Deipnosophistae
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Original / primary: Perseus Eng2
13.1
Come now, O Erato, and tell me truly
13.3
Yet what a race! ere Greece to Ilion came,
13.3
The pledge of many a loved and loving dame.
13.3
Nineteen one mother bore—dead, all are dead!
13.3
'Tis thine, whate'er the warrior's breast inflames,
13.3
The golden spoil, and thine the lovely dames;
13.3
With all the wealth our wars and blood bestow,
13.3
Thy tents are crowded and thy chests o'erflow.
13.6
By Jove, we are not painted with vermilion,
13.6
Nor with dark mulberry juice, as you are often:
13.6
And then, if in the summer you go out,
13.6
Two rivulets of dark discoloured hue
13.6
Flow from your eyes, and sweat drops from your jaws,
13.6
And makes a scarlet furrow down your neck;
13.6
And the light hair, which wantons o'er your face,
13.6
Seems grey, so thickly is it plastered over.
13.6
The man whoe'er has loved a courtesan,
13.6
Will say that no more lawless worthless race
13.6
Can anywhere be found: for what ferocious
13.6
Unsociable she-dragon, what Chimæra,
13.6
Though it breathe fire from its mouth, what Charybdis,
13.6
What three-headed Scylla, dog o' the sea,
13.6
Or hydra, sphinx, or raging lioness,
13.6
Or viper, or winged harpy (greedy race),
13.6
Could go beyond those most accursed harlots?
13.6
There is no monster greater. They alone
13.6
Surpass all other evils put together.
13.6
And let us now consider them in order:—
13.6
First there is Plangon; she, like a chimera,
13.6
Scorches the wretched barbarians with fire;
13.6
One knight alone was found to rid the world of her,
13.6
Who, like a brave man, stole her furniture
13.6
And fled, and she despairing, disappear'd.
13.6
Then for Sinope's friends, may I not say
13.6
That 'tis a hydra they cohabit with?
13.6
For she is old: but near her age, and like her,
13.6
Greedy Gnathæna flaunts, a twofold evil.
13.6
And as for Nannion, in what, I pray,
13.6
Does she from Scylla differ? Has she not
13.6
Already swallow'd up two lovers, and
13.6
Open'd her greedy jaws t' enfold a third?
13.6
But he with prosp'rous oar escaped the gulf. '
13.6
Then does not Phryne beat Charybdis hollow?
13.6
Who swallows the sea-captains, ship and all.
13.6
Is not Theano a mere Siren pluck'd?
13.6
Their face and voice are woman's, but their legs
13.6
Are feather'd like a blackbird's. Take the lot,
13.6
'Tis not too much to call them Theban Sphinxes.
13.6
For they speak nothing plain, but only riddles;
13.6
And in enigmas tell their victims how
13.6
They love and dote, and long to be caress'd.
13.6
Would that I had a quadruped, says one,
13.6
That may serve for a bed or easy chair.
13.6
Would that I had a tripod—Or a biped,
13.6
That is, a handmaid. And the hapless fool
13.6
Who understands these hints, like Œdipus,
13.6
If saved at all is saved against his will.
13.6
But they who do believe they're really loved
13.6
Are much elated, and raise their heads to heaven.
13.6
And in a word, of all the beasts on earth
13.6
The direst and most treacherous is a harlot.
13.7
All liberty of life, all luxury,
13.7
And live as slaves of women, not as freemen.
13.7
We say we have a dowry; do we not
13.7
Endure the penalty, full of female bile,
13.7
Compared to which the bile of man's pure honey?
13.7
For men, though injured, pardon: but the women
13.7
First injure us, and then reproach us more;
13.7
They rule those whom they should not; those they should
13.7
They constantly neglect. They falsely swear;
13.7
They have no single hardship, no disease;
13.7
And yet they are complaining without end.
13.7
Are then the grasshoppers not happy, say you?
13.7
When they have wives who cannot speak a word.
13.7
O Jupiter, how soft and bland an eye
13.7
The lady has! 'Tis not for nothing we
13.7
Behold the temple of Hetæra here;
13.7
But there is not one temple to a wife
13.7
Throughout the whole of Greece.
13.7
Is not a courtesan much more good-humour'd
13.7
Than any wedded wife? No doubt she is,
13.7
And 'tis but natural; for she, by law,
13.7
Thinks she's a right to sulk and stay at home:
13.7
But well the other knows that 'tis her manners
13.7
By which alone she can retain her friends;
13.7
And if they fail, she must seek out some others.
13.8
May that man, fool as he is, who marries
13.8
A second wife, most miserably perish;
13.8
Him who weds one, I will not blame too much,
13.8
For he knew little of the ills he courted.
13.8
But well the widower had proved all
13.8
The ills which are in wedlock and in wives.
13.8
O holy Jove, may I be quite undone,
13.8
If e'er I say a word against the women,
13.8
The choicest of all creatures. And suppose
13.8
Medea was a termagant,—what then?
13.8
Was not Penelope a noble creature?
13.8
If one should say, Just think of Clytæmnestra,
13.8
I meet him with Alcestis chaste and true.
13.8
Perhaps he'll turn and say no good of Phædra;
13.8
But think of virtuous . . . . who?. . . . Alas, alas!
13.8
I cannot recollect another good one,
13.8
Though I could still count bad ones up by scores.
13.8
May he be quite undone, he well deserves it,
13.8
Who dares to marry any second wife;
13.8
A man who marries once may be excused;
13.8
Not knowing what misfortune he was seeking.
13.8
But he who, once escaped, then tries another,
13.8
With his eyes open seeks for misery.
13.8
A. He's married now.
13.8
B. How say you? do you mean
13.8
He's really gone and married-when I left him,
13.8
Alive and well, possess'd of all his senses?
13.8
A. You will not marry if you're in your senses
13.8
When you have left this life. For I myself
13.8
Did marry; so I recommend you not to.
13.8
B. The matter is decided—the die is cast.
13.8
A. Go on then. I do wish you then well over it;
13.8
But you are taking arms, with no good reason,
13.8
Against a sea of troubles. In the waves
13.8
Of the deep Libyan or Aegean sea
13.8
Scarce three of thirty ships are lost or wreck'd;
13.8
But scarcely one poor husband 'scapes at all.
13.8
Oh, may the man be totally undone
13.8
Who was the first to venture on a wife;
13.8
And then the next who follow'd his example;
13.8
And then the third, and fourth, and all who followed.
13.8
O Jupiter, why need one waste one's words
13.8
In speaking ill of women? for what worse
13.8
Can he add, when he once has call'd them women?
13.9
A young wife suits not with an aged husband;
13.9
For she will not obey the pilot's helm
13.9
Like a well-managed boat; nor can the anchor
13.9
Hold her securely in her port, but oft
13.9
She breaks her chains and cables in the night,
13.9
And headlong drives into another harbour.
13.9
A young wife does not suit an old man well;
13.9
For, like a crazy boat, she not at all
13.9
Answers the helm, but slips her cable off
13.9
By night, and in some other port is found.
13.11
Love, who is wisdom's pupil gay,
13.11
To virtue often leads the way:
13.11
And this great god
13.11
Is of all others far the best for man;
13.11
For with his gentle nod
13.11
He bids them hope, and banishes all pain.
13.11
May I be ne'er mixed up with those who scorn
13.11
To own his power, and live forlorn,
13.11
Cherishing habits all uncouth.
13.11
I bid the youth
13.11
Of my dear country ne'er to flee from Love,
13.11
But welcome him, and willing subjects prove.
13.11
Let it be my fate always to love,
13.11
And to obey Love's will in proper season.
13.11
But you, O mighty Love, of gods and men
13.11
The sovereign ruler, either bid what's fair
13.11
To seem no longer fair; or else bring aid
13.11
To hapless lovers whom you've caused to love,
13.11
And aid the labours you yourself have prompted.
13.11
If you do this, the gods will honour you;
13.11
But if you keep aloof, you will not even
13.11
Retain the gratitude which now they feel
13.11
For having learnt of you the way to love.
13.13
As I was coming from Piræus lately,
13.13
In great perplexity and sad distress,
13.13
I fell to thoughts of deep philosophy.
13.13
And first I thought that all the painters seem
13.13
Ignorant of the real nature of Love;
13.13
And so do all the other artists too,
13.13
Whoe'er make statues of this deity:,
13.13
For he is neither male nor female either;
13.13
Again, he is not God, nor yet is he man:
13.13
He is not foolish, nor yet is he wise;
13.13
But he's made up of all kinds of quality,
13.13
And underneath one form bears many natures.
