XXI TO APHRODITE OF THE GOLDEN HOUSE MOERO Thou liest in the golden portico of Aphrodite, O grape-cluster filled full of Dionysus' juice, nor ever more shall thy mother twine round thee her lovely tendril or above thine head put forth her honeyed leaf. XXII TO APHRODITE, BY CALLISTION POSIDIPPUS Thou who inhabitest Cyprus and Cythera and Miletus and the fair plain of horse-trampled Syria, come graciously to Callistion, who never thrust her lover away from her house's doors. XXIII TO APHRODITE, BY LAÏS PLATO I Laïs who laughed exultant over Greece, I who held that swarm of young lovers in my porches, give my mirror to the Paphian; since such as I am I will not see myself, and such as I was I cannot. XXIV TO APHRODITE, WITH A TALISMAN AUTHOR UNKNOWN Nico's wryneck, that knows how to draw a man even from overseas, and girls out of their wedding-chambers, chased with gold, carven out of translucent amethyst, lies before thee, Cyprian, for thine own possession, tied across the middle with a soft lock of purple lamb's wool, the gift of the sorceress of Larissa. XXV TO APHRODITE EUPLOIA GAETULICUS Guardian of the seabeach, to thee I send these cakes, and the gifts of a scanty sacrifice; for to-morrow I shall cross the broad wave of the Ionian sea, hastening to our Eidothea's arms. But shine thou favourably on my love as on my mast, O Cyprian, mistress of the bride- chamber and the beach. XXVI TO THE GOD OF CANOPUS CALLIMACHUS To the god of Canopus Callistion, wife of Critias, dedicated me, a lamp enriched with twenty wicks, when her prayer for her child Apellis was heard; and regarding my splendours thou wilt say, How art thou fallen, O Evening Star! XXVII TO HERACLES, WITH A SHIELD HEGESIPPUS Receive me, O Heracles, the consecrated shield of Archestratus, that leaning against thy polished portico, I may grow old in hearing of dances and hymns; let the War-God's hateful strife be satisfied. XXVIII TO THE MILESIAN ARTEMIS NICIAS So I was destined, I also, once to abandon the hateful strife of Ares and hear the maiden choirs around Artemis' temple, where Epixenus placed me when white old age began to waste his limbs. XXIX TO ATHENE ERGANE ANTIPATER OF SIDON