Dialogues of the Hetaerae

Perseus Greek · Perseus Greek · 188 sections

11.1.4
Charmides Oh, you two know each other quite well; she is quite a celebrity.
11.2.1
Tryphaena Name, name, Charmides!
11.2.2
Charmides Well then—Philematium.
11.2.3
Tryphaena Which? there are two of them; one in Piraeus, who has only just come there; Damyllus the governor’s son is in love with her; is it that one? or the other, the one they call The Trap?
11.2.4
Charmides Yes, that is she; she has caught me and got me tight, poor mouse.
11.2.5
Tryphaena And the tears were all for her?
11.2.6
Charmides Even so.
11.2.7
Tryphaena Is this recent? or how long has it been going on?
11.2.8
Charmides Oh, it is nothing new. I saw her first at the Dionysia; that makes seven months.
11.2.9
Tryphaena Had you a full view of her, or did you just see her face and as much as a woman of forty-five likes to show?
11.2.10
Charmides Oh, come! I have her word for it she will be two-and-twenty next birthday.
11.3.1
Tryphaena Well, which are you going to trust—her word, or your own eyes? Just take a careful look at her temples some day; that is the only place where her own hair shows; all the rest is a thick wig; but at the temples, when the dye fades a little, you can easily detect the grey. But that is nothing; insist on seeing more than her face.
11.3.2
Charmides Oh, but I am not favoured so far as that.
11.3.3
Tryphaena No, I should think not. She knows what the effect would be; why, she is all over—oh, talk of leopard-skins! And it was she made you cry like that, was it? I dare say, now, she was very cruel and scornful?
11.3.4
Charmides Yes, she was, dear; and such a lot of money as she has from me! Just now she wants a thousand drachmas; well, I am dependent on my father, and he is very close, and I could not very well get it; so she is at home to Moschion, and will not see me. That is why you are here; I thought it might vex her.
11.3.5
Tryphaena Well, I’m sure I never never would have come if I had been told what it was for—just to vex somebody else, and that somebody old coffin-ripe Philematium! I shall go away; for that matter the third cock-crow is past.
11.4.1
Charmides No, no, not so fast, Tryphaena. If it is all true—the wig, the dye, and the leopard-skin—I shall hate the sight of her.
11.4.2
Tryphaena If your mother has ever seen her at the bath, ask her. As to the age, you had better ask your grandfather about that, if he is alive.
11.4.3
Charmides Well, as that is what she is like, come up close to me, Give me your arms—and your lips—and let us be friends. Philematium be hanged!
12.1.1
Foessa Cross boy! But I deserve it all! I ought to have treated you as any other girl would do,—bothered you for money, and been engaged when you called, and made you cheat your father or rob your mother to get presents for me; instead of which, I have always let you in from the very first time, and it has never cost you a penny, Lysias. Think of all the lovers I have sent away: Ethocles, now a Chairman of Committees, and Pasion the shipowner, and young Melissus, who had just come into all his father’s money. I would not have a word to say to one of them; I kept myself for you, hard-hearted Phaon that you are! I was fool enough to believe all your vows, and have been living like a Penelope for your sake; mother is furious about it, and is always talking at me to her friends. And now that you feel sure of me, and know how I dote on you, what is the consequence? You flirt with Lycaena under my very eyes, just to vex me; you sit next to me at dinner, and pay compliments to Magidium, a mere music-girl, and hurt my feelings, and make me cry. And that wine-party the other day, with Thraso and Diphilus, when Cymbalium the flutegirl was there, and Pyrallis: you know how I hate that girl: as for Cymbalium, whom you kissed no less than five times, I didn’t mind so much about that,—it must have been sufficient punishment in itself:—but the way in which you were always making signs to Pyrallis to notice your cup, and whispering to the boy, when you gave it back to him, that he was not to fill it for any one but Pyrallis! and that piece of apple that you bit off and shot across right into her lap, when you saw that Diphilus was occupied with Thraso,—you never even tried to conceal it from me! and she kissed it, and hid it away beneath her girdle.
12.2.1
What is the meaning of it all? What have I ever done to you? Did I ever displease you? ever look at any other man? Do I not live for you alone? A brave thing, is it not, Lysias, to vex a poor weak woman who loves you to distraction! There is a Nemesis who watches such deeds. You will be sorry some day, perhaps, when you hear of my hanging myself, or jumping head first into a well; for die I will, one way or another, rather than live to be an eyesore to you. There will be an achievement for you to boast of! You need not look at me like that, nor gnash your teeth: if you have anything to say against me, here is Pythias; let her judge between us. Oh, you are going away without a word?—You see what I have to put up with, Pythias!
