No More Learning

[24. ] G 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 force you to look like 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,-
Well-trained fillies of Aphrodite, standing
Naked in line, 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 Nanni? n, (if the play under this name is the work of Eubulus, and not of Philippus):-
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 arrayed
In robes transparent, like the damsels whom
Eridanus waters with his holy stream,
And buy some pleasure at a trifling rate,
[569] Without pursuing a clandestine love
(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. And yet
There are most beauteous damsels in the brothels,
Whom any man may see standing all willing
In the full light of day, with open bosoms,
Showing their naked charms, all in a row,
Marshalled in order; and there 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 inside 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,
In any way he please. But the other women
He dares not gaze on openly nor look at,
But fearing, trembling, shivering, with his heart,
As they say, in his mouth, he creeps towards them.
How can these men, sea-born immortal Aphrodite,
Press on, even when they have the opportunity,
If any thought of Dracon's laws comes over them.

[25. ] G 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 Aphrodite 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 possessed 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; are you not 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 relates [ Acharn_524 ], saying that the Peloponnesian war was excited by Pericles, [570] 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 Simaetha. 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. ] G I therefore, my most learned grammarian, warn you to beware of the courtesans who want a high price, because
You may see other girls who play the flute,
Playing the tunes of Apollo, or of Zeus;
But these play no tune save the tune 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 three obols;
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 Anteia.
(B) Yes; I knew her well.
(A) Well, in those days Lagisce was in beauty;
Theolyte, too, was wondrous fair to see,
And seemed likely to be fairer still;
And Ocim? n was beautiful as any.

[27. ] G This, then, is the advice I want to give you, my friend Myrtilus; and, as we read in the Huntress of Philetaerus,-
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 ? -
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 constrained
[571] To struggle a little, and from tender hands
To bear soft blows and buffets; that, indeed
Is really pleasure.

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Athenaeus: The Deipnosophists
BOOK 13, Pages 571-589

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.

<< Previous pages (555-571)

[571] And as Cynulcus had still a good deal which he wished to say, and as Ulpianus was preparing to attack him for the sake of Myrtilus, Myrtilus, getting in ahead of 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. ] G I therefore, my friends and messmates, have not, as is said in the Aurae 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 the real companions- 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 Aphrodite Hetaera: concerning whom Apollodorus the Athenian speaks, in his treatise on the Gods, in the following manner:- And they worship Aphrodite Hetaera, who brings together male and female companions (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? )- that is to say, mistresses. " Accordingly, even to this day, freeborn women and maidens call their associates and friends their ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ; as Sappho does, where she says-
And now with tuneful voice I'll sing
These pleasing songs to my companions (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ).

And in another place she says-
Niobe and Leto were of old
Affectionate companions (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ) to each other.

They also call women who prostitute themselves for money, ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . And the verb which they use for prostituting oneself for money is ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , not regarding the etymology of the word, but applying a more decent term to the trade; as Menander, in his Deposit, distinguishing the ? ? ? ? ? ? ? from the ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , says-
You've done an act not suited to companions (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ),
But, by Zeus, far more fit for courtesans (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ),
These words, so near the same, do make the sense
Not always easily to be distinguished.

[29. ] G 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;
[572] 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 formed,
A genuine mistress (? ? ? ? ? ? ); 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-
(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 (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ) does earn
The title of companion (? ? ? ? ? ? ); and you,
As you say rightly, have not fallen in love
With a vile harlot (? ? ? ? ? ), but with a companion (? ? ? ? ? ? ).
Is she not one of pure and simple manners?
(B) At all events, by Zeus, she's beautiful.

[30. ] G 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,
So as 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 expect some other mode of payment.

And Aeschines the orator has said something of the same kind in his Speech against Timarchus.

[31. ] G But concerning courtesans, Philetaerus, in his Huntress, has the following lines:-
'Tis not for nothing that wherever we go
We find a temple of Hetaera there,
But nowhere one to any wedded wife.

