---
title: "The Deipnosophists · Δειπνοσοφισταί"
author: "Athenaeus"
translator: "Charles Duke Yonge"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Classical Greek"
section: 25 of 78
url: https://scriptura.si/works/athenaeus-deipnosophists/25/
cite: "Athenaeus, tr. Charles Duke Yonge, The Deipnosophists · Δειπνοσοφισταί, section 25. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/athenaeus-deipnosophists/25/"
---

# The Deipnosophists · Δειπνοσοφισταί

*Athenaeus, tr. Charles Duke Yonge*

The Learned Banqueters: a dinner party in Rome stretched over fifteen books of talk about food, wine, courtesans, music and books, quoting hundreds of lost Greek authors.

> Greek: ed. Charles Burton Gulick, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0008.tlg001, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Charles Duke Yonge, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0008.tlg001.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (books, chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 25. Book V · chapters 53–65

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/athenaeus-deipnosophists/25/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/athenaeus-deipnosophists/25/#p-N

[¶0] "And he not only plundered the property of the citizens, but that of foreigners also, laying his hands even on the property of the god which was laid up at Delos; sending Apellicon into the island, who was a Scian by birth, but who had become a citizen of Athens, and who lived a most whimsical and ever-changing course of life. For at one time he was a philosopher, and collected all the treatises of the Peripatetics, and the whole library of Aristotle, and many others; for he was a very rich man; and he had also stolen a great many autograph decrees of the ancients out of the temple of the Mighty Mother, and whatever else there was ancient and taken care of in other cities; and being detected in these practices at Athens he would have been in great danger if he had not made his escape; and a short time afterwards he returned again, having paid his court to many people, and he then joined himself to Athenion, as being a man of the same sect as he was. And Athenion, having embraced the doctrines of the Peripatetics, measured out a chœnix of barley, as four days' allowance for the ignorant Athenians, giving them what was barely food enough for fowl, and not the proper nutriment for men. And Apellicon, coming in great force to Delos, and living there more like a man exhibiting a spectacle than a general with soldiers, and placing guards in a very careless manner on the side of Delos, and leaving all the back of the island unguarded, and not even putting down a palisade in front of his camp, went to rest. And Orobius, the Roman general, hearing of this, who was at that time in command at Delos, watching for a moonless night, led out his troops, and falling on Apellicon and his soldiers, who were all asleep and drunk, he cut the Athenians and all those who were in the army with them to pieces, like so many sheep, to the number of six hundred, and he took four hundred alive. And that fine general, Apellicon, fled away without being perceived, and came to Delos; and Orobius seeing that many of those who fled with him had escaped to the farmhouses round about, burnt them in the houses, houses and all; and he destroyed by fire also all the engines for besieging cities, together with the Helepolis which Apellicon had made when he came to Delos. And Orobius having erected in that place a trophy and an altar, wrote this inscription on it—
This tomb contains the foreigners here slain,
Who fought near Delos, and who fell at sea,
When the Athenians spoil'd the holy isle,
Aiding in war the Cappadocian king."

> Greek: καὶ οὐ μόνον τὰ τῶν πολιτῶν διήρπαζεν, ἀλλ’ ἤδη καὶ τὰ τῶν ξένων, ἐκτείνας τὰς χεῖρας καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ εἰς Δῆλον τοῦ θεοῦ χρήματα, ἐκπέμψας γοῦν εἰς τὴν νῆσον Ἀπελλικῶντα τὸν Τήιον, πολίτην δὲ Ἀθηναίων γενόμενον, ποικιλώτατόν τινα καὶ ἁψίκορον ζήσαντα βίον ὅτε μὲν γὰρ ἐφιλοσόφει τὰ περιπατητικά, καὶ τὴν Ἀριστοτέλους βιβλιοθήκην καὶ ἄλλας συνηγόραζε συχνὰς ἦν γὰρ πολυχρήματος τὰ τ’ ἐκ τοῦ Μητρῴου τῶν παλαιῶν αὐτόγραφα ψηφισμάτων ὑφαιρούμενος ἐκτᾶτο καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων πόλεων εἴ τι παλαιὸν εἴη καὶ ἀπόθετον. ἐφ’ οἷς φωραθεὶς ἐν ταῖς Ἀθήναις ἐκινδύνευσεν ἂν εἰ μὴ ἔφυγεν. καὶ μετ’ οὐ πολὺ πάλιν κατῆλθε, θεραπεύσας πολλοὺς καὶ συναπεγράφετο τῷ Ἀθηνίωνι ὡς ἂν ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς δὴ αἱρέσεως ὄντι. Ἀθηνίων δ’ ἐπιλαθόμενος τῶν δογμάτων τῶν τοῦ περιπάτου χοίνικα κριθῶν εἰς τέσσαρας ἡμέρας διεμέτρει τοῖς ἀνοήτοις Ἀθηναίοις, ἀλεκτορίδων τροφὴν καὶ οὐκ ἀνθρώπων αὐτοῖς διδούς. Ἀπελλικῶν δὲ μετὰ δυνάμεως ἐξορμήσας εἰς Δῆλον καὶ πανηγυρικῶς μᾶλλον ἢ στρατιωτικῶς ἀναστρεφόμενος, καὶ προφυλακὴν ἀμελεστέραν πρὸς τὴν Δῆλον μερίσας, μάλιστα δὲ τὰ ἐξόπισθε τῆς νήσου ἐάσας ἀφύλακτα καὶ οὐδὲ χάρακα βαλόμενος ἐκοιμᾶτο. τοῦτο δὲ ἐπιγνοὺς ὁ Ὀρόβιος στρατηγὸς Ῥωμαίων καὶ φυλάσσων τὴν Δῆλον φυλάξας ἀσέληνον νύκτα καὶ ἐκβιβάσας τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ στρατιώτας, κοιμωμένοις καὶ μεθύουσιν ἐπιπεσὼν κατέκοψε τοὺς Ἀθηναίους καὶ τοὺς μετ’ αὐτῶν συστρατευομένους ὡς βοσκήματα, ἑξακοσίους τὸν ἀριθμόν, ἐζώγρησε δὲ καὶ περὶ τετρακοσίους, καὶ ὁ καλὸς στρατηγὸς Ἀπελλικῶν ἔλαθε φυγὼν ἐκ Δήλου, πολλοὺς δὲ καὶ συμφυγόντας κατιδὼν ὁ Ὀρόβιος εἰς ἐπαύλεις συγκατέφλεξεν αὐταῖς οἰκίαις καὶ πάντα αὐτῶν τὰ πολιορκητικὰ ὄργανα σὺν τῇ ἑλεπόλει, ἣν εἰς Δῆλον ἐλθὼν κατεσκευάκει. στήσας οὖν τρόπαιον ἐπὶ τῶν τόπων ὁ Ὀρόβιος καὶ βωμὸν ἐπέγραψε·
τούσδε θανόντας ἔχει ξείνους τάφος, οἳ περὶ Δῆλον μαρνάμενοι ψυχὰς ὤλεσαν ἐν πελάγει, τὴν ἱερὰν ὅτε νῆσον Ἀθηναῖοι κεράιζον, κοινὸν Ἄρη βασιλεῖ Καππαδόκων θέμενοι.

[¶1] There was also at Tarsus an Epicurean philosopher who had become the tyrant of that city, Lysias by name; who having been created by his countrymen Stephanephoros, that is to say, the priest of Hercules, did not lay down his command, but seized on the tyranny. He put on a purple tunic with a white centre, and over that he wore a very superb and costly cloak, and he put on white Lacedæmonian sandals, and assumed also a crown of golden daphne leaves. And he distributed the property of the rich among the poor, and put many to death who did not surrender their property willingly.

> Greek: καὶ Ταρσοῦ δὲ Ἐπικούρειος φιλόσοφος ἐτυράννησε, Λυσίας ὄνομα· ὃς ὑπὸ τῆς πατρίδος στεφανηφόρος αἱρεθείς, τουτέστιν ἱερεὺς ʽ Ἡρακλέους, οὐκ ἀπετίθετο τὴν ἀρχήν, ἀλλ’ ἐξ ἱματίου τύραννος ἦν, πορφυροῦν μὲν μεσόλευκον χιτῶνα ἐνδεδυκώς, χλαμύδα δὲ ἐφεστρίδα περιβεβλημένος πολυτελῆ καὶ ὑποδούμενος λευκὰς Λακωνικάς, στέφανον δάφνης χρυσοῦν ἐστεμμένος, καὶ διανέμων τὰ τῶν πλουσίων τοῖς πένησι, πολλοὺς φονεύων τῶν οὐ διδόντων.