12.2.2
Pythias Monster! He cares nothing for her tears. He must be made of stone instead of flesh and blood. But the truth is, my dear, you have spoilt him, by letting him see how fond you are of him. It is a great mistake to make so much of them; they get uppish. Don’t cry, dear: take my advice, and shut him out once or twice; it will be his turn to dete on you then.
12.2.3
Foessa Shut him out? Don’t breathe a word of such a thing! I only wish he would wait till I turned him out!
12.2.4
Pythias Why, here he is back again.
12.2.5
Foessa Pythias! What have you done? If he should have overheard that about shutting him out!
12.3.1
Lysias I am coming back on your account, Pythias, not on hers; I will never look at her again, after what she has done: but I don’t want you to think badly of me; it shall not be said that Lysias was hard-hearted.
12.3.2
Pythias Exactly what I was saying.
12.3.3
Lysias But what would you have me do? This girl, who is so tearful now, has been disloyal to me, and received another lover; I actually found them together!
12.3.4
Pythias Well, after all But when did you make this discovery?
12.3.5
Lysias It must have been something like five days ago; yes, it was, because it was on the second, and to-day is the seventh. My father had found out about this precious Joessa, and how long it had been going on, and he locked me in, and gave the porter orders not to open to me. Well, I wasn’t going to be kept away from her, so I told Dromo to slip along the courtyard to the lowest part of the wall, and then let me mount on his back; I knew I could easily get over that way. To make a long story short, I got out, and came here. It was midnight, and I found the door carefully barred. Instead of knocking, I quietly lifted the door off its hinges (it was not the first time I had done so) and passed noiselessly in. Every one was asleep. I groped my way along the wall, and stopped at the bedside.
12.4.1
Foessa Good Heavens! What is coming? I am in torment!
12.4.2
Lysias I perceived from the breathing that there was more than one person there, and thought at first that Lyde must be sleeping with her. Pythias, I was mistaken! My hands passed over a smooth, beardless man’s face; the fellow was close-cropped, and reeked of scent like any woman. I had not brought my sword with me, or you may be sure I should have known what to do with it.—What are you both laughing at? Is it so amusing, Pythias?
12.4.3
Foessa Oh, Lysias! is that all? Why, it was Pythias who was sleeping with me!
12.4.4
Pythias Foessa, don’t tell him!
12.4.5
Foessa Why not? Lysias, dear, it was Pythias; I had asked her to come and sleep with me; I was so lonely without you.
12.5.1
Lysias Pythias? Then her hair has grown pretty fast in five days.
12.5.2
Foessa She has been ill, and her hair was falling off, and she had to have it cropped. And now she has got false hair. Pythias, show him that it is so. Behold your rival, Lysias! this is the young gentleman of whom you were jealous.
12.5.3
Lysias And what lover would not have been jealous? I had the evidence of my hands, remember.
12.5.4
Foessa Well, you know better now. Suppose I were to return you evil for evil? What should you say to that? It is my turn to be angry with you now.
12.5.5
Lycinus No, you mustn’t be angry. We will have some wine, and Pythias must join us; the truce cannot be ratified without her.
12.5.6
Foessa Of course not. A pretty scrape you have led me into, Pythias, you nice young man!
12.5.7
Pythias The nice young man has led you out of it again too, so you must forgive him. I say, Lysias, you need not tell any one—about my hair, you know.
13.1.1
Leontichus And then that battle with the Galatians; tell her about that, Chenidas—how I rode out in front on the grey, and the Galatians (brave fellows, those Galatians, too)—but they ran away directly they saw me; not a man stood his ground. That time, you know, I used my lance for a javelin, and sent it through their captain and his horse as well; and then, as some of them were left—the phalanx was broken up, you see, but a certain number had rallied—well, I pulled out my trusty blade, rode at them as hard as I could go, knocked over half a dozen of the front rank with the mere rush of my horse, brought down my sword on one of the officers, and clove his head in two halves, helmet and all. The rest of you came up shortly, you remember, when they were already running.
13.2.1
Chenidas Oh, but that duel of yours with the satrap in Paphlagonia! that was a fine display, too.
13.2.2
Leontichus Well remembered; yes, that was not so bad, either. A great big fellow that satrap was, supposed to be a champion fighter too—thought nothing of Greek science. Out he came, and challenged all comers to single combat. There was consternation among our officers, from the lowest to the general himself—though he was a pretty good man. Aristaechmus the Aetolian he was—very strong on the javelin; I was only a colonel then. However, I was not afraid. I shook off the friends who clung to me—they were anxious about me when they saw the barbarian resplendent in his gilded armour, towering high with his terrible plume and brandishing his lance—
13.2.3
Chenidas Yes, I was afraid that time; you remember how I clung to you and besought you not to sacrifice yourself; life would not have been worth living, if you had fallen.
