But that wise Zeno, as Antigonus the Carystian says, speaking, as it should seem, almost prophetically of the lives and professed discipline of your sect, said that “those who misunderstood and failed rightly to enter into the spirit of his words, would become dirty and ungentlemanlike-looking; just as those who adopted Aristippus's sect, but perverted his precepts, became intemperate and shameless.” And the greater portion of you are such as that, men with contracted brows, and dirty clothes, sordid not only in your dispositions, but also in your appearance. For, wishing to assume the character of independence and frugality, you are found at the gate of covetousness, living sordidly, clothed in scanty cloaks, filling the soles of your shoes with nails, and giving hard names to any one who uses the very smallest quantity of perfume, or who is dressed in apparel which is at all delicate. But men of your sect have no business to be attracted by money, or to lead about the objects of their love with their beards shaved and smooth, who follow you about the Lyceum—Thin, starved philosophers, as dry as leather,as Antiphanes calls them.
ὁ δὲ σοφὸς ἐκεῖνος Ζήνων, ὥς φησιν Ἀντίγονος ὁ Καρύστιος, προμαντευόμενος ὑμῶν, ὡς τὸ εἰκός, περὶ τοῦ βίου καὶ τῆς προσποιητοῦ ἐπιτηδεύσεως ἔφη ὡς οἱ παρακούσαντες αὐτοῦ τῶν λόγων καὶ μὴ συνέντες ἔσονται ῥυπαροὶ καὶ ἀνελεύθεροι, καθάπερ οἱ τῆς Ἀριστίππου παρενεχθέντες αἱρέσεως ἄσωτοι καὶ θρασεῖς. καὶ δὴ τοιοῦτοι ὑμῶν εἰσιν οἱ πλεῖστοι, συνεσπασμένοι καὶ κακοπινεῖς οὐ μόνον τοῖς ἤθεσιν ἀλλὰ καὶ ἕξει. βουλόμενοι γὰρ ἐνδύεσθαι τὴν αὐτάρκειαν καὶ τὴν εὐτέλειαν εὑρίσκεσθε ἐπὶ ταῖς τῆς φιλαργυρίας θύραις ῥυπαρῶς ζῶντες καὶ τριβωνάρια περιβαλλόμενοι μικρὰ καὶ ἥλων ἐμπιπλάντες τὰ καττύματα καὶ κιναίδους καλοῦντες τοὺς ἢ μύρου προσβάλλοντας ἢ μικρῷ μαλακωτέραν ἠμφιεσμένους ἐσθῆτα. οὐ δεῖ οὖν οὕτως ἐσταλμένους περὶ ἀργύριον ἐπτοῆσθαι καὶ ἐρωμένους περιάγεσθαι ξυρουμένους τὴν ὑπήνην καὶ τὸν ὄρρον τοὺς ἀκολουθοῦντας ἐν τῷ Λυκείῳ μετὰ σοφιστῶν, νὴ Δία, λεπτῶν, ἀσίτων, σκυτίνων, ὁ κατὰ τὸν Ἀντιφάνην.
But I am a great admirer of beauty myself. For, in the contests [at Athens] for the prize of manliness, they select the handsomest, and give them the post of honour to bear the sacred vessels at the festivals of the gods. And at Elis there is a contest as to beauty, and the conqueror has the vessels of the goddess given to him to carry; and the next handsomest has the ox to lead, and the third places the sacrificial cakes on the head of the victim. But Heraclides Lembus relates that in Sparta the handsomest man and the handsomest woman have special honours conferred on them; and Sparta is famous for producing the handsomest women in the world. On which account they tell a story of king Archidamus, that when one wife was offered to him who was very handsome, and another who was ugly but rich, and he chose the rich one, the Ephori imposed a fine upon him, saying that he had preferred begetting kinglings rather than kings for the Spartans. And Euripides has said—Her very mien is worthy of a kingdom.And in Homer, the old men among the people marvelling at the beauty of Helen, are represented as speaking thus to one another—They cried, "No wonder such celestial charmsFor nine long years have set the world in arms;—What winning graces! what majestic mien!She moves a goddess, and she looks a queen."And even Priam himself is moved at the beauty of the woman, though he is in great distress. And also he admires Agamemnon for his beauty, and uses the following language respecting him—Say, what Greek is heAround whose brow such martial graces shine,—So tall, so awful, and almost divine?Though some of larger stature tread the green,None match his grandeur and exalted mien.And many nations have made the handsomest men their kings on that account. As even to this day that Aethiopian tribe called the Immortals does; as Bion relates in his History of the Affairs of Aethiopia. For, as it would seem, they consider beauty as the especial attribute of kings. And goddesses have contended with one another respecting beauty; and it was on account of his beauty that the gods carried off Ganymede to be their cupbearer—The matchless Ganymede, divinely fair,Whom Heaven, enamour'd, snatch'd to upper air.And who are they whom the goddesses have carried off? are they not the handsomest of men? And they cohabit with them; as Aurora does with Cephalus and Clitus and Tithonus; and Ceres with Jason; and Venus with Anchises and Adonis. And it was for the sake of beauty also that the greatest of the gods entered through a roof under the form of gold, and became a bull, and often transformed himself into a winged eagle, as he did in the case of Aegina. And Socrates the philosopher, who despised everything, was, for all that, subdued by the beauty of Alcibiades; as also was the venerable Aristotle by the beauty of his pupil Phaselites. And do not we too, even in the case of inanimate things, prefer what is the most beautiful? The fashion, too, of Sparta is much praised, I mean that of displaying their virgins naked to their guests; and in the island of Chios it is a beautiful sight to go to the gymnasia and the race-courses, and to see the young men wrestling naked with the maidens, who are also naked.
ἐπαινῶ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς τὸ κάλλος, καὶ γὰρ ἐν ταῖς Εὐανδρίαις τοὺς καλλίστους ἐγκρίνουσι καὶ τούτους πρωτοφορεῖν· ἐπιτρέπουσιν, ἐν Ἤλιδι δὲ καὶ κρίσις γίνεται κάλλους, καὶ τῷ πρώτῳ τὰ τῆς θεοῦ φέρειν τεύχη δίδοται, τῷ δὲ δευτέρῳ τὸν βοῦν ἄγειν, ὁ δὲ τρίτος τὰς θυηλὰς ἐπιτίθησιν. ʽ Ἡρακλείδης δ’ ὁ Λέμβος ἱστορεῖ ὅτι κατὰ τὴν Σπάρτην θαυμάζεται παντὸς μᾶλλον ὁ κάλλιστος καὶ γυνὴ ἡ καλλίστη, καλλίστας γεννώσης τῆς Σπάρτης τὰς γυναῖκας. διὸ καὶ φασὶν περὶ Ἀρχιδάμου τοῦ βασιλέως, γυναικὸς αὐτῷ καλῆς φαινομένης, ἑτέρας δὲ αἰσχρᾶς καὶ πλουσίας, ὡς ἀπέκλινεν ἐπὶ τὴν πλουσίαν, ζημιῶσαι τοὺς ἐφόρους αὐτόν, ἐπιλέγοντας ὅτι βασιλίσκους ἀντὶ βασιλέων τᾷ Σπάρτᾳ γεννᾶν προαιρεῖται. Εὐριπίδης τε ἔφη· πρῶτον μὲν εἶδος ἄξιον τυραννίδος· καὶ οἱ παρ’ Ὁμήρῳ δὲ δημογέροντες θαυμάζοντες τῆς Ἑλένης τὸ κάλλος φασίν οὐ νέμεσις Τρῶας καὶ ἐυκνήμιδας Ἀχαιοὺς τοιῇδ’ ἀμφὶ γυναικὶ πολὺν χρόνον ἄλγεα πάσχειν αἰνῶς ἀθανάτῃσι θεῇς εἰς ὦπα ἔοικεν. ἐκπέπληκται γοῦν καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Πρίαμος ἐπὶ τῷ κάλλει τῆς γυναικός, καίτοι ἐν δεινοῖς ὑπάρχων. θαυμάζει γοῦν ἐπὶ κάλλει τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονα τοιαῦτα ἐκφωνῶν· καλὸν δ’ οὕτω ἐγὼν οὔ πω ἴδον ὀφθαλμοῖσιν οὐδ’ οὕτω γεραρόν· βασιλῆι δὲ ἀνδρὶ ἔοικεν. καθίστων δὲ καὶ πολλοὶ τοὺς καλλίστους βασιλέας, ὡς μέχρι νῦν οἱ Ἀθάνατοι καλούμενοι Αἰθίοπες, ὥς φησι Βίων ἐν Αἰθιοπικοῖς. ὡς ἔοικε γάρ, τὸ κάλλος βασιλείας οἰκεῖόν ἐστιν. θεαὶ περὶ κάλλους ἤρισαν πρὸς ἀλλήλας, καὶ διὰ κάλλος οἱ θεοὶ ἀνηρείψαντο Διὶ οἰνοχόον τὸν Γανυμήδη κάλλεος εἵνεκα οἷο, ἵν’ ἀθανάτοισι μετείῃ. αἱ θεαὶ δὲ τίνας ἀναρπάζουσιν; οὐ τοὺς καλλίστους; οἷς καὶ σύνεισιν Ἠὼς μὲν Κεφάλῳ καὶ Κλείτῳ καὶ Τιθωνῷ, Δημήτηρ Ἰασίωνι, Ἀφροδίτη Ἀγχίσῃ καὶ Ἀδώνιδι. διὰ κάλλος δὲ καὶ ὁ μέγιστος τῶν θεῶν διὰ κεράμων χρυσὸς ἔρχεται, ταῦρος γίνεται, ἀετὸς πτεροῦται πολλάκις, ὥσπερ καὶ ἐπ’ Αἰγίνῃ. Σωκράτης δ’ ὁ φιλόσοφος ὁ πάντων καταφρονῶν. τοῦ Ἀλκιβιάδου κάλλους οὐχ ἥττων ἐστίν; ὡς καὶ ὁ σεμνότατος Ἀριστοτέλης τοῦ Φασηλίτου μαθητοῦ, ἡμεῖς δ’ οὐχὶ καὶ τῶν ἀψύχων τὰ κάλλιστα προκρίνομεν; ἐπαινεῖται καὶ τῶν Σπαρτιατῶν τὸ ἔθος τὸ γυμνοῦν τὰς παρθένους τοῖς ξένοις. ἐν Χίῳ δὲ τῇ νήσῳ καὶ βαδίζειν ἥδιστόν ἐστιν ἐπὶ τὰ γυμνάσια καὶ τοὺς δρόμους καὶ ὁρᾶν προσπαλαίοντας τοὺς νέους ταῖς κόραις.
