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he reclines and cools himself. A plane tree and another tree grew beside, and furnished them with shade. For Phaedrus was also with him, the beautiful youth, and he marvels at the grove and prayed to the Nymphs. Pondering these things, I came upon a wondrous meadow, by some chance. Waters flowed through the middle of it. And being variegated with the colors of the flowers, it imitated a painting. And musical birds were singing above my head, and the bees, buzzing around the flowers, deposited whatever they took in their hives. For they seemed to be nearby on a certain rock, from which the flowing water ran through the meadow. Seeing these things, I rested my head on my hand and stood still and gaped at the flowers. And I was at a loss as to on which one I should rest my eyes. There I also saw a narcissus and almost lamented its fate. For he was a handsome lad, and hunting was his concern, and he hunted. And once, when the sun beat down more hotly—for it was the hour of summer—he became thirsty. And he comes to a certain spring that was nearby. And while drinking, as water is wont to show the images of those standing over it, seeing himself in the waters, he thought some beautiful youth was hidden beneath the water. And through the image he became a lover of himself. Thenceforth he bade farewell to his art, and no longer knew stags nor dogs nor wild beasts, but gazing at himself he persevered, and ever increasing his desire, he perishes. Therefore Earth pities his suffering and preserves him in memory, and changing him into a flower, did not forget his beauty. But indeed I seem, having passed by the rose, greater both in story and in wonder, to be admiring the meadow for its lesser things. For it is immediately victorious, summoning the beholder to itself by both its scent and its beauty. And you might say the Graces attend it. For it is guarded on all sides, as if attended by a bodyguard of thorns in a circle, and not allowing anyone who wishes to bring his two hands to it insolently and as if in passing. For thus someone approaching and not as if to take something great, nor having paid due respect, will have the wound as punishment for his insolence. But it itself appears, rising royally from the midst of its calyx. And you might think that from there Loves are sent forth to the beholders. The color red having come together with the white, and after the mixing they are poured into one another, the perfection of each is released. For the story is told that the rose, being white, received its present appearance from this. Adonis was beautiful and a hunter, and Aphrodite loved him. For the Loves, as it seems, are not willing to spare even their mother. And it happened that once while he was hunting, having been struck by a wild beast, he lay there. And this is