POLYSTRATUS This is the lady’s reply: “Lycinus, I have discerned, to be sure, from what you have written that your friendliness and esteem for me is great, for nobody would bestow such high praise if he were not writing in a friendly spirit. But my own attitude, please understand, is this. In general, I do not care for people whose disposition inclines to flattery, but consider such persons deceivers and not at all generous in their natures. Above all, in the matter of compliments, when anyone in praising me employs vulgar and immoderate extravagances I blush and almost stop my ears, and the thing seems to me more like abuse than praise.

For praise is endurable only as long as the person who is being praised recognizes that everything which is said is appropriate to him, Whatever goes beyond that is alien, and outright flattery.

“Yet,” said she, “I know many who like it if, in praising them, one bestows upon them qualities which they do not possess; for example, if they are old, congratulates them upon their youthfulness, or if they are ugly, clothes them in the beauty of a Nireus or a Phaon. They think that their appearance will be transformed by these compliments, and that they will regain their youth afresh, as Pelias thought to do.

That, however, is not the case. Praise would be highly valuable if it were possible to derive any actual profit from it through such extravagant employment. But as it is, those people in my opinion are in the same case that an ugly man would be in if someone should officiously put a handsome mask upon him and he were to pride himself greatly upon his beauty, regardless of the fact that it was detachable and could be destroyed by the first comer, in which event he would look still more ridiculous when he stood revealed in his own proper features and showed what ugliness had been hidden behind that lovely mask. Or it would be as if someone who was small should put on the buskins of an actor and try to compete in height with those who, on an even footing, overtop him by a full cubit.”

She mentioned an instance in point. She said that a woman of conspicuous position, who was pretty and attractive in every other way, but small, and far beneath the well-proportioned height, was being lauded in song by a certain poet, not only on all other grounds, but because she was fair and tall; he likened her to a black poplar for goodly stature and straightness! Well, she was delighted with the compliment, just as if she were going to grow to match the song, and lifted her hand in approval. So the poet gave many encores, seeing that she liked to be praised, until at last one of the company leaned over to his ear and said: “Have done with it, man—you might make her stand up!”

Something similar and much more comical was done, she said, by Stratonice, the wife of Seleucus, who set a competition for the poets, with a talent as the prize, to see which of them could best praise her hair, in spite of the fact that she was bald and had not even a paltry few hairs of her own. Nevertheless, with her head in that pitiful state, when everybody knew that a long illness had affected her in that way, she listened to those rascally poets while they called her hair hyacinthine, and platted soft braids of it, and compared to wild parsley what did not even exist at all!

She made fun of all such people as these, who surrender themselves to flatterers, and she added, too, that many wish to be similarly flattered and cozened in portraits as well as in complimentary speeches. “In fact,” said she, “they delight most of all in those painters who make the prettiest pictures of them. And there are some who even direct the artists to take away a little of the nose, or paint the eyes blacker, or give them any other characteristic that they covet; and then, in their blissful ignorance, they hang wreaths of flowers upon portraits of other people, not in the least like themselves!”

That is about what she had to say; she commended most of the piece, but could not put up with one feature of it, that you compared her to goddesses, to Hera and Aphrodite. ‘Such praise,” she said, “is too high for me; indeed, too high for human kind. For my part I did not want you to compare me even to those great ladies, Penelope and Arete and Theano, let alone the noblest of the goddesses. Besides, I am very superstitious and timorous in all that concerns the gods. Consequently, I am afraid I may be thought to resemble Cassiopeia

The boastful mother of Andromeda, who would have had to surrender her daughter to the sea-monster except fur the timely intervention of Perseus.

In view of this, Lycinus, she said that you must rewrite everything of that sort, or else for her part she calls the goddesses to witness that you wrote it without her consent, and says you know that the book will annoy her if it circulates in the form in which you have now couched it, which is not at all reverential or pious in its allusions to the gods. She thought, too, that it would be considered a sacrilege and a sin on her own part if she should allow herself to be said to resemble Cnidian Aphrodite, and Our Lady in the Gardens. Moreover, she wanted to remind you of the remark that you made about her at the end of the book. You said that she was modest and free from vanity ; and that she did not try to soar higher than a human being should, but made her flight close to the earth. Yet the man who said that sets the woman above the very stars, even to the point of likening her to goddesses!

She did not want you to think her less intelligent than Alexander. In his case, when the masterbuilder undertook to remodel the whole of Athos and shape it into his likeness, so that the entire mountain would become the image of the king, holding a city in either hand, Alexander would not agree to the monstrous proposal. Thinking the project over-bold for him, he stopped the man from modelling colossi on a scale that transcended convincingness, bidding him to let Athos alone and not to diminish so great a mountain to similarity with a tiny body. She praised Alexander for his greatness of soul, and observed that thereby he had erected a monument greater than Athos itself in the minds of those who should think of him ever and anon in time to come: for it took no little determination to contemn so marvellous an honour.