[¶2] These are the commanders who became such from having been philosophers; concerning whom Demochares said,—“Just as no one could make a spear out of a bulrush, so no one could make a faultless general out of Socrates.” For Plato says that Socrates served in three military expeditions, one to Potidæa, and another to Amphipolis, and another against the Bœotians, in which last it was that the battle of Delium took place. And though no one has mentioned this circumstance, he himself says that he gained the prize of the most eminent valour, since all the other Athenians fled, and many were slain. But all this is an erroneous statement. For the expedition against Amphipolis took place in the archonship of Alcæus, when Cleon was the general; and it was composed entirely of picked men, as Thucydides relates. Socrates then, a man who had nothing but his ragged cloak and his stick, must have been one of these picked men. But what historian or poet has mentioned this fact? Or where has Thucydides made the slightest mention of Socrates, this soldier of Plato's? And what is there in common between a shield and a philosopher's staff? And when was it that Socrates bore a part in the expedition against Potidoea, as Plato has said in his Charmides, where he states that he then yielded the prize of preeminent valour to Alcibiades? though Thucydides has not mentioned it, nor has Isocrates in his Oration on the Pair-horse Chariot. And what battle ever took place when Socrates gained the prize of preeminent valour? And what eminent and notorious exploit did he perform; for indeed there was actually no battle at all at that time, as Thucydides tells us. But Plato not being content with all these strange stories, introduces the valour which was displayed, or rather which was invented by him at Delium. For if Socrates had even taken Delium, as Herodicus the Cratetian has reported in his Treatise to Philosocrates, he would have fled disgracefully as all the rest did, when Pagondas sent two squadrons of cavalry unperceived round the hill. For then some of the Athenians fled to Delium, and some fled to the sea, and some to Oropus, and some to Mount Parnes. And the Bœotians, especially with their cavalry, pursued them and slew them; and the Locrian cavalry joined in the pursuit and slaughter. When then this disorder and alarm had seized upon the Athenians, did Socrates alone, looking proud and casting his eyes around, stand firm, turning aside the onset of the Bœotian and Locrian cavalry? And yet does Thucydides make no mention of this valour of his, nor even any poet either. And how was it that he yielded to Alcibiades the prize of preeminent valour, who had absolutely never joined in this expedition at all? But in the Crito, Plato, that favourite of Memory, says that Socrates had never once gone out of Attica, except when he, once went to the Isthmian games. And Antisthenes, the Socratic philosopher, tells the same tale as Plato about the Aristeia; but the story is not true. For this Dog flatters Socrates in many particulars, on which account we must not believe either of them, keeping Thucydides for our guide. For Antisthenes even exaggerates this false story, saying,— 'But we hear that you also received the prize of preeminent valour in the battle which took place against the Bœotians.' 'Be quiet, my friend, the prize belongs to Alcibiades, not to me.' 'Yes, but you gave it to him as we are told.' But Plato's Socrates says that he was present at Potidæa, and that he yielded the prize of preeminent valour to Alcibiades on that occasion. But by the universal consent of all historians the expedition against Potidæa, in which Phormio commanded, was previous to the one against Delium.

> Greek: τοιοῦτοί εἰσιν οἱ ἀπὸ φιλοσοφίας στρατηγοί, περὶ ὧν Δημοχάρης ἔλεγεν ὥσπερ ἐκ θύμβρας οὐδεὶς ἂν δύναιτο κατασκευάσαι λόγχην, οὐδ’ ἐκ Σωκράτους στρατιώτην ἄμεμπτον. ὁ γὰρ Πλάτων φησὶν τρεῖς στρατείας στρατεύσασθαι Σωκράτη, τὴν μὲν εἰς Ποτίδαιαν, τὴν δὲ εἰς Ἀμφίπολιν, τὴν δὲ εἰς Βοιωτοὺς ὅτε καὶ συνέβη τὴν ἐπὶ Δηλίῳ μάχην γενέσθαι, μηδενὸς δὲ τοῦθ’ ἱστορηκότος αὐτὸς καὶ ἀριστείων φησὶν αὐτὸν τετυχηκέναι πάντων τῶν Ἀθηναίων φυγόντων, πολλῶν δὲ καὶ ἀπολομένων. πάντα δὲ ταῦτα ἐψευδολόγηται. ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἐπὶ Ἀμφίπολιν στρατεία γέγονεν ἐπὶ Ἀλκαίου ἄρχοντος Κλέωνος ἡγουμένου ἐξ ἐπιλέκτων ἀνδρῶν, ὥς φησι Θουκυδίδης, τούτων οὖν τῶν ἐπιλέκτων ἀνάγκη εἶναι καὶ Σωκράτην, ᾧ πλὴν τρίβωνος καὶ βακτηρίας οὐδὲν ἦν. τίς οὖν εἶπεν ἱστοριογράφος ἢ ποιητής; ἢ ποῦ Θουκυδίδης τὸν Σωκράτη παρενέχρωσε τὸν Πλάτωνος στρατιώτην; τί γὰρ ἀσπίδι ξύνθημα καὶ βακτηρίᾳ; πότε δὲ καὶ εἰς Ποτίδαιαν ἐστρατεύσατο, ὡς ἐν τῷ Χαρμίδῃ εἴρηκεν ὁ Πλάτων φάσκων αὐτὸν καὶ τῶν ἀριστείων τότε Ἀλκιβιάδῃ παραχωρῆσαι; τοῦτο οὔτε Θουκυδίδου ἀλλ’ οὐδ’ Ἰσοκράτους εἰρηκότος ἐν τῷ περὶ τοῦ ζεύγους, ποίας δὲ καὶ μάχης γενομένης ἔλαβε τὰ ἀριστεῖα Σωκράτης καὶ τί πράξας ἐπιφανὲς καὶ διάσημον; καθόλου μάχης μηδεμιᾶς συμπεσούσης, ὡς ἱστόρηκε Θουκυδίδης, οὐκ ἀρκεσθεὶς δὲ ταύτῃ τῇ τερατολογίᾳ ὁ Πλάτων ἐπάγει καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ Δηλίῳ γενομένην, μᾶλλον δὲ πεπλασμένην ἀνδραγαθίαν. εἰ γὰρ καὶ τὸ Δήλιον ᾑρήκει Σωκράτης, ὡς ἱστορεῖ Ἡρόδικος ὁ Κρατήτειος ἐν τοῖς πρὸς τὸν Φιλοσωκράτην, ἅμα τοῖς πολλοῖς ἀσχημόνως ἂν ἔφυγε, Παγώνδου δύο τέλη περιπέμψαντος τῶν ἱππέων ἐκ τοῦ ἀφανοῦς περὶ τὸν λόφον. τότε γὰρ οἱ μὲν πρὸς τὸ Δήλιον τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἔφυγον, οἱ δ’ ἐπὶ θάλατταν, ἄλλοι δὲ ἐπὶ ᾽ Ὠρωπόν, οἱ δὲ πρὸς Πάρνηθα τὸ ὄρος· Βοιωτοὶ δ’ ἐφεπόμενοι ἔκτεινον καὶ μάλιστα οἱ ἱππεῖς οἵ τε αὐτῶν καὶ οἱ Λοκρῶν. τοιούτου οὖν κυδοιμοῦ καὶ φόβου καταλαβόντος τοὺς Ἀθηναίους, μόνος Σωκράτης βρενθυόμενος καὶ τὠφθαλμὼ παραβάλλων εἱστήκει ἀναστέλλων τὸ Βοιωτῶν καὶ Λοκρῶν ἱππικόν; καὶ ταύτης τῆς ἀνδρείας αὐτοῦ οὐ Θουκυδίδης μέμνηται, οὐκ ἄλλος οὐδεὶς ποιητής. πῶς δὲ καὶ τῶν ἀριστείων Ἀλκιβιάδῃ παραχωρεῖ τῷ μηδ’ ὅλως κεκοινωνηκότι ταύτης τῆς στρατείας; ἐν δὲ τῷ Κρίτωνι ὁ τῇ Μνημοσύνῃ φίλος Πλάτων οὐδὲ ποιήσασθαι πώποτε ἀποδημίαν τὸν Σωκράτη ἔξω τῆς εἰς Ἰσθμὸν πορείας εἴρηκε. καὶ Ἀντισθένης δ’ ὁ Σωκρατικὸς περὶ τῶν ἀριστείων τὰ αὐτὰ τῷ Πλάτωνι ἱστορεῖ. οὔκ ἐστιν δ’ ἔτυμος ὁ λόγος οὗτος. χαρίζεται γὰρ καὶ ὁ κύων οὗτος πολλὰ τῷ Σωκράτει· ὅθεν οὐδετέρῳ αὐτῶν δεῖ πιστεύειν σκοπὸν ἔχοντας Θουκυδίδην. ὁ γὰρ Ἀντισθένης καὶ προσεπάγει τῇ ψευδογραφίᾳ λέγων οὕτως ἡμεῖς δὲ ἀκούομεν κἀν τῇ πρὸς Βοιωτοὺς μάχῃ τὰ ἀριστεῖά σε λαβεῖν. εὐφήμει, ὦ ξένε· Ἀλκιβιάδου τό γέρας, οὐκ ἐμόν. σοῦ γε δόντος, ὡς ἡμεῖς ἀκούομεν. ὁ δὲ Πλάτωνος Σωκράτης εἰς Ποτίδαιαν λέγει παρεῖναι καὶ τῶν ἀριστείων Ἀλκιβιάδῃ παρακεχωρηκέναι. προτερεῖ δὲ κατὰ πάντας τοὺς ἱστορικοὺς τῆς ἐπὶ Δήλιον στρατείας ἡ περὶ Ποτίδαιαν, ἧς Φορμίων ἐστρατήγει.

