Greek Anthology Book 9

ToposText · Greek Anthology · 827 sections

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§ 9.502 PALLADAS I require “conditum.” Where did “conditum” get its name from? for it is alien to the Greek tongue. If it is a Latin word you will know, who are such a good Latin scholar. Prepare it for me, then, for the malady of the stomach from which I suffer requires this drink, I am told.
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§ 9.503 PALLADAS I was not wrong in saying that there is a divine virtue in dizyphi. The other day at least I applied a dizyphos to one suffering from a chronic quartan ague, and he became at once as fit as a dog -tick.
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§ 9.504 Anonymous on the Muses Calliope discovered the art of heroic verse; Clio the sweet music of the lyre which accompanies the dance; Euterpe the sonorous voice of the tragic chorus; Melpomene found for mortals the honeytoned barbitos, and charming Terpsichore gave us the artful flute; Erato invented cheering hymns to the gods; learned Polymnia the joys of the dance; Urania discovered the pole and the dance of the stars of heaven, and Thalia the plots and good moral teaching of comedy.
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§ 9.505 Anonymous on the same The painter never saw Terpsichore, but owing to his art the image deceives our eyes by its truth. If, my friend, you ever hear the lyre that cheers the heart, admire Erato, who possesses such skill. Euterpe shrills on perforated reeds, scattering on them and forcing through them the spirit of the skilled bee. I, Thalia, am concerned with comic verse, and I present in play, on the scene that loves the castanets, the actions of immoral people. Look on the image of thy wisdom; for thy heart should conceive Calliope's image to be wisdom. I, Clio, dwell by the laurelled tripods of Phoebus, the Muse of prophecy and history. I, Urania, through calculations revealed by God, teach the recurring necessity of the stars' motions. Look on Melpomene, skilled in lovely eloquence, giving force to brazen-voiced epic song. I, Polymnia, am silent, but speak through the entrancing motions of my hands, conveying by my gestures a speaking silence.
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§ 9.506 PLATO Some say the Muses are nine, but how carelessly! Look at the tenth, Sappho from Lesbos.
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§ 9.507 CALLIMACHUS On the Phaenomena of Aratus The rhythm and the manner are Hesiod's. He of Soli took as a model not the worst of poets, but, I am afraid, the most honeyed of his verses. Hail! delicate phrases, the monument of Aratus' sleepless nights.
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§ 9.508 PALLADAS If one wishes to enjoy a happy day, meeting you makes his day a good one; but if one wishes the contrary, not meeting you makes it a bad one.
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§ 9.509 LYSISTRATUS THE SEER The women of Colias shall cook with oars.
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§ 9.510 Anonymous Critonianus married me, Solon begat me, my name was Meltine, I was moulded by the hands of my husband.
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§ 9.511 Anonymous Asclepios ordered me in his kindness to adorn his grey locks with gold, and I gladly did it, since he deemed this service on my part to be pleasing to him.
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§ 9.512 Anonymous on a Book Teacher of the ruler of Rome, be gracious to me, accepting kindly the mysteries of the book of Protus, the deep words revealed by the pen of Philoponus.
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§ 9.513 CRINAGORAS On an Actor Thou didst excel in the many dramas that Menander, with one of the Muses or one of the Graces, wrote.
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§ 9.514 Anonymous I am the god who is always chanted in the chambers of brides, and Menis, the comic actor, polished me well for the wedding of newly-married Procilla, and sent me with this prayer: “Go, Hymenaeus, in friendly wise, to both bride and bridegroom.”
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§ 9.515 Anonymous The Graces are three, and thou art one born for these three, that the Graces may have a Grace.
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§ 9.516 CRINAGORAS “Let every man ply his own trade,” indeed. Under the high Alps the shock-headed robbers, when they have a job in hand, thus avoid the watch- dogs. They grease themselves thickly with kidney-fat to deceive the dogs' keen scent. It is more ready in devising evil than good, the Ligurian mind.