I know, too, that there is a festival called the Hetaerideia, 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 Hetaerideia; and they give this account of it: that originally Jason, the son of Aeson, when he had collected the Argonauts, sacrificed to Zeus Hetaereius, and called the festival Hetaerideia. And the Macedonian kings also celebrated the Hetaerideia. " There is also a temple of Aphrodite the Prostitute (? ? ? ? ? ) at Abydus, as Pamphilus 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 took possession of the walls, and recovered their freedom; and to show their gratitude to the prostitute, they built a temple to Aphrodite 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 Aphrodite at Samos, which some call Aphrodite among the Reeds, and others Aphrodite in the Marsh.
" [573] And Eualces, in his History of the Affairs of Ephesus, says that there is at Ephesus also a temple to Aphrodite the Courtesan (? ? ? ? ? ? ). 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 Neaera (if it is a genuine one, which Apollodorus says it is), says [ 59'122 ]- "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. ] G I will now mention to you, Cynulcus, an Ionian story (spinning it out, as Aeschylus' Agamemnon 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 Chamaeleon of Heracleia relates, in his treatise on Pindarus), whenever the city addresses any supplication to Aphrodite 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 Timaeus, in his seventh book), the Corinthian courtesans offered prayers for the safety of Greece, going to the temple of Aphrodite. 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:-
These damsels, on behalf of Greece, and all
Their gallant countrymen, stood nobly forth,
Praying to Aphrodite, 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 Aphrodite, that if they succeed in the objects for which they are offering their vows, they will bring her a stated number of courtesans.

[33. ] G 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 Pindarus at first wrote a panegyric on him, which begins thus [ Olymp. 13 ]:-
Praising the house which in the Olympic games
Has thrice borne off the victory.

But afterwards he composed a scolium on him, which was sung at the sacrificial feasts; at the start of which he turns at once to the courtesans who joined in the sacrifice to Aphrodite, 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 !
[574] 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 dwells up in the sky,
Lovely Aphrodite,- 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
At which the free women are present: and then
It is the custom on those days that all
The courtesans should feast with us in common.

[34. ] G But at Lacedaemon (as Polemon Periegetes says, in his treatise on the Offerings at Lacedaemon,) there is a statue of a very celebrated courtesan, named Cottina, who, he tells us, consecrated a brazen cow; and Polemon'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 Dionysus stands, is a conspicuous object, well known to many of the citizens. And her votive offering is beyond the statue of Athene Chalcioecus - 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 Lacedaemon
Desires to catch in his adulteries,
though he was beloved by the wife of Agis, used to go and hold his revels at the doors of the courtesans, leaving all the Lacedaemonian and Athenian women. He also fell in love with Medontis of Abydus, 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; who, after he was dead, buried him 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 Synnada to Metropolis; and at that tomb there is sacrificed an ox every year, by the command of that most excellent emperor Hadrianus, who also erected on the tomb a statue of Alcibiades in Parian marble.

[35. ] G [575] 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 Mytilene, 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 in this way. 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 Aphrodite and Adonis. Now Hystaspes was ruler of Media, and of the lower country adjoining it; and Zariadres was ruler 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 girl, Omartes would not agree to it, because he did not have any male offspring; for he wished to give her to one of his own people about his court.

"Not long afterwards, Omartes, having assembled all the chief men of his kingdom and all his friends and relations, held a marriage feast. But he had not said 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 stades 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 sideboard in tears, while she filled the goblet very slowly, he stood near her and said, 'Odatis, here I have 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 glad, 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 had 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. "

[36. ] G [576] Aristotle also, in his Constitution of the Massilians, mentions a similar circumstance as having taken place, writing as follows:- "The Phocaeans in Ionia, having consulted the oracle, founded Massilia. And Euxenus the Phocaean 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 the following manner: after the supper was over the girl 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 her bridegroom. And when the girl came in, whether it was by chance or whether it was for any other reason, she gave 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 Aristoxene. And the family which is descended from that girl remains in Massilia to this day, and is known as the Protiadae; for Protis was the name of the son of Euxenus and Aristoxene. "

[37. ] G 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 Nanni? n. And was not Themistocles himself the son of a courtesan, whose name was Abroton? n? as Amphicrates relates in his treatise on Illustrious Men-
Abroton? n 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 Greek 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 Phocaea, 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 Cleitarchus 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 Lagus, and a daughter named Eirene, 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, Didyme, who was a native of the country, and very beautiful; and Bilistiche; and, besides them, Agathocleia, and Stratonice, who had a great monument on the sea-shore, near Eleusis; and Myrti? n, and a great many more; as he was a man excessively addicted to amatory pleasures. # And Polybius, in the fourteenth book of his History [ 14. 11 ], says that there are a great many statues of a woman named Cleino, 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 Myrti? n, and Mnesis, and Potheine? and yet Mnesis was only a female flute-player, and so was Potheine, and Myrti? n was one of the most notorious and common prostitutes in the city. "

[577] # Was there not also Agathocleia 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 of Neapolis, 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 Peitho, and married her, and made her queen of Syracuse.

