Deipnosophistae

And while the slaves were bringing round perfumes in alabaster boxes, and in other vessels made of gold, some one, seeing Cynulcus, anointed his face with a great deal of ointment. But he, being awakened by it, when he recollected himself, said;—What is this? O Hercules, will not some one come with a sponge and wipe my face, which is thus polluted with a lot of dirt? And do not you all know that that exquisite writer Xenophon, in his Banquet, represents Socrates as speaking thus:—

' By Jupiter! O Callias, you entertain us superbly; for you have not only given us a most faultless feast, but you have furnished us also with delicious food for our eyes and ears.'—' Well, then,' said he, 'suppose any one were to bring us perfumes, in order that we might also banquet on sweet smells? '—' By no means,' said Socrates; ' for as there is one sort of dress fit for women and another for men, so there is one kind of smell fit for women and another for men. And no man is ever anointed with perfume for the sake of men; and as to women, especially when they are brides,—as, for instance, the bride of this Niceratus here, and the bride of Critobulus,—how can they want perfumes in their husbands, when they themselves are redolent of it But the smell of the oil in the gymnasia, when it is present, is sweeter than perfume to women; and when it is absent, they long more for it. For if a slave and a freeman be anointed with perfume, they both smell alike in a moment; but those smells which are derived from free labours, require both virtuous habits and a good deal of time if they are to be agreeable and in character with a freeman.'

And that admirable writer Chrysippus says that perfumes (μύρα) derive their name from being prepared with great toil (μόρος) and useless labour. The Lacedæmonians even expel from Sparta those who make perfumes, as being wasters of oil; and those who dye wool, as being destroyers of the whiteness of the wool. And Solon the philosopher, in his laws, forbade men to be sellers of perfumes.

But now, not only scents,

as Clearchus says in the third book of his Lives,

but also dyes, being full of luxury, tend to make those men effeminate who have anything to do with them. And do you think that effeminacy without virtue has anything desirable in it? But even Sappho, a thorough woman, and a poetess into the bargain, was ashamed to separate honour from elegance; and speaks thus—

1. But elegance I truly love;
2. And this my love of life has brilliancy,
3. And honour, too, attached to it:

making it evident to everybody that the desire of life that she confessed had respectability and honour in it; and these things especially belong to virtue. But Parrhasius the painter, although he was a man beyond all measure arrogant about his art, and though he got the credit of a liberal profession by some mere pencils and pallets, still in words set up a claim to virtue, and put this inscription on all his works that are at Lindus:—

1. This is Parrhasius' the painter's work,
2. A most luxurious (ἁβροδίαιτος) and virtuous man.

And a wit being indignant at this, because, I suppose, he seemed to be a disgrace to the delicacy and beauty of virtue, having perverted the gifts which fortune had bestowed upon him to luxury, proposed to change the inscription into ῥαβδοδίαιτος ἀνήρ: Still, said he, the man must be endured, since he says that he honours virtue.

These are the words of Clearchus. But Sophocles the poet, in his play called The Judgment, represents Venus, being a sort of Goddess of Pleasure, as anointed with perfumes, and looking in a glass; but Minerva, as being a sort of Goddess of Intellect and Mind, and also of Virtue, as using oil and gymnastic exercises.

In reply to this, Masurius said;—But, my most excellent friend, are you not aware that it is in our brain that our senses are soothed, and indeed reinvigorated, by sweet smells?

as Alexis says in his Wicked Woman, where he speaks thus—

1. The best recipe for health
2. Is to apply sweet scents unto the brain.

And that most valiant, and indeed warlike poet, Alcæus, says—

1. He shed a sweet perfume all o'er my breast.

And the wise Anacreon says somewhere—

1. Why fly away, now that you've well anointed
2. Your breast, more hollow than a flute, with unguents?

for he recommends anointing the breast with unguent, as being the seat of the heart, and considering it an admitted point that that is soothed with fragrant smells. And the ancients used to act thus, not only because scents do of their own nature ascend upwards from the breast to the seat of smelling, but also because they thought that the soul had its abode in the heart; as Praxagoras, and Philotimus the physician taught; and Homer, too, says—

1. He struck his breast, and thus reproved his heart.

Hom. Odyss. xx. 17.

And again he says—

1. His heart within his breast did rage.

Ibid. 13.

And in the Iliad he says—

1. But Hector's heart within his bosom shook.

Hom. Iliad, vii. 216.