13.13
His courage is a man's; his cowardice
13.13
A very woman's. Then his folly is
13.13
Pure madness, but his wisdom a philosopher's;
13.13
His vehemence is that of a wild beast,
13.13
But his endurance is like adamant;
13.13
His jealousy equals any other god's.
13.13
And I, indeed,—by all the gods I swear,—
13.13
Do not myself precisely understand him;
13.13
But still he much resembles my description,
13.13
Excepting in the name.
13.13
What man was he, what modeller or painter,
13.13
Who first did represent young Love as wing'd?
13.13
He was a man fit only to draw swallows,
13.13
Quite ignorant of the character of the god.
13.13
For he's not light, nor easy for a man
13.13
Who's once by him been master'd, to shake off
13.13
But he's a heavy and tenacious master.
13.13
How, then, can he be spoken of as wing'd?
13.13
The man's a fool who such a thing could say.
13.13
For this opinion is by all the Sophists
13.13
Embraced, that Love is not a winged god;
13.13
But that the winged parties are the lovers,
13.13
And that he falsely bears this imputation:
13.13
So that it is out of pure ignorance
13.13
That painters clothe this deity with wings.
13.14
As wine adapts itself to the constitution
13.14
Of those who drink it, so likewise does Love
13.14
Who, when he's moderately worshipp'd,
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Is mild and manageable; but if loosed
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From moderation, then is fierce and troublesome.
13.14
For he doth bend a double bow of beauty,
13.14
And sometimes men to fortune leads,
13.14
But sometimes overwhelms their lives
13.14
With trouble and confusion.
13.14
Who would not say that those who love alone
13.14
Deserve to be consider'd living men?
13.14
For first of all they must be skilful soldiers,
13.14
And able to endure great toil of body,
13.14
And to stick close to th' objects of their love :
13.14
They must be active, and inventive too,
13.14
Eager, and fertile in expedients,
13.14
And prompt to see their way in difficulties.
13.14
Who says that lovers are devoid of sense?
13.14
He is himself no better than a fool:
13.14
For if you take away from life its pleasures,
13.14
You leave it nothing but impending death.
13.14
And I myself am now indeed in love
13.14
With a fair maiden playing on the harp;
13.14
And tell me, pray, am I a fool for that.
13.14
She's fair, she's tall, she's skilful in her art;
13.14
And I'm more glad when I see her, than you
13.14
When you divide your salaries among you.
13.14
Now, is not Love deservedly cast out
13.14
From his place among the twelve immortal gods?
13.14
For he did sow the seeds of great confusion,
13.14
And quarrels dire, among that heavenly ban
13.14
When he was one of them. And, as he was
13.14
Bold and impertinent, they clipp'd his wing
13.14
That he might never soar again to heaven;
13.14
And then they banished him to us below;
13.14
And for the wings which he did boast before
13.14
Them they did give to Victory, a spoil
13.14
Well won, and splendid, from her enemy.
13.14
What say'st thou?—dost thou think that all your words
13.14
Could e'er persuade me that that man's a lover
13.14
Who falls in love with a girl's manners only
13.14
And never thinks what kind of face she's got?
13.14
I call him mad; nor can I e'er believe
13.14
That a poor man, who often sees a rich one,
13.14
Forbears to covet some of his great riches.
13.14
The man who falls in love with beauty's flower,
13.14
And taketh heed of nothing else, may be
13.14
A lover of pleasure, but not of his love;
13.14
And he does openly disparage Love,
13.14
And causes him to be suspect to others.
13.15
Listen, you Stoiclings, traffickers in nonsense
13.15
Punners on words,—gluttons, who by yours
13.15
Eat up the whole of what is in the dishes,
13.15
And give no single bit to a philosopher.
13.15
Besides, you are most clearly proved to do
13.15
All that is contrary to those professions
13.15
Which you so pompously parade abroad,
13.15
Hunting for beauty;—
13.15
Great was thy aim, and mighty is the prize.
13.16
No boy, no maid with golden ornaments,
13.16
No woman with a deep and ample robe,
13.16
Is so much beautiful as modest; for
13.16
'Tis modesty that gives the bloom to beauty.
13.16
And in his eyes the charm which love compels
13.16
Shines forth a light, embellishing his face:
13.16
He glows himself, and he makes me glow too,
13.16
Measuring my eyes with his,—as any builder
13.16
Makes his work correspond to his careful rule.
13.17
But Somnus much delighted
13.17
In the bright beams which shot from his eyes,
13.17
And lull'd the youth to sleep with unclosed lids.
13.17
Stand opposite, my love,
13.17
And open upon me
13.17
The beauteous grace which from your eyes doth flow.
13.17
Oh, boy, as maiden fair,
13.17
I fix my heart on you;
13.17
But you despise my prayer,
13.17
And little care that you do hold the reins
13.17
Which my soul's course incessantly do guide.
13.17
The man who gazes on the brilliant rays
13.17
Which shoot from th' eyes
13.17
Of beautiful Theoxenus, and yet can feel his heart
13.17
Unmoved within his breast, nor yields to love,
13.17
Must have a heart
13.17
Black, and composed of adamant or iron.
13.17
O Galatea,
13.17
Nymph with the beauteous face and golden hair,
13.17
Whose voice the Graces tune,
13.17
True flower of love, my beauteous Galatea.
13.17
Beauteous Euryalus, of all the Graces
13.17
The choicest branch,—object of love to all
13.17
The fair hair'd maidens,—sure the soft-eyed goddess,
13.17
The Cyprian queen, and soft Persuasion
13.17
Combin'd to nourish you on beds of roses.
13.17
The light of love shines in his purple cheeks.
13.18
Do you see any man whose beard has been
13.18
Removed by sharp pitch-plasters or by razors?
13.18
In one of these two ways he may be spoken of:
13.18
Either he seems to me to think of war,
13.18
And so to be rehearsing acts of fierce
13.18
Hostility against his beard and chin;
13.18
Or else he's some complaint of wealthy men.
13.18
For how, I pray you, do your beards annoy you?—
13.18
Beards by which best you may be known as men?
13.18
Unless, indeed, you're planning now some deed
13.18
Unworthy of the character of men.
13.19
Thin, starved philosophers, as dry as leather,
13.20
Her very mien is worthy of a kingdom.
13.20
They cried, "No wonder such celestial charms
13.20
For nine long years have set the world in arms;—
13.20
What winning graces! what majestic mien!
13.20
She moves a goddess, and she looks a queen."
13.20
Say, what Greek is he
13.20
Around whose brow such martial graces shine,—
13.20
So tall, so awful, and almost divine?
13.20
Though some of larger stature tread the green,
13.20
None match his grandeur and exalted mien.
13.20
The matchless Ganymede, divinely fair,
13.20
Whom Heaven, enamour'd, snatch'd to upper air.
13.21
I came to Corinth; there I ate with pleasure
13.21
Some herb called basil (ocimum), and was ruined by it;
13.21
And also, trifling there, I lost my cloak.
13.22
There is a courtesan. . . . .
13.22
. . . who is a positive
13.22
Calamity and ruin to her keeper;
13.22
And yet he's glad at nourishing such a pest.
13.22
But I, unhappy man, who first loved Phryne
13.22
When she was but a gatherer of capers,
13.22
And was not quite as rich as now she is,—
13.22
I who such sums of money spent upon her,
13.22
Am now excluded from her doors.
13.22
And round the wretched man old women sleep,
13.22
Nannium and Plangon, Lyca, Phryne too,
13.22
Gnathæna, Pythionica, Myrrhina,
13.22
Chrysis, Conallis, Hieroclea, and
13.22
Lapadium also.
13.22
Wealth truly seems to me to be quite blind,
13.22
Since he ne'er ventures near this woman's doors,
13.22
But haunts Sinope, Nannium, and Lyca,
13.22
And others like them, traps of men's existence,
13.22
And in their houses sits like one amazed,
13.22
And ne'er departs.
13.23
For, first of all, to earn themselves much gain,
13.23
And better to plunder all the neighbouring men,
13.23
They use a heap of adventitious aids—
13.23
They plot to take in every one. And when,
13.23
By subtle artifice, they've made some money,
13.23
They enlist fresh girls, and add recruits, who ne'er
13.23
Have tried the trade, unto their cunning troop,
13.23
And drill them so that they are very soon
13.23
Different in manners, and in look, and semblance
13.23
From all they were before. Suppose one's short—
13.23
They put cork soles within the heels of her shoes:
13.23
Is any one too tall—she wears a slipper
13.23
Of thinnest substance, and, with head depress'd
13.23
Between the shoulders, walks the public streets,
13.23
And so takes off from her superfluous height.
