BOOK XIII.

[Sidenote: LACEDÆMONIAN MARRIAGES.]

1. ANTIPHANES the comic writer, my friend Timocrates, when he was

reading one of his own comedies to Alexander the king, and when it was

plain that the king did not think much of it, said to him, "The fact

is, O king, that a man who is to appreciate this play, ought to have

often supped at picnic feasts, and must have often borne and inflicted

blows in the cause of courtesans," as Lycophron the Chalcidian relates

in his treatise on Comedy. And accordingly we, who are now about to

set out a discussion on amatory matters, (for there was a good deal of

conversation about married women and about courtesans,) saying what we

have to say to people who understand the subject, invoking the Muse

Erato to be so good as to impress anew on our memory that amatory

catalogue, will make our commencement from this point—

Come now, O Erato, and tell me truly

what it was that was said by the different guests about love and about

amatory matters.

2. For our admirable host, praising the married women, said that

Hermippus stated in his book about lawgivers, that at Lacedæmon all the

damsels used to be shut up in a dark room, while a number of unmarried

young men were shut up with them; and whichever girl each of the young

men caught hold of he led away as his wife, without a dowry. On which

account they punished Lysander, because he left his former wife, and

wished to marry another who was by far more beautiful. But Clearchus

the Solensian, in his treatise on Proverbs, says,—"In Lacedæmon the

women, on a certain festival, drag the unmarried men to an altar, and

then buffet them; in order that, for the purpose of avoiding the insult

of such treatment, they may become more affectionate, and in due season

may turn their thoughts to marriage. But at Athens, Cecrops was the

first person who married a man to one wife only, when before his time

connexions had taken place at random, and men had had their wives in

common. On which account it was, as some people state, that Cecrops was

called διφυὴς,[12] because before his time people did not know

who their fathers were, by reason of the numbers of men who might have

been so."

And beginning in this manner, one might fairly blame those who

attributed to Socrates two wives, Xanthippe and Myrto, the daughter

of Aristides; not of that Aristides who was surnamed the Just,

(for the time does not agree,) but of his descendant in the third

generation. And the men who made this statement are Callisthenes, and

Demetrius Phalereus, and Satyrus the Peripatetic, and Aristoxenus;

who were preceded in it by Aristotle, who relates the same story in

his treatise on Nobleness of Birth. Unless perhaps this licence was

allowed by a decree at that time on account of the scarcity of men,

so that any one who pleased might have two wives; to which it must be

owing that the comic poets make no mention of this fact, though they

very often mention Socrates. And Hieronymus of Rhodes has cited the

decree about wives; which I will send to you, since I have the book.

But Panætius the Rhodian has contradicted those who make this statement

about the wives of Socrates.

[Sidenote: HERCULES.]

3. But among the Persians the queen tolerates the king's having a

number of concubines, because there the king rules his wife like her

master; and also because the queen, as Dinon states in his history

of Persia, receives a great deal of respect from the concubines. At

all events they offer her adoration. And Priam, too, had a great many

women, and Hecuba was not indignant. Accordingly, Priam says—

Yet what a race! ere Greece to Ilion came,

The pledge of many a loved and loving dame.

Nineteen one mother bore—dead, all are dead![13]

But among the Greeks, the mother of Phœnix does not tolerate the

concubine of Amyntor. And Medea, although well acquainted with the

fashion, as one well established among the barbarians, refuses to

tolerate the marriage of Glauce, having been forsooth already initiated

in better and Greek habits. And Clytæmnestra, being exceedingly

indignant at a similar provocation, slays Cassandra with Agamemnon

himself, whom the monarch brought with him into Greece, having given

in to the fashion of barbarian marriages. "And a man may wonder,"

says Aristotle, "that Homer has nowhere in the Iliad represented any

concubine as living with Menelaus, though he has given wives to every

one else. And accordingly, in Homer, even old men sleep with women,

such as Nestor and Phœnix. For these men were not worn out or disabled

in the time of their youth, either by intoxication, or by too much

indulgence in love; or by any weakness of digestion engendered by

gluttony; so that it was natural for them to be still vigorous in old

age. The king of Sparta, then, appears to have too much respect for

his wedded wife Helena, on whose account he collected all the Grecian

army; and on this account he keeps aloof from any other connexion. But

Agamemnon is reproached by Thersites, as a man with many wives—

'Tis thine, whate'er the warrior's breast inflames, The golden spoil,

and thine the lovely dames; With all the wealth our wars and blood

bestow, Thy tents are crowded and thy chests o'erflow.[14]

"But it is not natural," says Aristotle, "to suppose that all that

multitude of female slaves were given to him as concubines, but only

as prizes; since he also provided himself with a great quantity of

wine,—but not for the purpose of getting drunk himself."

4. But Hercules is the man who appears to have had more wives than

any one else, for he was very much addicted to women; and he had

them in turn, like a soldier, and a man employed at different times

in different countries. And by them he had also a great multitude of

children. For, in one week, as Herodorus relates, he relieved the fifty

daughters of Thestias of their virginity. Ægeus also was a man of many

wives. For, first of all he married the daughter of Hoples, and after

her he married one of the daughters of Chalcodous, and giving both of

them to his friends, he cohabited with a great many without marriage.

Afterwards he took Æthra, the daughter of Pittheus; after her he took

Medea. And Theseus, having attempted to ravish Helen, after that

carried off Ariadne. Accordingly Istrus, in the fourteenth book of his

History of the Affairs of Athens, giving a catalogue of those women who

became the wives of Theseus, says that some of them became so out of

love, and that some were carried off by force, and some were married in

legal marriage. Now by force were ravished Helen, Ariadne, Hippolyta,

and the daughters of Cercyon and Sinis; and he legally married Melibœa,

the mother of Ajax. And Hesiod says that he married also Hippe and

Ægle; on account of whom he broke the oaths which he had sworn to

Ariadne, as Cercops tells us. And Pherecydes adds Pherebœa. And before

ravishing Helen he had also carried off Anaxo from Troy; and after

Hippolyta he also had Phædra.

5. And Philip the Macedonian did not take any women with him to his

wars, as Darius did, whose power was subverted by Alexander. For he

used to take about with him three hundred and fifty concubines in

all his wars; as Dicæearchus relates in the third book of his Life in

Greece. "But Philip," says he, "was always marrying new wives in war

time. For, in the twenty-two years which he reigned, as Satyrus relates

in his History of his Life, having married Audata the Illyrian, he had

by her a daughter named Cynna; and he also married Phila, a sister

of Derdas and Machatas. And wishing to conciliate the nation of the

Thessalians, he had children by two Thessalian women; one of whom was

Nicesipolis of Pheræ, who brought him a daughter named Thessalonica;

and the other was Philenora of Larissa, by whom he had Aridæus. He

also acquired the kingdom of the Molossi, when he married Olympias,

by whom he had Alexander and Cleopatra. And when he subdued Thrace,

there came to him Cithelas, the king of the Thracians, bringing with

him Meda his daughter, and many presents: and having married her, he

added her to Olympias. And after all these, being violently in love,

he married Cleopatra, the sister of Hippostratus and niece of Attalus.

And bringing her also home to Olympias, he made all his life unquiet

and troubled. For, as soon as this marriage took place, Attalus said,

'Now, indeed, legitimate kings shall be born, and not bastards.' And

Alexander having heard this, smote Attalus with a goblet which he had

in his hand; and Attalus in return struck him with his cup. And after

that Olympias fled to the Molossi; and Alexander fled to the Illyrians.

And Cleopatra bore to Philip a daughter who was named Europa."

Euripides the poet, also, was much addicted to women: at all events

Hieronymus in his Historical Commentaries speaks as follows,—"When

some one told Sophocles that Euripides was a woman-hater, 'He may be,'

said he, 'in his tragedies, but in his bed he is very fond of women.'"

6. But our married women are not such as Eubulus speaks of in his

Female Garland-sellers—

By Jove, we are not painted with vermilion.

Nor with dark mulberry juice, as you are often:

And then, if in the summer you go out,

Two rivulets of dark discoloured hue

Flow from your eyes, and sweat drops from your jaws,

And makes a scarlet furrow down your neck;

And the light hair, which wantons o'er your face,

Seems grey, so thickly is it plastered over.

[Sidenote: RAPACITY OF COURTESANS.]

And Anaxilas, in his Neottis, says—

The man whoe'er has loved a courtesan,

Will say that no more lawless worthless race

Can anywhere be found: for what ferocious

Unsociable she-dragon, what Chimæra,

Though it breathe fire from its mouth, what Charybdis,

What three-headed Scylla, dog o' the sea,

Or hydra, sphinx, or raging lioness,

Or viper, or winged harpy (greedy race),

Could go beyond those most accursed harlots?

There is no monster greater. They alone

Surpass all other evils put together.

And let us now consider them in order:—

First there is Plangon; she, like a chimæra,

Scorches the wretched barbarians with fire;

One knight alone was found to rid the world of her,

Who, like a brave man, stole her furniture

And fled, and she despairing, disappear'd.

Then for Sinope's friends, may I not say

That 'tis a hydra they cohabit with?

For she is old: but near her age, and like her,

Greedy Gnathæna flaunts, a two-fold evil.

And as for Nannion, in what, I pray,

Does she from Scylla differ? Has she not

Already swallow'd up two lovers, and

Open'd her greedy jaws t' enfold a third?

But he with prosp'rous oar escaped the gulf.

Then does not Phryne beat Charybdis hollow?

Who swallows the sea-captains, ship and all.

Is not Theano a mere Siren pluck'd?

Their face and voice are woman's, but their legs

Are feather'd like a blackbird's. Take the lot,

'Tis not too much to call them Theban Sphinxes.

For they speak nothing plain, but only riddles;

And in enigmas tell their victims how

They love and dote, and long to be caress'd.

"Would that I had a quadruped," says one,

That may serve for a bed or easy chair

"Would that I had a tripod"—"Or a biped,"

That is, a handmaid. And the hapless fool

Who understands these hints, like Œdipus,

If saved at all is saved against his will.

But they who do believe they're really loved

Are much elated, and raise their heads to heaven.

And in a word, of all the beasts on earth

The direst and most treacherous is a harlot.

7. After Laurentius had said all this, Leonidas, finding fault with

the name of wife (γαμετὴ), quoted these verses out of the

Soothsayers of Alexis—

Oh wretched are we husbands, who have sold

All liberty of life, all luxury,

And live as slaves of women, not as freemen.

We say we have a dowry; do we not

Endure the penalty, full of female bile,

Compared to which the bile of man's pure honey?