And Cynulcus said:—And do you dare to talk in this way, you who are not “rosy fingered,” as Cratinus says, but who have one foot made of cow-dung? and do you bring up again the recollection of that poet your namesake, who spends all his time in cookshops and inns? although Isocrates the orator has said, in his Areopagitic Oration, “But not one of their servants ever would have venture to eat or drink in a cookshop; for they studied to keep up the dignity of their appearance, and not to behave like buffoons.” And Hyperides, in his oration against Patrocles, (if, at least, the speech is a genuine one,) says that they forbade a man who had dined at a cookshop from going up to the Areopagus. But you, you sophist, spend your time in cookshops, not with your friends (ἑταίρων), but with prostitutes (ἑταιρῶν), having a lot of pimps and procuresses about you, and always carrying about these books of Aristophanes, and Apollodorus, and Ammonius, and Antiphanes, and also of Gorgias the Athenian, who have all written about the prostitutes at Athens. Oh, what a learned man you are! how far are you from imitating Theomandrus of Cyrene, who, as Theophrastus, in his treatise on Happiness, says, used to go about and profess that he gave lessons in prosperity. You, you teacher of love, are in no respect better than Amasis of Elis, whom Theophrastus, in his treatise on Love, says was extraordinarily addicted to amatory pursuits. And a man will not be much out who calls you a πορνογράφος, just as they call Aristides and Pausanias and Nicophanes ζωγράφοι. And Polemo mentions them, as painting the subjects which they did paint exceedingly well, in his treatise on the Pictures at Sicyon. Think, my friends, of the great and varied learning of this grammarian, who does not conceal what he means, but openly quotes the verses of Eubulus, in his Cercopes—I came to Corinth; there I ate with pleasureSome herb called basil (ocimum), and was ruined by it;And also, trifling there, I lost my cloak.And the Corinthian sophist is very fine here, explaining to his pupils that Ocimum is the name of a harlot. And a great many other plays also, you impudent fellow, derived their names from courtesans. There is the Thalassa of Diocles, the Corianno of Pherecrates, the Antea of Eunicus or Philyllus, the Thais, and the Phanion of Menander, the Opara of Alexis, the Clepsydra of Eubulus—and the woman who bore this name, had it because she used to distribute her company by the hour-glass, and to dismiss her visitors when it had run down; as Asclepiades, the son of Areas, relates in his History of Demetrius Phalereus; and he says that her proper name was Meticha.
καὶ ὁ Κύνουλκος ταυτὶ καὶ τολμᾶς σὺ λέγειν, οὐ ῥοδοδάκτυλος οὖσα κατὰ τὸν Κρατῖνον, ἀλλὰ βολίτινον ἔχων θάτερον σκέλος, ἐκείνου τοῦ ὁμωνύμου σοι ποιητοῦ τὴν κνήμην φορῶν ὃς ἐν τοῖς καπηλείοις καὶ τοῖς πανδοκείοις αἰεὶ διαιτᾷ, καίτοι Ἰσοκράτους τοῦ ῥήτορος ἐν τῷ Ἀρεοπαγιτικῷ εἰρηκότος· ἐν καπηλείῳ δὲ φαγεῖν ἢ πιεῖν οὐδεὶς οὐδ’ ἂν οἰκέτης ἐτόλμησεν. σεμνύνεσθαι γὰρ ἐμελέτων, οὐ βωμολοχεύεσθαι. Ὑπερείδης δὲ ἐν τῷ κατὰ Πατροκλέους, εἰ γνήσιος ὁ λόγος, τοὺς Ἀρεοπαγίτας φησὶν ἀριστήσαντά τινα ἐν καπηλείῳ κωλῦσαι ἀνιέναι εἰς Ἄρειον πάγον. σὺ δέ, ὦ σοφιστά, ἐν τοῖς καπηλείοις συναναφύρῃ οὐ μετὰ ἑταίρων ἀλλὰ μετὰ ἑταιρῶν, μαστροπευούσας περὶ σαυτὸν οὐκ ὀλίγας ἔχων καὶ περιφέρων αἰεὶ τοιαυτὶ βιβλία Ἀριστοφάνους καὶ Ἀπολλοδώρου καὶ Ἀμμωνίου καὶ Ἀντιφάνους, ἔτι δὲ Γοργίου τοῦ Ἀθηναίου, πάντων τούτων συγγεγραφότων περὶ τῶν Ἀθήνησι Ἑταιρίδων. ὢ τῆς καλῆς σου πολυμαθίας, ὡς κατ’ οὐδὲν ἐμιμήσω Θεόμανδρον τὸν Κυρηναῖον, ὅν φησι Θεόφραστος ἐν τῷ περὶ Εὐδαιμονίας περιιόντα ἐπαγγέλλεσθαι διδάσκειν εὐτυχίαν ἐρωτοδιδάσκαλε· οὐδὲν ἄρα διαφέρεις Ἀμάσιος τοῦ ᾽ Ἠλείου, ὃν Θεόφραστος ἐν τῷ Ἐρωτικῷ περὶ τοὺς ἔρωτας δεινὸν γεγονέναι λέγει οὐκ ἂν ἁμάρτοι δὲ τίς σε καὶ πορνογράφον καλῶν, ὡς Ἀριστείδην καὶ Παυσίαν ἔτι τε Νικοφάνη τοὺς ζωγράφους, μνημονεύει δὲ αὐτῶν ὡς ταῦτα καλῶς γραφόντων Πολέμων ἐν τῷ περὶ τῶν ἐν Σικυῶνι Πινάκων, ὢ τῆς καλῆς πολυμαθίας, ἄνδρες φίλοι, τῆς τοῦ γραμματικοῦ τοῦδε, ὃς οὐδ’ ἐγκαλύπτεται, ἀλλ’ ἀναφανδὸν τὰ Εὐβούλου αἰεὶ ἐκ Κερκώπων λέγει· Κόρινθον ἦλθον. ἡδέως ἐνταῦθά πως λάχανόν τι τρώγων· Ὤκιμον διεφθάρην κἀνταῦθα κατελήρησα τὴν ἐξωμίδα. καλός γε ὁ τῶν Κορινθίων σοφιστής, ὁ τοῖς μαθηταῖς διηγούμενος ὅτι Ὤκιμον ἑταίρας ὄνομα. καὶ ἄλλα δὲ πολλά, ὦναιδές, δράματα ἀπὸ ἑταιρῶν ἔσχε τὰς ἐπιγραφάς, Θάλαττα Διοκλέους, Φερεκράτους Κοριαννώ, Εὐνίκου ἢ Φιλυλλίου Ἄντεια, Μενάνδρου δὲ Θαὶς καὶ Φάνιον, Ἀλέξιδος Ὀπώρα, Εὐβούλου Κλεψύδρα. οὕτω δ’ ἐκλήθη αὕτη ἡ ἑταίρα, ἐπειδὴ πρὸς κλεψύδραν συνουσίαζεν ἕως κενωθείη, ὡς Ἀσκληπιάδης εἴρηκεν ὁ τοῦ Ἀρείου ἐν τῷ περὶ Δημητρίου τοῦ Φαληρέως συγγράμματι, τὸ κύριον αὐτῆς ὄνομα φάσκων εἶναι Μητίχην.
There is a courtesan.....(as Antiphanes says in his Clown)—... who is a positiveCalamity and ruin to her keeper;And yet he's glad at nourishing such a pest.On which account, in the Neæra of Timocles, a man is represented as lamenting his fate, and saying—But I, unhappy man, who first loved PhryneWhen she was but a gatherer of capers,And was not quite as rich as now she is,—I who such sums of money spent upon her,Am now excluded from her doors.And in the play entitled Orestantoclides, the same Timocles says—And round the wretched man old women sleep,Nannium and Plangon, Lyca, Phryne too,Gnathæna, Pythionica, Myrrhina,Chrysis, Conallis, Hieroclea, andLapadium also.And these courtesans are mentioned by Amphis, in his Curis, where he says—Wealth truly seems to me to be quite blind,Since he ne'er ventures near this woman's doors,But haunts Sinope, Nannium, and Lyca,And others like them, traps of men's existence,And in their houses sits like one amazed,And ne'er departs.
ἐστὶν δ’ ἑταίρα, ὡς Ἀντιφάνης φησὶν ἐν Ἀγροίκῳ, τῷ τρέφοντι συμφορά εὐφραίνεται γὰρ κακὸν ἔχων οἴκοι μέγα. διόπερ καὶ θρηνῶν τις αὑτὸν παράγεται ὑπὸ Τιμολέους; ἐν Νεαίρᾳ· ἀλλ’ ἔγωγ’ ὁ δυστυχὴς Φρύνης ἐρασθεὶς ἡνίκ’ ἔτι τὴν κάππαριν συνέλεγεν οὔπω τ’ εἶχεν ὅσαπερ νῦν ἔχει πάμπολλ’ ἀναλίσκων ἐφ’ ἑκάστῳ τῆς θύρας ἀπεκλειόμην. καὶ ἐν τῷ ἐπιγραφομένῳ δ’ Ὀρεσταυτοκλείδης ὁ αὐτὸς Τιμοκλῆς φησι· περὶ δὲ τὸν πανάθλιον εὕδουσι γρᾶες, Νάννιον, Πλαγγών, Λύκα, Γνάθαινα, Φρύνη, Πυθιονίκη, Μυρρίνη, Χρυσίς, Κοναλίς, Ἱερόκλεια, Λοπάδιον. τούτων τῶν ἑταιρῶν καὶ Ἄμφις μνημονεύει ἐν Κουρίδι λέγων· τυφλὸς ὁ Πλοῦτος εἶναί μοι δοκεῖ,· ὅστις γε παρὰ ταύτην μὲν οὐκ εἰσέρχεται, παρὰ δὲ Σινώπῃ καὶ Λύκᾳ καὶ Ναννίῳ ἑτέραις τε τοιαύταισι παγίσι τοῦ βίου ἔνδον κάθητ’ ἀπόπληκτος οὐδ’ ἐξέρχεται.