And this they consider a proof that the most important portion of the soul is situated in the heart; for it is as evident as possible that the heart quivers when under the agitation of fear. And Agamemnon, in Homer, says—

1. Scarce can my knees these trembling limbs sustain,
2. And scarce my heart support its load of pain;
3. With fears distracted, with no fix'd design,
4. And all my people's miseries are mine.

Iliad, x. 96.

And Sophocles has represented women released from fear as saying—

1. Now Fear's dark daughter does no more exult
2. Within my heart.

This is not from any extant play.

But Anaxandrides makes a man who is struggling with fear say—

1. O my wretched heart!
2. How you alone of all my limbs or senses
3. Rejoice in evil; for you leap and dance
4. The moment that you see your lord alarm'd.

And Plato says,

that the great Architect of the universe has placed the lungs close to the heart, by nature soft and destitute of blood, and having cavities penetrable like sponge, that so the heart, when it quivers, from fear of adversity or disaster, may vibrate against a soft and yielding substance.

But the garlands with which men bind their bosoms are called ὑποθυμιάδες by the poets, from the exhalations (ἀναθυμίασις of the flowers, and not because the soul (ψυχὴ) is called θυμὸς, as some people think.

Archilochus is the earliest author who uses the word μύρον (perfume), where he says—

1. She being old would spare her perfumes (μύρα).

And in another place he says—

1. Displaying hair and breast perfumed (ἐσμυρισμένον);
2. So that a man, though old, might fall in love with her.

And the word μύρον is derived from μύῤῥα, which is the Aeolic form of σμύρνα (myrrh); for the greater portion of unguents are made up with myrrh, and that which is called στακτὴ is wholly composed of it. Not but what Homer was acquainted with the fashion of using unguents and perfumes, but he calls them ἔλαια, with the addition of some distinctive epithet, as-

1. Himself anointing them with dewy oil (δροσόεντι ἐλαίῳ).

Hom. Iliad, xxiii. 186.

And in another place he speaks of an oil as perfumed[*](Ibid. xiv. 172.) (τεθυωμένον. And in his poems also, Venus anoints the dead body of Hector with ambrosial rosy oil; and this is made of flowers. But with respect to that which is made of spices, which they called θυώματα, he says, speaking of Juno,—

1. Here first she bathes, and round her body pours
2. Soft oils of fragrance and ambrosial showers:
3. The winds perfumed, the balmy gale convey
4. Through heaven, through earth, and all the aërial way.
5. Spirit divine! whose exhalation greets
6. The sense of gods with more than mortal sweets.

Ibid. xiv. 170.

But the choicest unguents are made in particular places, as Apollonius of Herophila says in his treatise on Perfumes, where he writes—“The iris is best in Elis, and at Cyzicus; the perfume made from roses is most excellent at Phaselis, and that made at Naples and Capua is also very fine. That made from crocuses is in the highest perfection at

Soli in Cilicia, and at Rhodes. The essence of spikenard is best at Tarsus; and the extract of vine-leaves is made best in Cyprus and at Adramyttium. The best perfume from marjoram and from apples comes from Cos. Egypt bears the palm for its essence of cypirus; and the next best is the Cyprian, and Phœnician, and after them comes the Sidonian. The perfume called Panathenaicum is made at Athens; and those called Metopian and Mendesian are prepared with the greatest skill in Egypt. But the Metopian is made of oil which is extracted from bitter almonds. Still, the superior excellence of each perfume is owing to the purveyors and the materials and the artists, and not to the place itself; for Ephesus formerly, as men say, had a high reputation for the excellence of its perfumes, and especially of its megallium, but now it has none. At one time, too, the unguents made in Alexandria were brought to high perfection, on account of the wealth of the city, and the attention that Arsinoe and Berenice paid to such matters; and the finest extract of roses in the world was made at Cyrene while the great Berenice was alive. Again, in ancient times, the extract of vine-leaves made at Adramyttium was but poor; but afterwards it became first-rate, owing to Stratonice, the wife of Eumenes. Formerly, too, Syria used to make every sort of unguent admirably, especially that extracted from fenugreek; but the case is quite altered now. And long ago there used to be a most delicious unguent extracted from frankincense at Pergamus, owing to the invention of a certain perfumer of that city, for no one else had ever made it before him; but now none is made there.

Now, when a valuable unguent is poured on the top of one that is inferior, it remains on the surface; but when good honey is poured on the top of that which is inferior, it works its way to the bottom, for it compels that which is worse to rise above it.