For men, though injured, pardon: but the women

First injure us, and then reproach us more;

They rule those whom they should not; those they should

They constantly neglect. They falsely swear;

They have no single hardship, no disease;

And yet they are complaining without end.

And Xenarchus, in his Sleep, says—

Are then the grasshoppers not happy, say you?

When they have wives who cannot speak a word.

And Philetærus, in his Corinthiast, says—

O Jupiter, how soft and bland an eye

The lady has! 'Tis not for nothing we

Behold the temple of Hetæra here;

But there is not one temple to a wife

Throughout the whole of Greece.

And Amphis says in his Athamas—

Is not a courtesan much more good-humour'd

Than any wedded wife? No doubt she is,

And 'tis but natural; for she, by law,

Thinks she's a right to sulk and stay at home:

But well the other knows that 'tis her manners

By which alone she can retain her friends;

And if they fail, she must seek out some others.

8. And Eubulus, in his Chrysille, says—

May that man, fool as he is, who marries

A second wife, most miserably perish;

Him who weds one, I will not blame too much,

For he knew little of the ills he courted.

But well the widower had proved all

The ills which are in wedlock and in wives.

And a little further on he says—

O holy Jove, may I be quite undone,

If e'er I say a word against the women,

The choicest of all creatures. And suppose

Medea was a termagant,—what then?

Was not Penelope a noble creature?

If one should say, "Just think of Clytæmnestra,"

I meet him with Alcestis chaste and true.

Perhaps he'll turn and say no good of Phædra;

But think of virtuous . . . who? . . . Alas, alas!

I cannot recollect another good one,

Though I could still count bad ones up by scores.

[Sidenote: FOLLY OF MARRYING.]

And Aristophon, in his Callonides, says—

May he be quite undone, he well deserves it,

Who dares to marry any second wife;

A man who marries once may be excused;

Not knowing what misfortune he was seeking.

But he who, once escaped, then tries another,

With his eyes open seeks for misery.

And Antiphanes, in his Philopator, says—

_A._ He's married now.

_B._ How say you? do you mean

He's really gone and married—when I left him,

Alive and well, possess'd of all his senses?

And Menander, in his Woman carrying the Sacred Vessel of Minerva, or

the Female Flute-player, says—

_A._ You will not marry if you're in your senses

When you have left this life. For I myself

Did marry; so I recommend you not to.

_B._ The matter is decided—the die is cast.

_A._ Go on then. I do wish you then well over it;

But you are taking arms, with no good reason,

Against a sea of troubles. In the waves

Of the deep Libyan or Ægean sea

Scarce three of thirty ships are lost or wreck'd;

But scarcely one poor husband 'scapes at all.

And in his Woman Burnt he says—

Oh, may the man be totally undone

Who was the first to venture on a wife;

And then the next who follow'd his example;

And then the third, and fourth, and all who follow'd.

And Carcinus the tragedian, in his Semele (which begins, "O nights"),

says—

O Jupiter, why need one waste one's words

In speaking ill of women? for what worse

Can he add, when he once has call'd them women?

9. But, above all other cases, those who when advanced in years marry

young wives, do not perceive that they are running voluntarily into

danger, which every one else foresees plainly: and that, too, though

the Megarian poet[15] has given them this warning:—

A young wife suits not with an aged husband;

For she will not obey the pilot's helm

Like a well-managed boat; nor can the anchor

Hold her securely in her port, but oft

She breaks her chains and cables in the night,

And headlong drives into another harbour.

And Theophilus, in his Neoptolemus, says—

A young wife does not suit an old man well;

For, like a crazy boat, she not at all

Answers the helm, but slips her cable off

By night, and in some other port is found.

10. And I do not think that any of you are ignorant, my friends, that

the greatest wars have taken place on account of women:—the Trojan war

on account of Helen; the plague which took place in it was on account

of Chryseis; the anger of Achilles was excited about Briseis; and the

war called the Sacred War, on account of another wife (as Duris relates

in the second book of his History), who was a Theban by birth, by name

Theano, and who was carried off by some Phocian. And this war also

lasted ten years, and in the tenth year was brought to an end by the

cooperation of Philip; for by his aid the Thebans took Phocis.

The war, also, which is called the Crissæan War (as Callisthenes

tells us in his account of the Sacred War), when the Crissæans made

war upon the Phocians, lasted ten years; and it was excited on this

account,—because the Crissæans carried off Megisto, the daughter of

Pelagon the Phocian, and the daughters of the Argives, as they were

returning from the Pythian temple: and in the tenth year Crissa was

taken. And whole families also have been ruined owing to women;—for

instance, that of Philip, the father of Alexander, was ruined on

account of his marriage with Cleopatra; and Hercules was ruined by his

marriage with Iole, the daughter of Eurytus; and Theseus on account

of his marriage with Phædra, the daughter of Minos; and Athamas on

account of his marriage with Themisto, the daughter of Hypseus; and

Jason on account of his marriage with Glauce, the daughter of Creon;

and Agamemnon on account of Cassandra. And the expedition of Cambyses

against Egypt (as Ctesias relates) took place on account of a woman;

for Cambyses, having heard that Egyptian women were far more amorous

than other women, sent to Amasis the king of the Egyptians, asking him

for one of his daughters in marriage. But he did not give him one of

his own daughters, thinking that she would not be honoured as a wife,

but only treated as a concubine; but he sent him Nitetis, the daughter

of Apries.

[Sidenote: LOVE.]

And Apries had been deposed from the sovereignty of Egypt, because of

the defeats which had been received by him from the Cyreneans; and

afterwards he had been put to death by Amasis. Accordingly, Cambyses,

being much pleased with Nitetis, and being very violently in love

with her, learns the whole circumstances of the case from her; and

she entreated him to avenge the murder of Apries, and persuaded him

to make war upon the Egyptians. But Dinon, in his History of Persia,

and Lynceas of Naucratis, in the third book of his History of Egypt,

say that it was Cyrus to whom Nitetis was sent by Amasis; and that she

was the mother of Cambyses, who made this expedition against Egypt to

avenge the wrongs of his mother and her family. But Duris the Samian

says that the first war carried on by two women was that between

Olympias and Eurydice; in which Olympias advanced something in the

manner of a Bacchanalian, with drums beating; but Eurydice came forward

armed like a Macedonian soldier, having been already accustomed to war

and military habits at the court of Cynnane the Illyrian.

11. Now, after this conversation, it seemed good to the philosophers

who were present to say something themselves about love and about

beauty: and so a great many philosophical sentiments were uttered;

among which, some quoted some of the songs of the dramatic philosopher,

Euripides,—some of which were these:—

Love, who is wisdom's pupil gay,

To virtue often leads the way:

And this great god

Is of all others far the best for man;

For with his gentle nod

He bids them hope, and banishes all pain.

May I be ne'er mixed up with those who scorn

To own his power, and live forlorn,

Cherishing habits all uncouth.

I bid the youth

Of my dear country ne'er to flee from Love,

But welcome him, and willing subjects prove.[16]

And some one else quoted from Pindar—

Let it be my fate always to love,

And to obey Love's will in proper season.

And some one else added the following lines from Euripides—

But you, O mighty Love, of gods and men

The sovereign ruler, either bid what's fair

To seem no longer fair; or else bring aid

To hapless lovers whom you've caused to love,

And aid the labours you yourself have prompted.

If you do this, the gods will honour you;

But if you keep aloof, you will not even

Retain the gratitude which now they feel

For having learnt of you the way to love.[17]

12. And Pontianus said that Zeno the Cittiæan thought that Love was the

God of Friendship and Liberty, and also that he was the great author of

concord among men; but that he had no other office. On which account,

he says in his Polity, that Love is a God, being one who cooperates

in securing the safety of the city. And the philosophers, also, who

preceded him considered Love a venerable Deity, removed from everything

discreditable: and this is plain from their having set up holy statues

in his honour in their Gymnasia, along with those of Mercury and

Hercules—the one of whom is the patron of eloquence, and the other

of valour. And when these are united, friendship and unanimity are

engendered; by means of which the most perfect liberty is secured to

those who excel in these practices. But the Athenians were so far

from thinking that Love presided over the gratification of the mere

sensual appetites, that, though the Academy was manifestly consecrated

to Minerva, they yet erected in that place also a statue of Love, and

sacrificed to it.

[Sidenote: LOVE.]

The Thespians also celebrate Erotidia, or festivals of Love, just as

the Athenians do Athenæa, or festivals of Minerva, and as the Eleans

celebrate the Olympian festivals, and the Rhodians the Halæan. And

in the public sacrifices, everywhere almost, Love is honoured. And

the Lacedæmonians offer sacrifices to Love before they go to battle,

thinking that safety and victory depend on the friendship of those who

stand side by side in the battle array. And the Cretans, in their line

of battle, adorn the handsomest of their citizens, and employ them to

offer sacrifices to Love on behalf of the state, as Sosicrates relates.

And the regiment among the Thebans which is called the Sacred Band, is

wholly composed of mutual lovers, indicating the majesty of the God, as

these men prefer a glorious death to a shameful and discreditable

life. But the Samians (as Erxias says, in his History of Colophon),

having consecrated a gymnasium to Love, called the festival which was

instituted in his honour the Eleutheria, or Feast of Liberty; and it

was owing to this God, too, that the Athenians obtained their freedom.

And the Pisistratidæ, after their banishment, were the first people

who ever endeavoured to throw discredit on the events which took place

through his influence.

13. After this had been said, Plutarch cited the following passage from

the Phædrus of Alexis:—

As I was coming from Piræus lately,

In great perplexity and sad distress,

I fell to thoughts of deep philosophy.

And first I thought that all the painters seem

Ignorant of the real nature of Love;

And so do all the other artists too,

Whoe'er make statues of this deity:

For he is neither male nor female either;

Again, he is not God, nor yet is he man:

He is not foolish, nor yet is he wise;

But he's made up of all kinds of quality,

And underneath one form bears many natures.

His courage is a man's; his cowardice

A very woman's. Then his folly is

Pure madness, but his wisdom a philosopher's;

His vehemence is that of a wild beast,

But his endurance is like adamant;

His jealousy equals any other god's.

And I, indeed,—by all the gods I swear,—

Do not myself precisely understand him;

But still he much resembles my description,

Excepting in the name.

And Eubulus, or Ararus, in his Campylion, says—

What man was he, what modeller or painter,

Who first did represent young Love as wing'd?

He was a man fit only to draw swallows.

Quite ignorant of the character of the god.

For he's not light, nor easy for a man

Who's once by him been master'd, to shake off;

But he's a heavy and tenacious master.