13.23
Is any one too lean about the flank—
13.23
They hoop her with a bustle, so that all
13.23
Who see her marvel at her fair proportions.
13.23
Has any one too prominent a stomach—
13.23
They crown it with false breasts, such as perchance
13.23
At times you may in comic actors see;
13.23
And what is still too prominent, they force
13.23
Back, ramming it as if with scaffolding.
13.23
Has any one red eyebrows—those they smear
13.23
With soot. Has any one a dark complexion—
13.23
White-lead will that correct. This girl's too fair—
13.23
They rub her well with rich vermilion.
13.23
Is she a splendid figure—then her charms
13.23
Are shown in naked beauty to the purchaser.
13.23
Has she good teeth-then she is forced to laugh,
13.23
That all the bystanders may see her mouth,
13.23
How beautiful it is; and if she be
13.23
But ill-inclined to laugh, then she is kept
13.23
Close within doors whole days, and all the things
13.23
Which cooks keep by them when they sell goats' heads,
13.23
Such as a stick of myrrh, she's forced to keep
13.23
Between her lips, till they have learnt the shape
13.23
Of the required grin. And by such arts
13.23
They make their charms and persons up for market.
13.24
Thrifty decoys, who gather in the money,—
13.24
Fillies well-train'd of Venus, standing naked
13.24
In long array, clad in transparent robes
13.24
Of thinnest web, like the fair damsels whom
13.24
Eridanus waters with his holy stream;
13.24
From whom, with safety and frugality,
13.24
You may buy pleasure at a moderate cost.
13.24
For he who secretly goes hunting for
13.24
Illicit love, must surely of all men
13.24
Most miserable be; and yet he may
13.24
See in the light of the sun a willing row
13.24
Of naked damsels, standing all array'd
13.24
In robes transparent, like the damsels whom
13.24
Eridanus waters with his holy stream,
13.24
And buy some pleasure at a trifling rate,
13.24
Without pursuing joys he 's bound to hide,
13.24
(There is no heavier calamity,)
13.24
Just out of wantonness and not for love.
13.24
I do bewail the fate of hapless Greece,
13.24
Which sent forth such an admiral as Cydias.
13.24
It is a terrible, yes a terrible and
13.24
Intolerable evil, what the young
13.24
Men do throughout this city. For although
13.24
There are most beauteous damsels in the brothels,
13.24
Which any man may see standing all willing
13.24
In the full light of day, with open bosoms,
13.24
Showing their naked charms, all of a row,
13.24
Marshall'd in order; and though they may choose
13.24
Without the slightest trouble, as they fancy,
13.24
Thin, stout, or round, tall, wrinkled, or smooth-faced,
13.24
Young, old, or middle-aged, or elderly,
13.24
So that they need not clamber up a ladder,
13.24
Nor steal through windows out of free men's houses,
13.24
Nor smuggle themselves in in bags of chaff;
13.24
For these gay girls will ravish you by force,
13.24
And drag you in to them; if old, they'll call you
13.24
Their dear papa; if young, their darling baby:
13.24
And these a man may fearlessly and cheaply
13.24
Amuse himself with, morning, noon, or night,
13.24
And any way he pleases; but the others
13.24
He dares not gaze on openly nor look at,
13.24
But, fearing, trembling, shivering, with his heart,
13.24
As men say, in his mouth, he creeps towards them.
13.24
And how can they, O sea-born mistress mine,
13.24
Immortal Venus! act as well they ought,
13.24
E'en when they have the opportunity,
13.24
If any thought of Draco's laws comes o'er them?
13.25
But you did well for every man, O Solon;
13.25
For they do say you were the first to see
13.25
The justice of a public-spirited measure,
13.25
The saviour of the state—(and it is fit
13.25
For me to utter this avowal, Solon);—
13.25
You, seeing that the state was full of men,
13.25
Young, and possess'd of all the natural appetites,
13.25
And wandering in their lusts where they'd no business,
13.25
Bought women, and in certain spots did place them,
13.25
Common to be, and ready for all comers.
13.25
They naked stand: look well at them, my youth,—
13.25
Do not deceive yourself; a'nt you well off
13.25
You're ready, so are they: the door is open—
13.25
The price an obol: enter straight—there is
13.25
No nonsense here, no cheat or trickery;
13.25
But do just what you like, and how you like.
13.25
You're off: wish her good-bye; she 's no more claim on you.
13.25
For some young men, drunk with the cottabus
13.25
Going to Megara, carry off by stealth
13.25
A harlot named Simætha. Then the citizens
13.25
Of Megara, full of grief and indignation,
13.25
Stole in return two of Aspasia's girls;
13.25
And this was the beginning of the war
13.25
Which devastated Greece, for three lewd women.
13.26
You may see other damsels play the flute,
13.26
All playing th' air of Phœbus, or of Jove;
13.26
But these play no air save the air of the hawk,
13.26
But this fair Lais is both drunk and lazy,
13.26
And cares for nothing, save what she may eat
13.26
And drink all day. And she, as I do think,
13.26
Has the same fate the eagles have; for they,
13.26
When they are young, down from the mountains stoop,
13.26
Ravage the flocks and eat the timid hares,
13.26
Bearing their prey aloft with fearful might.
13.26
But when they're old, on temple tops they perch,
13.26
Hungry and helpless; and the soothsayers
13.26
Turn such a sight into a prodigy.
13.26
And so might Lais well be thought an omen;
13.26
For when she was a maiden, young and fresh,
13.26
She was quite savage with her wondrous riches;
13.26
And you might easier get access to
13.26
The satrap Pharnabazus. But at present,
13.26
Now that she 's more advanced in years, and age
13.26
Has meddled with her body's round proportions,
13.26
'Tis easy both to see her and to scorn her.
13.26
Now she runs everywhere to get some drink;
13.26
She'll take a stater—aye, or a triobolus;
13.26
She will admit you, young or old; and is
13.26
Become so tame, so utterly subdued,
13.26
That she will take the money from your hand.
13.26
A. You know Corinthian Lais?
13.26
B. To be sure;
13.26
My countrywoman.
13.26
A. Well, she had a friend,
13.26
By name Anthea.
13.26
B. Yes; I knew her well.
13.26
A. Well, in those days Lagisca was in beauty;
13.26
Theolyta, too, was wondrous fair to see,
13.26
And seemed likely to be fairer still;
13.26
And Ocimon was beautiful as any.
13.27
Now you are old, reform those ways of yours;
13.27
Know you not that 'tis hardly well to die
13.27
In the embraces of a prostitute,
13.27
As men do say Phormisius perished?
13.27
How great the difference whether you pass the night
13.27
With a lawful wife or with a prostitute!
13.27
Bah! Where 's the firmness of the flesh, the freshness
13.27
Of breath and of complexion? Oh, ye gods!
13.27
What appetite it gives one not to find
13.27
Everything waiting, but to be constrain'd
13.27
To struggle a little, and from tender hands
13.27
To bear soft blows and buffets; that, indeed,
13.27
Is really pleasure.
13.27
But our hopes were not so clean worn out,
13.27
As to need aid from bitter enemies;
13.27
How rude you are, and boorish with your jokes!
13.27
Your tongue is all on the left side of your mouth;
13.27
Who of the Muses learnt but ill-shaped letters,
13.28
Told you of female dancers, courtesans
13.28
Who once were fair; and now I do not tell you
13.28
Of flute-playing girls, just reaching womanhood,
13.28
Who not unwillingly, for adequate pay,
13.28
Have borne the love of vulgar men;
13.28
And now with tuneful voice I'll sing
13.28
These pleasing songs to my companions (ἑταίραις).
13.28
Niobe and Latona were of old
13.28
Affectionate companions (ἑταῖραι) to each other.
13.28
You've done an act not suited to companions (ἑταίρων),
13.28
But, by Jove, far more fit for courtesans (ἑταιρῶν),
13.28
These words, so near the same, do make the sense
13.28
Not always easily to be distinguished.
13.29
And then if, when we enter through their doors,
13.29
They see that we are out of sorts at all,
13.29
They flatter us and soothe us, kiss us gently,
13.29
Not pressing hard as though our lips were enemies,
13.29
But with soft open kisses like a sparrow;
13.29
They sing, and comfort us, and make us cheerful,
13.29
And straightway banish all our care and grief,
13.29
And make our faces bright again with smiles.