13.3.1
Leontichus I ventured it, though. Out I went, as well armed as the Paphlagonian, all gold like him. What a shout there was on both sides! the barbarians recognized me too; they knew my buckler and medals and plume. Who was it they all compared me to, Chenidas?
13.3.2
Chenidas Why, who should it be? Achilles, of course; the son of Peleus and Thetis, of course. Your helmet was so magnificent, your purple so rich, your buckler so dazzling.
13.3.3
Leontichus We met. The barbarian drew first blood—just a scratch with his lance a little above the knee; but my great spear drove through his shield and right into the breast-bone. Then I ran up, just sliced his head off with my sword, and came back carrying his arms, the head spiked on my spear dripping gore upon me.
13.4.1
Hymnis How horrid, Leontichus! what disgusting frightful tales you tell about yourself! What girl would look at a man who likes such nastiness—let alone drink or sleep with him? I am going away.
13.4.2
Leontichus Pooh! I double your pay.
13.4.3
Hymnis No, nothing shall induce me to sleep with a murderer.
13.4.4
Leontichus Don’t be afraid, my dear. All that was in Paphlagonia. I am a man of peace now.
13.4.5
Hymnis No, you are unclean; the blood of the barbarian’s head on the spear has dripped over you! I embrace and kiss a man like that? the Graces forbid! he is no better than the executioner.
13.4.6
Leontichus I am certain you would be in love with me if you had seen me in my armour.
13.4.7
Hymnis I tell you it makes me sick and frightened even to hear of such things; I see the shades and ghosts of the slain; that poor officer with his head cloven! what would it be if I saw the thing done, and the blood, and the bodies lying there? I am sure I should die; I never saw a chicken killed, even.
13.4.8
Leontichus Such a coward, girl? so poor of heart? I thought you would like to hear it.
13.4.9
Hymnis Well, try the Lemnian women, or the daughters of Danaus, if you want to please with that sort of tale. I shall run home to my mother, while there is some daylight left. Come along, Grammis. Good-bye, mightiest of colonels, and murderer of however many it is!
13.5.1
Leontichus Stay, girl, stay. —Why, she is gone!
13.5.2
Chenidas Well, Leontichus, you frightened the simple little thing with your nodding plumes and your incredible exploits. I saw her getting pale as far back as the officer story; her face was all puckered up and quivering when you split his head.
13.5.3
Leontichus I thought it would make me more attractive. Well, but it was your fault too; you started the duel.
13.5.4
Chenidas Well, I had to chime in when I saw what you were bragging for. But you laid it on so thick. Pass the cutting off the wretched Paphlagonian’s head, what did you want to spike it on a spear for, and let the blood run down on you?
13.6.1
Leontichus That was a bit too strong, I admit; the rest was rather well put together. Well, go and persuade her to come back.
13.6.2
Chenidas Shall I tell her you lied to make her think you a fine fellow?
13.6.3
Leontichus Oh, plague upon it!
13.6.4
Chenidas It’s the only way. Choose—a mighty champion, and loathed, or a confessed liar, and—Hymnis?
13.6.5
Leontichus Bad is the best; but I say Hymnis. Go to her, then, Chenidas, and say I lied—in parts,
14.1.1
Dorion So, Myrtale! You ruin me first, and then close your doors on me! It was another tale when I brought you all those presents: I was your love, then; your lord, your life. But you have squeezed me dry now, and have got hold of that Bithynian merchant; so I am left to whimper on the wrong side of the door, while he, the favoured lover, enjoys your embraces, and is to become a father soon, so you tell him.
14.1.2
Myrtale Come, Dorion, that is too much! Ruined you, indeed! A lot you ever gave me! Let us go through the list of your presents, from the very beginning.
14.2.1
Dorion Very well; let us. First, a pair of shoes from Sicyon, two drachmae. Remember two drachmae.
14.2.2
Myrtale Ah, but you were here for two nights.
14.2.3
Dorion A box of Phoenician ointment, when I came back from Syria; the box of alabaster. The same price, as I’m a seaman!
14.2.4
Myrtale Well, and when you sailed again, didn’t I give you that waistcoat, that you might have something to wear when you were rowing? It was Epiurus the boatswain’s, that waistcoat; he left it here one night by mistake.