How, then, can he be spoken of as wing'd?

The man's a fool who such a thing could say.

And Alexis, in his Man Lamenting, says—

For this opinion is by all the Sophists

Embraced, that Love is not a winged god;

But that the winged parties are the lovers,

And that he falsely bears this imputation:

So that it is out of pure ignorance

That painters clothe this deity with wings.

14. And Theophrastus, in his book on Love, says that Chæremon the

tragedian said in one of his plays, that—

As wine adapts itself to the constitution

Of those who drink it, so likewise does Love

Who, when he's moderately worshipp'd,

Is mild and manageable; but if loosed

From moderation, then is fierce and troublesome.

On which account the same poet afterwards, distinguishing his powers

with some felicity, says—

For he doth bend a double bow of beauty,

And sometimes men to fortune leads,

But sometimes overwhelms their lives

With trouble and confusion.[18]

But the same poet also, in his play entitled The Wounded Man, speaks of

people in love in this manner:—

Who would not say that those who love alone

Deserve to be consider'd living men?

For first of all they must be skilful soldiers,

And able to endure great toil of body,

And to stick close to th' objects of their love:

They must be active, and inventive too,

Eager, and fertile in expedients,

And prompt to see their way in difficulties.

[Sidenote: LOVE.]

And Theophilus, in his Man fond of the Flute, says—

Who says that lovers are devoid of sense?

He is himself no better than a fool:

For if you take away from life its pleasures,

You leave it nothing but impending death.

And I myself am now indeed in love

With a fair maiden playing on the harp;

And tell me, pray, am I a fool for that?

She's fair, she's tall, she's skilful in her art;

And I'm more glad when I see her, than you

When you divide your salaries among you.

But Aristophon, in his Pythagorean, says—

Now, is not Love deservedly cast out

From his place among the twelve immortal gods?

For he did sow the seeds of great confusion,

And quarrels dire, among that heavenly band,

When he was one of them. And, as he was

Bold and impertinent, they clipp'd his wings,

That he might never soar again to heaven;

And then they banished him to us below;

And for the wings which he did boast before,

Them they did give to Victory, a spoil

Well won, and splendid, from her enemy.

Amphis, too, in his Dithyrambic, speaks thus of loving—

What say'st thou?—dost thou think that all your words

Could e'er persuade me that that man's a lover

Who falls in love with a girl's manners only,

And never thinks what kind of face she's got?

I call him mad; nor can I e'er believe

That a poor man, who often sees a rich one,

Forbears to covet some of his great riches.

But Alexis says in his Helena—

The man who falls in love with beauty's flower,

And taketh heed of nothing else, may be

A lover of pleasure, but not of his love;

And he does openly disparage Love,

And causes him to be suspect to others.

15. Myrtilus, having cited these lines of Alexis, and then looking

round on the men who were partisans of the Stoic school, having first

recited the following passage out of the lambics of Hermeas the Curian—

Listen, you Stoiclings, traffickers in nonsense,

Punners on words,—gluttons, who by yourselves

Eat up the whole of what is in the dishes,

And give no single bit to a philosopher.

Besides, you are most clearly proved to do

All that is contrary to those professions

Which you so pompously parade abroad,

Hunting for beauty;—

went on to say,—And in this point alone you are imitators of the

master of your school, Zeno the Phœnician, who was always a slave to

the most infamous passions (as Antigonus the Carystian relates, in

his History of his Life); for you are always saying that "the proper

object of love is not the body, but the mind;" you who say at the same

time, that you ought to remain faithful to the objects of your love,

till they are eight-and-twenty years of age. And Ariston of Ceos, the

Peripatetic, appears to me to have said very well (in the second book

of his treatise on Likenesses connected with Love), to some Athenian

who was very tall for his age, and at the same time was boasting of his

beauty, (and his name was Dorus,) "It seems to me that one may very

well apply to you the line which Ulysses uttered when he met Dolon—

Great was thy aim, and mighty is the prize.[19]

16. But Hegesander, in his Commentaries, says that all men love

seasoned dishes, but not plain meats, or plainly dressed fish. And

accordingly, when seasoned dishes are wanting, no one willingly

eats either meat or fish; nor does any one desire meat which is raw

and unseasoned. For anciently men used to love boys (as Aristophon

relates); on which account it came to pass that the objects of their

love were called παιδικά. And it was with truth (as Clearchus

says in the first book of his treatise on Love and the Affairs of Love)

that Lycophronides said—

No boy, no maid with golden ornaments,

No woman with a deep and ample robe,

Is so much beautiful as modest; for

'Tis modesty that gives the bloom to beauty.

And Aristotle said that lovers look at no other part of the objects of

their affection, but only at their eyes, in which modesty makes her

abode. And Sophocles somewhere represents Hippodamia as speaking of the

beauty of Pelops, and saying—

And in his eyes the charm which love compels

Shines forth a light, embellishing his face:

He glows himself, and he makes me glow too,

Measuring my eyes with his,—as any builder

Makes his work correspond to his careful rule.[20]

[Sidenote: LOVE.]

17. And Licymnius the Chian, saying that Somnus was in love with

Endymion, represents him as refusing to close the eyes of the youth

even when he is asleep; but the God sends his beloved object to sleep

with his eyelids still open, so that he may not for a single moment

be deprived of the pleasure of contemplating them. And his words are

these—

But Somnus much delighted

In the bright beams which shot from his eyes,

And lull'd the youth to sleep with unclosed lids.

And Sappho says to a man who was admired above all measure for his

beauty, and who was accounted very handsome indeed—

Stand opposite, my love,

And open upon me

The beauteous grace which from your eyes doth flow.

And what says Anacreon?—

Oh, boy, as maiden fair,

I fix my heart on you;

But you despise my prayer,

And little care that you do hold the reins

Which my soul's course incessantly do guide.[21]

And the magnificent Pindar says—

The man who gazes on the brilliant rays

Which shoot from th' eyes

Of beautiful Theoxenus, and yet can feel his heart

Unmoved within his breast, nor yields to love,

Must have a heart

Black, and composed of adamant or iron.[22]

But the Cyclops of Philoxenus of Cythera, in love with Galatea, and

praising her beauty, and prophesying, as it were, his own blindness,

praises every part of her rather than mention her eyes, which he does

not; speaking thus:—

O Galatea,

Nymph with the beauteous face and golden hair,

Whose voice the Graces tune,

True flower of love, my beauteous Galatea.

But this is but a blind panegyric, and not at all to be compared with

the encomium of Ibycus:—

Beauteous Euryalus, of all the Graces

The choicest branch,—object of love to all

The fair-hair'd maidens,—sure the soft-eyed goddess,

The Cyprian queen, and soft Persuasion

Combin'd to nourish you on beds of roses.

And Phrynichus said of Troilus—

The light of love shines in his purple cheeks.

18. But you prefer having all the objects of your love shaved and

hairless. And this custom of shaving the beard originated in the age of

Alexander, as Chrysippus tells us in the fourth book of his treatise on

The Beautiful and on Pleasure. And I think it will not be unseasonable

if I quote what he says; for he is an author of whom I am very fond, on

account of his great learning and his gentle good-humoured disposition.

And this is the language of the philosopher:—"The custom of shaving

the beard was introduced in the time of Alexander, for the people in

earlier times did not practise it; and Timotheus the flute-player used

to play on the flute having a very long beard. And at Athens they even

now remember that the man who first shaved his chin, (and he is not a

very ancient man indeed,) was given the surname of Κόρσης;[23]

on which account Alexis says—

Do you see any man whose beard has been

Removed by sharp pitch-plasters or by razors?

In one of these two ways he may be spoken of:

Either he seems to me to think of war,

And so to be rehearsing acts of fierce

Hostility against his beard and chin;

Or else he's some complaint of wealthy men.

For how, I pray you, do your beards annoy you?—

Beards by which best you may be known as men?

Unless, indeed, you're planning now some deed

Unworthy of the character of men.

And Diogenes, when he saw some one once whose chin was smooth, said,

'I am afraid you think you have great ground to accuse nature, for

having made you a man and not a woman.' And once, when he saw another

man, riding a horse, who was shaved in the same manner, and perfumed

all over, and clothed, too, in a fashion corresponding to those

particulars, he said that he had often asked what a Ἱππόπορνος was;

and now he had found out. And at Rhodes, though there is a law against

shaving, still no one ever prosecutes another for doing so, as the

whole population is shaved. And at Byzantium, though there is a penalty

to which any barber is liable who is possessed of a razor, still every

one uses a razor none the less for that law." And this is the statement

of the admirable Chrysippus.

[Sidenote: BEAUTY.]

19. But that wise Zeno, as Antigonus the Carystian says, speaking, as

it should seem, almost prophetically of the lives and professed

discipline of your sect, said that "those who misunderstood and failed

rightly to enter into the spirit of his words, would become dirty and

ungentlemanlike-looking; just as those who adopted Aristippus's sect,

but perverted his precepts, became intemperate and shameless." And the

greater portion of you are such as that, men with contracted brows, and

dirty clothes, sordid not only in your dispositions, but also in your

appearance. For, wishing to assume the character of independence and

frugality, you are found at the gate of covetousness, living sordidly,

clothed in scanty cloaks, filling the soles of your shoes with nails,

and giving hard names to any one who uses the very smallest quantity

of perfume, or who is dressed in apparel which is at all delicate. But

men of your sect have no business to be attracted by money, or to lead

about the objects of their love with their beards shaved and smooth,

who follow you about the Lyceum—

Thin, starved philosophers, as dry as leather,

as Antiphanes calls them.

20. But I am a great admirer of beauty myself. For, in the contests

[at Athens] for the prize of manliness, they select the handsomest,

and give them the post of honour to bear the sacred vessels at the

festivals of the gods. And at Elis there is a contest as to beauty, and

the conqueror has the vessels of the goddess given to him to carry;

and the next handsomest has the ox to lead, and the third places the

sacrificial cakes on the head of the victim. But Heraclides Lembus

relates that in Sparta the handsomest man and the handsomest woman have

special honours conferred on them; and Sparta is famous for producing

the handsomest women in the world. On which account they tell a story

of king Archidamus, that when one wife was offered to him who was very

handsome, and another who was ugly but rich, and he chose the rich

one, the Ephori imposed a fine upon him, saying that he had preferred

begetting kinglings rather than kings for the Spartans. And Euripides

has said—

Her very mien is worthy of a kingdom.[24]

And in Homer, the old men among the people marvelling at the beauty of

Helen, are represented as speaking thus to one another—

They cried, "No wonder such celestial charms

For nine long years have set the world in arms;—

What winning graces! what majestic mien!