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§ 9.517 ANTIPATER OF THESSALONICA Orpheus charmed beasts and thou charmest Orpheus. Phoebus vanquished the Phrygian, but he yields to thee when thou playest, Glaphyrus — the name suits both thy art and thy person. Athena would never have thrown the flute away had she made such music as thou, master of varied delight. Sleep himself, lying in Pasithea's arms, would awake if he heard thee.
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§ 9.518 ALCAEUS OF MESSENE Heighten thy walls, Olympian Zeus; all is accessible to Philip: shut the brazen gates of the gods. Earth and sea lie vanquished under Philip's sceptre: there remains the road to Olympus.
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§ 9.519 ALCAEUS OF MESSENE (Addressed to King Philip, son of Demetrius ) I drink, Bacchus, I drink; yes, deeper than the Cyclops drunk when he had filled his belly with the flesh of men; would I could dash out the brains of my foe and drain Philip's skull to the dregs, Philip who tastes of the blood of his friends as he carouses, pouring poison into the wine.
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§ 9.520 Anonymous on Alcaeus (probably by his enemy King Philip ) This is the tomb of Alcaeus who was killed by the broad-leaved daughter of earth, the radish, punisher of adulterers.
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§ 9.521 Anonymous The Muses to Sappho No little fame, Sappho, did Fate grant thee on the day thou didst first see the sun. For we consented that thy utterances should be immortal, and the Father of all, the Thunderer, approved. All men shall sing thee, and thou shalt not lack glorious report.
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§ 9.522 Anonymous Iliad, thou great work, and Odyssey, chaste poem, that hast made Ithaca Troy's equal, make me, the old man, grow in eternal youth; for from your lips Hows the Siren song of Homer.
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§ 9.523 Anonymous Calliope, eloquent goddess of Helicon the pasture of bees, bear me a second Homer, since a second Achilles has come.
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§ 9.524 Anonymous A Hymn to Dionysus (containing his Epithets in alphabetical Order) Let us chant the king who loves the call of Euhoe, the King Eiraphiotes, Tender-haired, rustic, much besung, fair of form, Boeotian, Bromius, reveller, with vine-leaves in his hair, Merry, productive, slayer of giants, the laugher, Son of Zeus, twice-born, son of the Dithyramb, Dionysus, Euius, with lovely locks, rich in vines, awaker of revels. Jealous, very wrathful, envious, bestower of envy, Gentle, sweet drinker, sweet-voiced, cozener, Thracian, thyrsus-bearing, boon-companion, lionhearted, Slayer of Indians, desirable, twiner of violets, hierophant, Reveller, horned, ivy-crowned, noisy, Lydian, lord of the wine-press, dispeller of care, Healer of sorrow, mystic, frenzied, giver of wine, thousand-shaped, God of the night, shepherd-god, fawn-like, clothed in fawn-skin, Spear-thrower, common to all, giver of guests, yellowhaired, Prone to anger, stout of heart, lover of the mountain shade, wanderer on the mountains, Deep drinker, wanderer, wearer of many garlands, constant reveller, Mind-breaker, slender, wrinkled, clad in sheep -skin, Leaper, satyr, son of Semele, Jovial, bull -faced, slayer of Tyrrhenians, swift to wrath, Chaser of sleep, liquid, hymeneal, dweller in the woods, Mad for wild beasts, terrible, laughter-loving, wanderer, Golden-horned, graceful, relaxer of the mind, goldenfilleted, Disturber of the soul, liar, bent on noise, tearer of the soul, Seasonable, eater of raw flesh, nurtured on the mountains, making clamour on the mountains. Let us chant the King who loves the call of Euhoe, the King Eiraphiotes.