And Alexis, in the drama entitled Isostasium, thus describes the equipment of a courtesan, and the artifices which some women use to make themselves up—For, first of all, to earn themselves much gain,And better to plunder all the neighbouring men,They use a heap of adventitious aids—They plot to take in every one. And when,By subtle artifice, they've made some money,They enlist fresh girls, and add recruits, who ne'erHave tried the trade, unto their cunning troop,And drill them so that they are very soonDifferent in manners, and in look, and semblanceFrom all they were before. Suppose one's short—They put cork soles within the heels of her shoes:Is any one too tall—she wears a slipperOf thinnest substance, and, with head depress'dBetween the shoulders, walks the public streets,And so takes off from her superfluous height.Is any one too lean about the flank—They hoop her with a bustle, so that allWho see her marvel at her fair proportions.Has any one too prominent a stomach—They crown it with false breasts, such as perchanceAt times you may in comic actors see;And what is still too prominent, they forceBack, ramming it as if with scaffolding.Has any one red eyebrows—those they smearWith soot. Has any one a dark complexion—White-lead will that correct. This girl's too fair—They rub her well with rich vermilion.Is she a splendid figure—then her charmsAre shown in naked beauty to the purchaser.Has she good teeth-then she is forced to laugh,That all the bystanders may see her mouth,How beautiful it is; and if she beBut ill-inclined to laugh, then she is keptClose within doors whole days, and all the thingsWhich cooks keep by them when they sell goats' heads,Such as a stick of myrrh, she's forced to keepBetween her lips, till they have learnt the shapeOf the required grin. And by such artsThey make their charms and persons up for market.
Ἄλεξις δ’ ἐν τῷ ἐπιγραφομένῳ δράματι Ἰσοστάσιον τὴν ἑταιρικὴν παρασκευὴν καὶ τὰς δι’ ἐπιτεχνήσεως κομμώσεις τῶν ἑταιρῶν οὕτως ἐκτίθεται· πρῶτα μὲν γὰρ πρὸς τὸ κέρδος καὶ τὸ συλᾶν τοὺς πέλας πάντα τἄλλ’ αὐταῖς πάρεργα γίνεται, ῥάπτουσι δὲ πᾶσιν ἐπιβουλάς. ἐπειδὰν δ’ εὐπορήσωσίν ποτε, ἀνέλαβον καινὰς ἑταίρας, πρωτοπείρους τῆς τέχνης. εὐθὺς ἀναπλάττουσι ταύτας, ὥστε μήτε τοὺς τρόπους μήτε τὰς ὄψεις ὁμοίας διατελεῖν οὔσας ἔτι. τυγχάνει μικρά τις οὖσα· φελλὸς ἐν ταῖς βαυκίσιν ἐγκεκάττυται. μακρά τις· διάβαθρον λεπτὸν φορεῖ τήν τε κεφαλὴν ἐπὶ τὸν ὦμον καταβαλοῦσ’ ἐξέρχεται· τοῦτο τοῦ μήκους ἀφεῖλεν. οὐκ ἔχει τις ἰσχία· ὑπενέδυσ᾽ ἐρραμμέν’ αὐτήν, ὥστε τὴν εὐπυγίαν ἀναβοᾶν τοὺς εἰσιδόντας. κοιλίαν ἁδρὰν ἔχει· στηθί’ ἔστ’ αὐταῖσι τούτων ὧν ἔχουσ’ οἱ κωμικοί· ὀρθὰ προσθεῖσαι τοιαῦτα τοὐνδυτὸν τῆς κοιλίας ὡσπερεὶ κοντοῖσι τούτοις εἰς τὸ πρόσθ’ ἀπήγαγον. τὰς ὀφρῦς πυρρὰς ἔχει τις· ζωγραφοῦσιν ἀσβόλῳ. συμβέβηκ’ εἶναι μέλαιναν· κατέπλασε ψιμυθίῳ. λευκόχρως λίαν τίς ἐστιν παιδέρωτ’ ἐντρίβεται. καλὸν ἔχει τοῦ σώματός τι· τοῦτο γυμνὸν δείκνυται. εὐφυεῖς ὀδόντας ἔσχεν ἐξ ἀνάγκης δεῖ γελᾶν, ἵνα θεωρῶσ’ οἱ παρόντες τὸ στόμ’ ὡς κομψὸν φορεῖ. ἂν δὲ μὴ χαίρῃ γελῶσα, διατελεῖ τὴν ἡμέραν ἔνδον, ὥσπερ τοῖς μαγείροις ἃ παράκειθ’ ἑκάστοτε, ἡνίκ’ ἂν πωλῶσιν αἰγῶν κρανία, ξυλήφιον μυρρίνης ἔχουσα λεπτὸν ὀρθὸν ἐν τοῖς χείλεσιν ὥστε τῷ χρόνῳ σέσηρεν, ἄν τε βούλητ’ ἄν τε μή …, ὄψεις διὰ τούτων σκευοποιοῦσι τῶν τεχνῶν.
And therefore I advise you, my Thessalian friend with the handsome chairs, to be content to embrace the women in the brothels, and not to spend the inheritance of your children on vanities. For, truly, the lame man gets on best at this sort of work; since your father, the boot-maker, did not lecture you and teach you any great deal, and did not confine you to looking at leather. Or do you not know those women, as we find them called in the Pannuchis of Eubulus—Thrifty decoys, who gather in the money,—Fillies well-train'd of Venus, standing nakedIn long array, clad in transparent robesOf thinnest web, like the fair damsels whomEridanus waters with his holy stream;From whom, with safety and frugality,You may buy pleasure at a moderate cost.And in his Nannium, (the play under this name is the work of Eubulus, and not of Philippides)—For he who secretly goes hunting forIllicit love, must surely of all menMost miserable be; and yet he maySee in the light of the sun a willing rowOf naked damsels, standing all array'dIn robes transparent, like the damsels whomEridanus waters with his holy stream,And buy some pleasure at a trifling rate,Without pursuing joys he 's bound to hide,(There is no heavier calamity,)Just out of wantonness and not for love.I do bewail the fate of hapless Greece,Which sent forth such an admiral as Cydias. Xenarchus also, in his Pentathlum, reproaches those men who live as you do, and who fix their hearts on extravagant courtesans, and on freeborn women; in the following lines—It is a terrible, yes a terrible andIntolerable evil, what the youngMen do throughout this city. For althoughThere are most beauteous damsels in the brothels,Which any man may see standing all willingIn the full light of day, with open bosoms,Showing their naked charms, all of a row,Marshall'd in order; and though they may chooseWithout the slightest trouble, as they fancy,Thin, stout, or round, tall, wrinkled, or smooth-faced,Young, old, or middle-aged, or elderly,So that they need not clamber up a ladder,Nor steal through windows out of free men's houses,Nor smuggle themselves in in bags of chaff;For these gay girls will ravish you by force,And drag you in to them; if old, they'll call youTheir dear papa; if young, their darling baby:And these a man may fearlessly and cheaplyAmuse himself with, morning, noon, or night,And any way he pleases; but the othersHe dares not gaze on openly nor look at,But, fearing, trembling, shivering, with his heart,As men say, in his mouth, he creeps towards them.And how can they, O sea-born mistress mine,Immortal Venus! act as well they ought,E'en when they have the opportunity,If any thought of Draco's laws comes o'er them?
διὸ συμβουλεύω σοι, Θετταλὲ ποικιλόδιφρε, τὰς ἐπὶ τῶν οἰκημάτων ἀσπάζεσθαι καὶ μὴ καταναλίσκειν εἰς οὐδὲν δέον τὰ τῶν υἱῶν κέρματα, ὄντως γὰρ ἄριστα χωλὸς οἰφεῖς, τοῦ κρηπιδοποιοῦ πατρός σου πολλά σε σωφρονίσαντος καὶ διδάξαντος σκύτη βλέπειν. ἢ οὐκ οἶδας κατὰ τὴν Εὐβούλου Παννυχίδα· τὰς φιλῳδοὺς κερμάτων παλευτρίας, … πώλους Κύπριδος ἐξησκημένας, γυμνὰς ἐφεξῆς ἐπὶ κέρως τεταγμένας, ἐν λεπτοπήνοις ὕφεσιν ἑστώσας, οἵας Ἠριδανὸς ἁγνοῖς ὕδασι κηπεύει κόρας· παρ’ ὧν βεβαίως ἀσφαλῶς τ᾽· ἔξεστί σοι μικροῦ πρίασθαι κέρματος τὴν ἡδονήν. καὶ ἐν Ναννίῳ εἰ Εὐβούλου τὸ δρᾶμα καὶ μὴ Φιλίππου, φησὶν ὅστις λέχη γὰρ σκότια νυμφεύει λάθρᾳ, πῶς οὐχὶ πάντων ἐστὶν ἀθλιώτατος; ἐξὸν θεωρήσαντι πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον γυμνὰς ἐφεξῆς ἐπὶ κέρως τεταγμένας, ἐν λεπτοπήνοις ὕφεσιν ἑστώσας, οἵας Ἠριδανὸς ἁγνοῖς ὕδασι κηπεύει κόρας, μικροῦ πρίασθαι κέρματος τὴν ἡδονήν, καὶ μὴ λαθραίαν Κύπριν, αἰσχίστην νόσων πασῶν, διώκειν, ὕβρεος οὐ πόθου χάριν. Ἑλλάδος ἔγωγε τῆς ταλαιπώρου στένω, ἣ Κυδίαν ναύαρχον ἐξεπέμψατο. ἐπιτιμᾷ δὲ καὶ Ξέναρχος ἐν Πεντάθλῳ τοῖς παραπλησίως σοι βιοῦσιν καὶ ἐσπουδακόσι περὶ τὰς μεγαλομίσθους ἑταίρας καὶ τὰς ἐλευθέρας τῶν γυναικῶν ταυτὶ λέγων δεινά, δεινὰ κοὐκ ἀνασχετὰ ἐν τῇ πόλει πράττουσιν οἱ νεώτεροι, ὅπου γὰρ οὐσῶν μειράκων μάλ’ εὐπρεπῶν ἐπὶ τοῖσι πορνείοισιν, ἃς ἔξεσθ’ ὁρᾶν εἰληθερούσας, στέρν’ ἀπημφιεσμένας, γυμνὰς ἐφεξῆς τ’ ἐπὶ κέρως τεταγμένας· ὧν ἔστιν ἐκλεξάμενον ᾗ τις ἥδεται, λεπτῇ, παχείᾳ, στρογγύλῃ, μακρᾷ, ῥικνῇ, νέᾳ, παλαιᾷ, μεσοκόπῳ, πεπαιτέρᾳ, μὴ κλίμακα· στησάμενον· εἰσβῆναι λάθρᾳ, μηδὲ δι’ ὀπῆς κάτωθεν εἰσδῦναι στέγης μηδ’ ἐν ἀχύροισιν εἰσενεχθῆναι τέχνῃ. αὐταὶ βιάζονται γὰρ εἰσέλκουσί τε τοὺς μὲν γέροντας ὄντας ἐπικαλούμεναι πατρίδια, τοὺς δ’ ἀπφάρια, τοὺς νεωτέρους, καὶ τῶνδ’ ἑκάστην ἔστιν ἀδεῶς, εὐτελῶς, μεθ’ ἡμέραν, πρὸς ἑσπέραν, πάντας τρόπους· ἃς δ’ οὔτ’ ἰδεῖν ἔστ᾽, οὔθ’ ὁρῶντ’ ἰδεῖν σαφῶς, αἰεὶ δὲ τετρεμαίνοντα καὶ φοβούμενον.., δεδιότα, ἐν τῇ χειρὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἔχοντα. ἃς πῶς ποτ᾽, ὦ δέσποινα ποντία Κύπρι, βινεῖν δύνανται, τῶν Δρακοντείων νόμων ὁπόταν ἀναμνησθῶσι προσκινούμενοι;
And Philemon, in his Brothers, relates that Solon at first, on account of the unbridled passions of the young, made a law that women might be brought to be prostituted at brothels; as Nicander of Colophon also states, in the third book of his History of the Affairs of Colophon,—saying that he first erected a temple to the Public Venus with the money which was earned by the women who were prostituted at these brothels. But Philemon speaks on this subject as follows:—But you did well for every man, O Solon;For they do say you were the first to seeThe justice of a public-spirited measure,The saviour of the state—(and it is fitFor me to utter this avowal, Solon);—You, seeing that the state was full of men,Young, and possess'd of all the natural appetites,And wandering in their lusts where they'd no business,Bought women, and in certain spots did place them,Common to be, and ready for all comers.They naked stand: look well at them, my youth,—Do not deceive yourself; a'nt you well offYou're ready, so are they: the door is open—The price an obol: enter straight—there isNo nonsense here, no cheat or trickery;But do just what you like, and how you like.You're off: wish her good-bye; she 's no more claim on you.And Aspasia, the friend of Socrates, imported great numbers of beautiful women, and Greece was entirely filled with her courtesans; as that witty writer Aristophanes (in his Acharnenses ) relates,—saying, that the Peloponnesian war was excited by Pericles, on account of his love for Aspasia, and on account of the girls who had been carried away from her by the Megarians.For some young men, drunk with the cottabusGoing to Megara, carry off by stealthA harlot named Simætha. Then the citizensOf Megara, full of grief and indignation,Stole in return two of Aspasia's girls;And this was the beginning of the warWhich devastated Greece, for three lewd women.
