Plutarch's Morals
relax her show of grief, but to keep up the farce. And she did so with
the genius of a professional actress, but yearning to see her husband
she visited him by night, and returned without being noticed, and for
six or seven months she lived with him this underground life. And she
disguised him by changing his dress, and cutting off his beard, and
re-arranging his hair, so that he should not be known, and took him to
Rome, having some hopes of obtaining his pardon. But being unsuccessful
in this she returned to her own country, and spent most of her time with
her husband underground, but from time to time visited the town, and
showed herself to some ladies who were her friends and relations. But
what is most astonishing of all is that, though she bathed with them,
she concealed her pregnancy from them. For the dye which women use to
make their hair a golden auburn, has a tendency to produce corpulence
and flesh and a full habit, and she rubbed this abundantly over all
parts of her body, and so concealed her pregnancy. And she bare the
pangs of travail by herself, as a lioness bears her whelps, having hid
herself in the cave with her husband, and there she gave birth to two
boys, one of whom died in Egypt, the other, whose name was Sabinus, was
among us only the other day at Delphi. Vespasian eventually put her to
death, but paid the penalty for it, his whole progeny in a short time
being wiped off the face of the earth.[152] For during the whole of his
reign he did no more savage act, nor could gods or demons have turned
away their eyes from a crueller sight. And yet her courage and bold
language abated the pity of the spectators, though it exasperated
Vespasian, for, despairing of her safety, she bade them go and tell the
Emperor, 'that it was sweeter to live in darkness and underground than
to wear his crown.'"[153]
Sec. XXVI. Here my father said that the conversation about Love which took
place at Thespiae ended. And at this moment Diogenes, one of Pisias'
companions, was noticed coming up at a faster pace than walking. And
while he was yet a little way off, Soclarus hailed him with, "You don't
announce war, Diogenes," and he replied, "Hush! it is a marriage; come
with me quickly, for the sacrifice only waits for you." All were
delighted, and Zeuxippus asked if Pisias was still against the marriage.
"As he was first to oppose it," said Diogenes, "so he was first to yield
the victory to Ismenodora, and he has now put on a crown and robed
himself in white, so as to take his place at the head of the procession
to the god through the market-place." "Come," said my father, "in
Heaven's name, let us go and laugh at him, and worship the god; for it
is clear that the god has taken delight in what has happened, and been
propitious."
[62] The allusion is to Plato's "Phaedrus," p. 230, B.
Much, indeed, of the subject-matter here is, we shall
find, somewhat similar to that of the Phaedrus.
[63] It is difficult to know what the best English word
here is. From the sly thrust in Sec. ix. Pisias was
evidently grey. I have therefore selected the word
_gravest_. But _the most austere_, _the most sensible_,
_the most solid_, _the most sedate_, all might express
the Greek word also. Let the reader take which he likes
best.
[64] In a Greek house the women and men had each their
own separate apartments. This must be borne in mind here
to explain the allusion.
[65] That is, from interested and selfish motives.
[66] On Lais and Aristippus see Cicero, "Ad. Fam.," ix.
26.
[67] Pausanias, i. 19, shows us that there was at Athens
a Temple of Hercules called Cynosarges. But the matter
is obscure. What the exact allusion is I cannot say.
[68] Fragment of AEschylus. See Athenaeus, xiii. p. 602,
E, which explains the otherwise obscure allusion.
[69] That is the son of Hera alone, who was unwilling to
be outdone by Zeus, who had given birth to Pallas Athene
alone. Hesiod has the same view, "Theog." 927.
[70] [Greek: opora] is so used also in AEsch. "Suppl.,"
998, 1015. See also "Athenaeus," 608, F. Daphnaeus implies
these very nice gentlemen, like the same class described
by Juvenal, "Curios simulant et Bacchanalia vivunt."