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§ 9.525 Anonymous A similar Hymn to Apollo Let us hymn Paean the great god, Apollo; Immortal, gloriously formed, unshorn, soft-haired, Stern-hearted, king, delighting in arrows, giver of life, Joyous, laughing, slayer of giants, sweet-hearted, Son of Zeus, slayer of the dragon, lover of the laurel, Sweet of speech, of ample might, far-shooter, giver of hope, Creator of animals, divine, Jove -minded, giver of zeal, Mild, sweet-spoken, sweet-hearted, gentle-handed, Slayer of beasts, blooming, charmer of the spirit, soft speaking, Shooter of arrows, desirable, healer, charioteer, Weaver of the world, Clarian, strong-hearted, father of fruits, Son of Leto, pleasant, delighting in the lyre, resplendent, Lord of the mysteries, prophet, magnanimous, thousand-shaped, Lover of the bow-string, wise, stiller of grief, sober, Lover of community, common to all, taking thought for all, benefactor of all, Blessed, making blessed, Olympian, dweller on the hills, Gentle, all-seeing, sorrowless, giver of wealth, Saviour from trouble, rose-coloured, man-breaker, path-opener, Glittering, wise, father of light, saviour, Delighting in the dance, Titan, initiator, revered, Chanter of hymns, highest, stately, of the height, Phoebus, purifier, lover of garlands, cheerer of the spirit, Utterer of oracles, golden, golden-complexioned, golden-arrowed, Lover of the lyre, harper, hater of lies, giver of the soul, Swift-footed, swift-voiced, swift of vision, giver of seasons. Let us hymn Paean the great god, Apollo.
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§ 9.526 ALPHEIUS OF MYTILENE Shut, O god, the tireless gates of great Olympus; keep, O Zeus, the holy castle of heaven. Already sea and earth are subdued by the Roman arms, but the path to heaven is still untrodden.
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§ 9.527 ORACLE FROM HERODOTUS Lion, with long-suffering heart, bear the unbearable. No evil man shall escape punishment.
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§ 9.528 PALLADAS On the House of Manna: The inhabitants of Olympus, having become Christians, live here undisturbed; for here they shall not be put on the fire in the melting-pot that produces necessary small change.
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§ 9.529 Anonymous on the Bed of a Harlot made of Laurel I who fled the bed of one, am made a bed for many.
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§ 9.530 Anonymous on an Unworthy Magistrate Fortune did not willingly give you advancement, but to show that her omnipotence reaches even as low as you.
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§ 9.531 Anonymous on the Isaurians They run equal to the winds; hence their name.
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§ 9.532 Anonymous To a Pumpkin Tell me, pumpkin, why even so late as this the watery tribe of cucumbers and pumpkins has not appeared. The Pumpkin's Reply Zeus rained heavily and flooded the fields, which still hide our race against our will.
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§ 9.533 Anonymous on a Beast-fighter who escaped by means of a Pole A man fixed a pole on the ground, and throwing himself into the air made a somersault, and with his nimble feet passed over the back of the beast that was rushing at him. It failed to catch him; the people applauded loudly and the man escaped.
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§ 9.534 Anonymous on Artemis Artemis, sweating, forbodes war.
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§ 9.535 Anonymous Dionysus glories in ivy, Zeus in the aegis, the inhabitants of this city in their hospitality, and the city in her inhabitants.
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§ 9.536 Anonymous on the River Alpheius Water in the sea travelled through water without getting wet.
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§ 9.537 NESTOR OF NICAEA Why did you make a disturbance and stop my song? A rider has learnt how to ride, and a singer how to sing. But if one who has learnt riding wants to sing, he is a failure in both riding and singing.
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§ 9.538 Anonymous These Nonsense Verses each contain all the Letters of the Alphabet.
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§ 9.540 Anonymous Do not rapidly unfold to the end of the roll the book of Heraclitus the Ephesian. The path is very difficult, and all is mist and unilluminated darkness; but if one initiated introduce you, it is clearer than the bright sun.