[¶3] In every respect then the philosophers tell lies; and they are not aware that they commit numbers of anachronisms in the accounts which they give. And even the admirable Xenophon is not free from this error. For he in his Banquet introduces Callias, the son of Hipponicus, as the lover of Autolycus, the son of Lycon, and making an entertainment in his honour when he gained the victory in the Pancratium. And he represents himself as being present with the rest of the guests, when he perhaps was either not born, or at all events not out of childhood. And this is the time when Aristion was archon. For it was in his archonship that Eupolis exhibited the comedy Autolycus, in which, in the character of Demostratus, he ridicules the victory of Autolycus. And again Xenophon makes Socrates say at this Banquet—“And Pausanias, indeed, the lover of Agathon the poet, when speaking in excuse of those who allow themselves to indulge in intemperance, said that a most valiant army might be composed of boys and their lovers; for that of all the men in the world they would be the most ashamed to desert one another. Saying a very strange thing,—if men who are accustomed utterly to disregard all blame, and to behave with utter shamelessness to one another, would be the men above all others ashamed to do anything disgraceful.” But that Pausanias never said anything of the sort we may see from the Banquet of Plato. For I know of no book at all which is written by Pausanias. Nor is he introduced by any one else as speaking of lovers and boys, but only by Plato. But whether Xenophon has absolutely invented this story, or whether he fell in with any edition of Plato's Banquet which reports what happened in a different manner, is of no importance; still we must take notice of the blunder as far as the time is concerned. Aristion, in whose time this banquet is represented as having taken place, was archon four years before Euphemus, in whose archonship Plato places the banquet given in honour of the victory of Agathon, at which banquet Pausanias said these things about lovers. So that it is a marvellous and incredible thing that Socrates w hen supping with Callias should find fault with things as having been said erroneously, which had not yet been said at all, and which were not said till four years afterwards at the banquet of Agathon.

> Greek: πάντ’ οὖν ψεύδονται οἱ φιλόσοφοι καὶ πολλὰ παρὰ τοὺς χρόνους γράφοντες οὐκ αἰσθάνονται, καθάπερ οὐδ’ ὁ καλὸς Ξενοφῶν, ὃς ἐν τῷ Συμποσίῳ ὑποτίθεται Καλλίαν τὸν Ἱππονίκου Αὐτολύκου τοῦ Λύκωνος ἐρῶντα καὶ νενικηκότος αὐτοῦ παγκράτιον ἑστίασιν ποιούμενον καὶ σὺν τοῖς ἄλλοις δαιτυμόσι παρόντα αὑτὸν τὸν ἴσως μηδὲ γεννηθέντα ἢ περὶ τὴν παιδικὴν ἡλικίαν ὑπάρχοντα, ἐστὶν δὲ οὗτος ὁ καιρὸς καθ’ ὃν Ἀριστίων ἄρχων ἦν. ἐπὶ τούτου γὰρ Εὔπολις τὸν Αὐτόλυκον διδάξας διὰ Δημοστράτου χλευάζει τὴν νίκην τοῦ Αὐτολύκου. πάλιν ὁ Ξενοφῶν ποιεῖ τὸν Σωκράτην λέγοντα ἐν τῷ Συμποσίῳ ταυτί· καίτοι Παυσανίας γε ὁ Ἀγάθωνος τοῦ ποιητοῦ ἐραστὴς ἀπολογούμενος ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀκρασίᾳ συγκαλινδουμένων εἴρηκεν ὡς καὶ στράτευμα ἀλκιμώτατον ἄν γένοιτο ἐκ παιδικῶν καὶ ἐραστῶν, τούτους γὰρ ἂν ἔφη οἴεσθαι μάλιστα ἂν αἰδεῖσθαι ἀλλήλους ἀπολιπεῖν, θαυμαστὰ λέγων, εἴ γε οἱ ψόγου τε ἀφροντιστεῖν καὶ ἀναισχυντεῖν πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐθιζόμενοι οὗτοι μάλιστ’ αἰσχύνονται αἰσχρόν τι ποιεῖν. ὅτι μὲν οὖν τούτων οὐδὲν εἴρηκεν Παυσανίας ἔξεστι μαθεῖν ἐκ τοῦ Πλάτωνος Συμποσίου. Παυσανίου γὰρ οὐκ οἶδα σύγγραμμα, οὐδ’ εἰσῆκται παρ’ ἄλλῳ λαλῶν οὗτος περὶ χρήσεως ἐραστῶν καὶ παιδικῶν ἢ παρὰ Πλάτωνι· πλὴν εἴτε κατέψευσται τοῦτο Ξενοφῶν εἴτ’ ἄλλως γεγραμμένῳ τῷ Πλάτωνος ἐνέτυχε Συμποσίῳ, παρείσθω· τὸ δὲ κατὰ τοὺς χρόνους ἀστόχημα λεκτέον. Ἀριστίων, ἐφ’ οὗ τὸ συμπόσιον ὑπόκειται συνηγμένον, πρὸ τεσσάρων ἐτῶν Εὐφήμου πρότερος ἦρξεν, καθ’ ὃν Πλάτων τὰ Ἀγάθωνος νικητήρια γέγραφεν, ἐν οἷς Παυσανίας τὰ περὶ τῶν ἐρωτικῶν διεξέρχεται. θαυμαστὸν οὖν καὶ τερατῶδες, εἰ τὰ μήπω ῥηθέντα, μετὰ δὲ τέτταρα ἔτη ἐπιχειρηθέντα παρ’ Ἀγάθωνι Σωκράτης παρὰ Καλλίᾳ δειπνῶν εὐθύνει ὡς οὐ δεόντως ῥηθέντα.

[¶4] But altogether Plato's Banquet is mere nonsense. For when Agathon got the victory Plato was fourteen years old. For the former was crowned at the Lenæa in the archonship of Euphemus. But Plato was born in the year of the archonship of Apollodorus, who succeeded Euthydemus. And when he was eighty-two years old he died in the archonship of Theophilus, who succeeded Callimachus; for he is the eighty-second archon after Apollodorus. But from the archonship of Apollodorus and the birth of Plato, Euphemus is the fourteenth archon; and it is in his archonship that the banquet was given in honour of the victory of Agathon. And Plato himself shows that this entertainment had taken place a long time before, saying in the Banquet.... 'Do you think then that this entertainment has taken place but lately, so that I could have been present at it?' 'Indeed I do,' said he. 'How could that be,' said I, 'O Glaucon? Do you not know that Agathon has not been in the city for many years?' And then a little while after he says— ' But tell me, when did this entertainment take place?' And I replied, 'When we were still children, when Agathon gained the prize in tragedy. ' But that Plato makes many blunders in his chronology is plain from many circumstance. For as the poet said—“The man has a tongue which pays no regard to seasons;” so he writes without sufficient discernment. For he never spoke at random, but always with great consideration. As for instance, writing in the Gorgias, he says— 'Archelaus, then, according to your definition, is a miserable man.' 'Yes, my friend, if, at least, he is an unjust one.' And then, after expressly stating that Archelaus was possessed of the kingdom of the Macedonians, he goes on to say, “that Pericles also was lately dead” But if Pericles had only lately died, Archelaus was not yet in the enjoyment of his dominions at all; and if Archelaus was king at the time, then Pericles had been dead a long time. Now Perdiccas was king before Archelaus, according to the statement of Nicomedes of Acanthus; and he reigned forty-one years. But Theopompus says he reigned thirty-five years; Anaximenes, forty; Hieronymus, twenty-eight. But Marsyas and Philochorus say that he reigned only twenty-three years. Now, as these all vary so much in their accounts, we will take the smallest number, and say twenty-three. But Pericles died in the third year of the Peloponnesian war, in the archonship of Epameinon, in which year also Alexander died, and Perdiccas succeeded him in the kingdom. And he reigned till the archonship of Callias, in whose year Perdiccas died, and Archelaus succeeded to the kingdom. How, then, can Pericles have died lately, as Plato phrases it? And in the same Gorgias Plato represents Socrates as saying— “And last year, when I drew the lot to be one of the council, when my tribe was the presiding tribe, and I had to put the question to the vote, I caused the people to laugh, as I did not know how to put the question to the vote.” Now Socrates did not fall into this error out of ignorance, but out of his firm principles of virtue; for he did not choose to violate the laws of the democracy. And Xenophon shows this plainly in the first book of his Hellenics, where he gives the following account:—“But when some of the prytanes said that they would not put the question contrary to the laws, Callixenus again mounts the tribunal and inveighs against them; and they cried out that he should impeach those who refused. And the prytanes being alarmed, all agreed to put the question except Socrates the son of Sophroniscus; and he said that he would not, but that he would do everything according to the laws.” This was the question which was put to the vote against the generals, Erasinides and his colleagues, because they did not pick up the men who were lost in the naval battle at Arginusæ. And this battle took place in the archonship of Callias, twenty-four years after the death of Pericles.

