceived by the desire of my mind. I have only just been freed from the delusion, after receiving a letter from you and healing my love.

AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.

Latin / Greek Original

Δωροθέωι Ὅσον ἐλύπεις ἀπαίρων οὐκ ἂν ἤλπισα προλαβών, εἰ μὴ τὴν πεῖραν ἔσχον διδάσκαλον. ἐξ οὗ γὰρ ἡμᾶς ᾤχου καταλιπών, οὐκ ἐπαυσάμην μετὰ σοῦ τῇ διανοίᾳ περινοστῶν καὶ λιμένας καὶ θάλατταν διαγράφων ἐν ἑαυτῷ. καὶ "κλῦθι, Ποσείδαον γαιήοχε" πολλάκις εἰπὼν ἠξίουν εὐμενῆ σοι παρέχειν τὴν θάλατταν, καὶ τοῦ πλοῦ τὰς ἡμέρας ἐπὶ τῶν δακτύλων ἐτίθουν, καὶ οὕτως ὅλος ἐτύγχανον παρὰ σοί, ὡς καὶ καλέσαι τινὰ πειραθεὶς ἔλαθον πολλάκις Δωρόθεον προσειπών. καὶ ὁ μὲν ἐγέλα, ἐγὼ δὲ διαμαρτάνων ἠχθόμην. σὺ δὲ ἴσως, ἠγνόεις ὁπόσον ἡμῖν ἐναπέθου φίλτρον. πολλάκις δὲ προσιόντα τινὰ πόρρωθεν θεασάμενος, σέ, μὰ τοὺς θεούς, ἐδόκουν ὁρᾶν, πρὸς τὸ τῆς διανοίας βούλημα τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ῥᾳδίως ἀπατωμένων. τῆς δὲ πλάνης μόλις ἀπήλλαγμαι, γράμματα δεξάμενος παρὰ σοῦ καὶ θεραπεύσας τὸν ἔρωτα.

Revision history

  1. 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import

    Initial corpus import from modern procopius gaza batch8 matia greek v1.

    Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://www.matia.gr/pisth/pdf/pg_migne/Procopius_of_Gaza_PG_87a-87c/Epistulae.pdf

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