καὶ Φιλήμων δὲ ἐν Ἀδελφοῖς προσιστορῶν ὅτι πρῶτος Σόλων διὰ τὴν τῶν νέων ἀκμὴν ἔστησεν ἐπὶ οἰκημάτων γύναια πριάμενος, καθὰ καὶ Νίκανδρος ὁ Κολοφώνιος ἱστορεῖ ἐν τρίτῳ· Κολοφωνιακῶν φάσκων αὐτὸν καὶ πανδήμου Ἀφροδίτης ἱερὸν πρῶτον ἱδρύσασθαι ἀφ’ ὧν ἠργυρίσαντο αἱ προστᾶσαι τῶν οἰκημάτων, ἀλλ’ ὅ γε Φιλήμων οὕτως φησί σὺ δ’ εἰς ἅπαντας εὗρες ἀνθρώπους νόμον· σὲ γὰρ λέγουσιν τοῦτ’ ἰδεῖν πρῶτον, Σόλων, δημοτικόν, ὦ Ζεῦ, πρᾶγμα καὶ σωτήριον ʽ καί μοι λέγειν τοῦτ’ ἐστὶν ἁρμοστόν, Σόλων ʼ, μεστὴν ὁρῶντα τὴν πόλιν νεωτέρων τούτους τ’ ἔχοντας τὴν ἀναγκαίαν φύσιν ἁμαρτάνοντάς τ’ εἰς ὃ μὴ προσῆκον ἦν, στῆσαι πριάμενὸν τοι γυναῖκας κατὰ τόπους κοινὰς ἅπασι καὶ κατεσκευασμένας.· ἑστᾶσι γυμναί, μὴ ᾽ ξαπατηθῇς· πάνθ’ ὅρα. οὐκ εὖ σεαυτοῦ τυγχάνεις ἔχων ἔχεις λυποῦν τι. πως; ἀλλ’ ἡ θύρα ᾽ στ’ ἀνεῳγμένη. εἷς ὀβολός· εἰσπήδησον· οὐκ ἔστ’ οὐδὲ εἷς ἀκκισμὸς οὐδὲ λῆρος, οὐδ’ ὑφήρπασεν ἀλλ’ εὐθὺς ὡς βούλει σὺ χὢν βούλει τρόπον, ἐξῆλθες· οἰμώζειν λέγ᾽, ἀλλοτρία ᾽ στί σοι. καὶ Ἀσπασία δὲ ἡ Σωκρατικὴ ἐνεπορεύετο πλήθη καλῶν γυναικῶν, καὶ ἐπλήθυνεν ἀπὸ τῶν ταύτης ἑταιρίδων ἡ Ἑλλάς, ὡς καὶ ὁ χαρίεις Ἀριστοφάνης παρασημαίνεται, λέγων τὸν Πελοποννησιακὸν πόλεμον ὅτι Περικλῆς διὰ τὸν Ἀσπασίας ἔρωτα καὶ τὰς ἁρπασθείσας ἀπ’ αὐτῆς θεραπαίνας ὑπὸ Μεγαρέων ἀνερρίπισεν τὸ δεινόν· πόρνην δὲ Σιμαίθαν ἰόντες Μεγάραδε νεανίαι κλέπτουσι μεθυσοκότταβοι κᾆθ’ οἱ Μεγαρῆς ὀδύναις πεφυσιγγωμένοι ἀντεξέκλεψαν Ἀσπασίας πόρνασδύο· κἀκεῖθεν ἁρχὴ τοῦ πολέμου κατερράγη Ἕλλησι πᾶσιν ἐκ τριῶν λαικαστριῶν.
I therefore, my most learned grammarian, warn you to beware of the courtesans who want a high price, becauseYou may see other damsels play the flute,All playing th' air of Phœbus, or of Jove;But these play no air save the air of the hawk,as Epicrates says in his Anti-Lais; in which play he also uses the following expressions concerning the celebrated Lais:—But this fair Lais is both drunk and lazy,And cares for nothing, save what she may eatAnd 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 soothsayersTurn 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 toThe satrap Pharnabazus. But at present,Now that she 's more advanced in years, and ageHas meddled with her body's round proportions,'Tis easy both to see her and to scorn her.Now she runs everywhere to get some drink;She'll take a stater—aye, or a triobolus;She will admit you, young or old; and isBecome so tame, so utterly subdued,That she will take the money from your hand.Anaxandrides also, in his Old Man's Madness, mentions Lais, and includes her with many other courtesans in a list which he gives in the following lines:-A. You know Corinthian Lais?B. To be sure;My countrywoman.A. Well, she had a friend,By name Anthea.B. Yes; I knew her well.A. Well, in those days Lagisca was in beauty;Theolyta, too, was wondrous fair to see,And seemed likely to be fairer still;And Ocimon was beautiful as any.
τῶν οὖν μεγαλομίσθων ἑταιρῶν ἀποτρέπω σε, γραμματικώτατε, διότι τὰς μὲν ἄλλας ἔστιν αὐλούσας ἰδεῖν αὐλητρίδας πάσας Ἀπόλλωνος νόμον, … Διὸς νόμον αὗται δὲ μόνον αὐλοῦσιν Ἱέρακος νόμον, Ἐπικράτης φησὶν ἐν Ἀντιλαίδι, ἐν ᾧ δράματι καὶ περὶ τῆς πολυθρυλήτου Λαίδος τάδε λέγει· αὕτη δὲ Λαὶς ἀργός ἐστι καὶ πότις, τὸ καθ’ ἡμέραν ὁρῶσα πίνειν κἀσθίειν μόνον, πεπονθέναι δὲ ταὐτά μοι δοκεῖ τοῖς ἀετοῖς· οὗτοι γὰρ ὅταν ὦσιν νέοι ἐκ τῶν ὀρῶν πρόβατ’ ἐσθίουσι καὶ λαγὼς μετέωρ’ ἀναρπάζοντες ὑπὸ τῆς ἰσχύος· ὅταν δὲ γηράσκωσιν ἤδη, τότε θεῶν ἐπὶ τοὺς νεὼς ἵζουσι πεινῶντες κακῶς· κἄπειτα τοῦτ’ εἶναι νομίζεται τέρας. καὶ Λαῒς οὖν ὀρθῶς νομίζοιτ’ ἂν τέρας, αὕτη γὰρ ὁπότ’ ἦν μὲν νεοττὸς καὶ νέα, ὑπὸ τῶν στατήρων ἦν ἀπηγριωμένη, εἶδες δ’ ἂν αὐτῆς Φαρνάβαζον θᾶττον ἂν ἐπεὶ δὲ δολιχὸν τοῖς ἔτεσιν ἤδη τρέχει τὰς ἁρμονίας τε διαχαλᾷ τοῦ σώματος, ἰδεῖν μὲν αὐτὴν ῥᾷόν ἐστιν ἢ πτύσαι· ἐξέρχεταί τε πανταχόσ’ ἤδη πετομένη, δέχεται δὲ καὶ στατῆρα καὶ τριώβολον, προσίεται δὲ καὶ γέροντα καὶ νέον. οὕτω δὲ τιθασὸς γέγονεν ὥστ᾽, ὦ φίλτατε, τἀργύριον ἐκ τῆς χειρὸς ἤδη λαμβάνει. μνημονεύει δὲ τῆς Λαίδος καὶ Ἀναξανδρίδης ἐν Γεροντομανίᾳ καὶ ἄλλας ἑταίρας αὐτῇ συγκαταλέγει διὰ τούτων· τὴν ἐκ Κορίνθου Λαΐδ᾽ οἶσθα; β. πῶς γὰρ οὔ; τὴν ἡμετέρειόν. α. ἦν ἐκείνῃ τις φίλη Ἄντεια. β. καὶ τοῦθ’ ἡμέτερον ἦν παίγνιον. α. νὴ τὸν Δί᾽, ἤνθει τότε Λαγίσκ᾽, ἤνθει τότε καὶ Θεολύτη μάλ’ εὐπρόσωπος καὶ καλή, ὑπέφαιν’ ἐσομένη δ’ Ὤκιμον λαμπρὸν πάνυ.
