Only a few lines remain of this informal talk. When the Muses dance on Helicon, everything rings with sound: the cicada sings and recalls the tale that it was once a man who sang always, while nightingales, swallows and swans dance about the goddesses.
Himerius the Sophist Declamations and Orations: Oration 22 (Informal Talk) in Greek in PDF
Himerius the Sophist Declamations and Orations: Oration 22 (Informal Talk) in Greek in MD
Part of Declamations and Orations
Λαλιά.
Ὅταν αἱ Μοῦσαι καθʼ Ἑλικῶνα χορεύωσι, πάντα μοι ἠχῆς ἐμπίμπλανται. ἠχεῖ μὲν τέττιξ, καὶ ἀναμιμνήσκει τὸν μῦθον τῷ μέλει, ὅτι ἐγώ, φησίν, ὢν ἄνθρωπος ᾖδον ἀεί, καὶ ἐπειδὴ τὴν φύσιν ἤμειψα, οὐ συναφῆκα τῷ βίῳ τὸν πόθον. ἀηδόνων δὲ καὶ χελιδόνων γένη, ἔτι δὲ κύκνων ἀγέλαι, περὶ τὰς θεὰς χορεύουσιν.