> Greek: ὅλως δὲ λῆρός ἐστι τῷ Πλάτωνι τὸ Συμπόσιον. ὅτε γὰρ Ἀγάθων ἐνίκα, Πλάτων ἦν δεκατεσσάρων ἐτῶν. ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἐπὶ ἄρχοντος Εὐφήμου στεφανοῦται Ληναίοις, Πλάτων δὲ γεννᾶται ἐπὶ Ἀπολλοδώρου τοῦ μετ’ Εὐθύδημον ἄρξαντος· δύο δὲ καὶ ὀγδοήκοντα βιώσας ἔτη μετήλλαξεν ἐπὶ Θεοφίλου τοῦ μετὰ Καλλίμαχον, ὅς ἐστιν ὀγδοηκοστὸς καὶ δεύτερος, ἀπὸ δὲ Ἀπολλοδώρου καὶ τῆς Πλάτωνος γενέσεως τεσσαρεσκαιδέκατός ἐστιν ἄρχων Εὔφημος, ἐφ’ οὗ τὰ ἐπινίκια Ἀγάθωνος ἑστιῶνται. καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Πλάτων δηλοῖ τὴν συνουσίαν ταύτην πρὸ πολλοῦ γεγονέναι, λέγων οὕτως ἐν τῷ Συμποσίῳ … εἰ νεωστὶ ἡγεῖ τὴν συνουσίαν γεγονέναι, ὥστε κἀμὲ παραγενέσθαι. ἐγὼ γάρ, ἔφη. πόθεν, ἦν δ’ ἐγώ, ὦ Γλαύκων; οὐκ οἶσθ᾽ ὅτι πολλῶν ἐτῶν Ἀγάθων οὐκ ἐπιδεδήμηκε; καὶ προελθών φησιν· ἀλλ’ εἰπέ μοι, πότε ἐγένετο ἡ συνουσία αὕτη; κἀγὼ εἶπον ὅτι παίδων ἔτι ὄντων ἡμῶν, ὅτε τῇ τραγῳδίᾳ ἐνίκησεν ὁ Ἀγάθων. ὅτι δὲ πολλὰ ὁ Πλάτων παρὰ τοὺς χρόνους ἁμαρτάνει δῆλόν ἐστιν ἐκ πολλῶν, κατὰ γὰρ τὸν εἰπόντα ποιητὴν ὅττι κεν ἐπ’ ἀκαιρίμαν γλῶτταν ἔλθῃ, τοῦτο μὴ διακρίνας γράφει, οὐ γὰρ ἀγράφως τι ἔλεγεν, ἀλλὰ πάνυ ἐσκεμμένως, ὡς ἐν τῷ Γοργίᾳ γράφων φησὶν ἄθλιος ἄρα οὗτος ὁ Ἀρχέλαός ἐστι κατὰ τὸν σὸν λόγον. εἴπερ γε, ὦ φίλε, ἄδικος. εἶτα ῥητῶς εἰπὼν ὡς κατέχοντος τὴν Μακεδόνων ἀρχὴν Ἀρχελάου προβὰς γράφει τάδε· καὶ Περικλέα τοῦτον τὸν νεωστὶ τετελευτηκότα. εἰ δὲ νεωστὶ τετελεύτηκε Περικλῆς, Ἀρχέλαος οὔπω κύριός ἐστι τῆς ἀρχῆς εἰ δ’ οὗτος βασιλεύει, πρὸ πολλοῦ πάνυ χρόνου ἀπέθανε Περικλῆς. Περδίκκας τοίνυν πρὸ Ἀρχελάου βασιλεύει, ὡς μὲν ὁ Ἀκάνθιός φησιν Νικομήδης, ἔτη μα᾽, Θεόπομπος δὲ λε᾽, Ἀναξιμένης μ᾽, Ἱερώνυμος κη᾽, Μαρσύας δὲ καὶ Φιλόχορος κγ᾽. τούτων οὖν διαφόρως ἱστορουμένων λάβωμεν τὸν ἐλάχιστον ἀριθμὸν τὰ κγ’ ἔτη. Περικλῆς δ’ ἀποθνῄσκει κατὰ τὸ τρίτον ἔτος τοῦ Πελοποννησιακοῦ πολέμου ἄρχοντος Ἐπαμείνονος, ἐφ’ οὗ τελευτᾷ.., Περδίκκας καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν Ἀρχέλαος διαδέχεται. πῶς οὖν νεωστὶ κατὰ Πλάτωνα τελευτᾷ Περικλῆς; ἐν δὲ τῷ αὐτῷ Γοργίᾳ ὁ Πλάτων τὸν Σωκράτη ποιεῖ λέγοντα· καὶ πέρυσιν βουλεύειν λαχών, ἐπειδὴ ἡ φυλὴ ἐπρυτάνευε καὶ ἔδει με ἐπιψηφίζειν, γέλωτα παρεῖχον καὶ οὐκ ἠδυνάμην ἐπιψηφίσαι. τοῦτο ὁ Σωκράτης οὐ κατὰ ἀδυναμίαν ἐποίησεν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον κατὰ ἀνδραγαθίαν· οὐ γὰρ ἠβούλετο λύειν δημοκρατίας νόμους, παρίστησι δὲ τοῦτο σαφῶς ὁ Ξενοφῶν ἐν πρώτῳ Ἑλληνικῶν ἐκτιθεὶς οὕτως· τῶν δὲ πρυτάνεών τινων οὐ φασκόντων προθήσειν τὴν διαψήφισιν παρὰ τοὺς νόμους, αὖθις Καλλίξεινος ἀναβὰς κατηγόρει αὐτῶν. οἱ δὲ ἐβόων καλεῖν τοὺς οὐ φάσκοντας· οἱ δὲ πρυτάνεις φοβηθέντες ὡμολόγουν ἅπαντες προθήσειν πλὴν Σωκράτους τοῦ Σωφρονίσκου. οὗτος δὲ οὐκ ἔφη, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τοὺς νόμους πάντα ποιήσειν. οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ διαψηφισμὸς ὁ γενόμενος κατὰ τῶν περὶ Ἐρασινίδην στρατηγῶν, ὅτι τοὺς ἐν Ἀργινούσσαις ἐν τῇ ναυμαχίᾳ ἀπολομένους οὐκ ἀνείλοντο. ἐγένετο δὲ ἡ ναυμαχία ἐπὶ ἄρχοντος Καλλίου, τῆς Περικλέους τελευτῆς ὕστερον ἔτεσιν εἴκοσι καὶ τέτταρσιν.

[¶5] But the dialogue in the Protagoras, which took place after the death of Hipponicus, when Callias had entered upon his patrimonial inheritance, says that Protagoras had arrived in Athens for the second time not many days previously. But Hipponicus, in the archonship of Euthydenmus, was a colleague of Nicias in the generalship against the Tanagreans and against those Bœotians who acted as their allies; and he defeated them in a battle. And he died before Eupolis exhibited the Flatterers, which took place in the archonship of Alcæus, but probably not any long time before. For the play proves that the succession of Callias to his patrimonial inheritance was still quite recent. Now in this play Eupolis introduces Protagoras as living at Athens. And Ameipsias, in his Connus, which was exhibited two years before, does not enumerate him among the band of sophists. So it is plain that this happened in the interval between those two periods. But Plato represents Hippias the Elian also, in the Protagoras, as present with some of his own fellow-citizens, men who it is not likely could have remained long in Athens with safety, before the truce for a year was made in the archonship of Isarchus, in the month Elaphebolion. But he represents this dialogue as having taken place, not about the time when the truce had recently been made, but a long time after that; at all events he says—“For if they were savage men, such as Pherecrates the poet exhibited last year at the Lenæan festival.” But the play of The Savage Men was exhibited in the archonship of Aristion, who was succeeded as archon by Astyphilus, (being the fifth after Isarchus,) in whose archonship the truce was made; for Isarchus came first, then Ameinias, then Aristion, then Astyphilus: so that it is contrary to history that Plato in his dialogue brings to Athens Hippias and his companions, who were enemies at the time, when this truce had not yet any existence.