This, then, is the advice I want to give you, my friend Myrtilus; and, as we read in the Cynegis of Philetærus,—Now you are old, reform those ways of yours;Know you not that 'tis hardly well to dieIn 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 nightWith a lawful wife or with a prostitute!Bah! Where 's the firmness of the flesh, the freshnessOf breath and of complexion? Oh, ye gods!What appetite it gives one not to findEverything waiting, but to be constrain'dTo struggle a little, and from tender handsTo bear soft blows and buffets; that, indeed,Is really pleasure.And as Cynulcus had still a good deal which he wished to say, and as Magnus was preparing to attack him for the sake of Myrtilus,—Myrtilus, being beforehand with him (for he hated the Syrian), said—But our hopes were not so clean worn out,As to need aid from bitter enemies;as Callimachus says. For are not we, O Cynulcus, able to defend ourselves?How rude you are, and boorish with your jokes!Your tongue is all on the left side of your mouth;as Ephippus says in his Philyra. For you seem to me to be one of those menWho of the Muses learnt but ill-shaped letters,as some one of the parody writers has it.
ταῦτά σοι παραινεῖν ἔχω, ἑταῖρε Μυρτίλε. καὶ κατὰ τὴν Φιλεταίρου Κυνηγίδα· παῦσαι, γέρων ὢν, τοὺς τρόπους, οὐκ οἶσθ’ ὅτι οὔκ ἐστιν ἥδιστον ἀποθανεῖν βινοῦνθ’ ἅμα, ὥσπερ λέγουσιν ἀποθανεῖν Φορμίσιον; ἢ ἥδιστόν ἐστί σοι, ὡς ἐν Μαραθωνίοις φησὶ Τιμοκλῆς· ὅσον τὸ μεταξὺ μετὰ κορίσκης ἢ μετὰ χαμαιτύπης τὴν νύκτα κοιμᾶσθαι. βαβαί, ἡ στιφρότης, τὸ χρῶμα, πνεῦμα, δαίμονες, τὸ μὴ σφόδρ’ εἶναι πάνθ’ ἕτοιμα, δεῖν δέ τι ἀγωνιᾶσαι καὶ ῥαπισθῆναί τε καὶ πληγὰς λαβεῖν ἁπαλαῖσι χερσὶν ἡδύ γε νὴ τὸν Δία τὸν μέγιστον. ἔτι πολλὰ τοῦ Κυνούλκου θέλοντος λέγειν καὶ τοὐλπιανοῦ ἐπιρραπίσαι βουληθέντος αὐτὸν εἰς τιμὴν τοῦ Μυρτίλου, φθάσας ὁ Μυρτίλος ʽ διήχθρευεν γὰρ τῷ Σύρᾠ ἔφη·οὐχ ὧδ’ ἐμόγησαν ἐλπίδες ὥστ’ ἐχθρῶν συμμαχίαν καλέσαι, φησὶν ὁ Καλλίμαχος. οὐ γὰρ αὐτάρκεις ἡμεῖς ἀμύνασθαι, ὦ Κύνουλκε; ὡς σκαιὸς εἶ κἄγροικος αἰσχροεπῶν ἔα, ἐπ’ ἀριστέρ’ ἐν τῷ στόματι τὴν γλῶσσαν φορεῖς, κατὰ τὴν Ἐφίππου Φιλύραν. δοκεῖς γάρ μοι ἐκείνων εἷς εἶναι οὓς ἐδίδαξαν ἀριστερὰ γράμματα Μοῦσαι, ὥς τις ἔφη τῶν παρῳδῶν.
I therefore, my friends and messmates, have not, as is said in the Auræ of Metagenes, or in the Mammacythus of Aristagoras,Told you of female dancers, courtesansWho once were fair; and now I do not tell youOf flute-playing girls, just reaching womanhood,Who not unwillingly, for adequate pay,Have borne the love of vulgar men;but I have been speaking of regular professional Hetæræ— that is to say, of those who are able to preserve a friendship free from trickery; whom Cynulcus does not venture to speak ill of, and who of all women are the only ones who have derived their name from friendship, or from that goddess who is named by the Athenians Venus Hetæra: concerning whom Apollodorus the Athenian speaks, in his treatise on the Gods, in the following manner:—“And they worship Venus Hetæra, who brings together male and female companions (ἑταίρους καὶ ἑταίρας)—that is to say, mistresses.” Accordingly, even to this day, freeborn women and maidens call their associates and friends their ἑταῖραι; as Sappho does, where she says—And now with tuneful voice I'll singThese pleasing songs to my companions (ἑταίραις).And in another place she says—Niobe and Latona were of oldAffectionate companions (ἑταῖραι) to each other.They also call women who prostitute themselves for money, ἑταῖραι. And the verb which they use for prostituting oneself for money is ἑταιρέω, not regarding the etymology of the word, but applying a more decent term to the trade; as Menander, in his Deposit, distinguishing the ἑταῖροι from the ἑταῖραι, says—You've done an act not suited to companions (ἑταίρων),But, by Jove, far more fit for courtesans (ἑταιρῶν),These words, so near the same, do make the senseNot always easily to be distinguished.
ἐγὼ γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες σύσσιτοι, οὐ κατὰ τὰς Μεταγένους Αὔρας ἢ τὸν Ἀρισταγόρου Μαμμάκυθον ὑμῖν ὀρχηστρίδας εἶπον ἑταίρας ὡραίας πρότερον, νῦν δ’ οὐχ ὑμῖν ἀγορεύω ἄρτι χνοαζούσας αὐλητρίδας, αἵ τε τάχιστα ἀνδρῶν φορτηγῶν ὑπὸ γούνατα μισθοῦ ἔλυσαν, ἀλλὰ περὶ τῶν ὄντως ἑταιρῶν τὸν λόγον πεποίημαι, τουτέστιν τῶν φιλίαν ἄδολον συντηρεῖν δυναμένων, ἃς ὁ Κύνουλκος τολμᾷ λοιδορεῖν, μόνας τῶν ἄλλων γυναικῶν τῷ τῆς φιλίας ὀνόματι προσηγορευμένας, ἢ ἀπὸ τῆς παρὰ τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις καλουμένης Ἑταίρας τῆς Ἀφροδίτης, περὶ ἧς φησιν ὁ Ἀθηναῖος Ἀπολλόδωρος ἐν τοῖς περὶ Θεῶν οὕτως· ἑταίραν δὲ τὴν Ἀφροδίτην τὴν τοὺς ἑταίρους καὶ τὰς ἑταίρας συνάγουσαν τοῦτο δ’ ἐστὶν φίλας. καλοῦσι γοῦν καὶ αἱ ἐλεύθεραι γυναῖκες ἔτι καὶ νῦν καὶ αἱ παρθένοι τὰς συνήθεις καὶ φίλας ἑταίρας, ὡς ἡ Σαπφώ· τάδε νῦν ἑταίραις ταῖς ἐμαῖσι τερπνὰ καλῶς ἀείσω. καὶ ἔτι· Λατὼ καὶ Νιόβα μάλα μὲν φίλαι ἦσαν ἑταῖραι. καλοῦσι δὲ καὶ τὰς μισθαρνούσας ἑταίρας καὶ τὸ ἐπὶ συνουσίαις μισθαρνεῖν ἑταιρεῖν, οὐκ ἔτι πρὸς τὸ ἔτυμον ἀναφέροντες, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ εὐσχημονέστερον, καθὸ δὴ καὶ Μένανδρος ἐν Παρακαταθήκῃ ἀπὸ τῶν ἑταιρῶν τοὺς ἑταίρους διαστέλλων φησί· πεποιήκατ’ ἔργον οὐχ ἑταίρων γάρ, φίλαι, μὰ Δί᾽ ἀλλ’ ἑταίρων ᾽ ταὐτὰ δ’ ὄντα γράμματα τὴν προσαγόρευσιν οὐ σφόδρ’ εὔσχημον ποιεῖ.
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 crunchWithin their jaws large lumps of greasy meat;But delicately tasting of each dish,In mouthfuls small, like a Milesian maiden.And Antiphanes says in his Hydra—But he, the man of whom I now was speaking,Seeing a woman who lived near his house,A courtesan, did fall at once in love with her;She was a citizen, without a guardianOr any near relations, and her mannersPure, and on virtue's strictest model form'd,A genuine mistress (ἑταῖρα); for the rest of the crewBring 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 useFair, moderate language, giving her servicesFavourable to all who stand in need of her,She from her prompt companionship (ἑταιρίας) does earnThe title of companion (ἑταῖρα); and you,As you say rightly, have not fall'n in loveWith a vile harlot (πόρνη), but with a companion (ἑταῖρα).Is she not one of pure and simple mannersB. At all events, by Jove, she 's beautiful. 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 suppingWith us, will never eat an onion even,Not to annoy the object of his love.And Ephippus has spoken very well of people of that description in his Sappho, where he says—For when one in the flower of his ageLearns to sneak into other men's abodes,And shares of meals where he has not contributed,He must some other mode of payment mean.And Aeschines the orator has said something of the same kind in his Speech against Timarchus.