She moves a goddess, and she looks a queen."[25]

And even Priam himself is moved at the beauty of the woman, though he

is in great distress. And also he admires Agamemnon for his beauty, and

uses the following language respecting him—

Say, what Greek is he

Around whose brow such martial graces shine,—

So tall, so awful, and almost divine?

Though some of larger stature tread the green,

None match his grandeur and exalted mien.[26]

And many nations have made the handsomest men their kings on that

account. As even to this day that Æthiopian tribe called the Immortals

does; as Bion relates in his History of the Affairs of Æthiopia. For,

as it would seem, they consider beauty as the especial attribute of

kings. And goddesses have contended with one another respecting beauty;

and it was on account of his beauty that the gods carried off Ganymede

to be their cup-bearer—

The matchless Ganymede, divinely fair,

Whom Heaven, enamour'd, snatch'd to upper air.[27]

And who are they whom the goddesses have carried off? are they not the

handsomest of men? And they cohabit with them; as Aurora does with

Cephalus and Clitus and Tithonus; and Ceres with Jason; and Venus with

Anchises and Adonis. And it was for the sake of beauty also that the

greatest of the gods entered through a roof under the form of gold, and

became a bull, and often transformed himself into a winged eagle, as he

did in the case of Ægina. And Socrates the philosopher, who despised

everything, was, for all that, subdued by the beauty of Alcibiades; as

also was the venerable Aristotle by the beauty of his pupil Phaselites.

And do not we too, even in the case of inanimate things, prefer what

is the most beautiful? The fashion, too, of Sparta is much praised, I

mean that of displaying their virgins naked to their guests; and in

the island of Chios it is a beautiful sight to go to the gymnasia and

the race-courses, and to see the young men wrestling naked with the

maidens, who are also naked.

[Sidenote: BEAUTY.]

21. And Cynulcus said:—And do you dare to talk in this way, you who

are not "rosy-fingered," as Cratinus says, but who have one foot made

of cow-dung? and do you bring up again the recollection of that poet

your namesake, who spends all his time in cookshops and inns? although

Isocrates the orator has said, in his Areopagitic Oration, "But not

one of their servants ever would have ventured to eat or drink in a

cookshop; for they studied to keep up the dignity of their appearance,

and not to behave like buffoons." And Hyperides, in his oration against

Patrocles, (if, at least, the speech is a genuine one,) says that

they forbade a man who had dined at a cookshop from going up to the

Areopagus. But you, you sophist, spend your time in cookshops, not with

your friends (ἑταίρων), but with prostitutes (ἑταιρῶν), having a lot

of pimps and procuresses about you, and always carrying about these

books of Aristophanes, and Apollodorus, and Ammonius, and Antiphanes,

and also of Gorgias the Athenian, who have all written about the

prostitutes at Athens.

Oh, what a learned man you are! how far are you from imitating

Theomandrus of Cyrene, who, as Theophrastus, in his treatise on

Happiness, says, used to go about and profess that he gave lessons in

prosperity. You, you teacher of love, are in no respect better than

Amasis of Elis, whom Theophrastus, in his treatise on Love, says was

extraordinarily addicted to amatory pursuits. And a man will not be

much out who calls you a πορνογράφος, just as they call Aristides

and Pausanias and Nicophanes ζωγράφοι. And Polemo mentions them, as

painting the subjects which they did paint exceedingly well, in his

treatise on the Pictures at Sicyon. Think, my friends, of the great and

varied learning of this grammarian, who does not conceal what he means,

but openly quotes the verses of Eubulus, in his Cercopes—

I came to Corinth; there I ate with pleasure

Some herb called basil (ocimum), and was ruin'd by it;

And also, trifling there, I lost my cloak.

And the Corinthian sophist is very fine here, explaining to his pupils

that Ocimum is the name of a harlot. And a great many other plays also,

you impudent fellow, derived their names from courtesans. There is the

Thalassa of Diodes, the Corianno of Pherecrates, the Antea of Eunicus

or Philyllus, the Thais, and the Phanion of Menander, the Opora of

Alexis, the Clepsydra of Eubulus—and the woman who bore this name, had

it because she used to distribute her company by the hour-glass, and to

dismiss her visitors when it had run down; as Asclepiades, the son of

Areas, relates in his History of Demetrius Phalereus; and he says that

her proper name was Meticha.

22.

There is a courtesan . . . . .

(as Antiphanes says in his Clown)—

. . . who is a positive

Calamity and ruin to her keeper;

And yet he's glad at nourishing such a pest.

On which account, in the Neæra of Timocles, a man is represented as

lamenting his fate, and saying—

But I, unhappy man, who first loved Phryne

When she was but a gatherer of capers,

And was not quite as rich as now she is,—

I who such sums of money spent upon her,

Am now excluded from her doors.

And in the play entitled Orestantoclides, the same Timocles says—

And round the wretched man old women sleep,

Nannium and Plangon, Lyca, Phryne too,

Gnathæna, Pythionica, Myrrhina,

Chrysis, Conallis, Hieroclea, and

Lapadium also.

And these courtesans are mentioned by Amphis, in his Curis, where he

says—

Wealth truly seems to me to be quite blind,

Since he ne'er ventures near this woman's doors,

But haunts Sinope, Nannium, and Lyca,

And others like them, traps of men's existence,

And in their houses sits like one amazed,

And ne'er departs.

[Sidenote: COURTESANS.]

23. And Alexis, in the drama entitled Isostasium, thus describes the

equipment of a courtesan, and the artifices which some women use to

make themselves up—

For, first of all, to earn themselves much gain,

And better to plunder all the neighbouring men,

They use a heap of adventitious aids.—

They plot to take in every one. And when,

By subtle artifice, they've made some money,

They enlist fresh girls, and add recruits, who ne'er

Have tried the trade, unto their cunning troop,

And drill them so that they are very soon

Different in manners, and in look, and semblance

From all they were before. Suppose one's short—

They put cork soles within the heels of her shoes:

Is any one too tall—she wears a slipper

Of thinnest substance, and, with head depress'd

Between the shoulders, walks the public streets,

And so takes off from her superfluous height.

Is any one too lean about the flank—

They hoop her with a bustle, so that all

Who see her marvel at her fair proportions.

Has any one too prominent a stomach—

They crown it with false breasts, such as perchance

At times you may in comic actors see;

And what is still too prominent, they force

Back, ramming it as if with scaffolding.

Has any one red eyebrows—those they smear

With soot. Has any one a dark complexion—

White-lead will that correct. This girl's too fair—

They rub her well with rich vermilion.

Is she a splendid figure—then her charms

Are shown in naked beauty to the purchaser.

Has she good teeth—then she is forced to laugh,

That all the bystanders may see her mouth,

How beautiful it is; and if she be

But ill-inclined to laugh, then she is kept

Close within doors whole days, and all the things

Which cooks keep by them when they sell goats' heads,

Such as a stick of myrrh, she's forced to keep

Between her lips, till they have learnt the shape

Of the required grin. And by such arts

They make their charms and persons up for market.

24. And therefore I advise you, my Thessalian friend with the handsome

chairs, to be content to embrace the women in the brothels, and not to

spend the inheritance of your children on vanities. For, truly, the

lame man gets on best at this sort of work; since your father, the

boot-maker, did not lecture you and teach you any great deal, and did

not confine you to looking at leather. Or do you not know those women,

as we find them called in the Pannuchis of Eubulus—

Thrifty decoys, who gather in the money,—

Fillies well-train'd of Venus, standing naked

In long array, clad in transparent robes

Of thinnest web, like the fair damsels whom

Eridanus waters with his holy stream;

From whom, with safety and frugality,

You may buy pleasure at a moderate cost.

And in his Nannium, (the play under this name is the work of Eubulus,

and not of Philippides)—

For he who secretly goes hunting for

Illicit love, must surely of all men

Most miserable be; and yet he may

See in the light of the sun a willing row

Of naked damsels, standing all array'd

In robes transparent, like the damsels whom

Eridanus waters with his holy stream,

And buy some pleasure at a trifling rate,

Without pursuing joys he's bound to hide,

(There is no heavier calamity,)

Just out of wantonness and not for love.

I do bewail the fate of hapless Greece,

Which sent forth such an admiral as Cydias.

Xenarchus also, in his Pentathlum, reproaches those men who live as you

do, and who fix their hearts on extravagant courtesans, and on freeborn

women; in the following lines—

It is a terrible, yes a terrible and

Intolerable evil, what the young

Men do throughout this city. For although

There are most beauteous damsels in the brothels,

Which any man may see standing all willing

In the full light of day, with open bosoms,

Showing their naked charms, all of a row,

Marshall'd in order; and though they may choose

Without the slightest trouble, as they fancy,

Thin, stout, or round, tall, wrinkled, or smooth-faced,

Young, old, or middle-aged, or elderly,

So that they need not clamber up a ladder,

Nor steal through windows out of free men's houses,

Nor smuggle themselves in in bags of chaff;

For these gay girls will ravish you by force,

And drag you in to them; if old, they'll call you

Their dear papa; if young, their darling baby:

And these a man may fearlessly and cheaply

Amuse himself with, morning, noon, or night,

And any way he pleases; but the others

He dares not gaze on openly nor look at,

But, fearing, trembling, shivering, with his heart,

As men say, in his mouth, he creeps towards them.

And how can they, O sea-born mistress mine,

Immortal Venus! act as well they ought,

E'en when they have the opportunity,

If any thought of Draco's laws comes o'er them?

[Sidenote: COURTESANS.]

25. And Philemon, in his Brothers, relates that Solon at first, on

account of the unbridled passions of the young, made a law that women

might be brought to be prostituted at brothels; as Nicander of Colophon

also states, in the third book of his History of the Affairs of

Colophon,—saying that he first erected a temple to the Public Venus

with the money which was earned by the women who were prostituted at

these brothels.

But Philemon speaks on this subject as follows:—

But you did well for every man, O Solon;

For they do say you were the first to see

The justice of a public-spirited measure,

The saviour of the state—(and it is fit

For me to utter this avowal, Solon);—

You, seeing that the state was full of men,

Young, and possess'd of all the natural appetites,

And wandering in their lusts where they'd no business,

Bought women, and in certain spots did place them,

Common to be, and ready for all comers.

They naked stand: look well at them, my youth,—

Do not deceive yourself; a'nt you well off?

You're ready, so are they: the door is open—

The price an obol: enter straight—there is

No nonsense here, no cheat or trickery;

But do just what you like, and how you like.

