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, will invoke the Muse Erato to impress anew on our memory that long amatory catalogue, and make our commencement from this point [ Apollonius Rhodius, 3.
Athenaeus - Deipnosophists
And Python the orator, of Byzantium, as Leon, his fellow-citizen, relates, was enormously fat; and once, when the Byzantians were divided against one another in seditious quarrels, he urged his fellow-citizens to be reconciled, saying - "You see, my friends, what a size my body is; but I have a wife who is much fatter than I am; now, when we are both agreed, one small bed is large enough for; both of us; but when we quarrel, the whole house is not big enough for us.
"
[75. ] G [551] How much better, then, is it, my good friend Timocrates, to be poor and thinner than even those men whom Hermippus mentions in his Cercopes, than to be enormously rich, and like that whale of Tanagra, as the before-mentioned men were! But Hermippus uses the following language, addressing Dionysus on the present occasion-
For poor men now to sacrifice to you
But maimed and crippled oxen; thinner far
Than even Thumantis or Leotrophides.
And Aristophanes, in his Gerytades, gives a list of the following people as very thin, who, he says, were sent as ambassadors by the poets on earth down to Hades to the poets there, and his words are-
(A) And who is this who dares to pierce the gates
Of lurid darkness, and the realms of the dead!
(B) We're by unanimous agreement chosen,
(Making the choice in solemn convocation,)
One man from each department of our art,
Who were well known travellers to Hades,
As often voluntarily going thither.
(A) Are there among you any men who thus
Frequent the realms of Hades?
(B) Aye, by Zeus,
And plenty; just as there are men who go
To Thrace and then come back again. You know
The whole case now.
(A) And what may be their names ?
First, there's Sannyrion, the comic poet;
Then, of the tragic choruses, Melitus;
And of the cyclic choruses, Cinesias.
And presently afterwards he says-
On what slight hopes did you then all rely!
For if a flow of diarrhoea came
Upon these men, they'd all be carried off.
And Strattis also mentions Sannyrion, in his Men fond of Cold, saying-
The leathern aid of wise Sannyrion.
And Sannyrion himself speaks of Melitus, in his play called Laughter, speaking as follows-
Melitus, that carcase from Lenaeum rising.
[76. ] G And Cinesias was in reality an exceedingly tall and exceedingly thin man; on whom Strattis wrote an entire play, calling him the Phthian Achilles, because in his own poetry he was constantly using the word ? ? ? ? ? ? . And accordingly, he, playing on his appearance, continually addresses him- ? ? ? ? ? ' ? ? ? ? ? ? ? .
But others, as, for instance, Aristophanes [ Birds_1377 ], often call him ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , because he took a plank of linden wood (? ? ? ? ? ? ), and fastened it to his waist under his girdle, in order to avoid stooping, because of his great height and extreme thinness. But that Cinesias was a man of delicate health, and badly off in other respects, we are told by Lysias the orator, in his oration inscribed For Phanias accused of illegal Practices, in which he says that [Cinesias], having abandoned his regular profession, had taken to trumping up false accusations against people, and to making money by such means. And that he means the poet here, and no one else, is plain from the fact that he shows also that he had been attacked by the comic poets for impiety. And he also, in the oration itself, shows that [Cinesias] was a person of that character. And the words of the orator are as follows:- "But I marvel that you are not indignant at such a man as Cinesias coming forward in aid of the laws, whom you all know to be the most impious of all men, and the greatest violator of the laws that has ever existed. Is not he the man who has committed such offences against the gods as all other men think it shameful even to speak of, though you hear the comic poets mention such actions of his every year? Did not Apollophanes, and Mystalides, and Lysitheus feast with him, selecting one of the days on which it was not lawful to hold a feast, giving themselves the name of Cacodaemonistae [Evil-Spiriters], instead of Numeniastae [New-Mooners], a name indeed appropriate enough to their fortunes? Nor, indeed, did it occur to them that they were really doing what that name denotes; but they acted in this manner to show their contempt for the gods and for our laws. [552] And accordingly, each of those men perished, as it was reasonable to expect that such men should. But this man, with whom you are all acquainted, the gods have treated in such a manner, that his very enemies would rather that he should live than die, as an example to all other men, that they may see that the immortal Gods do not postpone the punishment due to men who behave insolently towards their Deity, so as to reserve it for their children; but that they destroy the men themselves in a miserable manner, inflicting on them greater and more terrible calamities and diseases than on any other men whatever. For to die, or to be afflicted with sickness in an ordinary manner, is the common lot of all of us; but to be in such a condition as they are reduced to, and to remain a long time in such a state, and to be dying every day, and yet not be able to end one's life, is a punishment allotted to men who act as this man has acted, in defiance of all human and divine law. " And this orator used this language respecting Cinesias.
[77. ] G # Philetas also, the Coan poet, was a very thin man; so that, by reason of the leanness of his body, he used to wear balls made of lead fastened to his feet, to prevent himself from being blown over by the wind. And Polemon, surnamed Periegetes, in his treatise on Wonderful People and Things, says that Archestratus the soothsayer, being taken prisoner by the enemy, and being put into the scale, was found to weigh only one obol, so very thin was he. The same man also relates that Panaretus never had occasion to consult a doctor, but that he used to be a pupil of Arcesilaus the philosopher; and that he was a companion of Ptolemy Euergetes, receiving from him a salary of twelve talents every year. And he was the thinnest of men, though he never had any illness all his life.
But Metrodorus of Scepsis, in the second book of his treatise on the Art of Training, says that Hipponax the poet was not only very diminutive in person, but also very thin; and that he, nevertheless, was so strong in his sinews, that, among other feats of strength, he could throw an empty flask (lecythus) an extraordinary distance, although light bodies are not easy to be propelled violently, because they cannot cut the air so well. Philippides, also, was extremely thin, against whom there is an oration extant of Hypereides the orator, who says that he was one of those men who governed the state. And he was very insignificant in appearance by reason of his thinness, as Hypereides has related. And Alexis, in his Thesprotians, said-
O Hermes, sent by the gods above,
You who've obtained Philippides by lot;
And you, too, eye of darkly-robed night.
