Xenophon of Ephesus, An Ephesian Tale 1.1.3 · 1.1.3
Ephesus treats him like a god
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Ἦν δὲ περισπούδαστος ἅπασιν Ἐφεσίοις, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς τὴν ἄλλην Ἀσίαν οἰκοῦσι, καὶ μεγάλας εἶχον ἐν αὐτῷ τὰς ἐλπίδας ὅτι πολίτης ἔσοιτο διαφέρων. Προσεῖχον δὲ ὡς θεῷ τῷ μειρακίῳ· καί εἰσιν ἤδη τινὲς οἳ καὶ προσεκύνησαν ἰδόντες καὶ προσεύξαντο.
All the Ephesians courted him, and so did the people of the rest of Asia, and they had great hopes that he would be an outstanding citizen. They treated the youth like a god; there are some who have already bowed down to him at the sight of him, and prayed to him.
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The setting
Book 1, chapter 1. What the city expects of Lycomedes' son.
A note on this passage
προσκυνέω is the gesture of worship: a bow, or falling to the ground, before a god or a king. Greeks thought it wrong to give it to a living man, which is why the detail matters here. The Ephesians give Habrocomes honors that belong to a god. Greek myth punishes mortals who rival the gods: Niobe boasted that she had borne more children than Leto, and lost them all (Iliad 24.602–609).
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