χ περὶ δὲ τῶν ἑταιρῶν Ἔφιππος ἐν Ἐμπολῇ τάδε φησὶν ἔπειτὰ γ’ εἰσίοντ᾽, ἐὰν λυπούμενος τύχῃ τις ἡμῶν, ἐκολάκευσεν ἡδέως· ἐφίλησεν οὐχὶ συμπιέσασα τὸ στόμα ὥσπερ πολέμιον, ἀλλὰ τοῖσι στρουθίοις χανοῦσ’ ὁμοίως, ἧσε, παρεμυθήσατο ἐποίησὲ θ’ ἱλαρὸν εὐθέως τ’ ἀφεῖλε πᾶν αὐτοῦ τὸ λυποῦν κἀπέδειξεν ἵλεων. Εὔβουλος δ’ ἐν Καμπυλίωνι κοσμίαν ἑταίραν παράγων φησὶν ὡς δ’ ἐδείπνει κοσμίως, οὐχ ὥσπερ ἄλλαι τῶν πράσων ποιούμεναι τολύπας ἔσαττον τὰς γνάθους καὶ τῶν κρεῶν ἀπέβρυκον αἰσχρῶς, ἀλλ’ ἑκάστου μικρὸν ἂν ἀπεγεύεθ’ ὥσπερ παρθένος Μιλησία. Ἀντιφάνης Ὑδρίᾳ· οὗτος δ’ ὃν λέγω ἐν γειτόνων αὐτῷ κατοικούσης τινὸς ἰδὼν ἑταίρας εἰς ἔρωτ’ ἀφίκετο, ἀστῆς, ἐρήμου δ’ ἐπιτρόπου καὶ συγγενῶν, ἦθός τι χρυσοῦν πρὸς ἀρετὴν κεκτημένης, ὄντως ἑταίρας, αἱ μὲν ἄλλαι τοὔνομα βλάπτουσι τοῖς τρόποις γὰρ ὄντως ὂν καλόν. Ἀναξίλας Νεοττίδι· ἐὰν δέ τις μετρίως ἔχουσα χρημάτων τοῖς δεομένοις τινων ὑπουργῇ πρὸς χάριν, ἐκ τῆς ἑταιρίας ἑταίρα τοὔνομα προσηγορεύθη. καὶ σὺ νῦν οὐχ ὡς λέγεις πόρνης, ἑταίρας ᾽ εἰς ἔρωτα τυγχάνεις ἐληλυθώς· ἆρ’ ὡς ἀληθῶς ἐστι γοῦν ἁπλῆ τις; β. ἀστεία μὲν οὖν, νὴ τὸν Δία. ὁ δὲ ὑμέτερος φιλοσοφομειρακίσκος τοιοῦτος οἷον Ἄλεξις ἢ Ἀντιφάνης ἐν Ὕπνῳ παράγει· διὰ ταῦθ’ ὁ πόρνος οὗτος οὐδὲ τῶν πράσων ἑκάστοτ’ ἐπεδείπνει μεθ’ ἡμῶν τοῦτο δ’ ἦν ἵνα μή τι λυπήσειε τὸν ἐραστὴν φιλῶν. καλῶς δὲ περὶ τῶν τοιούτων Ἔφιππος ἐν Σαπφοῖ φησιν ὅταν γὰρ ὢν νέος ἀλλότριον εἰσελθὼν τις οἶκον διαλάθῃ ἀσύμβολὸν τε χεῖρα προσβάλῃ βορᾷ, διδόναι νόμιζ’ αὐτὸν σὺ τῆς νυκτὸς λόγον. τὰ αὐτὰ εἴρηκεν καὶ Αἰσχίνης ὁ ῥήτωρ ἐν τῷ κατὰ Τιμάρχου.
But concerning courtesans, Philetærus, in his Huntress, has the following lines:—'Tis not for nothing that where'er we goWe find a temple of Hetæra there,But nowhere one to any wedded wife.I know, too, that there in a festival called the Hetæridia, which is celebrated in Magnesia, not owing to the courtesans, but to another cause, which is mentioned by Hegesander in his Commentaries, who writes thus:—“The Magnesians celebrate a festival called Hetæridia; and they give this account of it: that originally Jason, the son of Aeson, when he had collected the Argonauts, sacrificed to Jupiter Hetæias, and called the festival Hetæridia. And the Macedonian kings also celebrated the Hetæridia.” There is also a temple of Venus the Prostitute (πόρνη) at Abydus, as Pamphylus asserts:—' For when all the city was oppressed by slavery, the guards in the city, after a sacrifice on one occasion (as Cleanthus relates in his essays on Fables), having got intoxicated, took several courtesans; and one of these women, when she saw that the men were all fast asleep, taking the keys, got over the wall, and brought the news to the citizens of Abydus. And they, on this, immediately came in arms, and slew the guards, and made themselves masters of the walls, and recovered their freedom; and to show their gratitude to the prostitute they built a temple to Venus the Prostitute. And Alexis the Samian, in the second book of his Samian Annals, says—“The Athenian prostitutes who followed Pericles when he laid siege to Samos, having made vast sums of money by their beauty, dedicated a statue of Venus at Samos, which some call Venus among the Reeds, and others Venus in the Marsh.” And Eualces, in his History of the Affairs of Ephesus, says that there is at Ephesus also a temple to Venus the Courtesan (ἑταῖρα). And Clearchus, in the first book of his treatise on Amatory Matters, says—“Gyges the king of the Lydians was very celebrated, not only on account of his mistress while she was alive, having submitted himself and his whole dominions to her power, but also after she was dead; inasmuch as he assembled all the Lydians in the whole country, and raised that mound which is even now called the tomb of the Lydian Courtesan; building it up to a great height, so that when he was travelling in the country, inside of Mount Tmolus, wherever he was, he could always see the tomb; and it was a conspicuous object to all the inhabitants of Lydia.” And Demosthenes the orator, in his Speech against Neæra (if it is a genuine one, which Apollodorus says it is), says—“Now we have courtesans for the sake of pleasure, but concubines for the sake of daily cohabitation, and wives for the purpose of having children legitimately, and of having a faithful guardian of all our household affairs.”
περὶ δὲ τῶν ἑταιρῶν καὶ Φιλέταιρος ἐν Κυνηγίδι τάδε φησίν οὐκ ἐτὸς Ἑταίρας ἱερόν ἐστι πανταχοῦ, ἀλλ’ οὐχὶ γαμετῆς οὐδαμοῦ τῆς Ἑλλάδος. οἶδα δὲ καὶ ἑορτὴν Ἑταιρίδεια ἀγομένην ἐν Μαγνησίᾳ οὐ διὰ τὰς ἑταίρας, ἀλλὰ δι’ ἑτέραν αἰτίαν, ἧς μνημονεύει Ἡγήσανδρος ἐν Ὑπομνήμασι γράφων ὧδε· τὴν τῶν Ἑταιριδείων ἑορτὴν συντελοῦσι Μάγνητες. ἱστοροῦσι δὲ πρῶτον Ἰάσονα τὸν Αἴσονος συναγαγόντα τοὺς Ἀργοναύτας Ἑταιρείῳ Διὶ θῦσαι καὶ τὴν ἑορτὴν Ἑταιρίδεια προσαγορεῦσαι. θύουσι δὲ καὶ οἱ Μακεδόνων βασιλεῖς τὰ Ἑταιρίδεια. πόρνης δὲ Ἀφροδίτης ἱερόν ἐστι παρὰ Ἀβυδηνοῖς, ὥς φησι Πάμφιλος· κατεχομένης γὰρ τῆς πόλεως δουλείᾳ τοὺς φρουροὺς τοὺς ἐν αὐτῇ ποτε θύσαντας, ὡς ἱστορεῖ Νεάνθης ἐν τοῖς Μυθικοῖς, καὶ μεθυσθέντας ἑταίρας πλείονας προσλαβέσθαι ὧν μίαν κατακοιμηθέντας αὐτοὺς ἰδοῦσαν ἀνελομένην τὰς κλεῖς καὶ τὸ τεῖχος ὑπερβᾶσαν ἀπαγγεῖλαι τοῖς Ἀβυδηνοῖς. τοὺς δ’ αὐτίκα μεθ’ ὅπλων ἀφικομένους ἀνελεῖν μὲν τοὺς φύλακας, κρατήσαντας δὲ τῶν τειχῶν καὶ γενομένους ἐγκρατεῖς τῆς ἐλευθερίας χαριστήρια τῇ πόρνῃ ἀποδιδόντας Ἀφροδίτης Πόρνης ναὸν ἱδρύσασθαι. Ἄλεξις δ’ ὁ Σάμιος ἐν δευτέρῳ ῝ Ὥρων Σαμιακῶν τὴν ἐν Σάμῳ Ἀφροδίτην, ἣν οἱ μὲν ἐν καλάμοις καλοῦσιν, οἱ δὲ ἐν ἕλει, Ἀττικαί, φησίν, ἑταῖραι ἱδρύσαντο αἱ συνακολουθήσασαι Περικλεῖ ὅτε ἐπολιόρκει τὴν Σάμον, ἐργασάμεναι ἱκανῶς ἀπὸ τῆς ὥρας. Εὐάλκης δ’ ἐν τοῖς Ἐφεσιακοῖς καὶ ἐν Ἐφέσῳ φησὶν ἱερὸν ἱδρῦσθαι Ἑταίρᾳ ᾽ Ἀφροδίτῃ. Κλέαρχος δ’ ἐν πρώτῳ Ἐρωτικῶν Γύγης, φησίν, ὁ Λυδῶν βασιλεὺς οὐ μόνον περὶ ζῶσαν τὴν ἐρωμένην περιβόητος γέγονεν, ἐγχειρίσας αὑτόν τε καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐκείνῃ πᾶσαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τελευτησάσης συναγαγὼν τοὺς ἐκ τῆς χώρας Λυδοὺς πάντας ἔχωσε τὸ νῦν ἔτι καλούμενον τῆς Ἑταίρας μνῆμα, εἰς ὕψος ἄρας, ὥστε περιοδεύοντος αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐντὸς τοῦ Τμώλου χώραν, οὗ ἂν ἐπιστραφεὶς τύχῃ, καθορᾶν τὸ μνῆμα καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς τὴν Λυδίαν οἰκοῦσιν ἄποπτον εἶναι. Δημοσθένης, δ’ ὁ ῥήτωρ ἐν τῷ κατὰ Νεαίρας λόγῳ, εἰ γνήσιος, ὃν Ἀπολλόδωρος εἴρηκε, φησί· τὰς μὲν ἑταίρας ἡδονῆς ἕνεκα ἔχομεν, τὰς δὲ παλλακὰς τῆς καθ’ ἡμέραν παλλακείας, τὰς δὲ γυναῖκας τοῦ παιδοποιεῖσθαι γνησίως καὶ τῶν ἔνδον φύλακα πιστὴν ἔχειν.
I will now mention to you, O Cynulcus, an Ionian story (spinning it out, as Aeschylus says,) about courtesans, beginning with the beautiful Corinth, since you have reproached me with having been a schoolmaster in that city. It is an ancient custom at Corinth (as Chamæleon of Heraclea relates, in his treatise on Pindar), whenever the city addresses any supplication to Venus about any important matter, to employ as many courtesans as possible to join in the supplication; and they, too, pray to the goddess, and afterwards they are present at the sacrifices. And when the king of Persia was leading his army against Greece (as Theopompus also relates, and so does Timæus, in his seventh book), the Corinthian courtesans offered prayers for the safety of Greece, going to the temple of Venus. On which account, after the Corinthians had consecrated a picture to the goddess (which remains even to this day), and as in this picture they had painted the portraits of the courtesans who made this supplication at the time, and who were present afterwards, Simonides composed this epigram:—These damsels, in behalf of Greece, and allTheir gallant countrymen, stood nobly forth,Praying to Venus, the all-powerful goddess;Nor was the queen of beauty willing everTo leave the citadel of Greece to fallBeneath the arrows of the unwarlike Persians.And even private individuals sometimes vow to Venus, that if they succeed in the objects for which they are offering their vows, they will bring her a stated number of courtesans. As this custom, then, exists with reference to this goddess, Xenophon the Corinthian, when going to Olympia, to the games, vowed that he, if he were victorious, would bring her some courtesans. And Pindar at first wrote a panegyric on him, which begins thus:—Praising the house which in th' Olympic gamesHas thrice borne off the victory.But afterwards he composed a scolium on him, which was sung at the sacrificial feasts; in the exordium of Which he turns at once to the courtesans who joined in the sacrifice to Venus, in the presence of Xenophon, while he was sacrificing to the goddess himself; on which account he says—O queen of Cyprus' isle,Come to this grove!Lo, Xenophon, succeeding in his aim,Brings you a band of willing maidens,Dancing on a hundred feet.And the opening lines of the song were these:—O hospitable damsels, fairest trainOf soft Persuasion,—Ornament of the wealthy Corinth,Bearing in willing hands the golden dropsThat from the frankincense distil, and flyingTo the fair mother of the Loves,Who dwelleth in the sky,The lovely Venus,—you do bring to usComfort and hope in danger, that we mayHereafter, in the delicate beds of Love,Reap 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 anxiouslyTo see what will my masters say of me,Who thus beginMy 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 celebratingThe Aphrodisia of the courtesans:This is a different festival from thatWhich the free women solemnize: and thenIt is the custom on those days that allThe courtesans should feast with us in common.