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§ 9.541 ANTIPATER OF THESSALONICA Theogenes sends to Piso the skilfully wrought bowls, and both of us together contain the heavens. We are both carved out of a sphere, and one of us contains the southern constellations, the other the northern. No longer consult Aratus, for if you empty us both you see all the Phaenomena.
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§ 9.542 CRINAGORAS Never fear, Philonides; write a piece composed for four parts or even more; for neither your singing nor the motions of Bathyllus' hands shall be lacking in grace.
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§ 9.543 PHILIPPUS The well-mounted troupe of bull -fighters from Thessaly, armed against the beasts with no weapons but their hands, spur their horses to run alongside the galloping bull, bent on throwing round its neck the noose of their arms. At the same time pulling it towards the ground by thus hanging themselves at the end of its neck and weighing down its head, they roll over even such a powerful brute.
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§ 9.544 ADDAEUS On a Figure of Galeae cut by Tryphon: Tryphon coaxed me, the Indian beryl, to be Galene, the goddess of Calm, and with his soft hands let down my hair. Look at my lips smoothing the liquid sea, and my breasts with which I charm the windless waves. Did the envious stone but consent, you would soon see me swimming, as I am longing to do.
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§ 9.545 CRINAGORAS With a copy of Callimachus' Hecale This chiselled poem is Callimachus', for in it he let out every reef of his Muse. He sings the hut of hospitable Hecale, and all the labours that Marathon imposed on Theseus. May the young strength of Theseus' hands be thine, Marcellus, and a life of equal renown.
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§ 9.546 ANTIPHILUS Once in a way let my couch be on the ship's poop, the weather-cloths above sounding with the blows of the spray, the fire breaking out from the stones, and the pot upon them bubbling with empty noise. Let my eyes be on the unwashed cabin boy, and let my table be the first plank of the deck that offers; and a game of “Give and take” and the gossip of the sailors. The other day this happened to me, who love to be at hail fellow all round.
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§ 9.547 Similar to Nos. 538, 539
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§ 9.548 BIANOR Ye children of the ox, how wrong of you to kill Hermonax, the straying baby boy. The poor child, in the innocence of his heart, went to you thinking you were bees, and you proved worse than vipers. Instead of giving him a dainty feast you drove your murderous stings into him, bitter bees, contrary in nature to your sweet gifts.
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§ 9.549 ANTIPHILUS A. Ye streams of the fountain, why have ye fled? Where is all that water gone? What fiery sun has extinguished the ever-running spring? B. We are exhausted by tears for Agricola; his thirsty dust has absorbed all the drink we had to give.
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§ 9.550 ANTIPATER OF THESSALONICA I say not, Tenos, that thou art not famous, for of old the winged sons of Boreas got thee renown. But Ortygia was celebrated too, and her name reached to the Rhipaean Hyperboreans. But now thou livest and she is dead. Who would have expected to see Delos more desert than Tenos?
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§ 9.551 ANTIPHILUS Calchedon hates and punishes the ill-omened heron. Phoebus will tell for what reason it is always called the traitor-bird. When in the shallow sea standing on its thin shanks it was picking up its food from the sand, then the foemen crossed to the city from opposite, learning at length to pass over the sea on foot. Stone the wicked bird, for it got from the enemy a heavy reward — conchs and seaweed, the traitor.
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§ 9.552 ANTIPATER OF THESSALONICA A sword made of Macedonian steel and taught valiance by the hand of Alexander, I come, Piso, longing for thy hand, and thus I greet thee: “I rejoice to find the right hand for which fate reserved me.”
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§ 9.553 PHILIPPUS (?) On the Foundation of Nicopolis by Augustus To replace Leucas, and fertile Ambracia, and Thyrreum, and Anactorium, and Amphilochian Argos, and all the surrounding cities that the furious onslaught of war destroyed, Caesar founded me, Nicopolis, a divine city. Phoebus receives this reward for the victory of Actium.