13.29
How modestly she sat the while at supper!
13.29
Not like the rest, who make great balls of leeks,
13.29
And stuff their cheeks with them, and loudly crunch
13.29
Within their jaws large lumps of greasy meat;
13.29
But delicately tasting of each dish,
13.29
In mouthfuls small, like a Milesian maiden.
13.29
But he, the man of whom I now was speaking,
13.29
Seeing a woman who lived near his house,
13.29
A courtesan, did fall at once in love with her;
13.29
She was a citizen, without a guardian
13.29
Or any near relations, and her manners
13.29
Pure, and on virtue's strictest model form'd,
13.29
A genuine mistress (ἑταῖρα); for the rest of the crew
13.29
Bring into disrepute, by their vile manners,
13.29
A name which in itself has nothing wrong.
13.29
A. But if a woman does at all times use
13.29
Fair, moderate language, giving her services
13.29
Favourable to all who stand in need of her,
13.29
She from her prompt companionship (ἑταιρίας) does earn
13.29
The title of companion (ἑταῖρα); and you,
13.29
As you say rightly, have not fall'n in love
13.29
With a vile harlot (πόρνη), but with a companion (ἑταῖρα).
13.29
Is she not one of pure and simple manners
13.29
B. At all events, by Jove, she 's beautiful.
13.30
On this account, that profligate, when supping
13.30
With us, will never eat an onion even,
13.30
Not to annoy the object of his love.
13.30
For when one in the flower of his age
13.30
Learns to sneak into other men's abodes,
13.30
And shares of meals where he has not contributed,
13.30
He must some other mode of payment mean.
13.31
'Tis not for nothing that where'er we go
13.31
We find a temple of Hetæra there,
13.31
But nowhere one to any wedded wife.
13.32
These damsels, in behalf of Greece, and all
13.32
Their gallant countrymen, stood nobly forth,
13.32
Praying to Venus, the all-powerful goddess;
13.32
Nor was the queen of beauty willing ever
13.32
To leave the citadel of Greece to fall
13.32
Beneath the arrows of the unwarlike Persians.
13.33
Praising the house which in th' Olympic games
13.33
Has thrice borne off the victory.Pind. Ol. 13.
13.33
O queen of Cyprus' isle,
13.33
Come to this grove!
13.33
Lo, Xenophon, succeeding in his aim,
13.33
Brings you a band of willing maidens,
13.33
Dancing on a hundred feet.
13.33
O hospitable damsels, fairest train
13.33
Of soft Persuasion,—
13.33
Ornament of the wealthy Corinth,
13.33
Bearing in willing hands the golden drops
13.33
That from the frankincense distil, and flying
13.33
To the fair mother of the Loves,
13.33
Who dwelleth in the sky,
13.33
The lovely Venus,—you do bring to us
13.33
Comfort and hope in danger, that we may
13.33
Hereafter, in the delicate beds of Love,
13.33
Reap the long-wished-for fruits of joy,
13.33
Lovely and necessary to all mortal men.
13.33
But now I marvel, and wait anxiously
13.33
To see what will my masters say of me,
13.33
Who thus begin
13.33
My scolium with this amatory preface,
13.33
Willing companion of these willing damsels.
13.33
We teach pure gold on a well-tried lyre.
13.33
The city at the time was celebrating
13.33
The Aphrodisia of the courtesans:
13.33
This is a different festival from that
13.33
Which the free women solemnize: and then
13.33
It is the custom on those days that all
13.33
The courtesans should feast with us in common.
13.34
And then the delicate Alcibiades.
13.34
O earth and all the gods! whom Lacedæmon
13.34
Desires to catch in his adulteries,
13.37
Abrotonum was but a Thracian woman,
13.37
But for the weal of Greece
13.37
She was the mother of the great Themistocles.
13.39
But as Leæna was by nature form'd
13.39
To give her lovers most exceeding pleasure,
13.39
And was besides much favour'd by Demetrius,
13.39
They say that Lamia also gratified
13.39
The king; and when he praised her grace and quickness,
13.39
The damsel answer'd: And besides you can,
13.39
If you do wish, subdue a lioness (λέαιναν.)
13.39
Demetrius the king was once displaying
13.39
Amid his cups a great variety
13.39
Of kinds of perfumes to his Lamia:
13.39
Now Lamia was a female flute-player,
13.39
With whom 'tis always said Demetrius
13.39
Was very much in love. But when she scoff'd
13.39
At all his perfumes, and, moreover, treated
13.39
The monarch with exceeding insolence,
13.39
He bade a slave bring some cheap unguent, and
13.39
He rubbed himself with that, and smear'd his fingers,
13.39
And said, "At least smell this, O Lamia,
13.39
And see how much this scent does beat all others."
13.39
She laughingly replied: "But know, O king,
13.39
That smell does seem to me the worst of all."
13.39
But, said Demetrius, "I swear, by the gods,
13.39
That 'tis produced from a right royal nut."
13.41
Some one perhaps of those who hear this now,
13.41
May fairly wonder how it came to pass
13.41
That an Athenian woman had a name,
13.41
Or e'en a nickname, such as Mania.
13.41
For 'tis disgraceful for a woman thus
13.41
To bear a Phrygian name; she being, too,
13.41
A courtesan from the very heart of Greece.
13.41
And how came she to sink the city of Athens,
13.41
By which all other nations are much sway'd?
13.41
The fact is that her name from early childhood
13.41
Was this—Melitta. And as she grew up
13.41
A trifle shorter than her playfellows,
13.41
But with a sweet voice and engaging manners,
13.41
And with such beauty and excellence of face
13.41
As made a deep impression upon all men,
13.41
She 'd many lovers, foreigners and citizens.
13.41
So that when any conversation
13.41
Arose about this woman, each man said,
13.41
The fair Melitta was his madness (μανία.) Aye,
13.41
And she herself contributed to this name;
13.41
For when she jested she would oft repeat
13.41
This word μανία; and when in sport she blamed
13.41
Or praised any one, she would bring in,
13.41
In either sentence, this word μανία.
13.41
So some one of her lovers, dwelling on
13.41
The word, appears to have nicknamed the girl
13.41
Mania; and this extra name prevailed
13.41
More than her real one. It seems, besides,
13.41
That Mania was afflicted with the stone.
13.42
There was a victor in the pancratium,
13.42
Named Leontiscus, who loved Mania,
13.42
And kept her with him as his lawful wife;
13.42
But finding afterwards that she did play
13.42
The harlot with Antenor, was indignant:
13.42
But she replied,—"My darling, never mind;
13.42
I only wanted just to feel and prove,
13.42
In a single night, how great the strength might be
13.42
Of two such athletes, victors at Olympia."
13.42
They say again that Mania once was ask'd,
13.42
By King Demetrius, for a perfect sight
13.42
Of all her beauties; and she, in return,
13.42
Demanded that he should grant her a favour.
13.42
When he agreed, she turned her back, and said,—
13.42
"O son of Agamemnon, now the Gods
13.42
Grant you to see what you so long have wish'd for."These are the second and third lines of the Electra of Sophocles.
13.42
On one occasion, too, a foreigner,
13.42
Who a deserter was believed to be,
13.42
Had come by chance to Athens; and he sent
13.42
For Mania, and gave her all she ask'd.
13.42
It happen'd that he had procured for supper
13.42
Some of those table-jesters, common buffoons,
13.42
Who always raise a laugh to please their feeders;
13.42
And wishing to appear a witty man,
13.42
Used to politest conversation,
13.42
While Mania was sporting gracefully,
13.42
As was her wont, and often rising up
13.42
To reach a dish of hare, he tried to raise
13.42
A joke upon her, and thus spoke,—"My friends,
13.42
Tell me, I pray you by the Gods, what animal
13.42
You think runs fastest o'er the mountain-tops?"
13.42
Why, my love, a deserter, answer'd Mania.
13.42
Another time, when Mania came to see him,
13.42
She laugh'd at the deserter, telling him,
13.42
That once in battle he had lost his shield.
13.42
But this brave soldier, looking somewhat fierce,
13.42
Sent her away. And as she was departing,
13.42
She said," My love, don't be so much annoy'd;
13.42
For 'twas not you, who, when you ran away,
13.42
Did lose that shield, but he who lent it you."
13.42
Another time they say a man who was
13.42
A thorough profligate, did entertain
13.42
Mania at supper; and when he question'd her,
13.42
Do you like being up or down the best
13.42
She laugh'd, and said, "I'd rather be up, my friend,
13.42
For I'm afraid, lest, if I lay me down,
13.42
You'd bite my plaited hair from off my head."