And Aristophon, in his play called Plato, says-
(A) I will within these three days make this man
Thinner than even Philippides.
(B) How so!
Can you kill men in such a very short time!
And Menander, in his Passion, says-
If hunger should attack your well-shaped person,
It would make you thinner than Philippides.
And the word ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? was used for being extremely thin, as we find in Alexis; who, in his Women taking Belladonna, says-
(A) You must be ill. You are, by Zeus, the very
Leanest of sparrows- a complete Philippides (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ).
(B) Don't tell me such strange things: I'm all but dead.
(A) I pity your sad case.
At all events, it is much better to look like that, than to be like the man of whom Antiphanes in his Aeolus says
This man then, because he is such a drunkard,
And so enormous is his size of body,
Is called by all his countrymen the Bladder.
And Heracleides of Pontus, in his treatise on Pleasure, says that Deinias the perfumer gave himself up to love because of his luxury, and spent a vast sum of money on it; and when, at last, he failed in his desires, out of grief he mutilated himself, [553] his unbridled luxury bringing him into this trouble.
[78. ] G But it was the fashion at Athens to anoint even the feet of those men who were very luxurious with ointment, a custom which Cephisodorus alludes to in his Trophonius-
Then to anoint my body go and buy
Essence of lilies, and of roses too,
I beg you, Xanthias; and also buy
For my poor feet some baccaris.
And Eubulus, in his Sphinx-Carion, says-
. . . Lying full softly in a bed-chamber;
Around him were most delicate cloaks, well suited
For tender maidens, soft, voluptuous;
Such as those are, who well perfumed and fragrant
With oils of amaracus, do rub my feet.
But the author of the Procris gives an account of what care ought to be taken of Procris' dog, speaking of a dog as if he were a man-
(A) Strew, then, soft carpets underneath the dog,
And place beneath cloths of Milesian wool;
And put above them all a purple rug.
(B) Phoebus Apollo !
(A) Then in goose's milk
Soak him some groats.
(B) O mighty Heracles !
(A) And with Megallian oils anoint his feet.
And Antiphanes, in his Alcestis, represents some one as anointing his feet with oil; but in his Mendicant Priest of Cybele, he says-
He bade the girl take some choice perfumes
From the altar of the goddess, and then, first,
Anoint his feet with it, and then his knees:
But the first moment that the girl did touch
His feet, he leaped up.
And in his Zacynthus he says-
Have I not, then, a right to be fond of women,
And to regard them all with tender love,
For is it not a sweet and noble thing
To be treated just as you are; and to have
One's feet anointed by fair delicate hands?
And in his Thoricians he says-
He bathes completely- but what does he do?
He bathes his hands and feet, and well anoints them
With perfume from a gold and ample ewer.
And with a purple dye he smears his jaws
And bosom; and his arms with oil of thyme;
His eyebrows and his hair with marjoram;
His knees and neck with essence of wild ivy.
And Anaxandrides, in his Protesilaus, says-
Ointment from Peron, which this fellow sold
But yesterday to Melanopus here,
A costly bargain fresh from Egypt, which
Anoints today Callistratus' feet.
And Telecleides, in his Prytanes, alludes to the lives of the citizens, even in the time of Themistocles, as having been very much devoted to luxury. And Cratinus in his Cheirons, speaking of the luxury of the former generations, says-
There was a scent of delicate thyme besides,
And roses too, and lilies by my ear;
And in my hands I held an apple, and
A staff, and thus I did harangue the people.
[79. ] G And Clearchus of Soli, in his treatise on Love Matters, says- "Why is it that we carry in our hands flowers, and apples, and things of that sort? Is it that by our delight in these things nature points out those of us who have a desire for all kinds of beauty? Is it, therefore, as a kind of specimen of beauty that men carry beautiful things in their hands, and take delight in them? Or do they carry them about for two reasons? For by these means the beginning of good fortune, and a sign of one's wishes, is to a certain extent secured; to those who are asked for them, by their being addressed, and to those who give them, because they give an indication beforehand, that they must give of their beauty in exchange. [554] For a request for beautiful flowers and fruits, suggests that those who receive them are prepared to give in return the beauty of their persons. Perhaps also people are fond of those things, and carry them about them in order to comfort and mitigate the vexation which arises from the neglect or absence of those whom they love. For by the presence of these agreeable objects, the desire for those persons whom we love is blunted; unless, indeed, we may rather say that it is for the sake of personal ornament that people carry those things, and take delight in them, just as they wear anything else which tends to ornament. For not only those people who are crowned with flowers, but those also who carry them in their hands, find their whole appearance is improved by them. Perhaps also, people carry them simply because of their love for any beautiful object. For the love of beautiful objects shows that we are inclined to be fond of the products of the seasons. For the face of spring and autumn is really beautiful, when looked at in their flowers and fruits. And all persons who are in love, being made, as it were, luxurious by their passion, and inclined to admire beauty, are softened by the sight of beauty of any sort. For it is something natural that people who fancy that they themselves are beautiful and elegant, should be fond of flowers; on which account the companions of Persephone are represented as gathering flowers. And Sappho says- 'I saw a lovely maiden gathering flowers. ' "
"Aphodrite Callipygos" (Naples) [80. ] G But in former times men were so devoted to luxury, that they dedicated a temple to Aphrodite Callipygos ["of the Beautiful Buttocks"] on this account. A certain countryman had two beautiful daughters; and they once, contending with one another, went into the public roads, disputing as they went, which had the most beautiful buttocks. And as a young man was passing, who had an aged father, they showed themselves to him also. And he, when he had seen both, decided in favour of the elder; and falling in love with her, he returned into the city and fell ill, and took to his bed, and related what had happened to his brother, who was younger than he; and he also, going into the fields and seeing the girls himself, fell in love with the other. Accordingly, their father, when with all his exhortations he could not persuade his sons to think of a more respectable marriage, brought these girls to them out of the fields, having persuaded their father to give them to him, and married them to his sons. And they were always called the ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ; as Cercidas of Megalopolis says in his Iambics, in the following line-
There was a pair of ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? women
At Syracuse.