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§ 9.554 MARCUS ARGENTARIUS Calling secretly, Heraclea, you draw it to your lips. Long now all the town says it of you. How do you venture to do such a shameful thing? Did anyone catch you by your beautiful hair and force you to it? Or is it because your pretty name is derived from Heracles that in your depravity you choose to kiss his wife Hebe.
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§ 9.555 CRINAGORAS On the Island of Sybota I am an island, small, seven stadia long, though the geographers neglected (?) to measure me; but still you will see that when I am ploughed I give birth to fat crops, and that I am rich in every kind of fruit, and have plenty of fish to catch, and cool breezes in the dog -days, and the gentleness of unruffled harbours. I am near Phaeacian Corcyra. So that I might be made fun of, I took this name [swineherd] of which I am highly proud.
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§ 9.556 ZONAS Pan is the Speaker Nereids, Nymphs of the shore, you saw Daphnis yesterday, when he washed off the dust that lay like down on his skin; when, burnt by the dog star, he rushed into your waters, the apples of his cheeks faintly reddened. Tell me, was he beautiful? Or am I a goat, not only lame in my legs but in my heart too?
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§ 9.557 ANTIPATER OF THESSALONICA Tarsus, Cilician city, the runner Aries, son of Menecles, does not disgrace even Perseus, thy founder. Such are the boy's winged feet that not even Perseus would have shown him his back in the race. The youth is seen only at the start and the finish, never in the middle of the course.
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§ 9.558 ERYCIUS Cleson's billy- goat through the livelong night kept the she- goats awake with his snorting and jumping, for he had caught from afar the scent of a goatslaying wolf that was approaching the fold built on the cliff. At length the dogs awakened from their bed, frightened away the huge beast, and sleep closed the eyes of the goats.
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§ 9.559 CRINAGORAS I am getting ready to sail to Italy, for I am on my way to my friends from whom I have been absent for so long. I am in search of a navigator to conduct me and bring me to the Cyclades and ancient Corcyra. But I beg for your help too, my friend Menippus, author of the learned circular tour and versed in all geography.
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§ 9.560 CRINAGORAS Earthquake, most dread of all shocks, whether thou art aroused by the upshaken currents of the sea or of the winds, spare my new-built house, for I know not yet any terror to equal the quivering of the earth.
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§ 9.561 PHILIPPUS What desert, sunless hill of Northern Scythia nourished thee, wild vine? Or was it the eternal ice of the snowy Celtic Alps or the iron-bearing soil of Spain — thee, who didst bear the sour grapes, the unripened clusters — that yielded this harsh juice? I seek for thy hands, Lycurgus, to tear up by the roots the whole plant of that vine, the mother of crude fruit.
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§ 9.562 CRINAGORAS The parrot that talks with human voice, taking leave of his wicker cage, flew to the woods on his many-coloured wings, and ever assiduous in greeting famous Caesar, did not forget that name even in the mountains. All the birds, sharpening their wits to learn, strove among each other which should be the first to say “Chaire” to the god. Orpheus made the beasts obey him in the hills, and now every bird tunes its voice for thee, Caesar, unbidden.
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§ 9.563 LEONIDAS If thou findest anywhere Democritus the lover of fruit, give him, Sir, this light message: that this is my season, the white-fruited fig-tree, and I bear for him the bread that wants no baking. Let him make haste, for my position is not secure, if he would pluck the fruit from my branches before they are stoned.
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§ 9.564 NICIAS Bee, that revealest the presence of many-coloured spring in her delightful bloom; yellow bee, revelling in the prime of the flowers; fly to the sweetlyscented field and busy thyself with thy work, that thy waxen chambers may be filled.
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§ 9.565 CALLIMACHUS Theaetetus walked in an untrodden road, and if this path does not lead, Bacchus, to thy ivy, the heralds shall call the names of others for a brief season, but Hellas shall proclaim his wisdom for ever.