announced to Aphrodite. Therefore immediately and just as she was, she arose and rushed through everything with bare foot, not foreseeing any of the difficulties at her feet; whence, falling into rose bushes, she is pricked in the foot by the thorns, and the goddess's blood became the nature of the roses. Fittingly, then—whether also in truth, I do not know; but in paintings Aphrodite and the Loves are crowned with roses. Having enjoyed so much of the meadow, and taking very many of the roses with me, I went away homeward, singing of the spring and praying to see the season again. 3 ῃενυς Painting and poetry—the one with colors, the other with words—for words are the colors for poetry—both, then, imitate the forms of gods and men, their sufferings and loves. And the one gives drops from Heaven to the sea and creates Aphrodite and calls her foam-born, unless I have forgotten the epic verse, because he says she was born "in the much-dashing sea"; but the other reveals her story to the sight. For it makes the forms of the sea, and you might say that in the painting the waves also are moved. And from the midst of this it brings up Aphrodite possessing both an impossible beauty and such as was fitting for Aphrodite to have. And she is led by a chariot of Tritons. These are men from above to their flanks, but from there on fulfilling the nature of fish. And a chorus of Nereids is around her; and you might see the dolphins, these too out of pleasure, now sinking into the waters, now rising from the waves. Such things do the arts create for the celestial Aphrodite. But the other—and certain ancient myths wish to sing of this one as common—of this one the marks are marriages, and to allow the Loves to shoot the

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κατακλίνεται καὶ ψυχάζει. πλάτανος δὲ καὶ δένδρον παραπεφύκει, καὶ τὴν σκιὰν αὐτοῖς ἀπετέλουν. παρῆν γὰρ αὐτῷ καὶ Φαῖδρος, ὁ καλὸς νεανίας, καὶ θαυμάζει τὸ ἄλσος καὶ ταῖς Νύμφαις προσηύξατο. ταῦτα δὲ λογιζόμενος λειμῶνι θαυμαστῷ κατὰ δή τινα τύχην ἐφίσταμαι. τοῦτον μέσον διέρρει τὰ ὕδατα. χρώμασι δὲ τῶν ἀνθῶν ποικιλλόμενος γραφὴν ἐμιμεῖτο. καὶ ᾖδον μὲν ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς ὄρνιθες μουσικοί, αἱ δὲ μέλιτται τὰ ἄνθη περιβομβοῦσαι, ὅσα λάβοιεν τοῖς σίμβλοις ἐναπετίθεντο. πλησίον γὰρ ἐπί τινος πέτρας ἐῴκεισαν εἶναι, ἐξ ἧς τὸ ὕδωρ καταρρέον τὸν λειμῶνα διήρχετο. ταῦτα ἰδὼν τὴν κεφαλὴν ὑπέκλινα τῇ χειρὶ καὶ προσέστην καὶ ἐκεχήνειν τοῖς ἄνθεσιν. ἠπόρουν δὲ ὅτῳ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐπερείσαιμι. ἐνταῦθα καὶ νάρκισσον εἶδον καὶ τὸ τούτου πάθος μικροῦ καὶ ἐθρήνησα. ἦν γὰρ μειράκιον εὐπρεπές, καὶ θήρας ἔμελεν αὐτῷ καὶ ἐθήρα. καὶ δή ποτε τοῦ ἡλίου θερμότερον προσβαλόντοςἦν γὰρ ὥρα θέρουςἐδίψησε. καὶ περὶ πηγήν τινα ἣ πλησίον ἦν ἀφικνεῖται. ἅμα δὲ πίνων, οἷα δὴ φιλεῖ, τοῦ ὕδατος τὰς τῶν ἐφεστηκότων εἰκόνας δεικνύοντος, ἐπ' αὐτὸν ἰδὼν ἐν ταῖς ὕδασιν, ᾤετο μειράκιόν τι καλὸν ὑπὸ τὸ ὕδωρ λανθάνειν. καὶ διὰ τῆς εἰκόνος ἑαυτοῦ γέγονεν ἐραστής. ἐντεῦθεν χαίρειν ἔφη τῇ τέχνῃ, καὶ οὐκ ᾔδει λοιπὸν οὐκ ἐλάφους οὐ κύνας οὔτε θηρία, ἀλλ' ἑαυτὸν ὁρῶν προσεκαρτέρει, καὶ τὸν πόθον αὔξων ἀεὶ διαφθείρεται. οὐκοῦν ἐλεεῖ τὸ πάθος ἡ Γῆ καὶ φυλάττει τῇ μνήμῃ καὶ εἰς ἄνθος αὐτὸν μεταβαλοῦσα τοῦ κάλλους οὐκ ἐπελάθετο. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἔοικα τὸ ῥόδον παρείς, μεῖζον καὶ λόγῳ καὶ θαύματι, ἐκ τῶν ἐλαττόνων τὸν λειμῶνα θαυμάζειν. νικᾷ γὰρ εὐθύ, ὀσμῇ τε καὶ κάλλει τὸν θεατὴν εἰς ἑαυτὸ προκαλούμενον. καὶ εἴποις ἂν αὐτῷ παρεδρεύειν τὰς Χάριτας. φρουρεῖται μὲν γὰρ πανταχόθεν, ὥσπερ ταῖς ἀκάνθαις κύκλῳ δορυφορούμενον, καὶ μὴ τὸν βουλόμενον ἐῶν ὑβριστικῶς αὐτῷ καὶ οἷον ἐκ παρέργου προσάγειν τὼ χεῖρε. οὕτω γάρ τις προσιὼν καὶ μὴ ὡς μέγα τι ληψόμενος, μηδὲ τὰ εἰκότα τιμήσας, δίκην ἕξει τῆς ὕβρεως τὴν πληγήν. αὐτὸ δὲ βασιλικῶς ἐκ μέσης ἀνατέλλον τῆς κάλυκος ἀναφαίνεται. καὶ δόξαις ἂν ἐντεῦθεν Ἔρωτας ἀφίεσθαι τοῖς θεωμένοις. ἐρυθροῦ χρώματος τῷ λευκῷ συνελθόντος, καὶ μετὰ τῆν μῖξιν εἰς ἄλληλα χεομένων, ἑκατέρου τὸ ἄκρον ἀνεῖται. μή τοι λόγος ὡς λευκὸν ὑπάρχον τὸ ῥόδον τὴν νῦν ἰδέαν ἐντεῦθεν προσέλαβεν. Ἄδωνις καλὸς ὑπῆρχε καὶ κυνηγέτης, καὶ ἤρα τούτου ἡ Ἀφροδίτη. οἱ γὰρ Ἔρωτες, ὡς ἔοικεν, οὐδὲ τῆς μητρὸς ἐθέλουσι φείδεσθαι. θηρῶντα δέ ποτε τοῦτον ὑπὸ θηρὸς ἀγρίου πληγέντα κεῖσθαι συνέβη. καὶ ἀγγέλλεται τοῦτο τῇ Ἀφροδίτῃ. εὐθὺς οὖν καὶ ὡς εἶχεν ἀνέστη καὶ γυμνῷ ποδὶ διὰ πάντων ἐφέρετο, μὴ προορωμένη τι τῶν ἐν ποσὶ δυσχερῶν· ὅθεν εἰς ῥοδωνιὰς ἐμπεσοῦσα πλήττεται ταὶς ἀκάνθαις τὸν πόδα, καὶ τῆς θεοῦ τὸ αἷμα τοῖς ῥόδοις φύσις ἐγίνετο. εἰκότως ἄρα, εἰ μὲν καὶ ταῖς ἀληθείαις, οὐκ οἶδα· ἐν δὲ ταῖς γραφαῖς στεφανοῦνται τοῖς ῥόδοις Ἀφροδίτη καὶ Ἔρωτες. Τοσαῦτα τοῦ λειμῶνος ἀπολαύσας, καὶ τῶν ῥόδων πλεῖστα συνεπαγόμενος, ἀπῄειν οἴκαδε, τὸ ἔαρ ᾄδων καὶ πάλιν ἰδεῖν τὴν ὥραν εὐχόμενος. 3 ῃενυς Γραφὴ καὶ ποίησις ἡ μὲν τοῖς χρώμασιν ἡ δὲ τοῖς λόγοιςλόγοι γὰρ τῇ ποιήσει τὰ χρώματαμιμοῦνται δ' οὖν ἄμφω θεῶν τε καὶ ἀνθρώπων σχήματα, πάθη καὶ ἔρωτας. καὶ ἡ μὲν ἐξ Οὐρανοῦ σταγόνας δίδωσι τῇ θαλάσσῃ καὶ Ἀφροδίτην δημιουργεῖ ἀφρογενῆ τε καλεῖ, εἰ μὴ τοῦ ἔπους εἰς λήθην ἀφῖγμαι, ὅτι φησὶ γέντο "πολυκλύστῳ ἐνὶ πόντῳ"· ἡ δὲ τὸν ἐκείνης λόγον ὑποφαίνει τῇ θέᾳ. ποιεῖ γὰρ σχήματα θαλάσσης, καὶ εἴποις ἂν τῇ γραφῇ κινεῖσθαι καὶ τὰ κύματα. ἐκ μέσου δὲ ταύτης ἀνάγει τὴν Ἀφροδίτην ἀμήχανόν τε κάλλος καὶ οἷον ἔπρεπεν Ἀφροδίτῃ κεκτῆσθαι. ἄγεται δὲ Τριτώνων ὀχήματι. ἄνθρωποι δὲ οὗτοι ἄνωθεν εἰς λαγόνας, ἰχθύων φύσιν τὸ ἐντεῦθεν πληρούμενοι. Νηρεΐδων τε περὶ ταύτην χορός· τοὺς δὲ δελφῖνας ἴδοις ἂν καὶ τούτους ὑφ' ἡδονῆς νῦν μὲν δυομένους τοῖς ὕδασι, νῦν δὲ τῶν κυμάτων ἀνίσχοντας. Τοιαῦτα μὲν τὴν οὐρανίαν Ἀφροδίτην δημιουργοῦσιν αἱ τέχναι. τὴν δὲ ἑτέρανπάνδημον δὲ ταύτην παλαιοί τινες ᾄδειν ἐθέλουσι μῦθοι ταύτης δὲ γνώρισμα γάμοι, καὶ τὸ προέσθαι τοῖς Ἔρωσι βαλεῖν τῷ