14.2.5
Dorion Epiurus recognized it, and took it away from me in Samos, only the other day; and a rare tussle we had before he got it. Then there were those onions I brought you from Cyprus, and five haddocks and four perch, the time we came back from the Bosphorus. Oh, and a whole basket of ship’s bread—eight loaves of it; and a jar of figs from Caria. Another time it was a pair of slippers from Patara, gilded ones, you ungrateful girl! Ah, and I was forgetting that great cheese from Gythium.
14.2.6
Myrtale Say five drachmae the lot.
14.3.1
Dorion It was all that my pay would run to, Myrtale; I was; but a common seaman in those days. I have risen to be mate now, my haughty miss. And didn’t I put down a solid drachma for you at the feet of Aphrodite’s statue, when it was her feast the other day? Then I gave your mother two drachmae to buy shoes with; and Lyde there,—many is the copper I have slipped into her hand, by twos and threes. Put all that together, and it makes a seaman’s fortune.
14.3.2
Myrtale Onions and haddocks.
14.3.3
Dorion Yes; ’twas all I had; if I were rich, I should not be a sailor. I have never brought my own mother so much as a head of garlic. I should like to know what sort of presents the Bithynian makes you?
14.3.4
Myrtale Look at this dress: he bought it me; and this necklace, the thick one.
14.3.5
Dorion Pooh, you have had that for years.
14.3.6
Myrtale No, the one you knew was much lighter, and it had no emeralds. My earrings were a present of his too, and so was that rug; and he gave me two minae the other day, besides paying our rent. Rather different from Patara slippers, and Gythium cheeses and stuff!
14.4.1
Dorion And how do you like him for a lover? you say nothing about that. He is fifty years old if he is a day; his hair is all gone in front, and he has the complexion of a lobster. Did you ever notice his teeth? And so accomplished too! it is a treat to hear him when he sings and tries to make himself agreeable; what is it they tell me about an ass that would learn the lyre? Well, I wish you joy of him; you deserve no better luck; and may the child be like his father! As for me, I’ll find some Delphis or Cymbalium that’s more in my line; your neighbour, perhaps, the flute-girl; anyhow, I shall get some one. We can’t all afford necklaces and rugs and two minae presents.
14.4.2
Myrtale How I envy the lucky girl who gets you, Dorion! What onions she will have from Cyprus! what cheeses next time you come from Gythium!
15.1.1
Cochlis Crying, Parthenis! what is it? how do your pipes come to be broken?
15.1.2
Parthenis Oh! oh! I have been beaten by Crocale’s lover— that tall Aetolian soldier; he found me playing at Crocale’s, hired by his rival Gorgus. He broke in while they were at dinner, smashed my pipes, upset the table, and emptied out the wine-bowl. Gorgus (the country fellow, you know) he pulled out of the dining-room by the hair of his head, and the two of them, Dinomachus (I think they call him) and a fellow soldier, stood over thumping him. Oh, Cochlis, I doubt whether he will live; there was a great rush of blood from his nostrils, and his face is all swollen and livid.
15.2.1
Cochlis Is the man mad? or was it just a drunken freak?
15.2.2
Parthenis All jealousy, my dear—love run wild. Crocale had asked two talents, I believe, if Dinomachus wanted her all to himself. He refused; so she shut the door in his face, I was told, and would not let him in at all. Instead of him she took Gorgus of Oenoé, a well-to-do farmer and a nice man; they were drinking together, and she had got me in to play the pipes. Well, the wine was going, I was striking up one of those Lydian tunes, the farmer standing up to dance, Crocale clapping, and all as merry as could be. Suddenly there was a noise and a shout, crash went the front door, and a moment after in burst eight great strong men, that brute among them. Everything was upside down directly, Gorgus on the ground, as I told you, being thumped and kicked. Crocale got away somehow and took refuge with Thespias next door. Dinomachus boxed my ears, and ‘Go to blazes!’ he said, throwing me the broken pipes. I am running to tell master about it now. And the farmer is going to find some of his friends in town and get the brute summonsed in the police-court.
15.3.1
Cochlis Yes, bruises and the courts—that is all we get out of the military. They tell you they are generals and colonels, and then when it comes to paying, ‘Oh, wait for settling day,’ they say; ‘then I shall get my pay, and put everything right.’ I wish they were all dead, they and their bragging. But I never have anything to do with them; it is the best way. Give me a fisherman or a sailor or farmer no better than myself, with few compliments and plenty of money. These plumetossing word-warriors! they are nothing but noise, Parthenis.

Perseus Greek. CTS URN tlg0062.tlg069.perseus-eng4. Via the Perseus Digital Library / Open Greek and Latin TEI corpora. Licence: Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Source.