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§ 9.566 CALLIMACHUS A successful poet, Dionysus, is a man of few words. The most he says is “I conquer.” But he whom thy auspicious gale favours not, if he be asked “What luck?” says “Things go hard with me.” Let such phrases be his who broods on fancied injustice. But mine, O Lord, be the few syllables.
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§ 9.567 ANTIPATER OF SIDON (?) Antiodemis, the nursling of Aphrodite, who from her babyhood slept on purple cloth, the glance of whose melting eyes is softer than sleep, the halcyon of Lysis, the delightful toy of Methe, whose arms flow like water, who alone among women has no bones at all (for she was all cream-cheese), has crossed to Italy, that by her softening charm she may make Rome cease from war and lay down the sword.
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§ 9.568 DIOSCORIDES Nile, rising in vast volume, thou hast carried away in thy random course the farm of Aristagoras and all his possessions. But the old man himself, abandoning all hope, swam, clinging to a clod of his own land, to his neighbour's half-destroyed farm, saying: “O long toil and useless work of my aged arms, ye are all become water, and this wave so sweet to farmers was the bitterest of floods for Aristagoras.”
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§ 9.569 EMPEDOCLES (From his book “On Nature ”) I have been a boy and a girl, a shrub, a bird, and a warm-blooded fish of the sea. (From his “Purifications ”) Hail! my friends who dwell in the citadel of the great city, yellow Agrigentum, observers of righteousness. Know that I, no longer a mortal, but an immortal god, sojourn here honoured by all as is meet, crowned with fillets and flowery garlands.
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§ 9.570 PHILODEMUS Xantho, modelled of wax, with scented skin, with a face like a Muse's, sweet-voiced, fair darling of the twin-winged Loves, play to me with thy scentbedewed hands. “I must lie and sleep for long, dying not, on a single bed cut out of stone.” Sing it to me again, Xantho dear; yea! yea! sing me that sweet song. [Dost thou not hear it, man who amassest interest of moneys? On a single bed cut out of stone thou shalt live for ever, unhappy wretch.]
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§ 9.571 Anonymous on the Nine Lyric Poets Pindar screamed loud from Thebes, the Muse of Simonides breathed delight with her sweet-strained voice, Stesichorus and Ibycus shine, Alcman was sweet, and Bacchylides' lips uttered dainty song, Persuasion attended on Anacreon, Lesbian Alcaeus sings varied strains on the Aeolian... But Sappho was not the ninth among men, but is tenth in the list of the lovely Muses.
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§ 9.572 LUCILIUS “Let us begin our song from the Heliconian Muses ”; so Hesiod wrote, they say, while he kept his sheep. “Sing, O goddess, the wrath,” and “Tell me, Muse, the man,” said Calliope by the mouth of Homer. Now I have got to write a proem of some sort. But what shall I write now I am beginning to publish this second book? " Olympiades Muses, daughters of Zeus, I should not have been saved unless Nero Caesar had given me money."
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§ 9.573 AMMIANUS Sit not, O man, at another's table indulging thy belly with the bread of reproach, now weeping with the weeper and the sour-countenanced, and now laughing with the laugher, sharing both laughter and tears when thou hast no need of either.
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§ 9.574 Anonymous I, too, thrice unhappy Anaxis, carted along the burden of this weary life that is no life. Yet I did not pull it for long, but spurning from me this distraught life I went to Hades.
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§ 9.575 PHILIPPUS Heaven shall sooner quench its stars and the sun make bright the face of night; the sea shall sooner provide sweet water for mortals to draw, and the dead return to the land of the living, than oblivion of those ancient pages shall rob us of the glorious name of Homer.
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§ 9.576 NICARCHUS On a Statue of Athena holding an Apple. Aphrodite speaks Trito -born maiden, why dost thou vex me now by grasping in thy hand my prize of which thou hast robbed me. Thou rememberest how formerly, amid the rocks of Ida, Paris pronounced me fairest, not thee. Thine are the spear and shield, but mine is the apple. For the apple that old war was surely enough.