You're off: wish her good-bye; she's no more claim on you.

And Aspasia, the friend of Socrates, imported great numbers of

beautiful women, and Greece was entirely filled with her courtesans;

as that witty writer Aristophanes (in his Acharnenses[28])

relates,—saying, that the Peloponnesian war was excited by Pericles,

on account of his love for Aspasia, and on account of the girls who had

been carried away from her by the Megarians.

For some young men, drunk with the cottabus

Going to Megara, carry off by stealth

A harlot named Simætha. Then the citizens

Of Megara, full of grief and indignation,

Stole in return two of Aspasia's girls;

And this was the beginning of the war

Which devastated Greece, for three lewd women.

26. I therefore, my most learned grammarian, warn you to beware of the

courtesans who want a high price, because

You may see other damsels play the flute,

All playing th' air of Phœbus, or of Jove;

But these play no air save the air of the hawk,

as Epicrates says in his Anti-Lais; in which play he also uses the

following expressions concerning the celebrated Lais:—

But this fair Lais is both drunk and lazy,

And cares for nothing, save what she may eat

And drink all day. And she, as I do think,

Has the same fate the eagles have; for they,

When they are young, down from the mountains stoop,

Ravage the flocks and eat the timid hares,

Bearing their prey aloft with fearful might.

But when they're old, on temple tops they perch,

Hungry and helpless; and the soothsayers

Turn such a sight into a prodigy.

And so might Lais well be thought an omen;

For when she was a maiden, young and fresh,

She was quite savage with her wondrous riches;

And you might easier get access to

The satrap Pharnabazus. But at present,

Now that she's more advanced in years, and age

Has meddled with her body's round proportions,

'Tis easy both to see her and to scorn her.

Now she runs everywhere to get some drink;

She'll take a stater—aye, or a triobolus;

She will admit you, young or old; and is

Become so tame, so utterly subdued,

That she will take the money from your hand.

Anaxandrides also, in his Old-Man's Madness, mentions Lais, and

includes her with many other courtesans in a list which he gives in the

following lines:—

_A._ You know Corinthian Lais?

_B._ To be sure;

My countrywoman.

_A._ Well, she had a friend,

By name Anthea.

_B._ Yes; I knew her well.

_A._ Well, in those days Lagisca was in beauty;

Theolyta, too, was wondrous fair to see,

And seemed likely to be fairer still;

And Ocimon was beautiful as any.

27. This, then, is the advice I want to give you, my friend Myrtilus;

and, as we read in the Cynegis of Philetærus,—

Now you are old, reform those ways of yours;

Know you not that 'tis hardly well to die

In the embraces of a prostitute,

As men do say Phormisius perished?

Or do you think that delightful which Timocles speaks of in his

Marathonian Women?—

[Sidenote: HETÆRÆ.]

How great the difference whether you pass the night

With a lawful wife or with a prostitute!

Bah! Where's the firmness of the flesh, the freshness

Of breath and of complexion? Oh, ye gods!

What appetite it gives one not to find

Everything waiting, but to be constrain'd

To struggle a little, and from tender hands

To bear soft blows and bullets; that, indeed,

Is really pleasure.

And as Cynulcus had still a good deal which he wished to say, and as

Magnus was preparing to attack him for the sake of Myrtilus,—Myrtilus,

being beforehand with him (for he hated the Syrian), said—

But our hopes were not so clean worn out,

As to need aid from bitter enemies;

as Callimachus says. For are not we, O Cynulcus, able to defend

ourselves?

How rude you are, and boorish with your jokes!

Your tongue is all on the left side of your mouth;

as Ephippus says in his Philyra. For you seem to me to be one of those

men

Who of the Muses learnt but ill-shaped letters,

as some one of the parody writers has it.

28. I therefore, my friends and messmates, have not, as is said in the

Auræ of Metagenes, or in the Mammacythus of Aristagoras,

Told you of female dancers, courtesans

Who once were fair; and now I do not tell you

Of flute-playing girls, just reaching womanhood,

Who not unwillingly, for adequate pay,

Have borne the love of vulgar men;

but I have been speaking of regular professional Hetæræ—that is to say,

of those who are able to preserve a friendship free from trickery; whom

Cynulcus does not venture to speak ill of, and who of all women are the

only ones who have derived their name from friendship, or from that

goddess who is named by the Athenians Venus Hetæra: concerning whom

Apollodorus the Athenian speaks, in his treatise on the Gods, in the

following manner:—"And they worship Venus Hetæra, who brings together

male and female companions (ἑταίρους καὶ ἑταίρας)—that is to say,

mistresses." Accordingly, even to this day, freeborn women and maidens

call their associates and friends their ἑταῖραι; as Sappho does, where

she says—

And now with tuneful voice I'll sing

These pleasing songs to my companions (ἑταίραις).

And in another place she says—

Niobe and Latona were of old

Affectionate companions (ἑταῖραι) to each other.

They also call women who prostitute themselves for money, ἑταῖραι. And

the verb which they use for prostituting oneself for money is ἑταιρέω,

not regarding the etymology of the word, but applying a more decent

term to the trade; as Menander, in his Deposit, distinguishing the

ἑταῖροι from the ἑταῖραι, says—

You've done an act not suited to companions (ἑταίρωv),

But, by Jove, far more fit for courtesans (ἑταιρῶν),

These words, so near the same, do make the sense

Not always easily to be distinguished.

29. But concerning courtesans, Ephippus, in his Merchandise, speaks as

follows:—

And then if, when we enter through their doors,

They see that we are out of sorts at all,

They flatter us and soothe us, kiss us gently,

Not pressing hard as though our lips were enemies,

But with soft open kisses like a sparrow;

They sing, and comfort us, and make us cheerful,

And straightway banish all our care and grief,

And make our faces bright again with smiles.

And Eubulus, in his Campylion, introducing a courtesan of modest

deportment, says—

How modestly she sat the while at supper!

Not like the rest, who make great balls of leeks,

And stuff their cheeks with them, and loudly crunch

Within their jaws large lumps of greasy meat;

But delicately tasting of each dish,

In mouthfuls small, like a Milesian maiden.

And Antiphanes says in his Hydra—

But he, the man of whom I now was speaking,

Seeing a woman who lived near his house,

A courtesan, did fall at once in love with her;

She was a citizen, without a guardian

Or any near relations, and her manners

Pure, and on virtue's strictest model form'd,

A genuine mistress (ἑταῖρα); for the rest of the crew

Bring into disrepute, by their vile manners,

A name which in itself has nothing wrong.

And Anaxilas, in his Neottis, says—

[Sidenote: HETÆRÆ.]

_A._ But if a woman does at all times use

Fair, moderate language, giving her services

Favourable to all who stand in need of her,

She from her prompt companionship (ἑταιρίας) does earn

The title of companion (ἑταῖρα); and you,

As you say rightly, have not fall'n in love

With a vile harlot (πόρνη), but with a companion (ἑταῖρα).

Is she not one of pure and simple manners?

_B._ At all events, by Jove, she's beautiful.

30. But that systematic debaucher of youths of yours, is such a person

as Alexis, or Antiphanes, represents him, in his Sleep—

On this account, that profligate, when supping

With us, will never eat an onion even,

Not to annoy the object of his love.

And Ephippus has spoken very well of people of that description in his

Sappho, where he says—

For when one in the flower of his age

Learns to sneak into other men's abodes,

And shares of meals where he has not contributed,

He must some other mode of payment mean.

And Æschines the orator has said something of the same kind in his

Speech against Timarchus.

31. But concerning courtesans, Philetærus, in his Huntress, has the

following lines:—

'Tis not for nothing that where'er we go

We find a temple of Hetæra there,

But nowhere one to any wedded wife.

I know, too, that there is a festival called the Hetæridia, which is

celebrated in Magnesia, not owing to the courtesans, but to another

cause, which is mentioned by Hegesander in his Commentaries, who writes

thus:—"The Magnesians celebrate a festival called Hetæridia; and they

give this account of it: that originally Jason, the son of Æson, when

he had collected the Argonauts, sacrificed to Jupiter Hetærias, and

called the festival Hetæridia. And the Macedonian kings also celebrated

the Hetæridia."

There is also a temple of Venus the Prostitute (πόρνη) at Abydus, as

Pamphylus asserts:—"For when all the city was oppressed by slavery, the

guards in the city, after a sacrifice on one occasion (as Cleanthus

relates in his essays on Fables), having got intoxicated, took several

courtesans; and one of these women, when she saw that the men were all

fast asleep, taking the keys, got over the wall, and brought the news

to the citizens of Abydus. And they, on this, immediately came in arms,

and slew the guards, and made themselves masters of the walls, and

recovered their freedom; and to show their gratitude to the prostitute

they built a temple to Venus the Prostitute."

And Alexis the Samian, in the second book of his Samian Annals,

says—"The Athenian prostitutes who followed Pericles when he laid siege

to Samos, having made vast sums of money by their beauty, dedicated

a statue of Venus at Samos, which some call Venus among the Reeds,

and others Venus in the Marsh." And Eualces, in his History of the

Affairs of Ephesus, says that there is at Ephesus also a temple to

Venus the Courtesan (ἑταῖρα). And Clearchus, in the first book of his

treatise on Amatory Matters, says—"Gyges the king of the Lydians was

very celebrated, not only on account of his mistress while she was

alive, having submitted himself and his whole dominions to her power,

but also after she was dead; inasmuch as he assembled all the Lydians

in the whole country, and raised that mound which is even now called

the tomb of the Lydian Courtesan; building it up to a great height, so

that when he was travelling in the country, inside of Mount Tmolus,

wherever he was, he could always see the tomb; and it was a conspicuous

object to all the inhabitants of Lydia." And Demosthenes the orator,

in his Speech against Neæra (if it is a genuine one, which Apollodorus

says it is), says—"Now we have courtesans for the sake of pleasure,

but concubines for the sake of daily cohabitation, and wives for the

purpose of having children legitimately, and of having a faithful

guardian of all our household affairs."

32. I will now mention to you, O Cynulcus, an Ionian story (spinning it

out, as Æschylus says,) about courtesans, beginning with the beautiful

Corinth, since you have reproached me with having been a schoolmaster

in that city.

It is an ancient custom at Corinth (as Chamæleon of Heraclea

relates, in his treatise on Pindar), whenever the city addresses any

supplication to Venus, about any important matter, to employ as many

courtesans as possible to join in the supplication; and they, too, pray

to the goddess, and afterwards they are present at the sacrifices.