Achæus mentions Egyptian perfumes in his Prizes; and says—

1. They'll give you Cyprian stones, and ointments choice
2. From dainty Egypt, worth their weight in silver.

And perhaps,

says Didymus,

he means in this passage that which is called στακτὴ, on account of the myrrh which is brought to Egypt, and from thence imported into Greece.

And Hicesius says, in the second book of his treatise on Matter,—

Of perfumes, some are rubbed on, and some are poured on. Now, the perfume made from roses is suitable for drinking parties, and so is that made from myrtles and from apples; and this last is good for the stomach, and useful for lethargic people. That made from vine-leaves is good for the stomach, and has also the effect of keeping the mind clear. Those extracted from sampsychum and ground thyme are also well suited to drinking parties; and so is that extract of crocus which is not mixed with any great quantity of myrrh. The στακτὴ,, also, is well suited for drinking parties; and so is the spikenard: that made from fenugreek is sweet and tender; while that which comes from white violets is fragrant, and very good for the digestion.

Theophrastus, also, in his treatise on Scents, says,

that some perfumes are made of flowers; as, for instance, from roses, and white violets, and lilies, which last is called σούσινον. There are also those which are extracted from mint and ground thyme, and gopper, and the crocus; of which the best is procured in Aegina and Cilicia. Some, again, are made of leaves, as those made from myrrh and the œnanthe; and the wild vine grows in Cyprus, on the mountains, and is very plentiful; but no perfume is made of that which is found in Greece, because that has no scent. Some perfumes, again, are extracted from roots; as is that made from the iris, and from spikenard, and from marjoram, and from zedoary.

Now, that the ancients were very much addicted to the use of perfumes, is plain from their knowing to which of our limbs each unguent was most suitable. Accordingly, Antiphanes, in his Thoricians, or The Digger, says—

1. A. He really bathes—
2. B. What then?
3. A. In a large gilded tub, and steeps his feet
4. And legs in rich Egyptian unguents;
5. His jaws and breasts he rubs with thick palm-oil,
6. And both his arms with extract sweet of mint;
7. His eyebrows and his hair with marjoram,
8. His knees and neck with essence of ground thyme.

And Cephisodorus, in his Trophonius, says—

1. A. And now that I may well anoint my body,
2. Buy me some unguents, I beseech you, Xanthias,
3. Of roses made and irises. Buy, too,
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4. Some oil of baccaris for my legs and feet.
5. B. You stupid wretch! Shall I buy baccaris,
6. And waste it on your worthless feet?

Anaxandrides, too, in his Protesilaus, says—

1. Unguents from Peron, which but yesterday
2. He sold to Melanopus,—very costly,
3. Fresh come from Egypt; which he uses now
4. To anoint the feet of vile Callistratus.

And Theopompus also mentions this perfumer, Peron, in his Admetus, and in the Hedychares. Antiphanes, too, says in his Antea—

1. I left the man in Peron's shop, just now,
2. Dealing for ointments; when he has agreed,
3. He'll bring you cinnamon and spikenard essence.

Now, there is a sort of ointment called βάκκαρις by many of the comic poets; and Hipponax uses this name in the following line:—

1. I then my nose with baccaris anointed,
2. Redolent of crocus.

And Acheus, in his Aethon, a satyric drama, says—

1. Anointed o'er with baccaris, and dressing
2. All his front hair with cooling fans of feathers.

But Ion, in his Omphale, says—

1. 'Tis better far to know the use of μύρα,
2. And βάκκαρις, and Sardian ornaments,
3. Than all the fashions in the Peloponnesus.

And when he speaks of Sardian ornaments, he means to include perfumes; since the Lydians were very notorious for their luxury. And so Anacreon uses the word λυδοπαθὴς (Lydian-like) as equivalent to ἡδυπαθὴς (luxurious). Sophocles also uses the word βάκκαρις; and Magnes, in his Lydians, says—

1. A man should bathe, and then with baccaris
2. Anoint himself.

Perhaps, however, μύρον and βάκκαρις were not exactly the same thing; for Aeschylus, in his Amymone, makes a distinction between them, and says—

1. Your βακκάρεις and your μύρα.

And Simonides says—

1. And then with μύρον,, and rich spices too,
2. And βάκκαρις, did I anoint myself.

And Aristophanes, in his Thesmophoriazusæ, says—

1. O venerable Jove! with what a scent
2. Did that vile bag, the moment it was open'd,
3. O'erwhelm me, full of βάκκαρις and μύρον.