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§ 9.577 PTOLEMAEUS I know that I am mortal, a creature of a day; but when I search into the multitudinous revolving spirals of the stars my feet no longer rest on the earth, but, standing by Zeus himself, I take my fill of ambrosia, the food of the gods.
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§ 9.578 LEON THE PHILOSOPHER On the Conic Sections of Apollonius Deep, reader, and exceeding hard is the character of the things wherewith this book is big, and it has every need of a Delian diver. But if one dive into its depths and investigate accurately every recess, he shall gain the first prize in geometry, and be pronounced indisputably a learned man. Plato is witness and security for this.
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§ 9.579 LEON THE PHILOSOPHER Look, Corinthian founder of Sicily, who once didst drink the famous waters of Syracusan Arethusa, upon the herald's staff as shaped by men of old time.
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§ 9.580 Anonymous on the Roman Months The consuls' month is first, the second cuts the furrow, the third rouses the Italians to war, the fourth announces the rosy-fingered season of spring. I, May, am the mother of roses. I, June, bring white lilies. This, July, is the binder of sheaves. August's wings make the Nile rise. This, September, is dear to Bacchus, rich in grapes. I, October, make honeyed wine, a delight for men. I, November, bring a joyful banquet to every man. I, December, teach men to play on the lyre and to awaken sleepers.
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§ 9.581 Anonymous on a Beast-fight in the Theatre (The words are put in the mouth of the Emperor) Bowman, lord of the Muses, far-shooter Phoebus, tell thy sister to arouse the mighty beasts just enough for them to touch men's bodies lightly and make the people cry out for pleasure in holy tones. Let me not, who sit on the throne of Jove the Merciful, look upon a man's death.
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§ 9.582 Anonymous These Armenian tribes and the doughty Iberian people, full of zeal for Christ, came willingly under the yoke, submitting themselves to the law of our invincible emperors.
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§ 9.583 Anonymous on Thucydides My friend, if thou art learned, take me in thy hand; but if thou art ignorant of the Muses, cast away what thou canst not understand. I am not accessible to all, but the few admire Thucydides, son of Olorus, by birth an Athenian.
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§ 9.584 Anonymous on the Statue at Delphi of Eunomus the Lyre-player Thou knowest, Apollo, how I, Eunomus the Locrian, conquered Spartis, but I tell it for those who ask me. I was playing on the lyre an elaborate piece, and in the middle of it my plectron loosened one chord, and when the time came to strike the note I was ready to play, it did not convey the correct sound to the ear. Then of its own accord a cicada perched on the bridge of the lyre and supplied the deficiency of the harmony. I had struck six chords, and when I required the seventh I borrowed this cicada's voice; for the midday songster of the hillside adapted to my performance that pastoral air of his, and when he shrilled he combined with the lifeless chords to change the value of the phrase. Therefore I owe a debt of thanks to my partner in the duet, and wrought in bronze he sits on my lyre.
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§ 9.585 Anonymous on a Disk with a Relief of Venus and Loves Here are four Loves. One fits the garland to his mother's brows, one has his lips at her bosom's fountain, two play at her feet, and the robe covers the place that is next to the thighs of Aphrodite, otherwise wholly undraped.
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§ 9.586 COMETAS CHARTULARIUS A. Tell me, shepherd, whose are these rows of plants? B. The olive-trees belong to Pallas and the vines round them to Dionysus. A. And whose is the corn? B. Demeter's. A. To what gods do the flowers belong? B. To Hera and rosy Aphrodite. A. Dear Pan, stay here and ply the pipe with thy lips, for thou shalt find Echo on this sunny slope.
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§ 9.587 EUTOLMIUS ILLUSTRIUS On a Vessel for pouring Hot Water or Wine I stand between Bacchus and the Nymphs, and ever pour into the cups that of which there is too little.
