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71 Rhodon to Kyparisson They say the Lucanians are advancing again, and having thrown away the sickle, I shall forge a lance and a spear-butt, and may I practice the art of war. For the spirit does not allow us to rest. To me, summer is colder than winter; for what could be more horrid than war? When spring appeared, I wept. How the field is crowned with flowers, how fragrant the little plot of land is among the myrtles, how orderly the plane tree with its foliage. The cornfield is green, everything for me hastens toward a good harvest. But the enemy wrongs us; for to them the sword is more desirable than the plow.

72 Sosipatros to Telesilla If nature had not mixed unpleasurable satiety with the Aphrodisian pleasures, the male sex would have been enslaved by the female, Telesilla. Therefore, do not be proud, little harlot. The torch of Aphrodite has been extinguished for me; for the arrows of the Erotes do not provide immortal pains.

73 Proklos to Archimedes They say that octopuses, when they find no prey, eat their own tentacles, making their own most unfortunate limbs a truly prepared meal. So the wretched ones feast on the vital parts of their own members, and they are revealed to be banqueters on their own flesh. Do you not then, Archimedes, seem to be an octopus in your whole mind? I, for one, think this most clearly; for you wrong your father excessively and most inhumanely, revering neither nature, nor being wary of justice as a pit of punishment. But if you should repent, you will have providence forgetful of past evils; but if you have been allotted the gold-loving Fury as an immovable passion, the divine holds the balanced scale for you, and you will have children who are true images and representations of their father's wickedness. For so also the offspring of the viper inherit their mother's unholiness, bursting the womb that bore and nursed them.

74 Elaphon to Dorkon The dung of the livestock has become fertile for the fruitfulness of the land. Therefore give me the manure of your livestock, and you yourself will receive as payment for the good harvest wild pears and vegetables, and I will repay your generosity with more splendid favors.

75 Aristoxenos to Polyxena Nothing is weaker than the pleasures of a hetaira. The kisses of your lips are faithless; for an unplanted desire withers more quickly. I will henceforth rather accept moderation, though it is unpleasant to the many—for it promises constancy—and I will buy marriage with a dowry; for it is most difficult to purchase the fidelity of a hetaira.

76 Diogenes to Sotion This small bit of reputation seems to the wise to be a waking dream, and is more monstrous and worthless than fabricated myths, unstable, making one light-headed, a plaything more imaginary than echoes and breezes. This distresses when it is not present, and having come, it has grieved more; for not long after, it treated its lovers unfairly and before it existed it ran toward non-existence. Let not the puffs of fortune startle you; for it mocks men just as it wishes; for the affairs of men have turned out to be phantoms of phantoms.

77 Boukolion to Myronides Your offspring is growing insolent, Myronides. With a red rag he threw the herd into confusion and cast the beloved heifer down a cliff; and his peers made a game of the disaster. Do not provide the boy more than two choinikes; for the young and vigorous are dissolute, and the luxurious are more intemperate.

78 Perikles to Kalliope To attain maidenly pleasures is exceedingly difficult; and I am lazy in soul. And what could I do? For Eros is uncompromising, sending his arrow. You yourself judge me and Eros, and give me a verdict

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71 Ῥόδων Κυπαρίσσωνι Τοὺς Λευκανοὺς ἐπιέναι πάλιν φασί, καὶ τὸ δρέπανον ἀπορρίψας λόγχην καὶ σαυρωτῆρα χαλκεύσομαι, καὶ τὴν ἐνυάλιον τέχνην ἀσκήσαιμι. οὐκ ἐᾷ γὰρ ἠρεμεῖν ὁ δαίμων ἡμᾶς. ἐμοὶ τοῦ χειμῶνος τὸ θέρος ἐστὶ κρυωδέστερον· τί γὰρ τοῦ πολέμου γένοιτ' ἂν φρικωδέστερον; ἦρος φανέντος ἐδάκρυσα. ὡς κομᾷ τοῖς ἄνθεσιν ὁ ἀγρός, ὡς εὐῶδες ἐν ταῖς μυρρίναις τὸ γήδιον, ὡς κοσμία κομῶσα ἡ πλάτανος. χλοάζει τὸ λήιον, ἅπαντά μοι πρὸς εὐετηρίαν ἐπείγεται. ἀλλ' ἀδικοῦσιν ἡμᾶς οἱ πολέμιοι· ἀρότρου γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἡ μάχαιρα ποθεινότερον.

72 Σωσίπατρος Τελεσίλλῃ Εἰ μὴ ταῖς ἀφροδισίοις ἡδοναῖς τὸν ἀτερπῆ κόρον ἡ φύσις ἐνέμιξεν, ἐδουλαγωγεῖτο τὸ ἄρρεν τῷ γυναικείῳ φύλῳ, Τελέσιλλα. μὴ τοίνυν μέγα φρόνει, πορνίδιον. ὁ τῆς Ἀφροδίτης μοι πυρσὸς ἀπῃθάλωται· οὐ γὰρ ἀθανάτους ἀλγηδόνας τὰ τῶν Ἐρώτων βέλη παρέχονται.