Pherecrates mentions an unguent, which he calls βρένθιον, in his Trifles, saying—

1. I stood, and order'd him to pour upon us
2. Some brenthian unguent, that he also might
3. Pour it on those departing.

And Crates mentions what he calls royal unguent, in his Neighbours; speaking as follows:—

1. He smelt deliciously of royal unguent.

But Sappho mentions the royal and the brenthian unguent together, as if they were one and the same thing; saying—

1. βρενθεΐῳ βασιληΐῳ,

Aristophanes speaks of an unguent which he calls ψάγδης, in his Daitaleis; saying—

1. Come, let me see what unguent I can give you:
2. Do you like ψάγδησ?

And Eupolis, in his Marica, says—

1. All his breath smells of ψάγδης.

Eubulus, in his Female Garland-sellers, says—

1. She thrice anointed with Egyptian psagdas (ψάγδανι).

Polemo, in his writings addressed to Adæus, says that there is an unguent in use among the Eleans called plangonium, from having been invented by a man named Plangon. And Sosibins says the same in his Similitudes; adding, that the unguent called megallium is so named for a similar reason: for that that was invented by a Sicilian whose name was Megallus. But some say that Megallus was an Athenian: and Aristophanes mentions him in his Telmissians, and so does Pherecrates in his Petale; and Strattis, in his Medea, speaks thus:—

1. And say that you are bringing her such unguents,
2. As old Megallus never did compound,
3. Nor Dinias, that great Egyptian, see,
4. Much less possess.

Amphis also, in his Ulysses, mentions the Megalli unguent in the following passage—

1. A. Adorn the walls all round with hangings rich,
2. Milesian work; and then anoint them o'er
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3. With sweet megallium, and also burn
4. The royal mindax.
5. B. Where did you, O master,
6. E'er hear the name of such a spice as that

Anaxandrides, too, in his Tereus, says—

1. And like the illustrious bride, great Basilis,
2. She rubs her body with megallian unguent.

Menander speaks of an unguent made of spikenard, in his Cecryphalus, and says—

1. A. This unguent, boy, is really excellent.
2. B. Of course it is, 'tis spikenard.

And anointing oneself with an unguent of this description, Alæus calls μυρίσασθαι, in his Palæstræ, speaking thus—

1. Having anointed her (μυρίσασα), she shut her up
2. In her own stead most secretly.

But Aristophanes uses not μυρίσματα, but μυρώματα, in his Ecclesiazusæ, saying—

1. I who 'm anointed (μεμύρισμαι) o'er my head with unguents (μυρώμασι).

Aristoph. Eccl. 1117.

There was also an unguent called sagda, which is mentioned by Eupolis in his Coraliscus, where he writes—

1. And baccaris, and sagda too.

And it is spoken of likewise by Aristophanes, in his Daitaleis; and Eupolis in his Marica says—

1. And all his breath is redolent of sagda:

which expression Nicander of Thyatira understands to be meant as an attack upon a man who is too much devoted to luxury. But Theodorus says, that sagda is a species of spice used in fumigation.

Now a cotyla of unguent used to be sold for a high price at Athens, even, as Hipparchus says in his Nocturnal Festival, for as much as five mine; but as Menander, in his Misogynist, states, for ten. And Antiphanes, in his Phrearrus, where he is speaking of the unguent called stacte, says—

1. The stacte at two minæ's not worth having.

Now the citizens of Sardis were not the only people addicted to the use of unguents, as Alexis says in his Maker of Goblets—

1. The whole Sardian people is of unguents fond;

but the Athenians also, who have always been the leaders of every refinement and luxury in human life, used them very much; so that among them, as has been already mentioned, they used to fetch an enormous price; but, nevertheless, they did not abstain from the use of them on that account; just as we now do not deny ourselves scents which are so expensive and exquisite that those things are mere trifles which are spoken of in the Settler of Alexis—

1. For he did use no alabaster box
2. From which t' anoint himself; for this is but
3. An ordinary, and quite old-fashion'd thing.
4. But he let loose four doves all dipp'd in unguents,
5. Not of one kind, but each in a different sort;
6. And then they flew around, and hovering o'er us,
7. Besprinkled all our clothes and tablecloths.
8. Envy me not, ye noble chiefs of Greece;
9. For thus, while sacrificing, I myself
10. Was sprinkled o'er with unguent of the iris.