So they, having now become rich women, built a temple to Aphrodite, calling the goddess Callipygos, as Archelaus also relates in his Iambics.
And that madness can cause great luxury is very pleasantly argued by Heracleides of Pontus, in his treatise on Pleasure, where he says- "Thrasylaus of Aexone, the son of Pythodorus, was once afflicted with such violent madness, that he thought that all the ships which came to the Peiraeus belonged to him. And he entered them in his books as such; and sent them away, and regulated their affairs in his mind, and when they returned to port he received them with great joy, as a man might be expected to who was master of so much wealth. And when any were lost, he never inquired about them, but he rejoiced in all that arrived safe; and so he lived with great pleasure. But when his brother Criton returned from Sicily, and took him and put him into the hands of a doctor, who cured him of his madness, he himself often related his madness, and said that he had never been happier in his life; for that he never felt any grief, but that the quantity of pleasure which he experienced was something unspeakable. "
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Athenaeus: The Deipnosophists
BOOK 13, Pages 551-571
Translated by C. D. Yonge (1854). A few words and spellings have been changed.
See key to translations for an explanation of the format. The page numbers in the Greek text are shown in red. The chapter numbers in the translation are shown in green.
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555
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[1. ] G [555] 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 contribution-dinners, and must have often borne and inflicted blows in the cause of courtesans," as Lycophron of Chalcis 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, will invoke the Muse Erato to impress anew on our memory that long amatory catalogue, and make our commencement from this point [ Apollonius Rhodius, 3. 1 ]:-
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. ] G For our admirable host, praising the married women, said that Hermippus stated in his book about lawgivers, that at Lacedaemon 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 of Soli, in his treatise On Proverbs, says,- "In Lacedaemon the women, on a certain festival, drag the unmarried men to an altar, and then thrash 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 relationships 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 ? ? ? ? ? ? ['of double nature'], 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 Aristeides; not of that Aristeides who was surnamed the Just, (for the time does not agree,) but of his descendant in the third generation. [556] 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 Panaetius of Rhodes has contradicted those who make this statement about the wives of Socrates.
[3. ] G 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 obeisance. And Priamus, too, had a great many women, and Hecabe was not indignant. Accordingly, Priamus says [ Homer, Il_24'496 ]-
Nineteen of my sons are from one womb;
The rest were born to women in my halls.
But among the Greeks, the mother of Phoenix does not tolerate the concubine of Amyntor [ Homer, Il_9'447 ]. And Medeia, although well acquainted with the fashion, as one well established among the barbarians, refuses to tolerate the marriage of Glauce, because she has been introduced to better habits amongst the Greeks. And Clytaemnestra, being exceedingly indignant at a similar provocation, slays Cassandra with Agamemnon himself, when the monarch brought her back with him into Greece, having yielded 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 Phoenix. 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 Helene, on whose account he gathered all the Greek army; and on this account he keeps aloof from any other relationship. But Agamemnon is reproached by Thersites, as a man with many wives [ Il_2'226 ]-
Yours is whatever the warrior's breast inflames,
The golden spoil, and yours the lovely dames;
With all the wealth the Achaeans can bestow,
Your tents are crowded, your chests do overflow.
"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 [ Il_7'467 ]. "
[4. ] G But Heracles 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 Thestius of their virginity. Aegeus 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 Chalcodon, and giving both of them to his friends, he cohabited with a great many without marriage. Afterwards he took Aethra, the daughter of Pittheus; after her he took Medeia. [557] And Theseus, having attempted to ravish Helene, after that carried off Ariadne. Accordingly Ister, 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 Helene, Ariadne, Hippolyte, and the daughters of Cercyon and Sinis; and he legally married Meliboea, the mother of Ajax. And Hesiodus says that he also married Hippe and Aegle; on account of whom he broke the oaths which he had sworn to Ariadne, as Cercops tells us. And Pherecydes adds Phereboea. And before ravishing Helene, he had also carried off Anaxo from Troezen; and after Hippolyte he also had Phaedra.
[5. ] G And Philippus the Macedonian did not take any women with him to his wars, as Dareius 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 Dicaearchus relates in the third book of his Life in Greece. "But Philippus," 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 Pherae, who brought him a daughter named Thessalonice; and the other was Philinna of Larissa, by whom he had Arrhidaeus. He also acquired the kingdom of the Molossians, when he married Olympias, by whom he had Alexander and Cleopatra. And when he subdued Thrace, there came to him Cothelas, 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 Molossians; and Alexander fled to the Illyrians. And Cleopatra bore to Philippus 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. ] G But our married women are not such as Eubulus speaks of in his Female Garland-sellers -
By Zeus, 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 eves, and sweat drops from your jaws,
And makes a scarlet furrow down your neck;
And the light hair, which wantons o'er your face,
[558] Seems grey, so thickly is it plastered over.
And Anaxilas, in his Neottis, says-
The man whoever has loved a courtesan,
Will say that no more lawless worthless race
Can anywhere be found: for what ferocious
Unsociable she-dragon, what Chimaera,
Though it breathe fire from its mouth, what Charybdis,
What three-headed Scylla, dog of 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 Plang? n; she, like a Chimaera,
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, disappeared.
Then for Sinope's friends, may I not say
That it is a hydra they cohabit with?
For she is old: but near her age, and like her,
Greedy Gnathaena flaunts, a twofold evil.
And as for Nanni? n, in what, I pray,
Does she from Scylla differ? Has she not
Already swallowed up two lovers, and
Opened her greedy jaws to enfold a third?