And when the king of Persia was leading his army against Greece (as

Theopompus also relates, and so does Timæus, in his seventh book),

the Corinthian courtesans offered prayers for the safety of Greece,

going to the temple of Venus. On which account, after the Corinthians

had consecrated a picture to the goddess (which remains even to this

day), and as in this picture they had painted the portraits of the

courtesans who made this supplication at the time, and who were present

afterwards, Simonides composed this epigram:—

[Sidenote: COURTESANS.]

These damsels, in behalf of Greece, and all

Their gallant countrymen, stood nobly forth,

Praying to Venus, the all-powerful goddess;

Nor was the queen of beauty willing ever

To leave the citadel of Greece to fall

Beneath the arrows of the unwarlike Persians.

And even private individuals sometimes vow to Venus, that if they

succeed in the objects for which they are offering their vows, they

will bring her a stated number of courtesans.

33. As this custom, then, exists with reference to this goddess,

Xenophon the Corinthian, when going to Olympia, to the games, vowed

that he, if he were victorious, would bring her some courtesans. And

Pindar at first wrote a panegyric on him, which begins thus:—

Praising the house which in th' Olympic games

Has thrice borne off the victory.[29]

But afterwards he composed a scolium[30] on him, which was sung at the

sacrificial feasts; in the exordium of which he turns at once to the

courtesans who joined in the sacrifice to Venus, in the presence of

Xenophon, while he was sacrificing to the goddess himself; on which

account he says—

O queen of Cyprus' isle,

Come to this grove!

Lo, Xenophon, succeeding in his aim,

Brings you a band of willing maidens,

Dancing on a hundred feet.

And the opening lines of the song were these:—

O hospitable damsels, fairest train

Of soft Persuasion,—

Ornament of the wealthy Corinth,

Bearing in willing hands the golden drops

That from the frankincense distil, and flying

To the fair mother of the Loves,

Who dwelleth in the sky,

The lovely Venus,—you do bring to us

Comfort and hope in danger, that we may

Hereafter, in the delicate beds of Love,

Heap the long-wished-for fruits of joy,

Lovely and necessary to all mortal men.

And after having begun in this manner, he proceeds to say—

But now I marvel, and wait anxiously

To see what will my masters say of me,

Who thus begin

My scolium with this amatory preface,

Willing companion of these willing damsels.

And it is plain here that the poet, while addressing the courtesans in

this way, was in some doubt as to the light in which it would appear to

the Corinthians; but, trusting to his own genius, he proceeds with the

following verse—

We teach pure gold on a well-tried lyre.

And Alexis, in his Loving Woman, tells us that the courtesans at

Corinth celebrate a festival of their own, called Aphrodisia; where he

says—

The city at the time was celebrating

The Aphrodisia of the courtesans:

This is a different festival from that

Which the free women solemnize: and then

It is the custom on those days that all

The courtesans should feast with us in common.

[Sidenote: COURTESANS.]

34. But at Lacedæmon (as Polemo Periegetes says, in his treatise on

the Offerings at Lacedæmon,) there is a statue of a very celebrated

courtesan, named Cottina, who, he tells us, consecrated a brazen

cow; and Polemo's words are these:—"And the statue of Cottina the

courtesan, on account of whose celebrity there is still a brothel which

is called by her name, near the hill on which the temple of Bacchus

stands, is a conspicuous object, well known to many of the citizens.

And there is also a votive offering of hers besides that to Minerva

Chalciœcos—a brazen cow, and also the before-mentioned image." And the

handsome Alcibiades, of whom one of the comic poets said—

And then the delicate Alcibiades,

O earth and all the gods! whom Lacedæmon

Desires to catch in his adulteries,

though he was beloved by the wife of Agis, used to go and held his

revels at the doors of the courtesans, leaving all the Lacedæmonian

and Athenian women. He also fell in love with Medontis of Abydos, from

the mere report of her beauty; and sailing to the Hellespont with

Axiochus, who was a lover of his on account of his beauty, (as Lysias

the orator states, in his speech against him,) he allowed Axiochus to

share her with him. Moreover, Alcibiades used always to carry about two

other courtesans with him in all his expeditions, namely, Damasandra,

the mother of the younger Lais, and Theodote; by whom, after he was

dead, he was buried in Melissa, a village of Phrygia, after he had been

overwhelmed by the treachery of Pharnabazus. And we ourselves saw the

tomb of Alcibiades at Melissa, when we went from Synadæ to Metropolis;

and at that tomb there is sacrificed an ox every year, by the command

of that most excellent emperor Adrian, who also erected on the tomb a

statue of Alcibiades in Parian marble.

35. And we must not wonder at people having on some occasions fallen

in love with others from the mere report of their beauty, when Chares

of Mitylene, in the tenth book of his History of Alexander, says

that some people have even seen in dreams those whom they have never

beheld before, and fallen in love with them so. And he writes as

follows:—"Hystaspes had a younger brother whose name was Zariadres:

and they were both men of great personal beauty. And the story told

concerning them by the natives of the country is, that they were the

offspring of Venus and Adonis. Now Hystaspes was sovereign of Media,

and of the lower country adjoining it; and Zariadres was sovereign of

the country above the Caspian gates as far as the river Tanais. Now the

daughter of Omartes, the king of the Marathi, a tribe dwelling on the

other side of the Tanais, was named Odatis. And concerning her it is

written in the Histories, that she in her sleep beheld Zariadres, and

fell in love with him; and that the very same thing happened to him

with respect to her. And so for a long time they were in love with one

another, simply on account of the visions which they had seen in their

dreams. And Odatis was the most beautiful of all the women in Asia; and

Zariadres also was very handsome. Accordingly, when Zariadres sent to

Omartes and expressed a desire to marry the damsel, Omartes would not

agree to it, because he was destitute of male offspring; for he wished

to give her to one of his own people about his court. And not long

afterwards, Omartes having assembled all the chief men of his kingdom,

and all his friends and relations, held a marriage-feast, without

saying beforehand to whom he was going to give his daughter. And as the

wine went round, her father summoned Odatis to the banquet, and said,

in the hearing of all the guests,—'We, my daughter Odatis, are now

celebrating your marriage-feast; so now do you look around, and survey

all those who are present, and then take a golden goblet and fill it,

and give it to the man to whom you like to be married; for you shall be

called his wife.' And she, having looked round upon them all, went away

weeping, being anxious to see Zariadres, for she had sent him word that

her marriage-feast was about to be celebrated. But he, being encamped

on the Tanais, and leaving the army encamped there without being

perceived, crossed the river with his charioteer alone; and going by

night in his chariot, passed through the city, having gone about eight

hundred stadia without stopping. And when he got near the town in which

the marriage festival was being celebrated, and leaving, in some place

near, his chariot with the charioteer, he went forward by himself,

clad in a Scythian robe. And when he arrived at the palace, and seeing

Odatis standing in front of the side-board in tears, and filling the

goblet very slowly, he stood near her and said, 'O Odatis, here I am

come, as you requested me to,—I, Zariadres.' And she, perceiving a

stranger, and a handsome man, and that he resembled the man whom she

had beheld in her sleep, being exceedingly rejoiced, gave him the bowl.

And he, seizing on her, led her away to his chariot, and fled away,

having Odatis with him. And the servants and the handmaidens, knowing

their love, said not a word. And when her father ordered them to summon

her, they said that they did not know which way she was gone. And the

story of this love is often told by the barbarians who dwell in Asia,

and is exceedingly admired; and they have painted representations of

the story in their temples and palaces, and also in their private

houses. And a great many of the princes in those countries give their

daughters the name of Odatis."

[Sidenote: COURTESANS.]

36. Aristotle also, in his Constitution of the Massilians, mentions a

similar circumstance as having taken place, writing as follows:—"The

Phocæans in Ionia, having consulted the oracle, founded Marseilles.

And Euxenus the Phocæan was connected by ties of hospitality with

Nanus; this was the name of the king of that country. This Nanus was

celebrating the marriage-feast of his daughter, and invited Euxenus,

who happened to be in the neighbourhood, to the feast. And the marriage

was to be conducted in this manner:—After the supper was over the

damsel was to come in, and to give a goblet full of wine properly

mixed to whichever of the suitors who were present she chose; and to

whomsoever she gave it, he was to be the bridegroom. And the damsel

coming in, whether it was by chance or whether it was for any other

reason, gives the goblet to Euxenus. And the name of the maiden was

Petta. And when the cup had been given in this way, and her father

(thinking that she had been directed by the Deity in her giving of it)

had consented that Euxenus should have her, he took her for his wife,

and cohabited with her, changing her name to Aristoxena. And the family

which is descended from that damsel remains in Marseilles to this day,

and is known as the Protiadæ; for Protis was the name of the son of

Euxenus and Aristoxena."

37. And did not Themistocles, as Idomeneus relates, harness a chariot

full of courtesans and drive with them into the city when the market

was full? And the courtesans were Lamia and Scione and Satyra and

Nannium. And was not Themistocles himself the son of a courtesan,

whose name was Abrotonum? as Amphicrates relates in his treatise on

Illustrious Men—

Abrotonum was but a Thracian woman,

But for the weal of Greece

She was the mother of the great Themistocles.

But Neanthes of Cyzicus, in his third and fourth books of his History

of Grecian Affairs, says that he was the son of Euterpe.

And when Cyrus the younger was making his expedition against his

brother, did he not carry with him a courtesan of Phocæa, who was a

very clever and very beautiful woman? and Zenophanes says that her name

was originally Milto, but that it was afterwards changed to Aspasia.

And a Milesian concubine also accompanied him. And did not the great

Alexander keep Thais about him, who was an Athenian courtesan? And

Clitarchus speaks of her as having been the cause that the palace

of Persepolis was burnt down. And this Thais, after the death of

Alexander, married Ptolemy, who became the first king of Egypt, and

she bore him sons, Leontiscus and Lagos, and a daughter named Irene,

who was married to Eunostus, the king of Soli, a town of Cyprus. And

the second king of Egypt, Ptolemy Philadelphus by name, as Ptolemy

Euergetes relates in the third book of his Commentaries, had a great

many mistresses,—namely, Didyma, who was a native of the country, and

very beautiful; and Bilisticha; and, besides them, Agathoclea, and

Stratonice, who had a great monument on the sea-shore, near Eleusis;

and Myrtium, and a great many more; as he was a man excessively

addicted to amatory pleasures. And Polybius, in the fourteenth book of

his History, says that there are a great many statues of a woman named

Clino, who was his cup-bearer, in Alexandria, clothed in a tunic only,

and holding a cornucopia in her hand. "And are not," says he, "the

finest houses called by the names of Myrtium, and Mnesis, and Pothina?

and yet Mnesis was only a female flute-player, and so was Pothine, and

Myrtium was one of the most notorious and common prostitutes in the

city."