καταλέξω δέ σοι, Κύνουλκε, Ἰωνικήν τινα ῥῆσιν, μακρὰν ἐκτείνας κατὰ τὸν Αἰσχύλου Ἀγαμέμνονα· περὶ ἑταιρῶν, ἀρξάμενος ἀπὸ τῆς καλῆς Κορίνθου, ἐπειδή μοι τὴν αὐτόθι σοφιστείαν ὠνείδισας. νόμιμὸν ἐστιν ἀρχαῖον ἐν Κορίνθῳ, ὡς καὶ Χαμαιλέων ὁ Ἡρακλεώτης ἱστορεῖ ἐν τῷ περὶ Πινδάρου, ὅταν ἡ πόλις εὔχηται περὶ μεγάλων τῇ Ἀφροδίτῃ, συμπαραλαμβάνεσθαι πρὸς τὴν ἱκετείαν τὰς ἑταίρας ὡς πλείστας, καὶ ταύτας προσεύχεσθαι τῇ θεῷ καὶ ὕστερον ἐπὶ τοῖς ἱεροῖς παρεῖναι. καὶ ὅτε δὴ ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα τὴν στρατείαν ἦγεν ὁ Πέρσης, ὡς καὶ Θεόπομπος ἱστορεῖ καὶ Τίμαιος ἐν τῇ ἑβδόμῃ, αἱ Κορίνθιαι ἑταῖραι εὔξαντο ὑπὲρ τῆς τῶν Ἑλλήνων σωτηρίας εἰς τὸν τῆς Ἀφροδίτης ἐλθοῦσαι νεών. διὸ καὶ Σιμωνίδης ἀναθέντων τῶν Κορινθίων πίνακα τῇ θεῷ τὸν ἔτι καὶ νῦν διαμένοντα καὶ τὰς ἑταίρας ἰδίᾳ γραψάντων τὰς τότε ποιησαμένας τὴν ἱκετείαν καὶ ὕστερον παρούσας ἐπὶ τοῖς ἱεροῖς συνέθηκε τόδε τὸ ἐπίγραμμα· αἵδ’ ὑπὲρ Ἑλλήνων τε καὶ εὐθυμάχων πολιητᾶν ἔσταθεν εὔχεσθαι Κύπριδι δαιμονίᾳ· οὐ γὰρ τοξοφόροισιν ἐμήσατο δῖ’ Ἀφροδίτα Πέρσαις Ἑλλάνων ἀκρόπολιν προδόμεν. καὶ οἱ ἰδιῶται δὲ κατεύχονται τῇ θεῷ τελεσθέντων περὶ ὧν ἂν ποιῶνται τὴν δέησιν ἀπάξειν αὐτῇ καὶ τὰς ἑταίρας, ὑπάρχοντος οὖν τοῦ τοιούτου νομίμου περὶ τὴν θεὸν Ξενοφῶν ὁ Κορίνθιος ἐξιὼν εἰς Ὀλυμπίαν ἐπὶ τὸν ἀγῶνα καὶ αὐτὸς ἀπάξειν ἑταίρας εὔξατο τῇ θεῷ νικήσας. Πίνδαρός τε τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἔγραψεν εἰς αὐτὸν ἐγκώμιον οὗ ἡ ἀρχὴ τρισολυμπιονίκαν ἐπαινέων οἶκον, ὕστερον δὲ καὶ σκόλιον τὸ παρὰ τὴν θυσίαν ᾀσθέν, ἐν ᾧ τὴν ἀρχὴν εὐθέως πεποίηται πρὸς τὰς ἑταίρας αἳ παραγενομένου τοῦ Ξενοφῶντος καὶ θύοντος τῇ Ἀφροδίτῃ συνέθυσαν. διόπερ ἔφη· ὦ Κύπρου δέσποινα, τεὸν δεῦτ’ ἐς ἄλσος φορβάδων κορᾶν ἀγέλαν ἑκατόγγυιον Ξενοφῶν τελέαις ἐπήγαγ’ εὐχωλαῖς ἰανθείς. ἤρξατο δ’ οὕτως τοῦ μέλους· πολύξεναι νεάνιδες ἀμφίπολοι πειθοῦς ἐν ἀφνειῷ Κορίνθῳ, αἵ τε τὰς χλωρᾶς λιβάνου ξανθὰ δάκρη θυμιᾶτε, πολλάκι ματέρ’ Ἐρώτων οὐρανίαν πτάμεναι νόημα ποττὰν Ἀφροδίταν· ὑμῖν ἄνευθεν ἐπαγορίας ἔπορεν, ὦ παῖδες, ἐρατειναῖς ἐν εὐναῖς μαλθακᾶς ὥρας ἀπὸ καρπὸν δρέπεσθαι. σὺν δὲ ἀνάγκᾳ πᾶν καλόν. ἀρξάμενος θ’ οὕτως ἑξῆς φησιν ἀλλὰ θαυμάζω τί με λεξοῦντι Ἰσθμοῦ δεσπόται τοιάνδε μελίφρονος ἀρχὰν εὑρόμενον σκολιοῦ, ξυνάορον ξυναῖς γυναιξί. δῆλον γὰρ ὅτι πρὸς τὰς ἑταίρας διαλεγόμενος ἠγωνία ποῖόν τι φανήσεται τοῖς Κορινθίοις τὸ πρᾶγμα. πιστεύων δέ, ὡς ἔοικεν, αὐτὸς αὑτῷ πεποίηκεν εὐθέως· ἐδιδάξαμεν χρυσὸν καθαρᾷ, βασάνῳ. ὅτι δὲ καὶ Ἀφροδίσια ἴδια ἄγουσιν αὐτόθι αἱ ἑταῖραι, Ἄλεξις ἐν Φιλούσῃ φησὶν Ἀφροδίσι᾽ ἦγε ταῖς ἑταίραις ἡ πόλις, ἕτερα δὲ χωρὶς ἐστι ταῖς ἐλευθέραις. ταῖς ἡμέραις ταύταις δὲ κωμάζειν ἔθος ἐστὶν νόμος τε τὰς ἑταίρας ἐνθάδε μεθύειν μεθ’ ἡμῶν.
But at Lacedæmon (as Polemo Periegetes says, in his treatise on the Offerings at Lacedæmon,) there is a statue of a very celebrated courtesan, named Cottina, who, he tells us, consecrated a brazen cow; and Polemo's words are these:— “And the statue of Cottina the courtesan, on account of whose celebrity there is still a brothel which is called by her name, near the hill on which the temple of Bacchus stands, is a conspicuous object, well known to many of the citizens. And there is also a votive offering of hers besides that to Minerva Chalciœcos–a brazen cow, and also the before-mentioned image.” And the handsome Alcibiades, of whom one of the comic poets said—And then the delicate Alcibiades.O earth and all the gods! whom LacedæmonDesires 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 Lacedæmonian and Athenian women. He also fell in love with Medontis of Abydos, from the mere report of her beauty; and sailing to the Hellespont with Axiochus, who was a lover of his on account of his beauty, (as Lysias the orator states, in his speech against him,) he allowed Axiochus to share her with him. Moreover, Alcibiades used always to carry about two other courtesans with him in all his expeditions, namely, Damasandra, the mother of the younger Lais, and Theodote; by whom, after he was dead, he was buried in Melissa, a village of Phrygia, after he had been overwhelmed by the treachery of Pharnabazus. And we ourselves saw the tomb of Alcibiades at Melissa, when we went from Synadæ to Metropolis; and at that tomb there is sacrificed an ox every year, by the command of that most excellent emperor Adrian, who also erected on the tomb a statue of Alcibiades in Parian marble.
ἐν δὲ Λακεδαίμονι, ὥς φησι Πολέμων ὁ περιηγητὴς ἐν τῷ περὶ τῶν ἐν Λακεδαίμονι Ἀναθημάτων, εἰκών ἐστι τῆς διαβοήτου ἑταίρας Κοττίνας, ἥν φησιν καὶ βοῦν ἀναθεῖναι χαλκῆν, γράφων οὕτως· καὶ τὸ Κοττίνας δὲ τῆς ἑταίρας εἰκόνιον, ἧς διὰ τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν οἴκημά τι λέγεται καὶ νῦν ἐγγυτάτω τῆς Κολώνης, ἵνα τὸ Διονύσιόν ἐστιν, ἐπιφανὲς καὶ πολλοῖς ἐγνωσμένον τῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει. ἀνάθημα δ’ αὐτῆς ἐστιν ὑπὲρ τὸ τῆς Χαλκιοίκου βοίδιόν τι χαλκοῦν καὶ τὸ προειρημένον εἰκόνιον. Ἀλκιβιάδης δὲ ὁ καλός, ἐφ’ οὗ τις τῶν κωμικῶν ἔφη Ἀλκιβιάδην τὸν ἁβρόν, ὦ γῆ καὶ θεοί, ὃν ἡ Λακεδαίμων μοιχὸν ἐπιθυμεῖ λαβεῖν, ὑπὸ τῆς Ἄγιδος ἀγαπώμενος γυναικὸς, ἐπὶ τὰς τῶν ἑταιρίδων θύρας ἐκώμαζεν, ἀπολιπὼν τὰς Λακαίνας καὶ τὰς Ἀττικάς. Μεδοντίδος γοῦν τῆς Ἀβυδηνῆς ἐξ ἀκοῆς ἐρασθεὶς ἔστερξε καὶ πλεύσας εἰς Ἑλλήσποντον σὺν Ἀξιόχῳ, ὃς ἦν αὐτοῦ τῆς ὥρας ἐραστής, ὥς φησιν Λυσίας ὁ ῥήτωρ ἐν τῷ κατ’ αὐτοῦ λόγῳ, καὶ ταύτης ἐκοινώνησεν αὐτῷ. καὶ ἑτέρας δὲ δύο ἑταίρας περιήγετο αἰεὶ ὁ Ἀλκιβιάδης, Δαμασάνδραν τὴν Λαίδος τῆς νεωτέρας μητέρα καὶ Θεοδότην ὑφ’ ἧς καὶ ἀποθανὼν ἐκηδεύθη ἐν Μελίσσῃ κώμῃ τῆς Φρυγίας, ἐπιβουλευθεὶς ὑπὸ Φαρναβάζου. εἴδομεν δὲ καὶ ἡμεῖς τὸ ἐν Μελίσσῃ τοῦ Ἀλκιβιάδου μνῆμα ἐκ Συννάδων εἰς Μητρόπολιν ἀφικνούμενοι· ἐφ’ ᾧ καὶ κατ’ ἔτος θύεται βοῦς, διακελευσαμένου τοῦτο τοῦ πάντα ἀρίστου Ἀδριανοῦ βασιλέως· ὃς καὶ ἀνέστησεν ἐπὶ τῷ μνήματι Παρίου λίθου εἰκόνα τὸν Ἀλκιβιάδην.