Just think, in God's name, my friends, what luxury, or I should rather say, what profuse waste it was to have one's garments sprinkled in this manner, when a man might have taken up a little unguent in his hands, as we do now, and in that manner have anointed his whole body, and especially his head. For Myronides says, in his treatise on Unguents and Garlands, that

the fashion of anointing the head at banquets arose from this:—that those men whose heads are naturally dry, find the humours which are engendered by what they eat, rise up into their heads; and on this account, as their bodies are inflamed by fevers, they bedew their heads with lotions, so as to prevent the neighbouring humours from rising into a part which is dry, and which also has a considerable vacuum in it. And so at their banquets, having consideration for this fact, and being afraid of the strength of the wine rising into their heads, men have introduced the fashion of anointing their heads, and by these means the wine, they think, will have less effect upon then, if they make their head thoroughly wet first. And as men are never content with what is merely useful, but are always desirous to add to that whatever tends to pleasure and enjoyment; in that way they have been led to adopt the use of unguents.

We ought, therefore, my good cynic Theodorus, to use at banquets those unguents which have the least tendency to produce heaviness, and to employ those which have astringent

or cooling properties very sparingly. But Aristotle, that man of most varied learning, raises the question,

Why men who use unguents are more grey than others? Is it because unguents have drying properties by reason of the spices used in their composition, so that they who use them become dry, and the dryness produces greyness? For whether greyness arises from a drying of the hair, or from a want of natural heat, at all events dryness has a withering effect. And it is on this account too that the use of hats makes men grey more quickly; for by them the moisture which ought to nourish the hair is taken away.

But when I was reading the twenty-eighth book of the History of Posidonius, I observed, my friends, a very pleasant thing which was said about unguents, and which is not at all foreign to our present discussion. For the philosopher says —

In Syria, at the royal banquets, when the garlands are given to the guests, some slaves come in, having little bladders full of Babylonian perfumes, and going round the room at a little distance from the guests, they bedew their garlands with the perfumes, sprinkling nothing else.

And since the discussion has brought us to this point, I will add

1. A verse to Love,

as the bard of Cythera says, telling you that Janus, who is worshipped as a great god by us, and whom we call Janus Pater, was the original inventor of garlands. And Dracon of Corcyra tells us this in his treatise on Precious Stones, where his words are—

But it is said that Janus had two faces, the one looking forwards and the other backwards; and that it is from him that the mountain Janus and the river Janus are both named, because he used to live on the mountain. And they say that he was the first inventor of garlands, and boats, and ships; and was also the first person who coined brazen money. And on this account many cities in Greece, and many in Italy and Sicily, place on their coins a head with two faces, and on the obverse a boat, or a garland, or a ship. And they say that he married his sister Camise, and had a son named Aethax, and a daughter Olistene. And he, aiming at a more extended power and renown, sailed over to Italy, and settled on a mountain near Rome, which was called Janiculum from his name.

This, now, is what was said about perfumes and unguents. And after this most of them asked for wine,

some demanding the Cup of the Good Deity, others that of Health, and different people invoking different deities; and so they all fell to quoting the words of those poets who had mentioned libations to these different deities; and I will now recapitulate what they said, for they quoted Antiphanes, who, in his Clowns, says—

1. Harmodius was invoked, the paean sung,
2. Each drank a mighty cup to Jove the Saviour.

And Alexis, in his Usurer, or The Liar, says—

1. A. Fill now the cup with the libation due
2. To Jove the Saviour; for he surely is
3. Of all the gods most useful to mankind.
4. B. Your Jove the Saviour, if I were to burst,
5. Would nothing do for me.
6. A. Just drink, and trust him.

And Nicostratus, in his Pandrosos, says—

1. And so I will, my dear;
2. But fill him now a parting cup to Health;
3. Here, pour a due libation out to Health.
4. Another to Good Fortune. Fortune manages
5. All the affairs of men; but as for Prudence,—
6. That is a blind irregular deity.

And in the same play he mentions mixing a cup in honour of the Good Deity, as do nearly all the poets of the old comedy; but Nicostratus speaks thus—

1. Fill a cup quickly now to the Good Deity,
2. And take away this table from before me;
3. For I have eaten quite enough;—I pledge
4. This cup to the Good Deity;—here, quick, I say,
5. And take away this table from before me.

Xenarchus, too, in his Twins, says—

1. And now when I begin to nod my head,
2. The cup to the Good Deity * *
3. * * * *
4. That cup, when I had drain'd it, near upset me;
5. And then the next libation duly quaff'd
6. To Jove the Saviour, wholly wreck'd my boat,
7. And overwhelm'd me as you see.