Was there not also Agathoclea the courtesan, who had great power over

king Ptolemy Philopator? in fact, was it not she who was the ruin of

his whole kingdom? And Eumachus the Neapolitan, in the second book of

his History of Hannibal, says that Hieronymus, the tyrant of Syracuse,

fell in love with one of the common prostitutes who followed her trade

in a brothel, whose name was Pitho, and married her, and made her queen

of Syracuse.

[Sidenote: COURTESANS.]

38. And Timotheus, who was general of the Athenians, with a very high

reputation, was the son of a courtesan, a Thracian by birth, but,

except that she was a courtesan, of very excellent character; for when

women of this class do behave modestly, they are superior to those who

give themselves airs on account of their virtue. But Timotheus being on

one occasion reproached as being the son of a mother of that character,

said,—"But I am much obliged to her, because it is owing to her that

I am the son of Conon." And Carystius, in his Historic Commentaries,

says that Philetærus the king of Pergamus, and of all that country

which is now called the New Province, was the son of a woman named

Boa, who was a flute-player and a courtesan, a Paphlagonian by birth.

And Aristophon the orator, who in the archonship of Euclides proposed

a law, that every one who was not born of a woman who was a citizen

should be accounted a bastard, was himself, convicted, by Calliades the

comic poet, of having children by a courtesan named Choregis, as the

same Carystius relates in the third book of his Commentaries.

Besides all these men, was not Demetrius Poliorcetes evidently in love

with Lamia the flute-player, by whom he had a daughter named Phila? And

Polemo, in his treatise on the colonnade called Pœcile at Sicyon, says

that Lamia was the daughter of Cleanor an Athenian, and that she built

the before-mentioned colonnade for the people of Sicyon. Demetrius was

also in love with Leæna, and she was also an Athenian courtesan; and

with a great many other women besides.

39. And Machon the comic poet, in his play entitled the Chriæ, speaks

thus:—

But as Leæna was by nature form'd

To give her lovers most exceeding pleasure,

And was besides much favour'd by Demetrius,

They say that Lamia also gratified

The king; and when he praised her grace and quickness,

The damsel answer'd: And besides you can,

If you do wish, subdue a lioness (λέαιναν).

But Lamia was always very witty and prompt in repartee, as also was

Gnathæna, whom we shall mention presently. And again Machon writes thus

about Lamia:—

Demetrius the king was once displaying

Amid his cups a great variety

Of kinds of perfumes to his Lamia:

Now Lamia was a female flute-player,

With whom 'tis always said Demetrius

Was very much in love. But when she scoff'd

At all his perfumes, and, moreover, treated

The monarch with exceeding insolence,

He bade a slave bring some cheap unguent, and

He rubbed himself with that, and smear'd his fingers,

And said, "At least smell this, O Lamia,

And see how much this scent does beat all others."

She laughingly replied: "But know, O king,

That smell does seem to me the worst of all."

"But," said Demetrius, "I swear, by the gods,

That 'tis produced from a right royal nut."

40. But Ptolemy the son of Agesarchus, in his History of Philopator,

giving a list of the mistresses of the different kings, says—"Philip

the Macedonian promoted Philinna, the dancing-woman, by whom he had

Aridæus, who was king of Macedonia after Alexander. And Demetrius

Poliorcetes, besides the women who have already been mentioned, had a

mistress named Mania; and Antigonus had one named Demo, by whom he had

a son named Alcyoneus; and Seleucus the younger had two, whose names

were Mysta and Nysa." But Heraclides Lenebus, in the thirty-sixth book

of his History, says that Demo was the mistress of Demetrius; and that

his father Antigonus was also in love with her: and that he put to

death Oxythemis as having sinned a good deal with Demetrius; and he

also put to the torture and executed the maid-servants of Demo.

41. But concerning the name of Mania, which we have just mentioned, the

same Machon says this:—

Some one perhaps of those who hear this now,

May fairly wonder how it came to pass

That an Athenian woman had a name,

Or e'en a nickname, such as Mania.

For 'tis disgraceful for a woman thus

To bear a Phrygian name; she being, too,

A courtesan from the very heart of Greece.

And how came she to sink the city of Athens,

By which all other nations are much sway'd?

The fact is that her name from early childhood

Was this—Melitta. And as she grew up

A trifle shorter than her playfellows,

But with a sweet voice and engaging manners,

And with such beauty and excellence of face

As made a deep impression upon all men,

She'd many lovers, foreigners and citizens.

So that when any conversation

Arose about this woman, each man said,

The fair Melitta was his madness (μανία). Aye,

And she herself contributed to this name;

For when she jested she would oft repeat

This word μανία; and when in sport she blamed

Or praised any one, she would bring in,

In either sentence, this word μανία.

So some one of her lovers, dwelling on

The word, appears to have nicknamed the girl

Mania; and this extra name prevailed

More than her real one. It seems, besides,

That Mania was afflicted with the stone.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: COURTESANS.]

42. And that Mania was also excellent in witty repartee, Machon tells

us in these verses about her,—

There was a victor in the pancratium,

Named Leontiscus, who loved Mania,

And kept her with him as his lawful wife;

But finding afterwards that she did play

The harlot with Antenor, was indignant:

But she replied,—"My darling, never mind;

I only wanted just to feel and prove,

In a single night, how great the strength might be

Of two such athletes, victors at Olympia."

They say again that Mania once was ask'd,

By King Demetrius, for a perfect sight

Of all her beauties; and she, in return,

Demanded that he should grant her a favour.

When he agreed, she turned her back, and said,—

"O son of Agamemnon, now the Gods

Grant you to see what you so long have wish'd for."[31]

On one occasion, too, a foreigner,

Who a deserter was believed to be,

Had come by chance to Athens; and he sent

For Mania, and gave her all she ask'd.

It happen'd that he had procured for supper

Some of those table-jesters, common buffoons,

Who always raise a laugh to please their feeders;

And wishing to appear a witty man,

Used to politest conversation,

While Mania was sporting gracefully,

As was her wont, and often rising up

To reach a dish of hare, he tried to raise

A joke upon her, and thus spoke,—"My friends,

Tell me, I pray you by the Gods, what animal

You think runs fastest o'er the mountain-tops?"

"Why, my love, a deserter," answer'd Mania.

Another time, when Mania came to see him,

She laugh'd at the deserter, telling him,

That once in battle he had lost his shield.

But this brave soldier, looking somewhat fierce,

Sent her away. And as she was departing,

She said, "My love, don't be so much annoy'd;

For 'twas not you, who, when you ran away,

Did lose that shield, but he who lent it you."

Another time they say a man who was

A thorough profligate, did entertain

Mania at supper; and when he question'd her,

"Do you like being up or down the best?"

She laugh'd, and said, "I'd rather be up, my friend,

For I'm afraid, lest, if I lay me down,

You'd bite my plaited hair from off my head."

43. But Machon has also collected the witty sayings of other courtesans

too; and it will not be unseasonable to enumerate some of them now.

Accordingly he mentions Gnathæna thus:—

[Sidenote: COURTESANS.]

Diphilus once was drinking with Gnathæna.

Said he, "Your cup is somewhat cold, Gnathæna;"

And she replied, "'Tis no great wonder, Diphilus,

For we take care to put some of your Plays in it."

Diphilus was once invited to a banquet

At fair Gnathæna's house, as men do say,

On the holy day of Venus' festival—

(He being a man above her other lovers

Beloved by her, though she conceal'd her flame).

He came accordingly, and brought with him

Two jars of Chian wine, and four, quite full,

Of wine from Thasos; perfumes, too, and crowns;

Sweetmeats and venison; fillets for the head;

Fish, and a cook, and a female flute-player.

In the meantime a Syrian friend of hers

Sent her some snow, and one saperdes; she

Being ashamed lest any one should hear

She had received such gifts, and, above all men,

Fearing lest Diphilus should get at them,

And show her up in one of his Comedies,

She bade a slave to carry off at once

The salt-fish to the men who wanted salt,

As every one did know; the snow she told him

To mix with the wine unseen by any one.

And then she bade the boy to fill the cup

With ten full cyathi of wine, and bear it

At once to Diphilus. He eagerly

Received the cup, and drain'd it to the bottom,

And, marvelling at the delicious coolness,

Said—"By Minerva, and by all the gods,

You must, Gnathæna, be allow'd by all

To have a most deliciously cool well."

"Yes," said she, "for we carefully put in,

From day-to-day, the prologues of your plays."

A slave who had been flogg'd, whose back was mark'd

With heavy weals, was once, as it fell out,

Reposing with Gnathæna:—then, as she

Embraced him, she found out how rough all over

His back did feel. "Oh wretched man," said she,

"In what engagement did you get these wounds?"

He in a few words answer'd her, and said,

"That when a boy, once playing with his playmates,

He'd fallen backwards into the fire by accident."

"Well," said she, "if you were so wanton then,

You well deserved to be flogg'd, my friend."

Gnathæna once was supping with Dexithea,

Who was a courtesan as well as she;

And when Dexithea put aside with care

Nearly all the daintiest morsels for her mother,

She said, "I swear by Dian, had I known

How you went on, Dexithea, I would rather

Have gone to supper with your mother than you."

When this Gnathæna was advanced in years,

Hastening, as all might see, towards the grave,

They say she once went out into the market,

And look'd at all the fish, and ask'd the price

Of every article she saw. And seeing

A handsome butcher standing at his stall,

Just in the flower of youth,—"Oh, in God's name,

Tell me, my youth, what is your price (πῶς ἴστης) to-day?"

He laugh'd, and said, "Why, if I stoop, three obols."

"But who," said she, "did give you leave, you wretch,

To use your Carian weights in Attica?"

Stratocles once made all his friends a present

Of kids and shell-fish greatly salted, seeming

To have dress'd them carefully, so that his friends

Should the next morning be o'erwhelm'd with thirst,

And thus protract their drinking, so that he

Might draw from them some ample contributions.

Therefore Gnathæna said to one of her lovers,

Seeing him wavering about his offerings,

"After the kids[32] Stratocles brings a storm."

Gnathæna, seeing once a thin young man,

Of black complexion, lean as any scarecrow,

Reeking with oil, and shorter than his fellows,

Called him in jest Adonis. When the youth

Answer'd her in a rude and violent manner,

She looking on her daughter who was with her,

Said, "Ah! it serves me right for my mistake."