> Greek: ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ ὁ ἐν τῷ Πρωταγόρᾳ διάλογος, μετὰ τὴν Ἱππονίκου τελευτὴν γενόμενος παρειληφότος ἤδη τὴν οὐσίαν Καλλίου, τοῦ Πρωταγόρου μέμνηται παραγεγονότος τὸ δεύτερον οὐ πολλαῖς πρότερον ἡμέραις. ὁ δ’ Ἱππόνικος ἐπὶ μὲν Εὐθυδήμου ἄρχοντος στρατηγῶν παρατέτακται μετὰ Νικίου πρὸς Ταναγραίους καὶ τοὺς παραβοηθοῦντας Βοιωτῶν καὶ τῇ μάχῃ νενίκηκε. τέθνηκε δὲ πρὸ τῆς ἐπ’ Ἀλκαίου διδασκαλίας τῶν Εὐπόλιδος Κολάκων οὐ πολλῷ χρόνῳ κατὰ τὸ εἰκός, πρόσφατον γάρ τινα τοῦ Καλλίου τὴν παράληψιν τῆς οὐσίας ἐμφαίνει τὸ δρᾶμα. ἐν οὖν τούτῳ τῷ δράματι Εὔπολις τὸν Πρωταγόραν ὡς ἐπιδημοῦντα εἰσάγει, Ἀμειψίας δ’ ἐν τῷ Κόννῳ δύο πρότερον ἔτεσιν διδαχθέντι οὐ καταριθμεῖ αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ τῶν φροντιστῶν χορῷ. δῆλον οὖν ὡς μεταξὺ τούτων τῶν χρόνων παραγέγονεν. ὁ δὲ Πλάτων καὶ τὸν Ἠλεῖον Ἱππίαν συμπαρόντα ποιεῖ ἐν τῷ Πρωταγόρᾳ μετά τινων ἰδίων πολιτῶν, οὓς οὐκ εἰκὸς ἐν Ἀθήναις ἀσφαλῶς διατρίβειν πρὸ τοῦ τὰς ἐνιαυσίας ἐπὶ Ἰσάρχου Ἐλαφηβολιῶνος συντελεσθῆναι σπονδάς. ὁ δὲ τὸν διάλογον ὑφίσταται γινόμενον περὶ τοὺς καιροὺς τούτους καθ’ οὓς αἱ σπονδαὶ προσφάτως ἐγεγόνεσαν λέγει γοῦν εἰ γὰρ εἶεν ἄνθρωποι ἄγριοι οἵους πέρυσι Φερεκράτης ὁ ποιητὴς ἐδίδαξεν ἐπὶ Ληναίῳ. ἐδιδάχθησαν δὲ οἱ Ἄγριοι ἐπ’ Ἀριστίωνος ἄρχοντος, ἀφ’ οὗ ἐστιν ἄρχων Ἀστύφιλος, πέμπτος ὢν ἀπὸ Ἰσάρχου, καθ’ ὃν αἱ σπονδαὶ ἐγένοντο. Ἴσαρχος γάρ, εἶτ’ Ἀμεινίας, μεθ’ ὃν Ἀλκαῖος, εἶτ’ ᾽ Ἀριστίων, εἶτ’ Ἀστύφιλος. παρὰ τὴν ἱστορίαν οὖν ὁ Πλάτων ἐν τῷ διαλόγῳ εἰς τὰς Ἀθήνας παράγει πολεμίους ὄντας τοὺς περὶ τὸν Ἱππίαν, μὴ τῆς ἐκεχειρίας αὐτῆς μενούσης.

[¶6] And among other things Plato says that Chærephon asked the Pythian priestess whether any one was wiser than Socrates? and that she replied, No one. But Xenphon does not agree with all this; but says—“For when Dhærephon once asked at Delphi about me, Apollo replied, in the presence of many witnesses, that no man was either more just or more temperate than I was.” And how can it be either reasonable or probable that Socrates, who confessed that he knew nothing, should allege that he had been called the wisest of all men by God who knows everything? For if knowing nothing be wisdom, then to know everything must be folly. And what was the need of Chaerephon bothering the god, and asking him about Socrates? for he himself might have been believed in his own case, saying that he was not wise. For he must be a stupid man who would put such a question to the god, as if he were to ask him such a question as this, Whether any wool is softer than the Attic wool; or, Whether there are any more powerful nations than the Bactrians and the Medes; or, Whether any one has a more complete pug-nose than Socrates. For people who ask such questions as these have a very neat slap in the face given them by the god, as when a man asked him (whether it is a fable of Aesop's or of some one else),
O mighty son of Leto and of Jove,
Tell me by what means I may rich become:
he, ridiculing him, answered—
If you acquire all the land that lies
Between the tow'rs of Sicyon and Corinth.

> Greek: κἀν ἄλλοις δ’ ὁ Πλάτων φησὶ Χαιρεφῶντα ἐρωτῆσαι τὴν Πυθίαν εἴ τις εἴη Σωκράτους σοφώτερος καὶ τὴν ἀνελεῖν μηδένα. κἀν τούτοις δὲ μὴ συμφωνῶν Ξενοφῶν φησι, Χαιρεφῶντος γάρ ποτε ἐπερωτήσαντος ἐν Δελφοῖς ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ, ἀνεῖλεν ὁ Ἀπόλλων πολλῶν παρόντων μηδένα εἶναι ἀνθρώπων ἐμοῦ μήτε δικαιότερον μήτε σωφρονέστερον. πῶς οὖν εὔλογον ἢ πιθανὸν Σωκράτη τὸν ὁμολογοῦντα μηδὲν ἐπίστασθαι σοφώτατον ἁπάντων ὑπὸ τοῦ πάντα ἐπισταμένου θεοῦ ἀναρρηθῆναι; εἰ γὰρ τοῦτό ἐστι σοφία, τὸ μηδὲν εἰδέναι, τὸ πάντα εἰδέναι φαυλότης ἂν εἴη. τίς δ’ ἦν χρεία τῷ Χαιρεφῶντι παρενοχλεῖν τὸν θεὸν περὶ Σωκράτους πυνθανόμενον; αὐτὸς γὰρ ἦν ἀξιόπιστος ὑπὲρ αὑτοῦ λέγων ὡς οὔκ ἐστι σοφός. βλὰξ γάρ τις ἦν τοιαῦτ’ ἐρωτῶν τὸν θεόν, ὡς ἂν εἰ καὶ τοιαῦτα, τίνα τῶν Ἀττικῶν ἐρίων ἄλλ’ ἐστὶ μαλακώτερα, εἰ τῶν ἐν Βάκτροις καμήλων εἰσί τινες δυνατώτεροι, ἢ εἰ Σωκράτους ἐστί τις σιμότερος; τοὺς γὰρ τὰ τοιαῦτα πυνθανομένους εὐστόχως ἐπιρραπίζει ὁ θεός, ὡς καὶ τὸν πυθόμενον, εἴτ’ Αἴσωπός ἐστιν ὁ λογοποιὸς ἢ ἄλλος τις, πῶς ἂν πλουτήσαιμι, Διὸς καὶ Λητοῦς υἱέ; χλευάζων ἀπεκρίνατο· εἰ τὸ μέσον κτήσαιο Κορίνθου καὶ Σικυῶνος.