13.43
Diphilus once was drinking with Gnathæna.
13.43
Said he, Your cup is somewhat cold, Gnathæna;
13.43
And she replied, "'Tis no great wonder, Diphilus,
13.43
For we take care to put some of your Plays in it."
13.43
Diphilus was once invited to a banquet
13.43
At fair Gnathæna's house, as men do say,
13.43
On the holy day of Venus' festival—
13.43
(He being a man above her other lovers
13.43
Beloved by her, though she conceal'd her flame).
13.43
He came accordingly, and brought with him
13.43
Two jars of Chian wine, and four, quite full,
13.43
Of wine from Thasos; perfumes, too, and crowns
13.43
Sweetmeats and venison; fillets for the head;
13.43
Fish, and a cook, and a female flute-player.
13.43
In the meantime a Syrian friend of hers
13.43
Sent her some snow, and one saperdes; she
13.43
Being ashamed lest any one should hear
13.43
She had received such gifts, and, above all men,
13.43
Fearing lest Diphilus should get at them,
13.43
And show her up in one of his Comedies,
13.43
She bade a slave to carry off at once
13.43
The salt fish to the men who wanted salt,
13.43
As every one did know; the snow she told him
13.43
To mix with the wine unseen by any one.
13.43
And then she bade the boy to fill the cup
13.43
With ten full cyathi of wine, and bear it
13.43
At once to Diphilus. He eagerly
13.43
Received the cup, and drain'd it to the bottom,
13.43
And, marvelling at the delicious coolness,
13.43
Said—"By Minerva, and by all the gods,
13.43
You must, Gnathæna, be allow'd by all
13.43
To have a most deliciously cool well."
13.43
Yes, said she, "for we carefully put in,
13.43
From day to day, the prologues of your plays."
13.43
A slave who had been flogg'd, whose back was mark'd
13.43
With heavy weals, was once, as it fell out,
13.43
Reposing with Gnathæna:—then, as she
13.43
Embraced him, she found out how rough all over
13.43
His back did feel. Oh wretched man, said she,
13.43
In what engagement did you get these wounds?
13.43
He in a few words answered her, and said,
13.43
"That when a boy, once playing with his playmates,
13.43
He'd fallen backwards into the fire by accident."
13.43
Well, said she, "if you were so wanton then,
13.43
You well deserved to be flogg'd, my friend."
13.43
Gnathæna once was supping with Dexithea,
13.43
Who was a courtesan as well as she;
13.43
And when Dexithea put aside with care
13.43
Nearly all the daintiest morsels for her mother,
13.43
She said, "I swear by Dian, had I known
13.43
How you went on, Dexithea, I would rather
13.43
Have gone to supper with your mother than you"
13.43
When this Gnathæna was advanced in years,
13.43
Hastening, as all might see, towards the grave,
13.43
They say she once went out into the market,
13.43
And look'd at all the fish, and ask'd the price
13.43
Of every article she saw. And seeing
13.43
A handsome butcher standing at his stall,The Kids was a constellation rising about the beginning of October, and supposed by the ancients to bring storms. Theocritus says— χὥταν ἐφ’ ἑσπερίοις ἐρίφοις νότος ὑγρὰ διώκῃ κύματα. —vii. 53.
13.43
Just in the flower of youth,—"Oh, in God's name,
13.43
Tell me, my youth, what is your price (πῶς ἴστης) to-day?"
13.43
He laugh'd, and said, Why, if I stoop, three obols.
13.43
But who, said she, "did give you leave, you wretch,
13.43
To use your Carian weights in Attica?"
13.43
Stratocles once made all his friends a present
13.43
Of kids and shell-fish greatly salted, seeming
13.43
To have dress'd them carefully, so that his friends
13.43
Should the next morning be o'erwhelm'd with thirst,
13.43
And thus protract their drinking, so that he
13.43
Might draw from them some ample contributions.
13.43
Therefore Gnathæna said to one of her lovers,
13.43
Seeing him wavering about his offerings,
13.43
After the kids Stratocles brings a storm.
13.43
Gnathæna, seeing once a thin young man,
13.43
Of black complexion, lean as any scarecrow,
13.43
Reeking with oil, and shorter than his fellows,
13.43
Called him in jest Adonis. When the youth
13.43
Answer'd her in a rude and violent manner,
13.43
She looking on her daughter who was with her,
13.43
Said, Ah! it serves me right for my mistake.
13.43
They say that one fine day a youth from Pontus
13.43
Was sleeping with Gnathæna, and at morn
13.43
He ask'd her to display her beauties to him.
13.43
But she replied, "You have no time, for now
13.43
It is the hour to drive the pigs to feed."
13.44
It happen'd once that a very aged satrap,
13.44
Full ninety years of age, had come to Athens,
13.44
And on the feast of Saturn he beheld
13.44
Gnathænium with Gnathæna going out
13.44
From a fair temple sacred to Aphrodite,
13.44
And noticing her form and grace of motion,
13.44
He just inquired How much she ask'd a night?
13.44
Gnathæna, looking on his purple robe,
13.44
And princely bodyguard, said, "A thousand drachmæ."
13.44
He, as if smitten with a mortal wound,
13.44
Said, "I perceive, because of all these soldiers,
13.44
You look upon me as a captured enemy;
13.44
But take five mince, and agree with me,
13.44
And let them get a bed prepared for us."
13.44
She, as the satrap seem'd a witty man,
13.44
Received his terms, and said, "Give what you like,
13.44
O father, for I know most certainly,
13.44
You'll give my daughter twice as much at night."
13.44
There was at Athens once a handsome smith,
13.44
When she, Gnathænium, had almost abandon'd
13.44
Her trade, and would no longer common be,
13.44
Moved by the love of the actor Andronicus;
13.44
(But at this moment he was gone away,
13.44
After she'd brought him a male child;) this smith
13.44
Then long besought the fair Gnathænium
13.44
To fix her price; and though she long refused,
13.44
By long entreaty and liberality,
13.44
At last he won her over to consent.
13.44
But being but a rude and ill-bred clown,
13.44
He, one day sitting with some friends of his
13.44
In a leather-cutter's shop, began to talk
13.44
About Gnathænium to divert their leisure,
13.44
Narrating all their fond love passages.
13.44
But after this, when Andronicus came
13.44
From Corinth back again, and heard the news,
13.44
He bitterly reproach'd her, and at supper
13.44
He said, with just complaint, unto Gnathænium,
13.44
That she had never granted him such liberties
13.44
As this flogg'd slave had had allow'd to him.
13.44
And then they say Gnathænium thus replied:
13.44
That she was her own mistress, and the smith
13.44
Was so begrimed with soot and dirt that she
13.44
Had no more than she could help to do with him.
13.44
One day they say Gnathænium, at supper,
13.44
Would not kiss Andronicus when he wish'd,
13.44
Though she had done so every day before;
13.44
But she was angry that he gave her nothing.
13.44
Said he, on this, "Gnathena, don't you see
13.44
How haughtily your daughter's treating me?"
13.44
And she, indignant, said, "You wretched girl,
13.44
Take him and kiss him if he wishes it."
13.44
But she replied, "Why should I kiss him, mother,
13.44
Who does no good to any one in the house,
13.44
But seeks to have his Argos all for nothing "
13.44
Once, on a day of festival, Gnathænium
13.44
Went down to the Piræus to a lover,
13.44
Who was a foreign merchant, riding cheaply
13.44
On a poor mule, and having after her
13.44
Three donkeys, three maidservants, and one nurse.
13.44
Then, at a narrow spot in the road, they met
13.44
One of those knavish wrestlers, men who sell
13.44
Their battles, always taking care to lose them;
13.44
And as he could not pass by easily,
13.44
Being crowded up, he cried—"You wretched man,
13.44
You donkey-driver, if you get not quickly
13.44
Out of my way, I will upset these women,
13.44
And all the donkeys and the mule to boot."
13.44
But quick Gnathænium said, "My friend, I pray you,
13.44
Don't be so valiant now, when you have never
13.44
Done any feat of spirit or strength before."