But he with prosperous oar escaped the gulf.
Then does not Phryne beat Charybdis hollow?
Who swallows the sea-captains, ship and all.
Is not Theano a mere de-feathered Siren?
Their face and voice are woman's, but their legs
Are feathered 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 caressed.
"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 Oedipus,
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. ] G After Larensis had said all this, Leonides, finding fault with the very name ? ? ? ? ? ? ("married woman"), 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.
[559] And Xenarchus, in his Sleep, says-
Are then the grasshoppers not happy, say you ?
When they have wives who cannot speak a word.
And Philetaerus, in his Corinthiast, says-
O Zeus, how melting and soft an eye
The lady has! 'Tis not for nothing we
Behold the temple of Hetaera 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-humoured
Than any wedded wife ? No doubt she is,
And it is only natural; for she, by law,
Thinks she's a right to sulk and stay at home:
But well the other knows that it is her manners
By which alone she can retain her friends;
And if they fail, she must seek out some others.
[8. ] G And Eubulus, in his Chrysilla, 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 Zeus, may I be quite undone,
If ever I say a word against the women,
The choicest of all creatures. And suppose
Medeia was a termagant,- what then ?
Was not Penelope a noble creature ?
If one should say, "Just think of Clytaemnestra,"
I meet him with Alcestis chaste and true.
Perhaps he'll turn and say no good of Phaedra;
But think of virtuous . . . . who ? . . . . Alas, alas!
I cannot recollect another good one,
Though I could still count bad ones up by scores.
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, possessed of all his senses ?
And Menander, in his Symbol-Bearer, or The Female Flute-player, says-
(A) You will not marry if you're in your senses,
Abandoning your current 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 Aegean sea
Scarce three of thirty ships are lost or wrecked;
But scarcely one poor husband escapes 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 followed his example;
And then the third, and fourth, and all who followed.
And Carcinus the tragedian, in his Semele (which begins, "O nights"), says-
O Zeus, why need one waste one's words
In speaking ill of women? for what worse
Can he add, once he has called them women.
[9. ] G 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 [ Theognis_457 ] has given them this warning:
[560] 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. ] G 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 Helene; 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 Philippus; for by his aid the Thebans took Phocis.
The war, also, which is called the Crissaean War (as Callisthenes tells us in his account of the Sacred War), when the Crissaeans made war upon the Phocians, lasted ten years; and it was excited on this account,- because the Crissaeans 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 Philippus, the father of Alexander, was ruined on account of his marriage with Cleopatra; and Heracles was ruined by his marriage with Iole, the daughter of Eurytus; and Theseus on account of his marriage with Phaedra, 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 Amasis 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. And Apries had been deposed from the sovereignty of Egypt, because of the defeats which had been inflicted on him by the Cyrenaeans; 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, learnt 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 Bacchant, 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. ] G [561] 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 the songs of the dramatic philosopher, Euripides, some of which were these:-
Eros, 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.
Never may I be amongst those who scorn
To own his power, and live forlorn,
Cherishing habits all uncouth.
I entreat every youth
Never to flee from Love,
But welcome him, and willing subjects prove.
And some one else quoted from Pindarus:-
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 Eros, 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.
[12. ] G And Pontianus said that Zenon of Citium thought that Eros 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 Republic, that Eros is a God, being one who cooperates in securing the safety of the city. And the philosophers, who were earlier than him, also considered Eros 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 Hermes and Heracles - 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 Eros presided over the mere gratification of sexual intercourse, that, though the Academy was manifestly consecrated to Athene, they yet erected in that place also a statue of Eros, and sacrificed to it. The Thespians also celebrate Erotidia, or festivals of Eros, just as the Athenians do Athenaea, or festivals of Athene, and as the Eleans celebrate the Olympian festivals, and the Rhodians the Halieia. And in the public sacrifices, everywhere almost, Eros is honoured. And the Lacedaemonians offer sacrifices to Eros 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 Eros 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 Eros, 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 Eros, [562] called the festival which was instituted in his honour the Eleutheria ["Feast of Liberty"]; and it was owing to this God, too, that the Athenians obtained their freedom. And the Peisistratidae, after their banishment, were the first people who ever tried to throw discredit on the events which took place through his influence.
[13. ] G After this had been said, Plutarchus cited the following passage from the Phaedrus of Alexis:
As I was coming back from Peiraeus,
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 Eros;
And so do all the other artists too,
Who 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 Athene and all the gods,-
Do not myself precisely understand him;
But still he much resembles my description,
And I have come close to the truth.
And Eubulus, or Araros, in his Campylion, says:-
What man was he, what modeller or painter,
Who first did represent young Eros as winged?
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 mastered, to shake off;
But he's a heavy and tenacious master.
How, then, can he be spoken of as winged:
The man's a fool who such a thing could say.
And Alexis, in his Cut off, says:-
For this opinion is by all the sophists
Embraced, that Eros 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. ] G And Theophrastus, in his book on Eros, says that Chaeremon the tragedian said in one of his plays, that:-
As wine adapts itself to the constitution
Of those who drink it, so likewise does Eros
Who, when he's moderately worshipped,
Is mild and manageable; but if loosed
From moderation, then is fierce and troublesome.
. . . On which account the same poet [Euripides] afterwards, as he aptly distinguishes the god's powers, says [Euripides, IA_548]:-
For he doth bend a double bow of beauty,
And sometimes men to fortune leads,
But sometimes overwhelms their lives
With trouble and confusion.
. . . But the same poet [Alexis] also, in his play entitled The Wounded Man, speaks of people in love in this manner:-
Who would not say that those who love
Live a life of hard labour?
For first of all they must be skilful soldiers,
And able to endure great toil of body,
And to stick close to the objects of their love:
They must be active, and inventive too,
Eager, and fertile in expedients,
And prompt to see their way in difficulties.
[563] 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 share the admission price among you.