And we must not wonder at people having on some occasions fallen in love with others from the mere report of their beauty, when Chares of Mitylene, in the tenth book of his History of Alexander, says that some people have even seen in dreams those whom they have never beheld before, and fallen in love with them so. And he writes as follows: —“Hystaspes had a younger brother whose name was Zariadres: and they were both men of great personal beauty: And the story told concerning them by the natives of the country is, that they were the offspring of Venus and Adonis. Now Hystaspes was sovereign of Media, and of the lower country adjoining it; and Zariadres was sovereign of the country above the Caspian gates as far as the river Tanais. Now the daughter of Omartes, the king of the Marathi, a tribe dwelling on the other side of the Tanais, was named Odatis. And concerning her it is written in the Histories, that she in her sleep beheld Zariadres, and fell in love with him; and that the very same thing happened to him with respect to her. And so for a long time they were in love with one another, simply on account of the visions which they had seen in their dreams. And Odatis was the most beautiful of all the women in Asia; and Zariadres also was very handsome. Accordingly, when Zariadres sent to Omartes and expressed a desire to marry the damsel, Omartes would not agree to it, because he was destitute of male offspring; for he wished to give her to one of his own people about his court. And not long afterwards, Omartes having assembled all the chief men of his kingdom, and all his friends and relations, held a marriage feast, without saying beforehand to whom he was going to give his daughter. And as the wine went round, her father summoned Odatis to the banquet, and said, in the hearing of all the guests,—'We, my daughter Odatis, are now celebrating your marriage feast; so now do you look around, and survey all those who are present, and then take a golden goblet and fill it, and give it to the man to whom you like to be married; for you shall be called his wife.' And she, having looked round upon them all, went away weeping, being anxious to see Zariadres, for she had sent him word that her marriage feast was about to be celebrated. But he, being encamped on the Tanais, and leaving the army encamped there without being perceived, crossed the river with his charioteer alone; and going by night in his chariot, passed through the city, having gone about eight hundred stadia without stopping. And when he got near the town in which the marriage festival was being celebrated, and leaving, in some place near, his chariot with the charioteer, he went forward by himself, clad in a Scythian robe. And when he arrived at the palace, and seeing Odatis standing in front of the sideboard in tears, and filling the goblet very slowly, he stood near her and said, '0 Odatis, here I am come, as you requested me to,—I, Zariadres.' And she, perceiving a stranger, and a handsome man, and that he resembled the man whom she had beheld in her sleep, being exceedingly rejoiced, gave him the bowl. And he, seizing on her, led her away to his chariot, and fled away, having Odatis with him. And the servants and the handmaidens, knowing their love, said not a word. And when her father ordered them to summon her, they said that they did not know which way she was gone. And the story of this love is often told by the barbarians who dwell in Asia, and is exceedingly admired; and they have painted representations of the story in their temples and palaces, and also in their private houses. And a great many of the princes in those countries give their daughters the name of Odatis.”
οὐ χρὴ δὲ θαυμάζειν εἰ ἐξ ἀκοῆς τινες ἠράσθησάν τινων, ὁπότε Χάρης ὁ Μιτυληναῖος ἐν τῇ δεκάτῃ τῶν Ἱστοριῶν τῶν περὶ Ἀλέξανδρόν φησιν πολλοὺς ὀνείρατι θεασαμένους τινὰς οὓς μὴ πρότερον εἶδον ἐρασθῆναι αὐτῶν γράφει δὲ οὕτως· Ὑστάσπῃ νεώτερος ἦν ἀδελφὸς Ζαριάδρης, περὶ ὧν λέγουσιν οἱ ἐπιχώριοι ὅτι ἐξ Ἀφροδίτης καὶ Ἀδώνιδος ἐγεννήθησαν. ἐκυρίευσεν δὲ ὁ μὲν Ὑστάσπης Μηδίας καὶ τῆς ὑποκάτω χώρας, ὁ δὲ Ζαριάδρης τῆς ὑπεράνω Κασπίων πυλῶν μέχρι τοῦ Τανάιδος. τῶν δὲ ἐπέκεινα τοῦ Τανάιδος Ὁμάρτῃ βασιλεῖ Μαραθῶν θυγάτηρ ἦν ὄνομα Ὀδάτις· περὶ ἧς ἐν ταῖς ἱστορίαις γέγραπται ὡς ἄρα κατὰ τὸν ὕπνον ἰδοῦσα τὸν Ζαριάδρην ἐρασθείη, τὸ δ’ αὐτὸ τοῦτο κἀκείνῳ πάθος συμπεσεῖν πρὸς αὐτήν. διετέλουν γοῦν ἀλλήλων ἐπιθυμοῦντες διὰ τὴν κατὰ τὸν ὕπνον φαντασίαν. ἦν δὲ ἡ Ὀδάτις καλλίστη τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν γυναικῶν, καὶ ὁ Ζαριάδρης δὲ ἦν καλός, πέμποντος οὖν τοῦ Ζαριάδρου πρὸς τὸν Ὁμάρτην καὶ φιλοτιμουμένου γῆμαι τὴν ἄνθρωπον, οὐ συνετίθετο ὁ Ὁμάρτης διὰ τὸ εἶναι ἀρρένων παίδων ἔρημος, ἤθελεν γὰρ αὐτὴν δοῦναι ἑνὶ τῶν περὶ αὑτὸν οἰκείων. καὶ μετ’ οὐ πολὺν χρόνον ὁ Ὁμάρτης συναγαγὼν τοὺς ἐκ τῆς βασιλείας δυνάστας καὶ φίλους καὶ συγγενεῖς ἐποιεῖτο τοὺς γάμους, οὐ προειπὼν ὅτῳ μέλλοι διδόναι τὴν θυγατέρα, ἀκμαζούσης οὖν τῆς μέθης εἰσκαλέσας τὴν Ὀδάτιν ὁ πατήρ εἰς τὸ συμπόσιον εἶπεν ἀκουόντων τῶν συνδείπνων ᾽ ἡμεῖς, ὦ θύγατερ Ὀδάτι, νῦν ποιούμεθα τοὺς σοὺς γάμους. περιβλέψασα οὖν καὶ θεωρήσασα πάντας λαβοῦσα χρυσῆν φιάλην καὶ πληρώσασα δὸς ᾧ θέλεις γαμηθῆναι· τούτου γὰρ κεκλήσῃ γυνή κἀκείνη περιβλέψασα πάντας ἀπῄει δακρύουσα, ποθοῦσα τὸν Ζαριάδρην ἰδεῖν ἐπεστάλκει· γὰρ αὐτῷ ὅτι μέλλουσιν οἱ γάμοι συντελεῖσθαι. ὁ δὲ στρατοπεδεύων ἐπὶ τοῦ Τανάιδος διαλαθὼν τὴν στρατοπεδείαν διέβη μετὰ μόνου τοῦ ἁρματηλάτου καὶ νυκτὸς ὁρμήσας ἐπὶ τοῦ ἅρματος διῆλθεν διὰ γῆς πολλῆς, διώξας περὶ τοὺς ὀκτακοσίους σταδίους. πλησίον δὲ τῆς κώμης γενόμενος ἐν ᾗ τοὺς γάμους συνετέλουν καὶ καταλιπὼν ἔν τινι τόπῳ αὐτῷ ἅρματι τὸν ἁρματηλάτην προῆγεν ἐνδεδυκὼς στολὴν Σκυθικήν. καὶ παρελθὼν εἰς τὴν αὐλὴν καὶ ἰδὼν τὴν Ὀδάτιν ἑστηκυῖαν πρὸ τοῦ κυλικείου καὶ δακρύουσαν κιρνᾶσάν τε βραδέως τὴν φιάλην εἶπεν πλησίον στὰς παρ’ αὐτὴν ὦ Ὀδάτι, πάρειμι δή σοι καθάπερ ἠξίωσας, ἐγὼ Ζαριάδρης.᾽ ἡ δὲ κατανοήσασα ξένον ἄνδρα καὶ καλὸν καὶ ὅμοιον τῷ κατὰ τὸν ὕπνον ἑωραμένῳ περιχαρὴς γενομένη δίδωσιν αὐτῷ τὴν φιάλην· καὶ ὃς ἁρπάσας αὐτὴν ἀπήγαγεν ἐπὶ τὸ ἅρμα καὶ ἔφυγεν ἔχων τὴν Ὀδάτιν. οἱ δὲ παῖδες καὶ αἱ θεράπαιναι συνειδυῖαι τὸν ἔρωτα κατεσιώπησαν καὶ κελεύοντος τοῦ πατρὸς λαλεῖν οὐκ ἔφασαν εἰδέναι ὅπου πεπόρευται. μνημονεύεται δὲ ὁ ἔρως οὗτος παρὰ τοῖς τὴν Ἀσίαν οἰκοῦσι βαρβάροις καὶ περισσῶς ἐστι ζηλωτός, καὶ τὸν μῦθον τοῦτον ζωγραφοῦσιν ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς καὶ τοῖς βασιλείοις, ἔτι δὲ ταῖς ἰδιωτικαῖς οἰκίαις· καὶ ταῖς ἑαυτῶν θυγατράσιν οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν δυναστῶν ὄνομα τίθενται Ὀδάτιν.