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6 Erato to Terpsithea They say that golden Callicrates has painted your portrait; but I think the painting does not represent Terpsithea, but Helen of Sparta, yes, by the unerring pictures of Parrhasius. Therefore, you have wronged both art and nature, insulting the one, and deceiving the other; for you compelled the art of Parrhasius to lie and to embellish his panels with what does not belong to you, as if beautifying the faults of nature and showing its great lack of skill. But I am also an admirer of the painter—for he could not bear to be a painter of your ugliness—and I have marveled at the wisdom of nature for not entrusting beauty of body to a most wicked soul.

7 Sosipatros to Terpander There is a law for horses, as it seems to me, and a very wise one; for I praise their exceeding affection. But what is their law? Whenever they see a foal under its mother in need of a nurse and its own mother somewhere far away from its offspring, as sometimes happens, they do something noble; for they do not forget their own nature, and they cherish the abandoned one, not resenting it in any way, as if it were their own and legitimate offspring. And nature bids them think thus; for no law of Solon compelled them. I will divert my discourse to you. You overlook your nephew as he goes from door to door, clad in a most miserable worn cloak; your way of thinking is truly more irrational than the irrational beasts. You feed other men's dogs; for it is more fitting to call the flatterers around you so. For they will seem to be most loyal to you, as long as they revel in your possessions, O wretched man; but they will surely bark even at you, while still belching from yesterday's drunken stupor. For the nature of flatterers is both mindful of evil and forgetful of good. Cherish your nephew at last, Terpander; otherwise, you will have Providence as an unconquerable enemy, who has whetted her own sword with the tears of nature.

8 Daphnon to Myron For how long will you hollow out your little field and sip up the rainwater, O wretched man? Or perhaps you are contriving for my children to starve because of the drought? For your little field is flooded, while ours has forgotten even the nature of water. Let the clouds be asked, by the gods, if they release their water for Myron alone. An envious man is a great evil; but if he also happens to be a neighbor, the misfortune is inescapable and will scarcely cease even with death.

9 Eripe to Dexicrates You promised to return to us on the ninth of the waning month of Anthesterion, and you have broken your agreements, Dexicrates. But my senses have been burnt to a cinder by love and my breast is inflamed like a firebrand. And I cast off my tears day by day like drops of wine at kottabos and I dreamed of your return, and the sound of the doors always became for me a phantom of your presence. But you, Dexicrates, are diverting your love to another woman, and for you what is new is always more precious; for the souls of the idle are accustomed to be enslaved by the swiftest satiety. A faithless thing is desire and loves, and you yourself will one day be smitten; for the misfortunes of the wronged pass on to those who wrong them.

10 Hermagoras to Sosipatros I have heard that you lament your poverty in a very ignoble way and disparage wealth as being unequal among men, offering its possession as attainable to some, but hard to attain for others, as if nature begrudged men on this account. For if the splendors of the sun are equally for all men and an abundance of fire is most readily available to all and the streams of rivers, both torrents and ever-flowing, are easy for all to get, why then—you said—did nature dispose of gold for men in such a meticulously guarded way and assign a contentious gift to those under the moon, through which the greatest evils come upon men? But I pour broad laughter on your doctrines; for the very praise of nature you have made the subject

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6 Ἐρατὼ Τερψιθέᾳ Τὸν χρυσοῦν Καλλικράτην εἰκόνα σοι γεγραφέναι φασί· τὴν δὲ γραφὴν οὐ Τερψιθέαν οἶμαι δηλοῦν, ἀλλὰ τὴν Λάκαιναν Ἑλένην, ναὶ μὰ τοὺς ἀψευδεῖς Παρρασίου πίνακας. τοιγαροῦν καὶ τὴν τέχνην καὶ τὴν φύσιν ἠδίκησας, τὴν μὲν ἐνυβρίσασα, τὴν δὲ σοφισαμένη· ψεύσασθαι γὰρ τὴν Παρρασίου τέχνην ἠνάγκασας καὶ τὰ μὴ προσόντα σοι διαποικῖλαι τοῖς πίναξιν, ὥσπερ τὰ τῆς φύσεως καλλωπίζουσα σφάλματα καὶ πολλὴν ἐκείνης τὴν ἀτεχνίαν δεικνύουσα. ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ τοῦ γραφέως ἐπαινέτις εἰμί-οὐ γὰρ τῆς σῆς ἀμορφίας εἶναι ζωγράφος ἠνέσχετο-καὶ τῆς φύσεως τὴν σοφίαν τεθαύμακα κακίστῃ ψυχῇ σώματος εὐπρέπειαν μὴ πιστεύσασαν.