But Aristophon, in his Pythagorean, says:-
Now, is not Eros 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 clipped 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 Dithyrambus, speaks thus of loving:-
What do you say? - do you think that all your words
Could ever 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 ever believe
That a poor man, who often sees a rich one,
Forbears to covet some of his great riches.
[75. ] G [551] How much better, then, is it, my good friend Timocrates, to be poor and thinner than even those men whom Hermippus mentions in his Cercopes, than to be enormously rich, and like that whale of Tanagra, as the before-mentioned men were! But Hermippus uses the following language, addressing Dionysus on the present occasion-
For poor men now to sacrifice to you
But maimed and crippled oxen; thinner far
Than even Thumantis or Leotrophides.
And Aristophanes, in his Gerytades, gives a list of the following people as very thin, who, he says, were sent as ambassadors by the poets on earth down to Hades to the poets there, and his words are-
(A) And who is this who dares to pierce the gates
Of lurid darkness, and the realms of the dead!
(B) We're by unanimous agreement chosen,
(Making the choice in solemn convocation,)
One man from each department of our art,
Who were well known travellers to Hades,
As often voluntarily going thither.
(A) Are there among you any men who thus
Frequent the realms of Hades?
(B) Aye, by Zeus,
And plenty; just as there are men who go
To Thrace and then come back again. You know
The whole case now.
(A) And what may be their names ?
First, there's Sannyrion, the comic poet;
Then, of the tragic choruses, Melitus;
And of the cyclic choruses, Cinesias.
And presently afterwards he says-
On what slight hopes did you then all rely!
For if a flow of diarrhoea came
Upon these men, they'd all be carried off.
And Strattis also mentions Sannyrion, in his Men fond of Cold, saying-
The leathern aid of wise Sannyrion.
And Sannyrion himself speaks of Melitus, in his play called Laughter, speaking as follows-
Melitus, that carcase from Lenaeum rising.
[76. ] G And Cinesias was in reality an exceedingly tall and exceedingly thin man; on whom Strattis wrote an entire play, calling him the Phthian Achilles, because in his own poetry he was constantly using the word ? ? ? ? ? ? . And accordingly, he, playing on his appearance, continually addresses him- ? ? ? ? ? ' ? ? ? ? ? ? ? .
But others, as, for instance, Aristophanes [ Birds_1377 ], often call him ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , because he took a plank of linden wood (? ? ? ? ? ? ), and fastened it to his waist under his girdle, in order to avoid stooping, because of his great height and extreme thinness. But that Cinesias was a man of delicate health, and badly off in other respects, we are told by Lysias the orator, in his oration inscribed For Phanias accused of illegal Practices, in which he says that [Cinesias], having abandoned his regular profession, had taken to trumping up false accusations against people, and to making money by such means. And that he means the poet here, and no one else, is plain from the fact that he shows also that he had been attacked by the comic poets for impiety. And he also, in the oration itself, shows that [Cinesias] was a person of that character. And the words of the orator are as follows:- "But I marvel that you are not indignant at such a man as Cinesias coming forward in aid of the laws, whom you all know to be the most impious of all men, and the greatest violator of the laws that has ever existed. Is not he the man who has committed such offences against the gods as all other men think it shameful even to speak of, though you hear the comic poets mention such actions of his every year? Did not Apollophanes, and Mystalides, and Lysitheus feast with him, selecting one of the days on which it was not lawful to hold a feast, giving themselves the name of Cacodaemonistae [Evil-Spiriters], instead of Numeniastae [New-Mooners], a name indeed appropriate enough to their fortunes? Nor, indeed, did it occur to them that they were really doing what that name denotes; but they acted in this manner to show their contempt for the gods and for our laws. [552] And accordingly, each of those men perished, as it was reasonable to expect that such men should. But this man, with whom you are all acquainted, the gods have treated in such a manner, that his very enemies would rather that he should live than die, as an example to all other men, that they may see that the immortal Gods do not postpone the punishment due to men who behave insolently towards their Deity, so as to reserve it for their children; but that they destroy the men themselves in a miserable manner, inflicting on them greater and more terrible calamities and diseases than on any other men whatever. For to die, or to be afflicted with sickness in an ordinary manner, is the common lot of all of us; but to be in such a condition as they are reduced to, and to remain a long time in such a state, and to be dying every day, and yet not be able to end one's life, is a punishment allotted to men who act as this man has acted, in defiance of all human and divine law. " And this orator used this language respecting Cinesias.
[77. ] G # Philetas also, the Coan poet, was a very thin man; so that, by reason of the leanness of his body, he used to wear balls made of lead fastened to his feet, to prevent himself from being blown over by the wind. And Polemon, surnamed Periegetes, in his treatise on Wonderful People and Things, says that Archestratus the soothsayer, being taken prisoner by the enemy, and being put into the scale, was found to weigh only one obol, so very thin was he. The same man also relates that Panaretus never had occasion to consult a doctor, but that he used to be a pupil of Arcesilaus the philosopher; and that he was a companion of Ptolemy Euergetes, receiving from him a salary of twelve talents every year. And he was the thinnest of men, though he never had any illness all his life.
But Metrodorus of Scepsis, in the second book of his treatise on the Art of Training, says that Hipponax the poet was not only very diminutive in person, but also very thin; and that he, nevertheless, was so strong in his sinews, that, among other feats of strength, he could throw an empty flask (lecythus) an extraordinary distance, although light bodies are not easy to be propelled violently, because they cannot cut the air so well. Philippides, also, was extremely thin, against whom there is an oration extant of Hypereides the orator, who says that he was one of those men who governed the state. And he was very insignificant in appearance by reason of his thinness, as Hypereides has related. And Alexis, in his Thesprotians, said-
O Hermes, sent by the gods above,
You who've obtained Philippides by lot;
And you, too, eye of darkly-robed night.
And Aristophon, in his play called Plato, says-
(A) I will within these three days make this man
Thinner than even Philippides.