They say that one fine day a youth from Pontus

Was sleeping with Gnathæna, and at morn

He ask'd her to display her beauties to him.

But she replied, "You have no time, for now

It is the hour to drive the pigs to feed."

[Sidenote: COURTESANS.]

44. He also mentions the following sayings of Gnathænium, who was the

grand-daughter of Gnathæna:—

It happen'd once that a very aged satrap,

Full ninety years of age, had come to Athens,

And on the feast of Saturn he beheld

Gnathænium with Gnathæna going out

From a fair temple sacred to Aphrodite,

And noticing her form and grace of motion,

He just inquired "How much she ask'd a night?"

Gnathæna, looking on his purple robe,

And princely body-guard, said, "A thousand drachmæ."

He, as if smitten with a mortal wound,

Said, "I perceive, because of all these soldiers,

You look upon me as a captured enemy;

But take five minæ, and agree with me,

And let them get a bed prepared for us."

She, as the satrap seem'd a witty man,

Received his terms, and said, "Give what you like,

O father, for I know most certainly,

You'll give my daughter twice as much at night."

There was at Athens once a handsome smith,

When she, Gnathænium, had almost abandon'd

Her trade, and would no longer common be,

Moved by the love of the actor Andronicus;

(But at this moment he was gone away,

After she'd brought him a male child;) this smith

Then long besought the fair Gnathænium

To fix her price; and though she long refused,

By long entreaty and liberality,

At last he won her over to consent.

But being but a rude and ill-bred clown,

He, one day sitting with some friends of his

In a leather-cutter's shop, began to talk

About Gnathænium to divert their leisure,

Narrating all their fond love passages.

But after this, when Andronicus came

From Corinth back again, and heard the news,

He bitterly reproach'd her, and at supper

He said, with just complaint, unto Gnathænium,

That she had never granted him such liberties

As this flogg'd slave had had allow'd to him.

And then they say Gnathænium thus replied:

That she was her own mistress, and the smith

Was so begrimed with soot and dirt that she

Had no more than she could help to do with him.

One day they say Gnathænium, at supper,

Would not kiss Andronicus when he wish'd,

Though she had done so every day before;

But she was angry that he gave her nothing.

Said he, on this, "Gnathæna, don't you see

How haughtily your daughter's treating me?"

And she, indignant, said, "You wretched girl,

Take him and kiss him if he wishes it."

But she replied, "Why should I kiss him, mother,

Who does no good to any one in the house,

But seeks to have his Argos all for nothing?"

Once, on a day of festival, Gnathænium

Went down to the Piræus to a lover,

Who was a foreign merchant, riding cheaply

On a poor mule, and having after her

Three donkeys, three maid-servants, and one nurse.

Then, at a narrow spot in the road, they met

One of those knavish wrestlers, men who sell

Their battles, always taking care to lose them;

And as he could not pass by easily,

Being crowded up, he cried—"You wretched man,

You donkey-driver, if you get not quickly

Out of my way, I will upset these women,

And all the donkeys and the mule to boot."

But quick Gnathænium said, "My friend, I pray you,

Don't be so valiant now, when you have never Done any feat of

spirit or strength before."

45. And afterwards, Machon gives us the following anecdotes:—

They say that Lais the Corinthian,

Once when she saw Euripides in a garden,

Holding a tablet and a pen attach'd to it,

Cried out to him, "Now, answer me, my poet,

What was your meaning when you wrote in your play,

'Away, you shameless doer?'" And Euripides,

Amazed, and wondering at her audacity,

Said, "Why, you seem to me to be yourself

A shameless doer." And she, laughing, answer'd,

"How shameless, if my partners do not think so?"

Glycerium once received from some lover

A new Corinthian cloak with purple sleeves,

And gave it to a fuller. Afterwards,

When she thought he'd had time enough to clean it,

She sent her maidservant to fetch it back,

Giving her money, that she might pay for it.

But, said the fuller, "You must bring me first

Three measures full of oil, for want of that

Is what has hindered me from finishing."

The maid went back and told her mistress all.

"Wretch that I am!" Glycerium said, "for he

Is going to fry my cloak like any herring."

Demophoon once, the friend of Sophocles,

While a young man, fell furiously in love

With Nico, called the Goat, though she was old:

And she had earn'd this name of Goat, because

She quite devour'd once a mighty friend of hers,

Named Thallus,[33] when he came to Attica

To buy some Chelidonian figs, and also

To export some honey from th' Hymettian hill.

And it is said this woman was fair to view.

And when Demophoon tried to win her over,

"A pretty thing," said she, "that all you get

From me you may present to Sophocles."

Callisto once, who was nicknamed the Sow,

Was fiercely quarrelling with her own mother,

Who also was nicknamed the Crow. Gnathæna

Appeased the quarrel, and when ask'd the cause of it,

Said, "What else could it be, but that one Crow

Was finding fault with the blackness of the other?"

Men say that Hippe once, the courtesan,

Had a lover named Theodotus, a man

Who at the time was prefect of the granaries

And she on one occasion late in th' evening

Came to a banquet of King Ptolemy,

And she'd been often used to drink with him

So, as she now was very late, she said,

"I'm very thirsty, papa Ptolemy,

So let the cup-bearer pour me four gills

Into a larger cup." The king replied,

"You must have it in a platter, for you seem

Already, Hippe,[34] to have had plenty of hay."

A man named Morichus was courting Phryne,

The Thespian damsel. And, as she required

A mina, "'Tis a mighty sum," said Morichus,

"Did you not yesterday charge a foreigner

Two little pieces of gold?" "Wait till I want you,"

Said she, "and I will take the same from you."

'Tis said that Nico, who was call'd the Goat,

Once when a man named Pytho had deserted her,

And taken up with the great fat Euardis,

But after a time did send again for her,

Said to the slave who came to fetch her, "Now

That Pytho is well sated with his swine,

Does he desire to return to a goat?"

[Sidenote: COURTESANS.]

46. Up to this point we have been recapitulating the things mentioned

by Macho. For our beautiful Athens has produced such a number of

courtesans (of whom I will tell you as many anecdotes as I can) as

no other populous city ever produced. At all events, Aristophanes

the Byzantian counted up a hundred and thirty-five, and Apollodorus

a still greater number; and Gorgias enumerated still more, saying

that, among a great many more, these eminent ones had been omitted by

Aristophanes—namely, one who was surnamed Paroinos, and Lampyris, and

Euphrosyne: and this last was the daughter of a fuller. And, besides

these, he has omitted Megisto, Agallis, Thaumarium, Theoclea (and

she was nicknamed the Crow), Lenætocystos, Astra, Gnathæna, and her

grand-daughter Gnathænium, and Sige, and Synoris (who was nicknamed

the Candle), and Euclea, and Grymæa, and Thryallis, and Chimæra,

and Lampas. But Diphilus the comic poet was violently in love with

Gnathæna, (as has been already stated, and as Lynceus the Samian

relates in his Commentaries;) and so once, when on the stage he had

acted very badly, and was turned out (ἠρμένος) of the theatre, and,

for all that, came to Gnathæna as if nothing had happened; and when

he, after he had arrived, begged Gnathæna to wash his feet, "Why do

you want that?" said she; "were you not carried (ἠρμένος) hither?"

And Gnathæna was very ready with her repartees. And there were other

courtesans who had a great opinion of themselves, paying attention to

education, and spending a part of their time on literature; so that

they were very ready with their rejoinders and replies.

Accordingly, when on one occasion Stilpo, at a banquet, was accusing

Glycera of seducing the young men of the city, (as Satyrus mentions in

his Lives,) Glycera took him up and said, "You and I are accused of

the same thing, O Stilpo; for they say that you corrupt all who come

to you, by teaching them profitless and amorous sophistries; and they

accuse me of the same thing: for if people waste their time, and are

treated ill, it makes no difference whether they are living with a

philosopher or with a harlot." For, according to Agathon,

It does not follow, because a woman's body

Is void of strength, that her mind, too, is weak.

47. And Lynceus has recorded many repartees of Gnathæna. There was a

parasite who used to live upon an old woman, and kept himself in very

good condition; and Gnathæna, seeing him, said, "My young friend,

you appear to be in very good case." "What then do you think," said

he, "that I should be if I slept by myself?" "Why, I think you would

starve," said she. Once, when Pausanius, who was nicknamed Laccus,[35]

was dancing, he fell into a cask. "The cellar," says Gnathæna, "has

fallen into the cask." On one occasion, some one put a very little wine

into a wine-cooler, and said that it was sixteen years old. "It is

very little of its age," said she, "to be as old as that." Once at a

drinking-party, some young men were fighting about her, and beating one

another, and she said to the one who was worsted, "Be of

good cheer, my boy; for it is not a contest to be decided by crowns,

but by guineas." There was a man who once gave her daughter a mina,

and never brought her anything more, though he came to see her very

often. "Do you think, my boy," said she, "that now you have once paid

your mina, you are to come here for ever, as if you were going to

Hippomachus the trainer?" On one occasion, when Phryne said to her,

with some bitterness, "What would become of you if you had the stone?"

"I would give it to you," said she, "to sharpen your wit upon." For

it was said that Gnathæna was liable to the stone, while the other

certainly wanted it as Gnathæna hinted. On one occasion, some men were

drinking in her house, and were eating some lentils dressed with onions

(βολβοφάκη); as the maidservant was clearing the table, and

putting some of the lentils in her bosom (κόλπον), Gnathæna

said, "She is thinking of making some κολποφάκη."

Once, when Andronicus the tragedian had been acting his part in the

representation of the Epigoni with great applause, and was coming to

a drinking-party at her house, and sent a boy forward to bid her make

preparation to receive him, she said—

"O cursed boy, what word is this you've spoken?"

And once, when a chattering fellow was relating that he was just

come from the Hellespont, "Why, then," said she, "did you not go to

the first city in that country?" and when he asked what city, "To

Sigeum,"[36] said she. Once, when a man came to see her, and saw some

eggs on a dish, and said, "Are these raw, Gnathæna, or boiled?" "They

are made of brass, my boy," said she. On one occasion, when Chærephon

came to sup with her without an invitation, Gnathæna pledged him in a

cup of wine. "Take it," said she, "you proud fellow." And he said, "I

proud?" "Who can be more so," said she, "when you come without even

being invited?" And Nico, who was nicknamed the Goat (as Lynceus tells

us), once when she met a parasite, who was very thin in consequence of

a long sickness, said to him, "How lean you are." "No wonder," says he;

"for what do you think is all that I have had to eat these three days?"

"Why, a leather bottle," says she, "or perhaps your shoes."

[Sidenote: COURTESANS.]