[71] I omit [Greek: kai kopidas] as a gloss or
explanation of the old reading [Greek: makeleia] instead
of [Greek: matruleia]. Nothing can be made of [Greek:
kai kopidas] in the context.
[72] "Works and Days," 606-608.
[73] I follow here the reading of Wyttenbach. Through
the whole of this essay the reading is very uncertain
frequently. My text in it has been formed from a careful
collation of Wyttenbach, Reiske, and Duebner. I mention
this here once for all, for it is unnecessary in a
translation to minutely specify the various readings on
every occasion. I am not editing the "Moralia."
[74] "De Oenantha et Agathoclea, v. Polyb. excerpt, l.
xv."--_Reiske._
[75] Thespiae. The allusion is to Phryne. See Pausanias,
ix. 27; x. 15.
[76] Reading with Wyttenbach, [Greek: hosper daktylion
ischnou, ho me perirrhue dedios.]
[77] Perhaps _cur_ = coward, was originally _cur-tail_.
[78] One of the three ports at Athens. See Pausanias, i.
1.
[79] Iolaus was the nephew of Hercules, and was
associated with him in many of his Labours. See
Pausanias, i. 19; vii. 2; viii. 14, 45.
[80] I read [Greek: synoarizontas]. The general reading
[Greek: synerontas] will hardly do here. Wyttenbach
suggests [Greek: synearizontas].
[81] What the [Greek: dibolia] was is not quite clear. I
have supposed a jersey.
[82] The women of Lemnos were very masterful. On one
memorable occasion they killed all their husbands in one
night. Thus the line of Ovid has almost a proverbial
force, "Lemniadesque viros nimium quoque vincere
norunt."--_Heroides_, vi. 53. Siebelis in his Preface to
Pausanias, p. xxi, gives from an old Scholia a sort of
excuse for the action of the women of Lemnos.
[83] Probably the epilepsy. See Herodotus, iii. 33.
[84] Euripides, "Bacchae," 203.
[85] Euripides, Fragment of the "Melanippe."
[86] I take Wyttenbach's suggestion as to the reading
here.
[87] This line is taken bodily by Aristophanes in his
"Frogs," 1244.
[88] The first line is the first line of a passage from
Euripides, consisting of thirteen lines, containing
similar sentiments to this. See Athenaeus, xiii. p. 599,
F. The last two lines are from Euripides, "Hippolytus,"
449, 450.
[89] Compare Lucretius, i. 1-5.
[90] Hesiod, "Theogony," 116-120.
[91] Euripides, "Danae," Frag. Compare Ovid, "Cedit amor
rebus: res age, tutus eris."
[92] Sophocles, Fragm. 678, Dindorf. Compare a remark of
Sophocles, recorded by Cicero, "De Senectute," ch. xiv.
[93] Sophocles, Fragm. 720. Reading [Greek: kala] with
Reiske.
[94] Iliad, v. 831.
[95] Connecting [Greek: Ares] with [Greek: anairein].
[96] The _Saint Hubert_ of the Middle Ages.
[97] AEschylus, Frag. 1911. Dindorf.
[98] Odyssey, v. 69.
[99] Fragm. 146, 125.
[100] Hermes is alluded to.
[101] All these four were titles of _Zeus_. They are
very difficult to put into English so as to convey any
distinctive and definite idea to an English reader.
[102] Enthusiasm is the being [Greek: entheos], or
inspired by some god.
[103] From AEschylus, "Supplices," 681, 682.
[104] "Iliad," vii. 121, 122.
[105] Like the character described in Lucretius, ii.
1-6.
[106] Sophocles, "Trachiniae," 497. The Cyprian Queen
is, of course, Aphrodite.
[107] Hence the famous Proverb, "Non omnibus dormio."
See Cic. "Ad. Fam." vii. 24.
[108] Above, in Sec. xiii.
[109] See Sophocles, "Antigone," 783, 784. And compare
Horace, "Odes," Book iv. Ode xiii. 6-8, "Ille virentis
et Doctae psallere Chiae _Pulchris excubat in genis_."