The same story is in How to Write History, c. 12, where also the name of the architect is not mentioned. Plutarch says it was Stasicrates (Alea. 72; Moral. 335). In Strabo 14, p. 641, Cheirocrates seems to underlie the various readings. Vitruvius (ii, praef.) tells the tale quite differently and makes Dinocrates the hero of it.

So it was with her, said she; while she commended your skill in modelling and the idea of the portraits, she did not recognize the likeness. She was not worthy of such compliments, not by a great deal, nor was any other mere woman. Therefore she absolves you from honouring her thus, and pays her homage to your patterns and models. You may praise her in the ordinary, human way, but do not let the sandal be too large for her foot; “it might hamper me,” she said, “when I walk about in it.”

Furthermore, she enjoined it upon me to tell you this. “I hear many say (whether it is true or not, you men know

Women did not attend the Olympic games.

That is what she said; and now it is for you, Lycinus, to see how you can refurbish the book and do away with everything of that sort; do not offend against Heaven! Really, she took it very ill, shuddered as it was read, and besought the goddesses to be merciful to her. It is excusable, too, that she should feel as a woman naturally would. Indeed, if the truth must out, I myself had somewhat the same opinion. To be sure, when I heard it first I did not see a single fault in what you had written, but now that she has pointed them out, I myself begin to think as she does about it. My experience in this matter has been just about like that of us all when we look at things. If we see. them too close, under our very eyes, we can distinguish nothing accurately, but if we stand off and look at them from the right distance, all the points come out clearly, those that are good and also those that are not.

Truly, to liken a female human being to Aphrodite and to Hera, what else is it but outright cheapening of the goddesses? In such matters the less is not made greater by the comparison, but rather the greater is lessened by being dragged down to the lower level. If two people were walking together, one of whom was very tall and the other quite humble in stature, and it should be needful to equalize them so that the one would not tower above the other, this could not be accomplished by the shorter through stretching himself, however much he were to raise himself on tiptoe. No, if they are to look alike in size, the latter will stoop and make himself appear shorter. Just so in such comparisons ; it is not so true that a man becomes greater if he is likened to a god, as that the divine is inevitably minimized by being forced down to match what is defective. If it were for lack of earthly objects of comparison that one let one’s speech range to those in Heaven, one would be less open to the charge of acting impiously therein. But in your case, though you had so many examples of fair women at command, you made bold to liken her to Aphrodite and Hera without any need.

Do away, then, with all this that is excessive and invidious, Lycinus—that sort of thing is not in keeping with your character, for you have not as a rule been ready and quick to praise. Now, however, you have somehow changed all at once and are lavish with it; you who were so niggardly before have become a spendthrift in compliments! Do not be ashamed, either, to reshape the essay after it has been put into circulation. Even Phidias, they say, did that when he made the Zeus for the people of Elis!

The chryselephantine statue at Olympia.

LYCINUS Polystratus, what an orator you have been all along without my knowing it! You have delivered such a long speech and such a weighty indictment of my essay that you have not left me even a hope of defence now. But see here! you have not dealt fairly, the two of you, and especially you, in that you have condemned the book without a hearing, since its counsel was not in court. It is easy, I take it, to win if you run alone, as the saying goes. So it is no wonder that I was defeated when no water was measured out for me and no chance to defend myself offered. Indeed—and this is the most extraordinary part of it all—you were judges as well as plaintiffs! Well, what is your wish? Shall I rest content with the decision and hold my peace? Or, like the poet of Himera,

Stesichorus, who after having maligned Helen, recanted in a palinode (the first), saying that Helen never went to Troy: it was but a wraith! Fable said that he recanted because Helen had struck him blind, and that afterwards he recovered his eyesight.

POLYSTRATUS Yes, indeed, if you have any just plea to offer; for it is not among opponents in court, as you say, but among friends that you will make your defence. For my part, I am even ready to associate myself with you as joint defendant in the case.

LYCINUS But it is annoying, Polystratus, that she will not be present when I make my speech. It would be far better if she were. As it stands, I must plead by proxy.

The phrase ἀπ᾽ ἐντολῆς means “by direction.” Strictly speaking, it is appropriate only to the action of an agent, but here it is transferred to that of the principal. Compare Aristides, vol. ii, p. 22 224-5 Dindorf, τὰ δὲ πλεῖστα ἐξ ἐντολῆς τῷ βασιλεῖ κατειργάζετο.