13.45
They say that Lais the Corinthian,
13.45
Once when she saw Euripides in a garden,
13.45
Holding a tablet and a pen attach'd to it,
13.45
Cried out to him, "Now, answer me, my poet,
13.45
What was your meaning when you wrote in your play,
13.45
'Away, you shameless doer"' And Euripides,
13.45
Amazed, and wondering at her audacity,
13.45
Said, "Why, you seem to me to be yourself
13.45
A shameless doer." And she, laughing, answer'd,
13.45
How shameless, if my partners do not think so I
13.45
Glycerium once received from some lover
13.45
A new Corinthian cloak with purple sleeves,
13.45
And gave it to a fuller. Afterwards,
13.45
When she thought he'd had time enough to clean it,
13.45
She sent her maidservant to fetch it back,
13.45
Giving her money, that she might pay for it.
13.45
But, said the fuller, "You must bring me first
13.45
Three measures full of oil, for want of that
13.45
Is what has hindered me from finishing."
13.45
The maid went back and told her mistress all.
13.45
Wretch that I am! Glycerium said, "for he
13.45
Is going to fry my cloak like any herring."
13.45
Demophoon once, the friend of Sophocles,
13.45
While a young man, fell furiously in love
13.45
With Nico, called the Goat, though she was old:
13.45
And she had earn'd this name of Goat, because
13.45
She quite devour'd once a mighty friend of hers,
13.45
Named Thallus, θάλλος means a young twig. when he came to Attica
13.45
To buy some Chelidonian figs, and also
13.45
To export some honey from th' Hymettian hill.
13.45
And it is said this woman was fair to view.
13.45
And when Demophoon tried to win her over,
13.45
A pretty thing, said she, "that all you get
13.45
From me you may present to Sophocles."
13.45
Callisto once, who was nicknamed the Sow,
13.45
Was fiercely quarrelling with her own mother,
13.45
Who also was nicknamed the Crow. Gnathæna
13.45
Appeased the quarrel, and when ask'd the cause of it,
13.45
Said, "What else could it be, but that one Crow
13.45
Was finding fault with the blackness of the other "
13.45
Men say that Hippe once, the courtesan,
13.45
Had a lover named Theodotus, a man
13.45
Who at the time was prefect of the granaries
13.45
And she on one occasion late in th' evening
13.45
Came to a banquet of King Ptolemy,
13.45
And she'd been often used to drink with him
13.45
So, as she now was very late, she said,
13.45
"I'm very thirsty, papa Ptolemy,
13.45
So let the cup-bearer pour me four gills
13.45
Into a larger cup." The king replied,
13.45
"You must have it in a platter, for you seem
13.45
Already, Hippe,There is a pun here on her name,—῞ἵππηmeaning a mare. to have had plenty of hay."
13.45
A man named Morichus was courting Phryne,
13.45
The Thespian damsel. And, as she required
13.45
A mina, 'Tis a mighty sum, said Morichus,
13.45
"Did you not yesterday charge a foreigner
13.45
Two little pieces of gold?" Wait till I want you,
13.45
Said she, and I will take the same from you.
13.45
'Tis said that Nico, who was call'd the Goat,
13.45
Once when a man named Pytho had deserted her,
13.45
And taken up with the great fat Euardis,
13.45
But after a time did send again for her,
13.45
Said to the slave who came to fetch her, "Now
13.45
That Pytho is well sated with his swine,
13.45
Does he desire to return to a goat?"
13.46
It does not follow, because a woman's body
13.46
Is void of strength, that her mind, too, is weak.
13.47
O cursed boy, what word is this you've spoken?
13.49
To dwell with Aegeus,Punning on the similarity of the name αἰγεὺς to αἲξ, a goat. great Pandion's son.
13.50
And now they say that Harpalus has sent them
13.50
Unnumber'd sacks of corn, no fewer than
13.50
Those sent by Agen, and is made a citizen:
13.50
But this was Glycera's corn, and it may be
13.50
Ruin to them, and not a harlot's earnest.
13.51
For early in the morning, ere a man
13.51
Of all the folks about the stable saw me,
13.51
As I was bringing to the goat a thallus
13.51
Fresh pluck'd, I saw the army marching on
13.51
By the projecting headland.
13.51
But Nannium is mad for love of Bacchus,—
13.51
Did he not try to wheedle Nannium?
13.52
Then go the same way to Aerope,
13.52
And bid her send some clothes immediately,
13.52
And brazen vessels, to fair Ocimum.
13.52
Chrysis, Corone, Ischas, and Anticyra,
13.52
And the most beautiful Nannarium,—
13.52
All these you had.
13.52
Is not Cereope now extremely old,
13.52
Three thousand years at least? and is not Telesis,
13.52
Diopithes' ugly daughter, three times that?
13.52
And as for old Theolyte, no man
13.52
Alive can tell the date when she was born.
13.52
Then did not Lais persevere in her trade
13.52
Till the last day of her life? and Isthmias,
13.52
Neæra too, and Phila, grew quite rotten.
13.52
I need not mention all the Cossyphæ,
13.52
Galænse, and Coronæ; nor will I
13.52
Say aught of Nais, as her teeth are gone.
13.52
Lest he should with disastrous shipwreck fall
13.52
Into Meconis, Lais, or Sisymbrion,
13.52
Or Barathrum, or Thallusa, or any other
13.52
With whom the panders bait their nets for youths,
13.52
Nannium, or Malthace.
13.53
The most unlettered schoolmaster alive.
13.55
A. Where do these damsels come from, and who are they
13.55
B. At present they are come from Megara,
13.55
But they by birth are all Corinthians:
13.55
This one is Lais, Who is so well known.
13.55
This is the tomb of Lais, to whose beauty,
13.55
Equal to that of heavenly goddesses,
13.55
The glorious and unconquer'd Greece did bow;
13.55
Love was her father, Corinth was her home,
13.55
Now in the rich Thessalian plain she lies;—
13.56
My mistress is the fair Archaianassa
13.56
From Colophon, a damsel in whom Love
13.56
Sits on her very wrinkles irresistible.
13.56
Wretched are those, whom in the flower of youth,
13.56
When first she came across the sea, she met;
13.56
They must have been entirely consumed.
13.57
A. Just as Seleucus sent the tiger (τὴν τίγριν) here,
13.57
Which we have seen, so we in turn ought now
13.57
To send Seleucus back a beast from here.
13.57
B. Let's send him a trigeranum;This probably means a large crane. for that's
13.57
An animal not known much in those parts.
13.57
Come, open quick the door; I have been here,
13.57
Though all unseen, walking some time,—a statue,
13.57
A millstone, and a seahorse, and a wall,
13.57
The tiger (ὁ τίγρις) of Seleucus.
13.59
Praxiteles has devoted earnest care
13.59
To representing all the love he felt,
13.59
Drawing his model from his inmost heart:
13.59
I gave myself to Phryne for her wages,
13.59
And now I no more charms employ, nor arrows,
13.59
Save those of earnest glances at my love.
13.60
Before our time, the Thespian Phryne was
13.60
Far the most famous of all courtesans;
13.60
And even though you're later than her age,
13.60
Still you have heard of the trial which she stood.
13.60
She was accused on a capital charge
13.60
Before the Heliæa, being said
13.60
To have corrupted all the citizens;
13.60
But she besought the judges separately
13.60
With tears, and so just saved herself from judgment.
13.61
Hear me now praying, goddess, nurse of youths,
13.61
And grant that this my love may scorn young men,
13.61
And their most feeble fancies and embraces;
13.61
And rather cling to grey-headed old men,
13.61
Whose minds are vigorous, though their limbs be weak.
13.61
For dear to me Theoris is.
13.62
Is it not owing to you the greedy Lais
13.62
Does love Philonides
13.62
And while she still was in her bed, I saw
13.62
Isocrates' concubine, Lagisca,
13.62
Playing her tricks; and with her the flute-maker.
13.66
As a fig-tree planted on a lofty rock
13.66
Feeds many crows and jackdaws, so Pasiphila's
13.66
A willing entertainer of all strangers.
13.67
You shall be queen of Babylon if the Fates
13.67
Will but permit it. Sure you recollect
13.67
Pythionica and proud Harpalus.
13.68
A. There is a pinnacle, where never birds
13.68
Have made their nests, where the long reeds do grow;
13.68
And on the left is the illustrious temple
13.68
Raised to a courtesan, which Pallides
13.68
Erected, but repenting of the deed,
13.68
Condemn'd himself for it to banishment.
13.68
And when some magi of the barbarians
13.68
Saw him oppressed with the stings of conscience,
13.68
They made him trust that they could raise again
13.68
The soul of Pythionica.
13.68
B. But I do wish to learn from you, since I
13.68
Dwell a long way from thence, what is the fate
13.68
At present of the land of Athens; and
13.68
How all its people fare?