[¶7] But indeed, no one even of the comic poets has said such things as Plato has said about Socrates, neither that he was the son of a very fierce-looking nurse, nor that Xantippe was an ill-tempered woman, who even poured slops over his head; nor that Alcibiades slept with him under the same cloak; and yet this must have been divulged with boisterous laughter by Aristophanes, as he was present at the banquet according to Plato's account; for Aristophanes would never have suppressed such a circumstance as that, which would have given such a colour to the charge that he corrupted the youth. Aspasia, indeed, who was the clever preceptress of Socrates in rhetoric, in these verses which are attributed to her, which Herodicus the Cratetian has quoted, speaks thus—
As. O Socrates, most clearly do I see
How greatly you're inflamed by tender love
For the young son of Clinias and Dinomache;
But if you wish to prosper list to me,
And do not scoff at my advice, but follow it,
And it shall be the better for your suit.
Soc. I when I heard your speech was so o'erjoy'd
That straightway sweat did overflow each limb;
And tears unbidden pour'd forth from my eyes.
As. Restrain yourself, and fill your mind with strains
Such as the Muse who conquers men will teach you,
And you will charm him by your dulcet songs.
They the foundation lay of mutual love.
And thus will you o'ercome him, fettering
His mind with gifts with which his ears are charm'd
The admirable Socrates then goes a hunting, having the Milesian woman for his tutor in love. But he himself is not hunted, as Plato says, having nets spread for him by Alcibiades. And indeed, he laments without ceasing, being, as I suppose, unsuccessful in his love. For Aspasia, seeing in what a condition he was, says—
Why weep you, my dear Socrates? does love
For that impracticable boy which dwells
Within thy breast, and shoots from out his eyes,
So far thy heart subdue? Did I in vain
Engage to make him docile to thy suit
And that he really did love Alcibiades Plato shows plainly in the Protagoras, although he was now little less than thirty years of age; for he speaks in this manner, 'Whence are you come from, O Socrates? It seems to me you are come from your pursuit of Alcibiades's beauty. And, indeed, the man, when I saw him the other day, appeared to me to be a handsome man; a man, indeed, O Socrates, as he may well be called, just as much so as we are; and he has a firmly grown beard.' ' Well, what of that? are not you an admirer of Homer, who said that the most beautiful season of life was that of a young man who began to have a beard? And that is just the age of which Alcibiades is now.'

> Greek: ἀλλὰ μὴν οὐδ’ ὧν ὁ Πλάτων εἴρηκε περὶ Σωκράτους τῶν κωμικῶν τις εἴρηκεν, οὔθ’ ὅτι μαίας βλοσυρᾶς υἱὸς ἦν οὔθ’ ὅτι Ξανθίππη χαλεπὴ ἦν γυνή, ἥτις καὶ νιπτῆρας αὐτοῦ κατέχει τῆς κεφαλῆς, οὔθ’ ὡς Ἀλκιβιάδῃ συνεκοιμήθη ὑπὸ τὴν αὐτὴν γενόμενος χλαῖναν. καίτοι ἀναγκαῖον ἦν τοῦτο ἐκκωδωνισθῆναι ὑπὸ Ἀριστοφάνους τοῦ καὶ ἐν τῷ συμποσίῳ συμπαρόντος κατὰ Πλάτωνα· οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἐσίγησε τοῦτ’ Ἀριστοφάνης.., ὡς τοὺς νέους διαφθείροντος. Ἀσπασία μέντοι ἡ σοφὴ τοῦ Σωκράτους διδάσκαλος τῶν ῥητορικῶν λόγων ἐν τοῖς φερομένοις ὡς αὐτῆς ἔπεσιν, ἅπερ Ἡρόδικος ὁ Κρατήτειος παρέθετο, φησὶν οὕτως· Σώκρατες, οὐκ ἔλαθές με πόθῳ δηχθεὶς φρένα τὴν σὴν παιδὸς Δεινομάχης καὶ Κλεινίου. ἀλλ’ ὑπάκουσον, εἰ βούλει σοι ἔχειν εὖ παιδικά· μηδ’ ἀπιθήσῃς ἀγγέλῳ, ἀλλὰ πιθοῦ καί σοι πολὺ βέλτιον ἔσται. κἀγὼ ὅπως ἤκουσα, χαρᾶς ὕπο σῶμα λιπάνθη ἱδρῶτι, βλεφάρων δὲ γόος πέσεν οὐκ ἀθελήτῳ. στέλλου πλησάμενος θυμὸν Μούσης κατόχοιο, ᾗ τόνδ’ αἱρήσεις, ὠσὶν δ’ ἐνίει ποθέουσιν. ἀμφοῖν γὰρ φιλίας ἥδ’ ἀρχή τῇδε καθέξεις αὐτόν, προσβάλλων ἀκοαῖς ὀπτήρια θυμοῦ. κυνηγεῖ οὖν ὁ καλὸς Σωκράτης ἐρωτοδιδάσκαλον ἔχων τὴν Μιλησίαν, ἀλλ’ οὐκ αὐτὸς θηρεύεται, ὡς ὁ Πλάτων ἔφη, λινοστατούμενος ὑπὸ Ἀλκιβιάδου. καὶ μὴν οὐ διαλείπει γε κλαίων ὡς ἄν, οἶμαι, δυσημερῶν. ἰδοῦσα γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐν οἵῳ ἦν καταστήματι Ἀσπασία φησίν τίπτε δεδάκρυσαι, φίλε Σώκρατες; ἦ σ’ ἀνακινεῖ στέρνοις ἐνναίων σκηπτὸς πόθος ὄμμασι θραυσθεὶς παιδὸς ἀνικήτου, τὸν ἐγὼ τιθασόν σοι ὑπέστην ποιῆσαι; ὅτι δὲ ὄντως ἤρα τοῦ Ἀλκιβιάδου δῆλον ποιεῖ Πλάτων ἐν τῷ Πρωταγόρᾳ, καίτοι μικρὸν ἀπολείποντος τῶν τριάκοντα ἐτῶν. λέγει δ’ οὕτως πόθεν, ὦ Σώκρατες, φαίνει; ἢ δηλαδὴ ἀπὸ κυνηγεσίου τοῦ περὶ τὴν Ἀλκιβιάδου ὥραν; καὶ μήν μοι καὶ πρώην ἰδόντι καλὸς ἐφαίνετο ὁ ἀνήρ ἔτι ἀνήρ μέντοι, ὦ Σώκρατες, ὥς γε ἐν ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς εἰρῆσθαι, καὶ πώγωνος ἤδη ὑποπιμπλάμενος. εἶτα τί δὴ τοῦτ᾽; οὐ σὺ μέντοι Ὁμήρου ἐπαινέτης εἶ, ὃς ἔφη χαριεστάτην ἥβην εἶναι τοῦ ὑπηνήτου, ἣν νῦν Ἀλκιβιάδης αὐτὸς ἔχει;

[¶8] But most philosophers are of such a disposition that they are more inclined to evil speaking than the Comic writers. Since both Aeschines, the pupil of Socrates, in his Telauges, attacks Critobulus the son of Crito. as an ignorant man, and one who lives in a sordid manner; and he attacks Telauges himself for wearing a cloak borrowed of a clothes' cleaner by the day for half an obol; and for being girt about with a skin, and for having his sandals fastened with rotten pieces of string. And as for Lysias the orator he laughs immoderately at him; and in his Aspasia, he calls Hipponicus, the son of Callias, a blockhead; and taking all the women of Ionia in a lump he calls them lascivious and covetous. But his Callias dwells upon the quarrel of Callias with his own father, and the absurd jokes of the sophist Prodicus and Anaxagoras. For he says that Prodicus had Theramenes for a pupil to finish his education; and that the other had Philoxenus, the son of Eryxis, and Ariphrades, the brother of Arignotus, the harp-player, wishing from the notorious impurity of life of the men who have been named and their general want of respectability and intemperance to leave the sort of education they received from their tutors to be inferred. But in his Axiochus he runs Alcibiades down with great bitterness, as a drunkard, and a man always running after other men's wives.

> Greek: πεφύκασι δ’ οἱ πλεῖστοι τῶν φιλοσόφων τῶν κωμικῶν κακήγοροι μᾶλλον εἶναι, εἴ γε καὶ Αἰσχίνης ὁ Σωκρατικὸς ἐν μὲν τῷ Τηλαύγει Κριτόβουλον τὸν Κρίτωνος ἐπ’ ἀμαθίᾳ καὶ ῥυπαρότητι βίου κωμῳδεῖ, τὸν δὲ Τηλαύγην αὐτὸν ἱματίου μὲν φορήσεως καθ’ ἡμέραν ἡμιωβέλιον κναφεῖ τελοῦντα μισθόν, κωδίῳ δὲ ἐζωσμένον καὶ τὰ ὑποδήματα σπαρτίοις ἐνημμένον σαπροῖς, εὐτελέστατον ὄντα ῥήτορα οὐ μετρίως διαγελᾷ. ἐν δὲ τῇ Ἀσπασίᾳ Ἱππόνικον μὲν τὸν Καλλίου κοάλεμον προσαγορεύει, τὰς δ’ ἐκ τῆς Ἰωνίας γυναῖκας συλλήβδην μοιχάδας καὶ κερδαλέας. ὁ δὲ Καλλίας αὐτοῦ περιέχει τὴν τοῦ Καλλίου πρὸς τὸν πατέρα διαφορὰν καὶ τὴν Προδίκου καὶ Ἀναξαγόρου τῶν σοφιστῶν διαμώκησιν. λέγει γὰρ ὡς ὁ μὲν Πρόδικος Θηραμένην μαθητὴν ἀπετέλεσεν, ὁ δ’ ἕτερος Φιλόξενον τὸν Ἐρύξιδος καὶ Ἀριφράδην τὸν ἀδελφὸν Ἀριγνώτου τοῦ κιθαρῳδοῦ, θέλων ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν δηλωθέντων μοχθηρίας καὶ περὶ τὰ φαῦλα λιχνείας ἐμφανίσαι τὴν τῶν παιδευσάντων διδασκαλίαν. ἐν δὲ τῷ Ἀξιόχῳ πικρῶς Ἀλκιβιάδου κατατρέχει ὡς οἰνόφλυγος καὶ περὶ τὰς ἀλλοτρίας γυναῖκας σπουδάζοντος.