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§ 9.588 ALCAEUS Even as thou seest, stranger, his stout heart in the bronze image, so Hellas saw the might of Clitomachus. For when he had put off the blood-stained cestus from his hands, he straightway fought in the fierce pancratium. In the third event he fouled not his shoulders in the dust, but wrestling without a fall won the three contests at Isthmus. Alone among the Greeks he gained this honour, and seven-gated Thebes and his father Hermocrates were crowned.
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§ 9.589 Anonymous on a Statue of Hera suckling Heracles A true stepmother did the sculptor render. Therefore he added no milk to the breast that was not kindred.
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§ 9.590 Anonymous on a Group of Hephaestus, Athena, and Erechtheus “Art united that which Nature did not,” said the sculptor. “O mother without birth and bridegroom without marriage'”
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§ 9.591 Anonymous on a Group of Ares and Aphrodite The painter in the interior of the house painted Ares and Aphrodite embracing each other. The bright Sun, coming in through the window, stood in astonishment as he gazed on them both. Till when shall the heavy wrath of the Sun endure? He would not banish his anger though it fell only on lifeless wax.
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§ 9.592 Anonymous on a Shield representing the Birth of Christ How simple was the artist to engrave the birth of the Prince of Peace on a shield!
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§ 9.593 Anonymous on a Statue of Medea The inspired hand infused into the marble both pity and fury, and made the stone Medea, under the empire of his art, remember all her griefs.
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§ 9.594 Anonymous on a Picture of Socrates Painter, who hast reproduced the form of Socrates, would thou couldst have put his soul into the wax!
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§ 9.595 Anonymous on a Picture of Apelles Apelles painted himself in the picture.
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§ 9.596 Anonymous on a Picture of Chilon, glorious in war, gave birth to this Chilon, who was first in wisdom of the seven sages.
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§ 9.597 COMETAS SCHOLASTICUS In Anazarba of Cilicia I was paralyzed from the hips to the soles of my feet, long deprived of my former activity, half-way between life and death, near to Hades, breathing only, otherwise an utter corpse. But skilled Philippus, whom you see in the picture, saved me, healing my chilling sickness; and now I, Antoninus, again tread on the earth and walk with my feet, and have feeling in every part.
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§ 9.598 THEOCRITUS This man, Pisander of Camirus, first among the poets of old time, wrote of the son of Zeus, the lionfighter, the nimble-handed, and told of all the labours he accomplished. Know that the city, after many months and years, set his very self up here in bronze.
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§ 9.599 THEOCRITUS Look well on this statue, stranger, and tell on thy return home: “I saw in Teos the statue of Anacreon, a song-writer most excellent of those of old.” And adding that he took delight in young men, thou shalt exactly describe the whole man.
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§ 9.600 THEOCRITUS Doric is my tongue and Doric this man who invented comedy, Epicharmus. Bacchus, to thee as to a citizen, did they who dwell in Syracuse, mightiest of cities, dedicate him in bronze. Belike, mindful of his wise sayings, they paid him this guerdon. For many things useful for life he said to its children. Great thanks to him!
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§ 9.601 Anonymous This passing fair statue did Aeximenes erect to Aphrodite, the protectress of all navigation. Hail, sovereign Cypris! and if thou givest gain and welcome wealth thou shalt learn that a ship is most ready to go shares.
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§ 9.602 EVENUS OF ATHENS I who once supplicated Cypris with my maiden hands and, waving torches, prayed for marriage, after I had loosed my nuptial dress in the bridal chamber, suddenly saw spring from my thighs the marks of manhood. Now I am called a bridegroom instead of a bride, and crown the altars of Ares and Heracles instead of those of Aphrodite. Thebes once told of Tiresias, and now Chalcis greets in a chlamys her who formerly wore the snood.

Via ToposText (topostext.org), a project of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation created by Brady Kiesling. Translated by William Roger Paton (1857-1921). Composed ca. 900 CE. Licence: public domain. Source.