13.68
A. Why, when they said
13.68
That they were slaves, they plenty had to eat,
13.68
But now they have raw vegetables only,
13.68
And fennel, and but little corn or meat.
13.68
B.I likewise hear that Harpalus has sent them
13.68
A quantity of corn no less than Agen,
13.68
And has been made a citizen of Athens.
13.68
That corn was Glycera's. But it is perhaps
13.68
To them a pledge of ruin, not of a courtesan.
13.69
* * * *
13.69
Here, Doricha, your bones have long been laid,
13.69
Here is your hair, and your well-scented robe:
13.69
You who once loved the elegant Charaxus,
13.69
And quaff'd with him the morning bowl of wine.
13.69
But Sappho's pages live, and still shall live,
13.69
In which is many a mention of your name,
13.69
Which still your native Naucratis shall cherish,
13.69
As long as any ship sails down the Nile.
13.71
You know, too, how Œager's much-loved son,
13.71
Skilfully playing on the Thracian harp,
13.71
Brought back from hell his dear Agriope,
13.71
And sail'd across th' inhospitable land
13.71
Where Charon drags down in his common boat
13.71
The souls of all the dead; and far resounds
13.71
The marshy stream slow creeping through the reeds
13.71
That line the death-like banks. But Orpheus dared
13.71
With fearless soul to pass that lonely wave,
13.71
Striking his harp with well-accustom'd hand.
13.71
And with his lay he moved the pitiless gods,
13.71
And various monsters of unfeeling hell.
13.71
He raised a placid smile beneath the brows
13.71
Of grim Cocytus; he subdued the glance
13.71
So pitiless of the fierce, implacable dog,
13.71
Who sharpen'd in the flames his fearful bark,
13.71
Whose eye did glare with fire, and whose heads
13.71
With triple brows struck fear on all who saw.
13.71
He sang, and moved these mighty sovereigns;
13.71
So that Agriope once again did breathe
13.71
The breath of life. Nor did the son of Mene,
13.71
Friend of the Graces, the sweet-voiced Musæus,
13.71
Leave his Antiope without due honour,
13.71
Who, amid the virgins sought by many suitors
13.71
In holiest Eleusis' sacred soil,
13.71
Sang the loud joyful song of secret oracles,
13.71
Priestess of RharianRharia was a name of Ceres, from the Rharian plain near Eleusis, where corn was first sown by Triptolemus, the son of Rharus. It is Ἐς δ’ ἄρα ʽράριον ἷξε, φερέσβιον ὀ͂θαρ ἀρούρης Τὸ πρὶν, ἄταρ τότε γ’ οὔτι φερέσβιον ἀλλὰ ἕκηλον Εἱστήκει πανάφυλλον, ἔκευθε δ’ ἄρα κρῖ λευκὸν Μήδεσι δήμητρος καλλισφύρον.— Od. in Cerer. 450. Ceres, warning men.
13.71
And her renown to Pluto's realms extends.
13.71
Nor did these bards alone feel Cupid's sway;
13.71
The ancient bard, leaving Bœotia's halls,
13.71
Hesiod, the keeper of all kinds of learning,
13.71
Came to fair Ascra's Heliconian village,
13.71
Where long he sought Eoia's wayward love;
13.71
Much he endured, and many books he wrote,
13.71
The maid the inspiring subject of his song.
13.71
And that great poet whom Jove's Fate protects,
13.71
Sweetest of all the votaries of the muse,
13.71
Immortal Homer, sought the rocky isle
13.71
Of Ithaca, moved by love for all the virtue
13.71
And beauty of the chaste Penelope.
13.71
Much for her sake he suffer'd; then he sought
13.71
A barren isle far from his native land,
13.71
And wept the race of Icarus, and of Amyclus
13.71
And Sparta, moved by his own woes' remembrances.
13.71
Who has not heard of sweet Mimnermus' fame;
13.71
Parent of plaintive elegiac verses,
13.71
Which to his lyre in sweetest sounds he sang
13.71
Much did he suffer, burning with the love
13.71
Of cruel Nanno; and full oft inflamed
13.71
With ardent passion, did he feast with her,
13.71
Breathing his love to his melodious pipe;
13.71
And to his hate of fierce Hermobius
13.71
And Pherecles, tuneful utterance he gave.
13.71
Antimachus, too, felt the flame inspired
13.71
By Lydian Lyde; and he sought the stream
13.71
Of golden-waved Pactolus, where he laid
13.71
His lost love underneath the tearless earth,
13.71
And weeping, went his way to Colophon;
13.71
And with his wailing thus sweet volumes fill'd,
13.71
Shunning all toil or other occupation.
13.71
How many festive parties frequent rang
13.71
With the fond love of Lesbian Alcæus,
13.71
Who sang the praises of the amorous Sappho,
13.71
And grieved his TeianAnacreon. rival, breathing songs
13.71
Such as the nightingale would gladly imitate;
13.71
For the divine Anacreon also sought
13.71
To win the heart of the sacred poetess,
13.71
Chief ornament of all the Lesbian bands;
13.71
And so he roved about, now leaving Samos,
13.71
Now parting from his own enslaved land,
13.71
Parent of vines, to wine-producing Lesbos;
13.71
And often he beheld Cape Lectum there,
13.71
Across th' Aeolian wave. But greatest of all,
13.71
The Attic beeSophocles. oft left its rugged hill,
13.71
Singing in tragic choruses divine,
13.71
Bacchus and Love * *
13.71
* * * *
13.71
I tell, besides, how that too cautious man,
13.71
Who earn'd deserved hate from every woman,
13.71
Stricken by a random shot, did not escape
13.71
Nocturnal pangs of Love; but wander'd o'er
13.71
The Macedonian hills and valleys green,
13.71
Smitten with love for fair Argea, who
13.71
Kept Archelaus' house, till the angry god
13.71
Found a fit death for cold Euripides,
13.71
Striving with hungry hounds in vain for life.
13.71
Then there's the man whom, mid Cythera's rocks;
13.71
The Muses rear'd, a faithful worshipper
13.71
Of Bacchus and the flute, Philoxenus:
13.71
Well all men know by what fierce passion moved
13.71
He to this city came; for all have heard
13.71
His praise of Galatea, which he sang
13.71
Amid the sheepfolds. And you likewise know
13.71
The bard to whom the citizens of Cos
13.71
A brazen statue raised to do him honour,
13.71
And who oft sang the praises of his Battis,
13.71
Sitting beneath a plane-tree's shade, Philetas;
13.71
In verses that no time shall e'er destroy.
13.71
Nor do those men whose lot in life is hard,
13.71
Seeking the secret paths of high philosophy,
13.71
Or those whom logic's mazes hold in chains,
13.71
Or that laborious eloquence of words,
13.71
Shun the sharp struggle and sweet strife of Love;
13.71
But willing, follow his triumphant car.
13.71
Long did the charms of fair Theano bind
13.71
The Samian Pythagoras, who laid bare
13.71
The tortuous mysteries of geometry;
13.71
Who all the mazes of the sphere unfolded,
13.71
And knew the laws which regulate the world,
13.71
The atmosphere which doth surround the world,
13.71
And motions of the sun, and moon, and stars.
13.71
Nor did the wisest of all mortal men,
13.71
Great Socrates, escape the fierce contagion,
13.71
But yielded to the fiery might of Venus,
13.71
And to the fascinations of the sex,
13.71
Laying his cares down at Aspasia's feet;
13.71
And though all doubts of nature he could solve,
13.71
He found no refuge from the pursuit of Love.
13.71
Love, too, did draw within the narrow Isthmus
13.71
The Cyrenean sage: and winning Lais,
13.71
With her resistless charms, subdued and bound
13.71
Wise Aristippus, who philosophy.
13.71
Deserted, and preferr'd a trifling life.
13.72
Love, the golden-haired god,
13.72
Struck me with his purple ball,
13.72
And with his many wiles doth seize
13.72
And challenge me to sport with him.
13.72
But she-and she from Lesbos comes,
13.72
That populous and wealthy isle—
13.72
Laughs at my hair and calls it grey,
13.72
And will prefer a younger lover.
13.72
You, O my golden-throned muse,
13.72
Did surely dictate that sweet hymn,
13.72
Which the noble Teian bard,
13.72
From the fair and fertile isle,
13.72
Chief muse of lovely womanhood,
13.72
Sang with his dulcet voice.
13.72
And why should I dilate upon my sorrows,
13.72
When I may hide them all in night and silence?