[¶9] But Antisthenes, in the second of his treatises called Cyrus, abusing Alcibiades, says that he is a breaker of the laws, both with respect to women and with respect to every other part of his conduct in life; for he says that he had intrigued with a mother, and daughter, and sister, after the fashion of the Persians. And his Political Dialogue runs down the whole of the Athenian demagogues: and his Archelaus attacks Gorgias, the rhetorician; and his Aspasia attacks Xanthippus and Paralus, the sons of Pericles. For, as for one of them, he says that he is a companion of Archestratus, who is no better than a frequenter of houses of the worst possible fame; and the other he calls an acquaintance and intimate friend of Euphemus, who abused every one he met with vulgar and ill-mannered abuse. And nicknaming Plato Satho, in a witless and vulgar manner, he published a dialogue against him, to which he gave the same name as its title. For these men believe that there is no such thing as an honest counsellor, or a conscientious general, or a respectable sophist, or a poet worth listening to, or a reasonable people: but Socrates, who spent his time in loose houses with the flute-playing women of Aspasia, and who was always chatting with Piston the armourer, and who gave lessons to Theodote the courtesan, how she ought to make the most of her lovers, as Xenophon tells us in the second book of his Memorabilia, is the only wise man according to them; for they represent him as giving Theodote such rules as neither Nico the Samian, nor Callistrate the Lesbian, nor Philænis the Leucadian, nor even Pythonicus the Athenian, were ever acquainted with as charms to conciliate affection. And yet those people paid much attention to such things. And time would fail me if I were to be inclined to quote the attacks which philosophers have made on people; for, as the same Plato says, a regular crowd of Gorgons and Pegasi, and other monsters, keeps flowing in upon me in immense numbers, and of preposterous appearance, so that I will keep silence.

> Greek: Ἀντισθένης δ’ ἐν θατέρῳ τῶν Κύρων κακολογῶν Ἀλκιβιάδην καὶ παράνομον εἶναι λέγει καὶ εἰς γυναῖκας καὶ εἰς τὴν ἄλλην δίαιταν. συνεῖναι γάρ φησιν αὐτὸν καὶ μητρὶ καὶ θυγατρὶ καὶ ἀδελφῇ, ὡς Πέρσας. ὁ δὲ πολιτικὸς αὐτοῦ διάλογος ἁπάντων καταδρομὴν περιέχει τῶν Ἀθήνησιν δημαγωγῶν, ὁ δ’ Ἀρχέλαος Γοργίου τοῦ ῥήτορος, ἡ δ’ Ἀσπασία τῶν Περικλέους υἱῶν Ξανθίππου καὶ Παράλου διαβολήν. τούτων γὰρ τὸν μὲν Ἀρχεστράτου φησὶν εἶναι συμβιωτὴν τοῦ παραπλήσια ταῖς ἐπὶ τῶν μικρῶν οἰκημάτων ἐργαζομένου, τὸν δ’ Εὐφήμου συνήθη καὶ γνώριμον τοῦ φορτικὰ σκώπτοντος καὶ ψυχρὰ τοὺς συναντῶντας καὶ Πλάτωνα δὲ μετονομάσας Σάθωνα ἀσυρῶς καὶ φορτικῶς, τὸν ταύτην ἔχοντα τὴν ἐπιγραφὴν διάλογον ἐξέδωκε κατ’ αὐτοῦ. τούτοις γὰρ τοῖς ἀνδράσιν οὐδεὶς ἀγαθὸς σύμβουλος εἶναι δοκεῖ, οὐ στρατηγὸς φρόνιμος, οὐ σοφιστὴς ἀξιόλογος, οὐ ποιητὴς ὠφέλιμος, οὐ δῆμος εὐλόγιστος ἀλλ’ ἢ Σωκράτης ὁ μετὰ τῶν Ἀσπασίας αὐλητρίδων ἐπὶ τῶν ἐργαστηρίων συνδιατρίβων καὶ Πίστωνι τῷ θωρακοποιῷ διαλεγόμενος καὶ Θεοδότην διδάσκων τὴν ἑταίραν ὡς δεῖ τοὺς ἐραστὰς παλεύειν, ὡς Ξενοφῶν παρίστησιν ἐν δευτέρῳ Ἀπομνημονευμάτων, τοιαῦτα γὰρ ποιεῖ αὐτὸν παραγγέλματα τῇ Θεοδότῃ λέγοντα, ἃ οὔτε Νικὼ ἡ Σαμία ἢ Καλλιστράτη ἡ Λεσβία ἢ Φιλαινὶς ἡ Λευκαδία, ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ ὁ Ἀθηναῖος Πυθόνικος συνεωράκασιν πόθων θέλγητρα· οὗτοι γὰρ περὶ ταῦτα ἠσχόληντο περιττῶς. ἐπιλείποι ᾽ ἄν μ’ ὁ πᾶς χρόνος εἰ ἐκτίθεσθαι βουληθείην τὰς σεμνὰς τῶν φιλοσόφων μέμψεις. κατὰ γὰρ αὐτὸν δὴ τὸν Πλάτωνα· ἐπιρρεῖ δὲ ὄχλος μοι τοιούτων Γοργόνων καὶ Πηγάσων καὶ ἄλλων ἀμηχάνων πλήθει τε καὶ ἀτοπίᾳ τερατολόγων τινῶν φύσεων. διόπερ κατασιωπήσομαι.

[¶10] When Masurius had said this, and when all had admired his wisdom, after silence was restored Ulpian said,— You seem to me, O guests, to be overwhelmed with impetuous speeches which come upon you unexpectedly, and to be thoroughly soaked in unmixed wine;—
For a man drinking wine, as a horse does water,
Speaks like a Scythian, not knowing even koppa,
But voiceless, lies immersed in a cask,
And sleeps as if he'd drunk medicinal poppy;
as says Parmeno the Byzantian. Have you been all turned into stone by the before-mentioned Gorgons? Concerning whom, that there really have been some animals who were the causes of men being turned into stone, Alexander the Myndian speaks at length, in the second book of his History of Beasts, saying—“The Nomades in Libya (where it is born) call the animal named the Gorgon, 'The Looking-down:' and it is as most people say, conjecturing from its skin, something like a wild sheep; but as some say, it is like a calf. And they say that it has such a breath that it destroys every one who meets it; and that it has a mane let down from its forehead over its eyes, and when it has shaken it aside, which it does with difficulty by reason of it weight, and then looks out through it, it slays the man who is beheld by it, not by its breath, but by some natural violence which proceeds from its eyes. And it was discovered in this way: Some of the soldiers of Marius, in his expedition against Jugurtha, having beheld the Gorgon, thought because it held its head down, and moved slowly, that it was a wild sheep, and in consequence they rushed upon it, intending to kill it with the swords which they had about them; but it, being disturbed, shaking aside the mane which hung down over its eyes, immediately caused the death of those who were rushing upon it. And when others again and again did the same thing, and lost their lives by so doing, and when all ho proceeded against it were invariably killed, some of the soldiers inquired the nature of the animal from the natives; and by the command of Marius some Nomad horsemen laid an ambush against it from a distance, and shot it with darts, and returned to the camp, bringing the dead monster to the general.” And that this account is the true one, the skin and the expedition of Marius both prove. But the statement made by the historian is not credible, namely, that there are in Libya some oxen which are called Opisthonomi, because they do not advance while feeding, but feed constantly returning backwards, for their horns are a hindrance to their feeding in the natural manner, inasmuch as they are not bent upwards, as is the case with all other animals, but they bend downwards and overshadow the eyes; for this is incredible, since no other historian testifies to such a circumstance.