[38. ] G 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 Historical Commentaries, says that Philetaerus the king of Pergamum, 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 Eucleides [ 403 B. C. ] 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 Polemon, in his treatise On the Painted Stoa 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 Leaena, and she was also an Athenian courtesan; and with a great many other women besides.

[39. ] G # And Machon the comic poet, in his play entitled the Chriae, speaks thus:-
But as Leaena was by nature formed
To give her lovers most exceeding pleasure,
And was besides much favoured by Demetrius,
They say that Lamia also gratified
The king; and when he praised her grace and quickness,
The woman answered: And besides you can,
If you do wish, subdue a lioness (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ).

But Lamia was always very witty and prompt in repartee, as also was Gnathaena, whom we shall mention presently. And again Machon writes thus aboout 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 scoffed
At all his perfumes, and, moreover, treated
The monarch with exceeding insolence,
He bade a slave bring some cheap unguent, while
With his hand he felt himself, and smeared 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. ] G But Ptolemaeus the son of Agesarchus, in his History of Philopator, [578] giving a list of the mistresses of the different kings, says- "Philippus the Macedonian promoted Philinna, the dancing woman, by whom he had Arrhidaeus, 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 Heracleides Lembus, 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 shared in many of the crimes of Demetrius; and he also put to the torture and executed the maid-servants of Demo.

[41. ] G 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 even 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 why was this permitted in the city of Athens,
By which all other nations are much swayed?
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 (? ? ? ? ? ). Aye,
And she herself contributed to this name;
For when she jested she would oft repeat
This word ? ? ? ? ? ; and when in sport she blamed
Or praised any one, she would bring in,
In either sentence, this word ? ? ? ? ? .
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,
But Gnathaena was reproached by Diphilus,
Because she soiled the bedclothes. And once
When Gnathaena was chiding Mania, she said-
"How so, girl, even if you did have a stone? "
And Mania replied, "I should have given it to you,
You wretch, so you could wipe yourself clean. "

[42. ] G 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. "
[579] They say again that Mania once was asked,
By King Demetrius, for a perfect sight
Of her fair buttocks; 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 wished for. " [ Sophocles, Electra_2 ]
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 asked.
It happened 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 over the mountain-tops? "
"Why, my love, a deserter," answered Mania.
Another time, when Mania came to see him,
She laughed 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 annoyed;
For by Aphrodite, it was not you who lost the shield,
When you ran away, 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 questioned her,
"Do you like being up or down the best? "
She laughed, 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. ] G 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 Gnathaena thus:-
Diphilus once was drinking with Gnathaena.
Said he, "Your cup is somewhat cold, Gnathaena;"
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 Gnathaena's house, as men do say,
On the day of Aphrodite's festival-
(He being a man above her other lovers
Beloved by her, though she concealed 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 saperda; 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.
[580] 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 drained it to the bottom,
And, marvelling at the delicious coolness,
Said- "By Athene, and by all the gods,
You must, Gnathaena, be allowed 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 flogged, whose back was marked
With heavy scars, was once, as it fell out,
Reposing with Gnathaena:- 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 answered 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 flogged, my friend. "'
Gnathaena 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 Artemis, had I known
How you went on, Dexithea, I would rather
Have gone to supper with your mother than you. "
When this Gnathaena was advanced in years,
Hastening, as all might see, towards the grave,
They say she once event out into the market,
And looked at all the fish, and asked 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 (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ) to-day ? "
He laughed, 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 dressed them carefully, so that his friends
Should the next morning be overwhelmed with thirst,
And thus protract their drinking, so that he
Might draw from them some ample contributions.
Therefore Gnathaena said to one of her lovers,
Seeing him wavering about his offerings,
"After the kids, Stratocles brings a storm. "
Gnathaena, 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
Answered 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 Gnathaena, and at morn
He asked her to display her buttocks to him.
But she replied, " You have no time, for now
[581] It is the hour to drive the pigs to feed. "

[44. ] G He also mentions the following sayings of Gnathaeni? n, who was the grand-daughter of Gnathaena:
It happened once that a very aged satrap,
Full ninety years of are, had come to Athens.
And on the feast of Cronus he beheld
Gnathaeni? n with Gnathaena going out
From a fair temple sacred to Aphrodite,
And noticing her form and grace of motion,
He just inquired "How much she asked a night? "
Gnathaena, looking on his purple robe,
And princely bodyguard, said, "A thousand drachmas. "
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 minae, and agree with me,
And let them get a bed prepared for us. "
She, as the satrap seemed 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, Gnathaeni? n, had almost abandoned
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 Gnathaeni?