13.73
Dost thou not see how great a deity
13.73
Resistless Venus is? No tongue can tell,
13.73
No calculation can arrive at all
13.73
Her power, or her dominions' vast extent;
13.73
She nourishes you and me and all mankind,
13.73
And I can prove this, not in words alone,
13.73
But facts will show the might of this fair goddess.
13.73
The earth loves rain when the parch'd plains are dry,
13.73
And lose their glad fertility of yield
13.73
From want of moisture. Then the ample heaven,
13.73
When fill'd with rain, and moved by Venus' power,
13.73
Loves to descend to anxious earth's embrace;
13.73
Then when these two are join'd in tender love
13.73
They are the parents of all fruits to us,
13.73
They bring them forth, they cherish them; and so
13.73
The race of man both lives and flourishes.
13.73
Then, too, the earth feels love, and longs for wedlock,
13.73
And rain, descending from the amorous air,
13.73
Impregnates his desiring mate; and she
13.73
Brings forth delicious food for mortal man,—
13.73
Herds of fat sheep, and corn, the gift of Ceres;
13.73
The trees love moisture, too, and rain descends
13.73
T' indulge their longings, I alone the cause.
13.74
And all who dwell to th' eastward of the sea,
13.74
And the Atlantic waves, all who behold
13.74
The beams of the rising and the setting sun,
13.74
Know that I favour those who honour me,
13.74
And crush all those who boast themselves against me.
13.74
Whoe'er denies that Love's the only god,This is not from the Hippolytus, but is a fragment from the Auge.
13.74
Is foolish, ignorant of all that's true,
13.74
And knows not him who is the greatest deity
13.74
Acknowledged by all nations.
13.74
Teos brought forth, a source of pride to Greece,
13.74
The sweet Anacreon, who with sweet notes twined
13.74
A wreath of tuneful song in woman's praise,
13.74
The choicest ornament of revelling feasts,
13.74
The most seductive charm; a match for flutes'
13.74
Or pipes' shrill aid, or softly moving lyre:
13.74
O Teian bard, your fame shall never die;
13.74
Age shall not touch it; while the willing slave
13.74
Mingles the wine and water in the bowl,
13.74
And fills the welcome goblet for the guests;
13.74
While female bands, with many twinkling feet,
13.74
Lead their glad nightly dance; while many drops,
13.74
Daughters of these glad cups; great Bacchus' juice,
13.74
Fall with good omen on the cottabus dish.
13.75
But Love again, so Venus wills,
13.75
Descends into my heart,
13.75
And with his gentle dew refreshes me.
13.75
This gift, by the sweet Muse inspired,
13.75
That lovely damsel gave,
13.75
The golden-hair'd Megalostrate.
13.76
In early spring the gold Cydonian apples,
13.76
Water'd by streams from ever-flowing rivers,
13.76
Where the pure garden of the Virgins is,
13.76
And the young grapes, growing beneath the shade
13.76
Of ample branches flourish and increase:
13.76
But Love, who never rests, gives me no shade,
13.76
Nor any recruiting dew; but like the wind,
13.76
Fierce rushing from the north, with rapid fire,
13.76
Urged on by Venus, with its maddening drought
13.76
Burns up my heart, and from my earliest youth,
13.76
Rules o'er my soul with fierce dominion.
13.76
Oh may it ever be to me to love,
13.76
And to indulge my love, remote from fear;
13.76
And do not thou, my mind, pursue a chase
13.76
Beyond the present number of your years.
13.76
There is a time to love, a time to wed,
13.76
A time to leave off loving;
13.76
When this man ought to set (δύνειν) he now begins
13.76
To follow pleasure (ἡδύνεσθαι).
13.76
And now (for seasonable is the time)
13.76
You ought, my soul, to pluck the flowers of love,
13.76
Which suit your age.
13.76
And he who, looking on the brilliant light that beams
13.76
From the sweet countenance of Theoxenus,
13.76
Is not subdued by love,
13.76
Must have a dark discolour'd heart,
13.76
Of adamant or iron made,
13.76
And harden'd long in the smith's glowing furnace.
13.76
That man is scorn'd by bright-eyed Venus.
13.76
Or else he's poor, and care doth fill his breast;
13.76
Or else beneath some female insolence
13.76
He withers, and so drags on an anxious life:
13.76
But I, like comb of wily bees,
13.76
Melt under Venus's warm rays,
13.76
And waste away while I behold
13.76
The budding graces of the youth I love.
13.76
Surely at Tenedos, persuasion soft,
13.76
And every grace,
13.76
Abides in the lovely son of wise Agesilas.
13.78
Happy were Chariton and Melanippus,
13.78
Authors of heavenly love to many men.
13.79
Admiring pretty legs and rosy lips;—
13.79
You paid not due respect to modesty,
13.79
Led by your passion for too frequent kisses;—
13.79
Inflaming with his beauty mighty Jove.
13.81
The light of love doth shine in purple cheeks.
13.81
The maid pour'd forth a gentle voice
13.81
From out her purple mouth.
13.84
Have learnt by heart completely all the songs
13.84
Breathing of love which sweetest Sappho sang,
13.84
Or the Lamynthian Cleomenes.
13.84
And such another circumstance, they say,
13.84
Took place in Samos: there a man did fall
13.84
In love with a fair maiden wrought in marble,
13.84
And shut himself up with her in the temple.
13.84
But once a man, 'tis said, did fall, at Samos,
13.84
In love with a marble woman; and he went
13.84
And shut himself up with her in the temple.
13.87
And one did lie with garment well thrown back,
13.87
Showing her snow-white bosom to the moon:
13.87
Another, as she lightly danced, display'd
13.87
The fair proportions of her lefthand side,
13.87
Naked-a lovely picture for the air
13.87
To wanton with; and her complexion white
13.87
Strove with the darkening shades. Another bared
13.87
Her lovely arms and taper fingers all:
13.87
Another, with her robe high round her neck,
13.87
Conceal'd her bosom, but a rent below
13.87
Show'd all her shapely thighs. The Graces smiled,
13.87
And love, not without hope, did lead me on.
13.87
Then on th' inviting asphodel they fell,
13.87
Plucking the dark leaves of the violet flower,
13.87
And crocus, which, with purple petals rising,
13.87
Copies the golden rays of the early sun.
13.87
There, too, the Persian sweetly-smelling marjoram
13.87
Stretch'd out its neck along the laughing meadow.
13.88
The glorious beauty of her dazzling body
13.88
Shone brilliant, a sweet sight to every eye;
13.88
And modesty, a tender blush exciting,
13.88
Tinted her gentle cheeks with delicate rose:
13.88
Her waxy hair, in gracefully modell'd curls,
13.88
Falling as though arranged by sculptor's hand,
13.88
Waved in the wanton breeze luxuriant.
13.88
Strewing around sweet children of the spring.
13.88
There, too, they did invade the countless host
13.88
Of all the new-born flowers that deck the fields,
13.88
Hunting with joy the offspring of the meadows.
13.88
The ivy, lover of the dance,
13.88
Child of the mirthful year.
13.88
And in their hair the Hours' choicest gifts
13.88
They wore, the flowering, fragrant rose,
13.88
The loveliest foster-child of spring.
13.88
The brilliant rose, and modest snow-white lily.
13.88
There was full many a store of Venus to view,
13.88
Dark in the rich flowers in due season ripe.
13.89
E'en an old bard may sing of memory)
13.89
O wily Love, Charmus this altar raised
13.89
At the well-shaded bounds of her Gymnasium.
13.89
Land of fair women;—
13.91
Your multifarious learning I do wonder at—
13.91
Though there is not a thing more vain and useless,
13.91
There is great ostentation and parade
13.91
Of multifarious learning, than which nothing
13.91
Can be more vain or useless.
13.92
Is this the Academy; is this Xenocrates?
13.92
May the gods greatly bless Demetrius
13.92
And all the lawgivers; for, as men say,
13.92
They've driven out of Attica with disgrace
13.92
All those who do profess to teach the youth
13.92
Learning and science.
13.92
Alas, you're a philosopher; but I
13.92
Do think philosophers are only wise
13.92
In quibbling about words; in deeds they are,
13.92
As far as I can see, completely foolish.
13.94
Why should he practise a perfumer's trade,
13.94
Sitting beneath a high umbrella there,
13.94
Preparing for himself a seat on which
13.94
To gossip with the youths the whole day long?
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And no one ever saw a female cook
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Or any fishwoman; for every class
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Should practise arts which are best suited to it.
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Saying no more, but this in self-defence,