in Italy and Italian books. And that which is most to be lamented, and therefore more needful to be looked to, there be more of these ungracious books set out in print within these few months than have been seen in England many score years before. And because our Englishmen made Italians cannot hurt but certain persons, and in certain places, therefore these Italian books are made English, to bring mischief enough openly and boldly to all states, great and mean, young and old, everywhere. From "The Schoolmaster.» ATHENÆUS (Third Century A. D.) HE "Deipnosophists," or Banquet of the Learned, of Athenæus, is a collection of essays in dialogue form, embodying a wealth of poetical quotations, some of them from authors whose works, except for such quotations, would have been wholly lost. It is for this that the work has been chiefly valued by scholars; but its entire freedom from the restraints of logical consecutiveness, the suddenness with which it changes the subject, and the great variety of familiar topics it discusses, gives it a charm of its own for those who love the curious rather than the elegant. Athenæus lived in the third century A. D., and it is believed that Alexandria was his birthplace. He lived also at Rome, but his "Deipnosophists" was composed in Greek and it is with Greek literature that he chiefly deals. Those who have made the count say that he quotes from "over 800 writers and 2,400 distinct writings." I WHAT MEN FIGHT ABOUT MOST Do not think that any of you are ignorant, my friends, that the greatest wars have taken place on account of women: the Trojan War on account of Helen; the plague which took place in it was on account of Chryseis; the anger of Achilles was excited about Briseis; and the war called the Sacred War, on account of another wife (as Duris relates in the second book of his "History"), who was a Theban by birth, by name Theano, and who was carried off by some Phocian. And this war also lasted ten years, and in the tenth year was brought to an end by the co-operation of Philip; for by his aid the Thebans took Phocis. The war, also, which is called the Crissæan War (as Callisthenes tells us in his account of the Sacred War), when the Crissæans made war upon the Phocians, lasted ten years; and it was excited on this account,- because the Crissæans carried off Megisto, the daughter of Pelagon the Phocian, and the daughters of the Argives, as they were returning from the Pythian temple; and in the tenth year Crissa was taken. And whole families also have been ruined owing to women; -for instance, that of Philip, the father of Alexander, was ruined on account of his marriage with Cleopatra; and Hercules was ruined by his marriage with Iole, the daughter of Eurytus; and Theseus on account of his marriage with Phaedra, the daughter of Minos; and Athamas on account of his marriage with Themisto, the daughter of Hypseus; and Jason on account of his marriage with Glauce, the daughter of Creon; and Agamemnon on account of Cassandra. And the expedition of Cambyses against Egypt (as Ctesias relates) took place on account of a woman; for Cambyses, having heard that Egyptian women were far more attractive than other women, sent to Amasis, the king of the Egyptians, asking for one of his daughters in marriage. But he did not give him one of his own daughters, thinking that she would not be honored as a wife, but only treated as a mistress; but he sent him Nitetis, the daughter of Apries. And Apries had been deposed from the sovereignty of Egypt, because of the defeats which had been received by him from the Cyreneans; and afterwards he had been put to death by Amasis. Accordingly, Cambyses, being much pleased with Nitetis, and being very violently in love with her, learned the whole circumstance of the case from her; and she entreated him to avenge the murder of Apries, and persuaded him to make war upon the Egyptians. But Dinon, in his "History of Persia," and Lynceas of Naucratis, in the third book of his "History of Egypt," say that it was Cyrus to whom Nitetis was sent by Amasis, and that she was the mother of Cambyses, who made this expedition against Egypt to avenge the wrongs of his mother and her family. But Duris the Samian says that the first war carried on by two women was that between Olympias and Eurydice; in which Olympias advanced something in the manner of a Bacchanalian, with drums beating; but Eurydice came forward armed like a Macedonian soldier, having been al ready accustomed to war and military habits at the court of Cynnane the Illyrian. Now, after this conversation, it seemed good to the philosophers who were present to say something themselves about love and about beauty; and so a great many philosophical sentiments were uttered; among which, some quoted some of the songs of the dramatic philosopher, Euripides,- some of which were these:"Love, who is Wisdom's pupil gay, To virtue often leads the way; And this great god Is of all others far the best for man; For with his gentle nod He bids them hope, and banishes all pain. May I be ne'er mixed up with those who scorn To own his power, and live forlorn, Cherishing habits all uncouth. I bid the youth Of my dear country ne'er to flee from Love, And some one else quoted from Pindar: "Let it be my fate always to love, And to obey Love's will in proper season." And some one else added the following lines from Euripides:— "But you, O mighty Love, of gods and men For having learnt of you the way to love." And Pontianus said that Zeno the Cittiæan thought that Love was the god of friendship and liberty, and also that he was the great author of concord among men, but that he had no other office. On which account, he says in his "Polity," that Love is a god, being one who co-operates in securing the safety of the city. And the philosophers, also, who preceded him considered Love a venerable Deity, removed from everything discreditable; and this is plain from their having set up holy statues in his honor in their gymnasia, along with those of Mercury and Hercules - the one of whom is the patron of eloquence, and the other of valor. And when these are united, friendship and unanimity are engendered; by means of which the most perfect liberty is secured to those who excel in these practices. But the Athenians were so far from thinking that love presided over the gratification of the mere sensual appetites, that, though the academy was manifestly consecrated to Minerva, they yet erected in that place also a statue of Love, and sacrificed to it. I am a great admirer of beauty myself. For in the contests (at Athens) for the prize of manliness, they select the handsomest and give them the post of honor to bear the sacred vessels at the festivals of the gods. And at Elis there is a contest as to beauty, and the conqueror has the vessels of the goddess given to him to carry; and the next handsomest has the ox to lead; and the third places the sacrificial cakes on the head of the victim. But Heraclides Lembus relates that in Sparta the handsomest man and the handsomest woman have special honors conferred on them; and Sparta is famous for producing the handsomest women in the world. On which account they tell a story of King Archidamus, that when one wife was offered to him who was very handsome, and another who was ugly but rich, and he chose the rich one, the ephori imposed a fine upon him, saying that he preferred begetting kinglings rather than kings for Spartans. And Euripides has said— "Her very mien is worthy of a kingdom." And in Homer the old men among the people marveling at the beauty of Helen are represented as speaking thus to one another: "They cried, 'No wonder such celestial charms From the "Deipnosophists.» |