> Greek: τοσαῦτα τοῦ Μασουρίου εἰπόντος καὶ ὑπὸ πάντων θαυμασθέντος διὰ σοφίαν ὁ Οὐλπιανὸς σιωπῆς γενομένης ἔφη
δοκεῖτέ μοι, ἄνδρες δαιτυμόνες, σφοδροῖς κατηντλῆσθαι λόγοις παρὰ προσδοκίαν βεβαπτίσθαι τε τῷ ἀκράτῳ· ἀνὴρ γὰρ ἕλκων οἶνον ὡς ὕδωρ ἵππος σκυθιστὶ φωνεῖ, οὐδὲ κόππα γινώσκων κεῖται δ’ ἄναυδος ἐν πίθῳ κολυμβήσας, κάθυπνος ὡς μήκωνα φάρμακον πίνων, φησὶν ὁ Βυζάντιος Παρμένων, ἢ ἀπολελίθωσθε ὑπὸ τῶν προειρημένων Γοργόνων; περὶ ὧν ὡς ὄντως γεγόνασί τινα ζῷα ἀπολιθώσεως ἀνθρώποις αἴτια, ἱστορεῖ Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μύνδιος ἐν δευτέρῳ πτηνῶν ἱστορίας οὕτως· τὴν γοργόνα τὸ ζῷον καλοῦσιν οἱ ἐν Λιβύῃ Νομάδες, ὅπου καὶ γίνεται, κατώβλεπον. ἐστὶν δέ, ὡς μὲν οἱ πλεῖστοι λέγουσιν ἐκ τῆς δορᾶς σημειούμενοι, προβάτῳ ἀγρίῳ ὅμοιον, ὡς δ’ ἔνιοί φασι, μόσχῳ. ἔχειν δὲ λέγουσιν αὐτὸ τοιαύτην ἀναπνοὴν ὥστε πάντα τὸν ἐντυχόντα τῷ ζῴῳ διαφθείρειν. φέρειν δὲ χαίτην ἀπὸ τοῦ μετώπου καθειμένην ἐπὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς, ἣν ὁπόταν μόγις διασεισαμένη διὰ τὴν βαρύτητα ἐμβλέψῃ, κτείνει τὸν ὑπ’ αὐτῆς θεωρηθέντα οὐ τῷ πνεύματι, ἀλλὰ τῇ γιγνομένῃ ἀπὸ τῶν ὀμμάτων φύσεως φορᾷ καὶ νεκρὸν ποιεῖ. ἐγνώσθη δὲ οὕτως, τῶν μετὰ Μαρίου τινὲς ἐπὶ Ἰογόρθαν στρατευσαμένων ἰδόντες τὴν γοργόνα δόξαντές τε διὰ τὸ κάτω νενευκέναι βραδέως τε κινεῖσθαι ἄγριον εἶναι πρόβατον ὥρμησαν ἐπ’ αὐτὸ ὡς κατεργασόμενοι οἷς εἶχον ξίφεσι. τὸ δὲ πτοηθὲν διασεισάμενόν τε τὴν τοῖς ὄμμασιν ἐπικειμένην χαίτην παραχρῆμα ἐποίησε τοὺς ὁρμήσαντας ἐπ’ αὐτὸ νεκρούς, πάλιν δὲ καὶ πάλιν τὸ αὐτὸ ποιησάντων ἑτέρων νεκρῶν τε γενηθέντων, ἀεὶ τῶν προσφερομένων ἀπολλυμένων, ἱστορήσαντές τινες παρὰ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων τὴν τοῦ ζῴου φύσιν, μακρόθεν ἐνεδρεύσαντες αὐτὸ ἱππῆς τινες Νομάδες Μαρίου κελεύσαντος κατηκόντισαν ἧκόν τε φέροντες πρὸς τὸν στρατηγὸν τὸ θηρίον.᾽ τοῦτο μὲν οὖν ὡς ἦν ἄρα τοιοῦτο ἡ δορὰ ἥ τε Μαρίου στρατεία μηνύει, ἐκεῖνο μέντοι τὸ λεγόμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ ἱστοριογράφου οὔκ ἐστι πιστόν, ὡς εἰσί τινες κατὰ τὴν Λιβύην ὀπισθονόμοι καλούμενοι βόες διὰ τὸ μὴ ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοὺς πορευομένους νέμεσθαι, ἀλλ’ εἰς τοὐπίσω ὑποχωροῦντας τοῦτο ποιεῖν εἶναι γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἐμπόδιον πρὸς τὴν τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν νομὴν τὰ κέρατα οὐκ ἄνω ἀνακεκυφότα, καθάπερ τὰ τῶν λοιπῶν ζῴων, ἀλλὰ κάτω νενευκότα καὶ ἐπισκοτοῦντα τοῖς ὄμμασι. τοῦτο γὰρ ἄπιστόν ἐστιν, οὐδενὸς ἑτέρου ἐπιμαρτυροῦντος ἱστορικοῦ.

[¶11] When Ulpian had said this, Laurentius bearing witness to the truth of his statement, and adding something to his speech, said, that Marius sent the skins of these animals to Rome, and that no one could conjecture to what animal they belonged, on account of the singular appearance which they presented; and that these skins were hung up in the temple of Hercules, in which the generals who celebrate a triumph give a banquet to the citizens, as many poets and historians of our nation have related. You then, O grammarians, as the Babylonian Herodicus says, inquiring into none of these matters—
Fly ye to Greece along the sea's wide back,
Pupils of Aristarchus, all more timid
Than the pale antelope, worms hid in holes,
Monosyllabic animals, who care
For σφὶν, and σφῶιν, and for μὶν, and νὶν,
This shall be your lot, grumblers—but let Greece
And sacred Babylon receive Herodicus.
For, as Anaxandrides the comic writer says—
'Tis sweet when one has plann'd a new device,
To tell it to the world. For those who are
Wise for themselves alone have, first of all,
No judge to criticize their new invention.
And envy is their portion too: for all,
That seems to be commended by its novelty,
Should be imparted freely to the people.
And when this conversation had terminated, most of the guests took their departure secretly, and so broke up the party.

> Greek: ταῦτα τοῦ Οὐλπιανοῦ εἰπόντος ἐπιμαρτυρῶν ὁ Λαρήνσιος καὶ συγκατατιθέμενος τῷ λόγῳ ἔφη τὸν Μάριον τῶν ζῴων τούτων δορὰς εἰς τὴν ʽ Ῥώμην ἀναπεπομφέναι, ἃς μηδένα εἰκάσαι δεδυνῆσθαι τίνος εἰσὶ διὰ τὸ παράδοξον τῆς ὄψεως· ἀνατεθεῖσθαί τε τὰς δορὰς ταύτας ἐν τῷ τοῦ ʽ Ἡρακλέους ἱερῷ, ἐν ᾧ οἱ τοὺς θριάμβους κατάγοντες στρατηγοὶ ἑστιῶσι τοὺς πολίτας, καθάπερ πολλοὶ τῶν ἡμεδαπῶν ποιηταὶ καὶ συγγραφεῖς εἰρήκασιν·
ὑμεῖς οὖν, ὦ γραμματικοί, κατὰ τὸν Βαβυλώνιον Ἡρόδικον, μηδὲν τῶν τοιούτων ἱστοροῦντες, φεύγετ᾽, Ἀριστάρχειοι, ἐπ’ εὐρέα νῶτα θαλάττης Ἑλλάδα, τῆς ξουθῆς δειλότεροι κεμάδος, γωνιοβόμβυκες, μονοσύλλαβοι, οἷσι μέμηλε τὸ σφὶν καὶ τὸ σφῷν καὶ τὸ μὶν ἠδὲ τὸ νίν. τοῦθ’ ὑμῖν εἴη δυσπέμφελον· Ἡροδίκῳ δὲ Ἑλλὰς ἀεὶ μίμνοι καὶ θεόπαις Βαβυλών. —
κατὰ γὰρ τὸν κωμῳδιοποιὸν Ἀναξανδρίδην ἡδονὴν ἔχει, ὅταν τις εὕρῃ καινὸν ἐνθύμημά τι, δηλοῦν ἅπασιν οἱ δ’ ἑαυτοῖσιν σοφοὶ πρῶτον μὲν οὐκ ἔχουσι τῆς τέχνης κριτήν, εἶτα φθονοῦνται, χρὴ γὰρ εἰς ὄχλον φέρειν ἅπανθ’ ὅσ’ ἄν τις καινότητ’ ἔχειν δοκῇ. ἐπὶ τούτοις τοῖς λόγοις ἀναχωροῦντες οἱ πολλοὶ λεληθότως διέλυσαν τὴν συνουσίαν.