And Eriphus, in his Melibœa, says—

1. Before he'd drunk a cup to the Good Deity,
2. Or to great Jove the Saviour.

And Theophrastus, in his essay on Drunkenness, says—

The unmixed wine which is given at a banquet, which they call the pledge-cup in honour of the Good Deity, they offer in small quantities, as if reminding the guests of its strength,

v.3.p.1108

and of the liberality of the god, by the mere taste. And they hand it round when men are already full, in order that there may be as little as possible drunk out of it. And having paid adoration three times, they take it from the table, as if they were entreating of the gods that nothing may be done unbecomingly, and that they may not indulge in immoderate desires for this kind of drink, and that they may derive only what is honourable and useful from it.

And Philochorus, in the second book of his Atthis, says—

And a law was made at that time, that after the solid food is removed, a taste of the unmixed wine should be served round as a sort of sample of the power of the Good Deity, but that all the rest of the wine should be previously mixed; on which account the Nymphs had the name given them of Nurses of Bacchus.

And that when the pledge-cup to the Good Deity was handed round, it was customary to remove the tables, is made plain by the wicked action of Dionysius the tyrant of Sicily. For there was a table of gold placed before the statue of Aesculapius at Syracuse; and so Dionysius, standing before it, and drinking a pledge-cup to the Good Deity, ordered the table to be removed.

But among the Greeks, those who sacrifice to the Sun, as Phylarchus tells us in the twelfth book of his History, make their libations of honey, as they never bring wine to the altars of the gods; saying that it is proper that the god who keeps the whole universe in order, and regulates everything, and is always going round and superintending the whole, should in no respect be connected with drunkenness.

Most writers have mentioned the Attic Scolia; and they are worthy also of being mentioned by me to you, on account of the antiquity and simple style of composition of the authors, and of those especially who gained a high reputation for that description of poetry, Alcæus and Anacreon; as Aristophanes says in his Daitaleis, where we find this line—

1. Come, then. a scolium sing to me,
2. Of old Alcæus or Anacreon.

Praxilla, the Sicyonian poetess, was also celebrated for the composition of scolia. Now they are called scolia, not because of the character of the verse in which they are written, as if it were σκολιὸς (crooked); for men call also those poems written in a laxer kind of metre σκολιά. But,

as there are three kinds of songs

(as Artemo of Cassandra says in the second book of his treatise on the Use of Books),

one or other of which comprehends everything which is sung at banquets; the first kind is that which it was usual for the whole party to sing; the second is that which the whole party indeed sang, not, however, together, but going round according to some kind of succession; the third is that which is ranked lowest of all, which was not sung by all the guests, but only by those who seemed to understand what was to be done, wherever they might happen to be sitting; on which account, as having some irregularity in it beyond what the other kinds had, in not being sung by all the guests, either together or in any definite kind of succession, but just as it might happen, it was called σκολιόν. And songs of this kind were sung when the ordinary songs, and those in which every one was bound to join, had come to an end. For then they invited all the more intelligent of the guests to sing some song worth listening to. And what they thought worth listening to were such songs as contained some exhortations and sentiments which seemed useful for the purposes of life.

And of these Deipnosophists, one quoted one scolium, and one another. And these were those which were recited—

O thou Tritonian Pallas, who from heaven above

Look'st with protecting eye

On this holy city and land,

Deign our protectress now to prove

From loss in war, from dread sedition's band,

And death's untimely blow, thou and thy father Jove.

I sing at this glad season, of the Queen,

Mother of Plutus, heavenly Ceres;

May you be ever near us,

You and your daughter Proserpine,

And ever as a friend

This citadel defend.

Latona once in Delos, as they say,

Did two great children bear,

Apollo with the golden hair,

Bright Phœbus, god of day.

And Dian, mighty huntress, virgin chaste.

On whom all women's trust is placed.

v.3.p.1110

Raise the loud shout to Pan, Arcadia's king;

Praise to the Nymphs' loved comrade sing!

Come, O Pan, and raise with me

The song in joyful ecstasy.

We have conquer'd as we would,

The gods reward us as they should,

And victory bring from Pandrosos[*](Pandrosos, according to Athenian mythology, was a daughter of Cecrops and Agraulos. She was worshipped at Athens, and had a temple near that of Minerva Polias.—Smith, Dict. Gr. and Rom. Biog.) to Pallas.