(B) How so!
Can you kill men in such a very short time!
And Menander, in his Passion, says-
If hunger should attack your well-shaped person,
It would make you thinner than Philippides.
And the word ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? was used for being extremely thin, as we find in Alexis; who, in his Women taking Belladonna, says-
(A) You must be ill. You are, by Zeus, the very
Leanest of sparrows- a complete Philippides (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ).
(B) Don't tell me such strange things: I'm all but dead.
(A) I pity your sad case.
At all events, it is much better to look like that, than to be like the man of whom Antiphanes in his Aeolus says
This man then, because he is such a drunkard,
And so enormous is his size of body,
Is called by all his countrymen the Bladder.
And Heracleides of Pontus, in his treatise on Pleasure, says that Deinias the perfumer gave himself up to love because of his luxury, and spent a vast sum of money on it; and when, at last, he failed in his desires, out of grief he mutilated himself, [553] his unbridled luxury bringing him into this trouble.
[78. ] G But it was the fashion at Athens to anoint even the feet of those men who were very luxurious with ointment, a custom which Cephisodorus alludes to in his Trophonius-
Then to anoint my body go and buy
Essence of lilies, and of roses too,
I beg you, Xanthias; and also buy
For my poor feet some baccaris.
And Eubulus, in his Sphinx-Carion, says-
. . . Lying full softly in a bed-chamber;
Around him were most delicate cloaks, well suited
For tender maidens, soft, voluptuous;
Such as those are, who well perfumed and fragrant
With oils of amaracus, do rub my feet.
But the author of the Procris gives an account of what care ought to be taken of Procris' dog, speaking of a dog as if he were a man-
(A) Strew, then, soft carpets underneath the dog,
And place beneath cloths of Milesian wool;
And put above them all a purple rug.
(B) Phoebus Apollo !
(A) Then in goose's milk
Soak him some groats.
(B) O mighty Heracles !
(A) And with Megallian oils anoint his feet.
And Antiphanes, in his Alcestis, represents some one as anointing his feet with oil; but in his Mendicant Priest of Cybele, he says-
He bade the girl take some choice perfumes
From the altar of the goddess, and then, first,
Anoint his feet with it, and then his knees:
But the first moment that the girl did touch
His feet, he leaped up.
And in his Zacynthus he says-
Have I not, then, a right to be fond of women,
And to regard them all with tender love,
For is it not a sweet and noble thing
To be treated just as you are; and to have
One's feet anointed by fair delicate hands?
And in his Thoricians he says-
He bathes completely- but what does he do?
He bathes his hands and feet, and well anoints them
With perfume from a gold and ample ewer.
And with a purple dye he smears his jaws
And bosom; and his arms with oil of thyme;
His eyebrows and his hair with marjoram;
His knees and neck with essence of wild ivy.
And Anaxandrides, in his Protesilaus, says-
Ointment from Peron, which this fellow sold
But yesterday to Melanopus here,
A costly bargain fresh from Egypt, which
Anoints today Callistratus' feet.
And Telecleides, in his Prytanes, alludes to the lives of the citizens, even in the time of Themistocles, as having been very much devoted to luxury. And Cratinus in his Cheirons, speaking of the luxury of the former generations, says-
There was a scent of delicate thyme besides,
And roses too, and lilies by my ear;
And in my hands I held an apple, and
A staff, and thus I did harangue the people.
[79. ] G And Clearchus of Soli, in his treatise on Love Matters, says- "Why is it that we carry in our hands flowers, and apples, and things of that sort? Is it that by our delight in these things nature points out those of us who have a desire for all kinds of beauty? Is it, therefore, as a kind of specimen of beauty that men carry beautiful things in their hands, and take delight in them? Or do they carry them about for two reasons? For by these means the beginning of good fortune, and a sign of one's wishes, is to a certain extent secured; to those who are asked for them, by their being addressed, and to those who give them, because they give an indication beforehand, that they must give of their beauty in exchange. [554] For a request for beautiful flowers and fruits, suggests that those who receive them are prepared to give in return the beauty of their persons. Perhaps also people are fond of those things, and carry them about them in order to comfort and mitigate the vexation which arises from the neglect or absence of those whom they love. For by the presence of these agreeable objects, the desire for those persons whom we love is blunted; unless, indeed, we may rather say that it is for the sake of personal ornament that people carry those things, and take delight in them, just as they wear anything else which tends to ornament. For not only those people who are crowned with flowers, but those also who carry them in their hands, find their whole appearance is improved by them. Perhaps also, people carry them simply because of their love for any beautiful object. For the love of beautiful objects shows that we are inclined to be fond of the products of the seasons. For the face of spring and autumn is really beautiful, when looked at in their flowers and fruits. And all persons who are in love, being made, as it were, luxurious by their passion, and inclined to admire beauty, are softened by the sight of beauty of any sort. For it is something natural that people who fancy that they themselves are beautiful and elegant, should be fond of flowers; on which account the companions of Persephone are represented as gathering flowers. And Sappho says- 'I saw a lovely maiden gathering flowers. ' "
"Aphodrite Callipygos" (Naples) [80. ] G But in former times men were so devoted to luxury, that they dedicated a temple to Aphrodite Callipygos ["of the Beautiful Buttocks"] on this account. A certain countryman had two beautiful daughters; and they once, contending with one another, went into the public roads, disputing as they went, which had the most beautiful buttocks. And as a young man was passing, who had an aged father, they showed themselves to him also. And he, when he had seen both, decided in favour of the elder; and falling in love with her, he returned into the city and fell ill, and took to his bed, and related what had happened to his brother, who was younger than he; and he also, going into the fields and seeing the girls himself, fell in love with the other. Accordingly, their father, when with all his exhortations he could not persuade his sons to think of a more respectable marriage, brought these girls to them out of the fields, having persuaded their father to give them to him, and married them to his sons. And they were always called the ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ; as Cercidas of Megalopolis says in his Iambics, in the following line-
There was a pair of ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? women
At Syracuse.