POLYSTRATUS Never fear, Lycinus, as far as that goes! I shan’t be at all bad, you will find, at delivering your plea, if only you try to speak briefly, so that I may be better able to fix it all in memory.

LYCINUS But I really needed to speak at length in answering so forcible an accusation. Nevertheless, for your sake I shall cut my plea short. Take, then, this message from me to her—

POLYSTRATUS No, no, Lycinus! Make your speech just as if she herself were present, and then I will do her an imitation of you.

LYCINUS Well then, since that is the way you want it, Polystratus, she is here and as the first speaker, of course, has said all that you reported as her messenger; and now it is for me to begin my answer. However—for I shall not hesitate to tell you the state of my feelings—somehow or other you have made the thing more terrifying to me. As you see, I am even now in a sweat and a tremble and almost think I really see her, and the affair has begotten great turmoil within me. But I will begin, anyhow, for it isn’t possible to withdraw, with her already here.

POLYSTRATUS Yes, and she shows great friendliness in her expression, for she is radiant, as you see, and gracious. So get on with your speech boldly.

LYCINUS Noblest of women, it is true I praised you, as you say, highly and immoderately; but I do not see what commendation I bestowed as great as the encomium which you have pronounced upon yourself in extolling your reverence for the gods. Really, this is more than all that I said about you, and you ‘must forgive me that I did not add this trait to your likeness; it escaped me because I did not know about it, for there is no other which I should have preferred to represent. So in that particular at least I not only did not go beyond bounds, it seems to me, with my praises, but actually said far less than I should. Think what an important point I omitted there—how very significant as evidence of sterling character and sound judgement! For those who assiduously reverence what pertains to the gods will surely be above reproach in their relations with mankind. So if the speech absolutely must be revised and the portrait corrected, I should not venture to take a single thing away from it, but will add this detail to cap, as it were, and crown the complete work. There is one thing, however, for which I admit that I am very grateful to you. After I had praised the reasonableness of your character and the fact that the present exalted state of your fortunes has not engendered in you any arrogance or pride, you confirmed the truth of my praise by censuring what you did censure in my speech. Not to catch greedily at such praise, but to blush for it and say that it is too high for you betokens a reasonable and unassuming disposition. But the more you manifest that attitude toward praise itself, the more worth of extravagant praise you prove yourself! Really the thing, despite you, has come to a pass where the remark of Diogenes applies. When he was asked how one could become famous, he answered : “If he were to scorn fame!” If I myself should be asked: “Who are most worthy of praise?” I should answer: “Those who are unwilling to be praised !”

But all this, no doubt, is apart from the issue and has nothing to do with the case ; and the charge to which I must answer is that in making my sketch of you I likened you in beauty to Cnidian Aphrodite and Our Lady in the Gardens and Hera and Athena. That seemed to you extravagant and presumptuous. I shall address myself precisely to that point.

It is an ancient saying, however, that poets and painters are not to be held accountable ;

Pictoribus atque poetisQuidlibet audendi semper fuit aequa potestas.Horace, Ars Poet. 9 sq.

This, however, I do say; the conditions that govern us in these laudatory writings are such that the eulogist must employ comparisons and similes, and really the most important part of it is to make successful comparisons. And success would be most likely to be held attained, not if a man compares like to like, or if he makes his comparison with something that is inferior, but if he approximates, in so far as he may, what he is praising to something that surpasses it.

For example, if in praising a dog someone were to say that it was larger than a fox or a cat, does it seem to you that he knows how to praise? You will not say so! But even if he should say it was as large as a wolf, he has not praised it generously. Well, at what point will the special end of praise be achieved? When the dog is said to resemble a lion in size and in strength. So the poet who praised Orion’s dog

Pindar, frag. 74a (Schroeder).

Again, if someone who wished to praise Milo of Croton or Glaucus of Carystus or Polydamas

Famous boxers ; see the Index.

Since you mentioned flattery, let me say that I praise you for hating flatterers; I would not have it otherwise. But I wish to make a distinction and a difference for you between the achievement of one who praises, and its exaggeration on the part of one who flatters.

The flatterer, since he praises for a selfish reason and has little regard for truth, thinks that he must praise everything to excess, telling falsehoods and contributing a great deal on his own account, so that he would not hesitate to declare Thersites had a better figure than Achilles, and that of all who took part in the expedition against Troy, Nestor was the youngest; he would take his oath upon it that the son of Croesus had sharper ears than Melampus,

The son of Croesus was a deaf-mute (Herod. 1, 34 and 85) ; Melampus the seer could hear worms in the roof talking to each other (Apollodorus 1, 9, 12).