[110] The "Niobe," which exists only in a few fragments.
[111] This was the name of Dionysius' Poem. He was a
Corinthian poet.
[112] "Iliad," xiii. 131.
[113] Reading according to the conjecture of Wyttenbach,
[Greek: hos ton Erota uonon aetteton onta ton
strategon].
[114] Something has probably dropped out here, as Duebner
suspects.
[115] Fragment from the "Stheneboea" of Euripides.
[116] Anytus was one of the accusers of Socrates, and so
one of the causers of his death. So Horace calls
Socrates "Anyti reum," "Sat." ii. 4, 3.
[117] Homeric Epigrammata, xiii. 5. Quoted also in "On
Virtue and Vice," Sec. 1.
[118] Odyssey, xix. 40.
[119] I adopt the suggestion of Wyttenbach, [Greek:
eipen, o Daphnaie].
[120] Pinder, "Pyth." i. 8.
[121] See for example Homer, Iliad, xi. 3, 73; ix. 502.
[122] Euripides, "Pirithous," Fragm. 591. Dindorf.
[123] An allusion to Homer, "Odyssey," xii. 453.
[124] So Terence, "Andria," 555. "Amantium irae amoris
integratiost."
[125] Euripides, "Hippolytus," 194-196.
[126] The lines are from Alcaeus. Thus Love was the child
of the Rainbow and the West Wind. A pretty conceit.
[127] Greek _iris_.
[128] The mirrors of the ancients were of course not
like our mirrors. They were only burnished bronze. Hence
the view in them would be at best somewhat obscure. This
explains 1 Cor. xiii. 12; 2 Cor. iii. 18; James i. 23.
[129] See Euripides, "Hippolytus," 7, 8.
[130] Here the story unfortunately ends, and for all
time we shall know no more of it. Reiske somewhat
forcibly says, "Vel lippus videat Gorgus historiam non
esse finitam, et multa, ut et alias, periisse."
[131] Like Reiske we condense here a little.
[132] Reading with Reiske [Greek: orthes kai
athruptou.]
[133] I read [Greek: ei gar].
[134] See "Iliad," xxiii. 295. Podargus was an entire
horse.
[135] See Ovid, "Metamorph." iii. 206-208.
[136] AEschylus, "Toxotides," Fragm. 224.
[137] A very favourite proverb among the ancients. See
Plat. "Phaedr." fin. Martial, ii. 43.
[138] Soph. Fragm. 712.
[139] On Lais, see Pausanias, ii. 2. Her Thessalian
lover is there called Hippostratus. Her favours were so
costly that the famous proverb is said to owe its origin
to her, "Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum."
[140] The AEgean and Ionian. Cf. Horace, "Odes," i. 7, 2.
[141] On Acro-Corinthus, see Pausanias, ii. 4. The words
in inverted commas are from Euripides, Fragm. 921.
[142] On Lais generally, and her end, see Athenaeus,
xiii. 54, 55.
[143] See Sec. I. The Festival of Love was being kept at
this very time.
[144] This story is also told by Plutarch, "De Mulierum
Virtutibus," Sec. xx.
[145] Sophocles, Fragm. 741. Quoted again in "On
Abundance of Friends," Sec. iii.
[146] A Delphic word for love. Can it be connected with
[Greek: arma]?
[147] Very frequent in Homer, _e.g._, "Iliad," ii. 232;
vi, 165; xiii. 636: xiv. 353, etc.
[148] See Lucretius, iv. 1105-1114. I tone down the
original here a little.
[149] Homer, "Odyssey," vi. 183, 184. Cf. Eurip.
"Medea," 14, 15.
[150] This means when the moustache and beard and
whiskers begin to grow.
[151] The whole story about Harmodius and Aristogiton
and how they killed Hipparchus is told by Thucydides,
vi. 54-59. Bion therefore practically called these