So they, having now become rich women, built a temple to Aphrodite, calling the goddess Callipygos, as Archelaus also relates in his Iambics.
And that madness can cause great luxury is very pleasantly argued by Heracleides of Pontus, in his treatise on Pleasure, where he says- "Thrasylaus of Aexone, the son of Pythodorus, was once afflicted with such violent madness, that he thought that all the ships which came to the Peiraeus belonged to him. And he entered them in his books as such; and sent them away, and regulated their affairs in his mind, and when they returned to port he received them with great joy, as a man might be expected to who was master of so much wealth. And when any were lost, he never inquired about them, but he rejoiced in all that arrived safe; and so he lived with great pleasure. But when his brother Criton returned from Sicily, and took him and put him into the hands of a doctor, who cured him of his madness, he himself often related his madness, and said that he had never been happier in his life; for that he never felt any grief, but that the quantity of pleasure which he experienced was something unspeakable. "
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Athenaeus: The Deipnosophists
BOOK 13, Pages 551-571
Translated by C. D. Yonge (1854). A few words and spellings have been changed.
See key to translations for an explanation of the format. The page numbers in the Greek text are shown in red. The chapter numbers in the translation are shown in green.
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555
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[1. ] G [555] 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 contribution-dinners, and must have often borne and inflicted blows in the cause of courtesans," as Lycophron of Chalcis 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, will invoke the Muse Erato to impress anew on our memory that long amatory catalogue, and make our commencement from this point [ Apollonius Rhodius, 3. 1 ]:-
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. ] G For our admirable host, praising the married women, said that Hermippus stated in his book about lawgivers, that at Lacedaemon 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 of Soli, in his treatise On Proverbs, says,- "In Lacedaemon the women, on a certain festival, drag the unmarried men to an altar, and then thrash 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 relationships 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 ? ? ? ? ? ? ['of double nature'], 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 Aristeides; not of that Aristeides who was surnamed the Just, (for the time does not agree,) but of his descendant in the third generation. [556] 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 Panaetius of Rhodes has contradicted those who make this statement about the wives of Socrates.
[3. ] G 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 obeisance. And Priamus, too, had a great many women, and Hecabe was not indignant. Accordingly, Priamus says [ Homer, Il_24'496 ]-
Nineteen of my sons are from one womb;
The rest were born to women in my halls.
But among the Greeks, the mother of Phoenix does not tolerate the concubine of Amyntor [ Homer, Il_9'447 ]. And Medeia, although well acquainted with the fashion, as one well established among the barbarians, refuses to tolerate the marriage of Glauce, because she has been introduced to better habits amongst the Greeks. And Clytaemnestra, being exceedingly indignant at a similar provocation, slays Cassandra with Agamemnon himself, when the monarch brought her back with him into Greece, having yielded 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 Phoenix. 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 Helene, on whose account he gathered all the Greek army; and on this account he keeps aloof from any other relationship. But Agamemnon is reproached by Thersites, as a man with many wives [ Il_2'226 ]-
Yours is whatever the warrior's breast inflames,
The golden spoil, and yours the lovely dames;
With all the wealth the Achaeans can bestow,
Your tents are crowded, your chests do overflow.
"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 [ Il_7'467 ]. "
[4. ] G But Heracles 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 Thestius of their virginity. Aegeus 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 Chalcodon, and giving both of them to his friends, he cohabited with a great many without marriage. Afterwards he took Aethra, the daughter of Pittheus; after her he took Medeia. [557] And Theseus, having attempted to ravish Helene, after that carried off Ariadne. Accordingly Ister, 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 Helene, Ariadne, Hippolyte, and the daughters of Cercyon and Sinis; and he legally married Meliboea, the mother of Ajax. And Hesiodus says that he also married Hippe and Aegle; on account of whom he broke the oaths which he had sworn to Ariadne, as Cercops tells us. And Pherecydes adds Phereboea. And before ravishing Helene, he had also carried off Anaxo from Troezen; and after Hippolyte he also had Phaedra.
[5. ] G And Philippus the Macedonian did not take any women with him to his wars, as Dareius 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 Dicaearchus relates in the third book of his Life in Greece. "But Philippus," 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 Pherae, who brought him a daughter named Thessalonice; and the other was Philinna of Larissa, by whom he had Arrhidaeus. He also acquired the kingdom of the Molossians, when he married Olympias, by whom he had Alexander and Cleopatra. And when he subdued Thrace, there came to him Cothelas, 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 Molossians; and Alexander fled to the Illyrians. And Cleopatra bore to Philippus 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. ] G But our married women are not such as Eubulus speaks of in his Female Garland-sellers -
By Zeus, 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 eves, and sweat drops from your jaws,
And makes a scarlet furrow down your neck;
And the light hair, which wantons o'er your face,
[558] Seems grey, so thickly is it plastered over.
And Anaxilas, in his Neottis, says-
The man whoever has loved a courtesan,
Will say that no more lawless worthless race
Can anywhere be found: for what ferocious
Unsociable she-dragon, what Chimaera,
Though it breathe fire from its mouth, what Charybdis,
What three-headed Scylla, dog of 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 Plang? n; she, like a Chimaera,
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, disappeared.
Then for Sinope's friends, may I not say
That it is a hydra they cohabit with?
For she is old: but near her age, and like her,
Greedy Gnathaena flaunts, a twofold evil.
And as for Nanni? n, in what, I pray,
Does she from Scylla differ? Has she not
Already swallowed up two lovers, and
Opened her greedy jaws to enfold a third?
But he with prosperous oar escaped the gulf.
Then does not Phryne beat Charybdis hollow?
Who swallows the sea-captains, ship and all.
Is not Theano a mere de-feathered Siren?
Their face and voice are woman's, but their legs
Are feathered 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 caressed.