Oh, would the gods such grace bestow,

That opening each man's breast,

One might survey his heart, and know

How true the friendship that could stand that test.

Health's the best gift to mortal given;

Beauty is next; the third great prize

Is to grow rich, free both from sin and vice;

The fourth, to pass one's youth with friends beloved by heaven.

And when this had been sung, and everybody had been delighted with it; and when it had been mentioned that even the incomparable Plato had spoken of this scolium as one most admirably written, Myrtilus said, that Anaxandrides the-comic poet had turned it into ridicule in his Treasure, speaking thus of it—

1. The man who wrote this song, whoe'er he was,
2. When he call'd health the best of all possessions,
3. Spoke well enough. But when the second place
4. He gave to beauty, and the third to riches,
5. He certainly was downright mad; for surely
6. Riches must be the next best thing to health,
7. For who would care to be a starving beauty

After that, these other scolia were sung—

'Tis well to stand upon the shore,

And look on others on the sea;

But when you once have dipp'd your oar,

By the present wind you must guided be.

A crab caught a snake in his claw,

And thus he triumphantly spake,—

'My friends must be guided by law,

Nor love crooked counsels to take.

v.3.p.1111

I'll wreathe my sword in myrtle bough,

The sword that laid the tyrant low,

When patriots, burning to be free,

To Athens gave equality.[*](It is hardly necessary to say that this beautiful translation is by Lord Denman. It is given also at p. 176 of the translation of the Greek Anthology in this series.)

Harmodius, hail! though reft of breath,

Thou ne'er shalt feel the stroke of death,

The happy heroes' isles shall be

The bright abode allotted thee.

I'll wreathe the sword in myrtle bough,

The sword that laid Hipparchus low,

When at Minerva's adverse fane

He knelt, and never rose again.

While Freedom's name is understood,

You shall delight the wise and good;

You dared to set your country free,

And gave her laws equality.

Learn, my friend, from Admetus' story,

All worthy friends and brave to cherish;

But cowards shun when danger comes,

For they will leave you alone to perish.

Ajax of the ponderous spear mighty son of Telamon,

They call you bravest of the Greeks, next to the great Achilles,

Telamon came first, and of the Greeks the second man

Was Ajax, and with him there came invincible Achilles.

Would that I were an ivory lyre,

Struck by fair boys to great Iacchus' taste;

Or golden trinket pure from fire,

Worn by a lady fair, of spirit chaste.

Drink with me, and sport with me,

Love with me, wear crowns with me,

Be mad with me when I am moved with rage,

And modest when I yield to counsels sage.

A scorpion 'neath every stone doth lie,

And secrets usually hide treachery.

v.3.p.1112

A sow one acorn has, and wants its brother;

And I have one fair maid, and seek another.

A wanton and a bath-keeper both cherish the same fashion,

Giving the worthless and the good the self-same bath to wash in.

Give Cedon wine, O slave, and fill it up,

If you must give each worthy man a cup.

Alas! Leipsydrium, you betray

A host of gallant men,

Who for their country many a day

Have fought, and would again.

And even when they fell, their race

In their great actions you may trace.[*](This refers to the Alcmæonidæ, who, flying from the tyranny of Hippias, after the death of Hipparchus, seized on and fortified the town Leipsydrium, on Mount Parnes, and were defeated and taken by the Pisistratidæ.—See Herod. v. 62.)

The man who never will betray his friend,

Earns fame of which nor earth nor heaven shall see the end.

Some also call that a scolium which was composed by Hybrias the Cretan; and it runs thus—

I have great wealth, a sword, and spear,

And trusty shield beside me here;

With these I plough, and from the vine

Squeeze out the heart-delighting wine;

They make me lord of everything.

But they who dread the sword and spear,

And ever trusty shield to bear,

Shall fall before me on their knees,

And worship me whene'er I please,

And call me mighty lord and king.