7 Σωσίπατρος Τερπάνδρῳ Νόμος ἐστὶ ταῖς ἵπποις, ὥς γέ μοι δοκεῖ, καὶ μάλα σοφός· ἐπαινῶ γὰρ ἐγὼ τὸ περὶ ταύτας λίαν φιλόστοργον. ἀλλὰ τίς ὁ νόμος αὐταῖς; τὴν ὑπομάζιον ἵππον ὅταν ἐνδεᾶ τῆς θρεψομένης θεάσοιντο καὶ πόρρω που τὴν τεκοῦσαν, οἷα συμβαίνει τινά, τοῦ γεννήματος, δρῶσί τι γεννικόν· οὐ γὰρ τῆς ἑαυτῶν ἐπιλανθάνονται φύσεως, καὶ περιθάλπουσι τὸ μονωθὲν κατ' οὐδὲν δυσχεραίνουσαι, ὥσπερ ἔκγονον προσεχές τε καὶ γνήσιον. καὶ φύσις μὲν ταύταις οὕτω φρονεῖν· οὐ γὰρ Σόλωνος νόμος ἠνάγκασε. μετοχετεύσω τὸν λόγον πρὸς σέ. τὸν ἀδελφιδοῦν ὑπερορᾷς θύραν ἐκ θύρας ἀμείβοντα, ἀθλιώτατον τριβώνιον ἀμπεχόμενον· τῶν ἀλόγων ὄντως ἀλογώτερόν σοι τὸ φρόνημα. κύνας ἀλλοτρίους σιτίζεις· οὕτω γὰρ τοὺς περὶ σὲ κόλακας εἰπεῖν οἰκειότερον. εὐνούστατοι γὰρ εἶναί σοι δόξουσι, μέχρις ὅτου τοῖς σοῖς ἐπεντρυφῶσι, ὦ δείλαιος· ὑλακτήσουσι δὲ πάντως καὶ σὲ ἔτι τῆς κραιπάλης τῆς ἔναγχος ἐρευγόμενοι. κολάκων γὰρ φύσις καὶ μνημονικὸν πρὸς κακίαν καὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν εὐεπίληστον. ὀψέ ποτε τὸν ἀδελφιδοῦν περίθαλπε, Τέρπανδρε· εἰ δὲ μή, τὴν πρόνοιαν ἀκαταγώνιστον ἕξεις πολέμιον τοῖς δακρύοις τῆς φύσεως τὴν ἑαυτῆς ἀκονήσασαν μάχαιραν.

8 ∆άφνων Μύρωνι Μέχρι τίνος ἐπικοιλαίνεις τὸ γήδιον καὶ τὸ κατομβρῆσαν ὕδωρ ἐπιρροφήσεις, ὦ δείλαιος; ἢ τάχα μοι καὶ λιμώττειν τοὺς παῖδας διὰ τὸ κάταυχμον μηχανᾷ; τὸ σὸν γὰρ περιλιμνάζεται γήδιον, τὸ δὲ ἡμέτερον καὶ φύσιν ἠγνόησεν ὕδατος. ἐρωτάσθωσαν πρὸς θεῶν αἱ νεφέλαι, εἰ μόνῳ τῷ Μύρωνι ἀφιᾶσι τὸ ὕδωρ. ἀνὴρ ἐπίφθονος μέγα κακόν· εἰ δὲ καὶ τὸ γείτων εἶναι κεκλήρωται, ἀπαραίτητον τὸ δυστύχημα καὶ θανάτῳ μόλις παυσόμενον.

9 Εὐρίπη ∆εξικράτει Ἐνάτῃ φθίνοντος Ἀνθεστηριῶνος ἐπανήκειν πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐπηγγείλω, καὶ διέψευσαι τὰς συνθήκας, ∆εξίκρατες. ἐμοὶ δὲ καὶ ἀπῃθαλώθησαν αἱ φρένες τῷ ἔρωτι καὶ δαλοῦ δίκην τὸ περιστέρνιον ἐκπεφλόγισται. ἀπεκοττάβιζον δὲ καθ' ἡμέραν τὰ δάκρυα καὶ τὴν σὴν ὠνειροπόλουν ἐπάνοδον, ὁ δὲ τῶν θυρῶν ψόφος ἀεί μοι φαντασία τῆς σῆς παρουσίας ἐγίνετο. σὺ δέ, ∆εξίκρατες, μετοχετεύεις ἐφ' ἑτέρας τὸν ἔρωτα, καί σοι τὸ ξένον ἀεὶ τιμιώτερον· τῷ γὰρ ταχίστῳ κόρῳ αἱ τῶν ῥαθύμων ψυχαὶ δουλαγωγεῖσθαι εἰώθασιν. ἄπιστόν τι χρῆμα πόθος καὶ ἔρωτες, καὶ βληθήσῃ ποτὲ καὶ αὐτός· τῶν γὰρ ἀδικουμένων αἱ συμφοραὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀδικήσαντας μεταβαίνουσιν.

10 Ἑρμαγόρας Σωσιπάτρῳ Λίαν ἀγεννῶς ἀκήκοά σε τὴν πενίαν ὀδύρεσθαι καὶ κακίζειν τὸν πλοῦτον ὡς ὄντα παρὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἀνώμαλον, τοῖς μὲν ἐφικτήν, τοῖς δὲ δυσέφικτον τὴν ἑαυτοῦ παρεχόμενον κτῆσιν, ὥσπερ βασκαίνουσαν ἐπὶ τούτῳ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὴν φύσιν. εἰ γὰρ ἡλίου λαμπηδόνες τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐπίσης καὶ πυρὸς ἀφθονία τοῖς ὅλοις ἐστὶ προχειρότατος καὶ ποταμῶν ῥεῖθρα χειμάρρων τε καὶ ἀεννάων ἅπασίν ἐστιν εὐπόριστα, τί δῆτα- ἔφης-τὸν χρυσὸν ἡ φύσις οὕτως ἀπηκριβωμένον τοῖς ἀνθρώποις διέθετο καὶ φιλόνεικον δῶρον τοῖς ὑπὸ σελήνην ἀπένειμε, δι' οὗ μέγιστα κακὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις φοιτῶσιν; ἐγὼ δὲ πλατὺν γέλωτα τῶν σῶν καταχέω δογμάτων· αὐτὸν γὰρ τὸν τῆς φύσεως ἔπαινον ὑπόθεσιν