73 Πρόκλος Ἀρχιμήδει Τοὺς πολύποδάς φασιν ἀθηρίας τυγχάνοντας τοὺς ἑαυτῶν κατεσθίειν πλοκάμους, ὄψον ὥσπερ ἀληθῶς ἐμπαράσκευον τὰ ἑαυτῶν ποιουμένους δυστυχέστατα μέλη. ἑστιῶνται γοῦν οἱ τάλανες τῶν ἑαυτῶν μορίων τὰ καίρια, καὶ δαιτυμόνες τῶν ἰδίων σαρκῶν ἀναδείκνυνται. ἆρά γε, Ἀρχίμηδες, οὐ πολύπους τὴν γνώμην εἶναι τοῖς ὅλοις δοκεῖς; ἐγὼ μὲν οἶμαι τοῦτο σαφέστατα· ἀδικεῖς γὰρ λίαν ἀπανθρωπότατα τὸν σὸν πατέρα, μήτε τὴν φύσιν αἰδούμενος, μήτε τὴν δίκην ὡς βάραθρον εὐλαβούμενος. ἀλλ' εἰ μὲν μεταγνοίης, ἀμνήμονα τῶν παρῳχηκότων κακῶν ἕξεις τὴν πρόνοιαν· εἰ δὲ τὴν φιλόχρυσον Ἐριννὺν ἀμετακίνητον πάθος κεκλήρωσαι, τὴν ἰσόρροπον πλάστιγγα τὸ θεῖόν σοι ταλαντεύεται, καὶ παῖδας ἕξεις πατρικῆς κακίας εἰκόνας ἀληθεῖς καὶ ἰνδάλματα. οὕτω γὰρ καὶ τὰ τῆς ἐχίδνης κυήματα μητρικὴν ἀνοσιότητα διαδέχεται, τὴν κυοφόρον καὶ τιθηνὸν γαστέρα ῥηγνύοντα.

74 Ἐλάφων ∆όρκωνι Γόνιμος πρὸς εὐκαρπίαν τῇ γῇ ὁ τῶν θρεμμάτων ὄνθος καθέστηκεν. οὐκοῦν δίδου μοι τῶν σῶν θρεμμάτων τὴν κόπρον, καὶ λήψῃ καὐτὸς μισθοὺς εὐετηρίας ἀχράδας καὶ λάχανα, καὶ τὸ σὸν φιλότιμον λαμπροτέ-ραις ἀμείψομαι χάρισιν.

75 Ἀριστόξενος Πολυξένῃ Ἑταιρικῶν ἡδονῶν οὐδὲν ἀσθενέστερον. ἄπιστα τὰ τῶν σῶν χειλέων φιλήματα· ἀφύτευτος γὰρ πόθος θᾶττον μαραίνεται. ἐγὼ τὴν σωφρο-σύνην λοιπὸν ἀνήδονον οὖσαν παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς μᾶλλον προσδέξομαι-τὸ γὰρ σταθερὸν ἐπαγγέλλεται-καὶ προικίων τὸν γάμον ὠνήσομαι· πρία-σθαι γὰρ πίστιν ἑταιρικὴν χαλεπώτατον.

76 ∆ιογένης Σωτίωνι Τὸ μικρὸν τοῦτο δοξάριον ὕπαρ ἐνύπνιον τοῖς εὖ φρονοῦσιν εἶναι δοκεῖ, καὶ τῶν πεπλασμένων μύθων τερατωδέστερόν ἐστι καὶ φαυλότερον, ἄστατον, κουφοποιόν, παίγνιον ἤχων καὶ πνευμάτων φαντασιωδέστερον. τοῦτο καὶ μὴ παρὸν ἀνιᾷ, καὶ προσγενόμενον πλέον ἐλύπησε· μετ' οὐ πολὺ γὰρ τοὺς ἐραστὰς ἠγνωμόνησε καὶ πρὶν γενέσθαι πρὸς τὸ μὴ εἶναι μετέδραμε. μή σε καταπληττέτω τὰ τῆς τύχης φυσήματα· διαπαίζει γὰρ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ὥσπερ καὶ βούλεται· εἴδωλα γὰρ εἰδώλων τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τετύχηκε πράγματα.

77 Βουκολίων Μυρωνίδῃ Ὁ σὸς ἔκγονος ὑπερμαζᾷ, Μυρωνίδη. ἐρυθρῷ ῥάκει τὰ βουκόλια διετάραξε καὶ τὴν δάμαλιν τὴν ποθεινὴν κατεκρήμνισεν· οἱ δὲ ἡλικιῶται τὴν συμφορὰν ἐπεποίηντο παίγνιον. μὴ πάρεχε δυοῖν χοινίκοιν τῷ παιδὶ περαιτέρω· οἱ γὰρ νέοι καὶ σφριγῶντες ἀκόλαστοι καὶ τρυφῶντές εἰσιν ἀκρατέστεροι.

78 Περικλῆς Καλλιόπῃ Παρθενικῶν ἡδονῶν ἐπιτεύξασθαι ἄγαν ἐστὶ δυσχερές· ἐγὼ δὲ ῥάθυμος τὴν ψυχήν. καὶ τί δράσαιμι ἄν; ἀσύμβατος γὰρ ὁ Ἔρως ἐπιπέμπων τὸ βέλος. αὐτή μοι δίκαζε καὶ τῷ Ἔρωτι, καὶ δίδου μοι ψῆφον