After this, Democritus said;—But the song which was composed by that most learned writer, Aristotle, and addressed to Hermias[*](Hermias was tyrant of Atarneus and Assos, having been originally the minister of Eubulus, whom he succeeded. He entertained Aristotle at his court for many years. As he endeavoured to maintain his kingdom in independence of Persia, they sent Mentor against him, who decoyed him to an interview by a promise of safe conduct, and then seized him and sent him to Artaxerxes, by whom he was put to death.) of Atarneus, is not a pæan, as was asserted by Demophilus, who instituted a prosecution against the philosopher, on the ground of impiety (having been suborned to act

the part of accuser by Eurymedon, who was ashamed to appear himself in the business). And he rested the charge of impiety on the fact of his having been accustomed to sing at banquets a pæan addressed to Hermias. But that this song has no characteristic whatever of a paean, but is a species of scolium, I will show you plainly from its own language—

1. O virtue, never but by labour to be won,
2. First object of all human life,
3. For such a prize as thee
4. There is no toil, there is no strife,
5. Nor even death which any Greek would shun;
6. Such is the guerdon fair and free,
7. And lasting too, with which thou dost thy followers grace,—
8. Better than gold,
9. Better than sleep, or e'en the glories old
10. Of high descent and noble race.
11. For you Jove's mighty son, great Hercules,
12. Forsook a life of ease;
13. For you the Spartan brothers twain
14. Sought toil and danger, following your behests
15. With fearless and unwearied breasts.
16. Your love it was that fired and gave
17. To early grave
18. Achilles and the giant son
19. Of Salaminian Telamon.
20. And now for you Atarneus' pride,
21. Trusting in others' faith, has nobly died;
22. But yet his name
23. Shall never die, the Muses' holy train
24. Shall bear him to the skies with deathless fame,
25. Honouring Jove, the hospitable god,
26. And honest hearts, proved friendship's blest abode.

Now I don't know whether any one can detect in this any resemblance to a paean, when the author expressly states in it that Hermias is dead, when he says—

1. And now for you Atarneus' pride,
2. Trusting in others' faith, has nobly died.

Nor has the song the burden, which all paeans have, of Io Paean, as that song written on Lysander the Spartan, which really is a paean, has; a song which Duris, in his book entitled The Annals of the Samians, says is sung in Samos. That also was a pæan which was written in honour of Craterus the Macedonian, of which Alexinus the logician was the author, as Hermippus the pupil of Callimachus says in the first book of his Essay on Aritotle. And this song is sung at Delphi, with a boy playing the lyre as an accompaniment to it. The song, too, addressed to Agemon of Corinth, the father of Alcyone, which the Corinthians sang, contains the burden of the paean. And this burden, too, is even added by Polemo Periegetes to his letter addressed to Aranthius. The song also which the Rhodians sing, addressed to Ptolemy the first king of Egypt, is a paean: for it contains the burden Io Paean, as Georgus tells us in his essay on the Sacrifices at Rhodes. And Philochorus says that the Athenians sing paeans in honour of Antigonus and Demetrius, which were composed by Hermippus of Cyzicus, on an occasion when a great many poets had a contest as to which could compose the finest paean, and the victory was adjudged to Hermippus. And, indeed, Aristotle himself, in his Defence of himself from this accusation of impiety, (unless the speech is a spurious one,) says—

For if I had wished to offer sacrifice to Hermias as an immortal being, I should never have built him a tomb as a mortal; nor if I had wished to make him out to be a god, should I have honoured him with funeral obsequies like a man.

When Democritus had said this, Cynulcus said;;—Why do you remind me of those cyclic poems, to use the words of your friend Philo, when you never ought to say anything serious or important in the presence of this glutton Ulpian? For he prefers lascivious songs to dignified ones; such, for instance, as those which are called Locrian songs, which are of a debauched sort of character, such as—

1. Do you not feel some pleasure now?
2. Do not betray me, I entreat you.
3. Rise up before the man comes back,
4. Lest he should ill-treat you and me.
5. 'Tis morning now, dost thou not see
6. The daylight through the windows?

And all Phœnicia is full of songs of this kind; and he him- self, when there, used to go about playing on the flute with the men who sing colabri.[*](Colabri were a sort of song to which the armed dance called κολαβρισμὸς was danced.) And there is good authority, Ulpian, for this word κόλαβροι. For Demetrius the Scepsian, in the tenth book of his Trojan Array, speaks thus:— "Ctesiphon the Athenian, who was a composer of the songs called κόλαβροι, was made by Attalus, who succeeded Philetærus as king of Pergamus, judge of all his subjects in the Aeolian district." And the same writer, in the nineteenth book of the same work, says that Seleucus the composer of merry songs was the son of Mnesiptolemus, who was an historian, and who had great interest with that Antiochus who was surnamed the Great. And it was very much the fashion to sing this song of his—

1. I will choose a single life,
2. That is better than a wife;
3. Friends in war a man stand by,
4. While the wife stays at home to cry.