"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 Oedipus,
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. ] G After Larensis had said all this, Leonides, finding fault with the very name ? ? ? ? ? ? ("married woman"), 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.
[559] And Xenarchus, in his Sleep, says-
Are then the grasshoppers not happy, say you ?
When they have wives who cannot speak a word.
And Philetaerus, in his Corinthiast, says-
O Zeus, how melting and soft an eye
The lady has! 'Tis not for nothing we
Behold the temple of Hetaera 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-humoured
Than any wedded wife ? No doubt she is,
And it is only natural; for she, by law,
Thinks she's a right to sulk and stay at home:
But well the other knows that it is her manners
By which alone she can retain her friends;
And if they fail, she must seek out some others.
[8. ] G And Eubulus, in his Chrysilla, 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 Zeus, may I be quite undone,
If ever I say a word against the women,
The choicest of all creatures. And suppose
Medeia was a termagant,- what then ?
Was not Penelope a noble creature ?
If one should say, "Just think of Clytaemnestra,"
I meet him with Alcestis chaste and true.
Perhaps he'll turn and say no good of Phaedra;
But think of virtuous . . . . who ? . . . . Alas, alas!
I cannot recollect another good one,
Though I could still count bad ones up by scores.
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, possessed of all his senses ?
And Menander, in his Symbol-Bearer, or The Female Flute-player, says-
(A) You will not marry if you're in your senses,
Abandoning your current 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 Aegean sea
Scarce three of thirty ships are lost or wrecked;
But scarcely one poor husband escapes 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 followed his example;
And then the third, and fourth, and all who followed.
And Carcinus the tragedian, in his Semele (which begins, "O nights"), says-
O Zeus, why need one waste one's words
In speaking ill of women? for what worse
Can he add, once he has called them women.
[9. ] G 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 [ Theognis_457 ] has given them this warning:
[560] 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. ] G 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 Helene; 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 Philippus; for by his aid the Thebans took Phocis.
The war, also, which is called the Crissaean War (as Callisthenes tells us in his account of the Sacred War), when the Crissaeans made war upon the Phocians, lasted ten years; and it was excited on this account,- because the Crissaeans 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 Philippus, the father of Alexander, was ruined on account of his marriage with Cleopatra; and Heracles was ruined by his marriage with Iole, the daughter of Eurytus; and Theseus on account of his marriage with Phaedra, 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 Amasis 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. And Apries had been deposed from the sovereignty of Egypt, because of the defeats which had been inflicted on him by the Cyrenaeans; 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, learnt 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 Bacchant, 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. ] G [561] 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 the songs of the dramatic philosopher, Euripides, some of which were these:-
Eros, 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.
Never may I be amongst those who scorn
To own his power, and live forlorn,
Cherishing habits all uncouth.
I entreat every youth
Never to flee from Love,
But welcome him, and willing subjects prove.
And some one else quoted from Pindarus:-
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 Eros, 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.
[12. ] G And Pontianus said that Zenon of Citium thought that Eros 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 Republic, that Eros is a God, being one who cooperates in securing the safety of the city. And the philosophers, who were earlier than him, also considered Eros 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 Hermes and Heracles - 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 Eros presided over the mere gratification of sexual intercourse, that, though the Academy was manifestly consecrated to Athene, they yet erected in that place also a statue of Eros, and sacrificed to it. The Thespians also celebrate Erotidia, or festivals of Eros, just as the Athenians do Athenaea, or festivals of Athene, and as the Eleans celebrate the Olympian festivals, and the Rhodians the Halieia. And in the public sacrifices, everywhere almost, Eros is honoured. And the Lacedaemonians offer sacrifices to Eros 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 Eros 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 Eros, 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 Eros, [562] called the festival which was instituted in his honour the Eleutheria ["Feast of Liberty"]; and it was owing to this God, too, that the Athenians obtained their freedom. And the Peisistratidae, after their banishment, were the first people who ever tried to throw discredit on the events which took place through his influence.
[13. ] G After this had been said, Plutarchus cited the following passage from the Phaedrus of Alexis:
As I was coming back from Peiraeus,
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 Eros;
And so do all the other artists too,
Who 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 Athene and all the gods,-
Do not myself precisely understand him;
But still he much resembles my description,
And I have come close to the truth.
And Eubulus, or Araros, in his Campylion, says:-
What man was he, what modeller or painter,
Who first did represent young Eros as winged?
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 mastered, to shake off;
But he's a heavy and tenacious master.
How, then, can he be spoken of as winged:
The man's a fool who such a thing could say.
And Alexis, in his Cut off, says:-
For this opinion is by all the sophists
Embraced, that Eros 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. ] G And Theophrastus, in his book on Eros, says that Chaeremon the tragedian said in one of his plays, that:-
As wine adapts itself to the constitution
Of those who drink it, so likewise does Eros
Who, when he's moderately worshipped,
Is mild and manageable; but if loosed
From moderation, then is fierce and troublesome.
. . . On which account the same poet [Euripides] afterwards, as he aptly distinguishes the god's powers, says [Euripides, IA_548]:-
For he doth bend a double bow of beauty,
And sometimes men to fortune leads,
But sometimes overwhelms their lives
With trouble and confusion.
. . . But the same poet [Alexis] also, in his play entitled The Wounded Man, speaks of people in love in this manner:-
Who would not say that those who love
Live a life of hard labour?
For first of all they must be skilful soldiers,
And able to endure great toil of body,
And to stick close to the objects of their love:
They must be active, and inventive too,
Eager, and fertile in expedients,
And prompt to see their way in difficulties.
[563] 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 share the admission price among you.
But Aristophon, in his Pythagorean, says:-
Now, is not Eros 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 clipped 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 Dithyrambus, speaks thus of loving:-
What do you say? - do you think that all your words
Could ever 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 ever believe
That a poor man, who often sees a rich one,
Forbears to covet some of his great riches.
