The Deipnosophists; or, Banquet of the Learned of Athenæus, Vol. 3 (of 3)Athenaeus, of Naucratis
Philosophy
The Deipnosophists; or, Banquet of the Learned of Athenæus, Vol. 3 (of 3)
Athenaeus, of Naucratis
Civilization, Greco-Roman; Dinners and dining -- Greece; Greece -- Social life and customs; Homosexuality -- Greece
45. And Heraclides of Pontus, in his treatise on Pleasure, says that
Pericles, nicknamed the Olympian, after he got rid of his wife out
of his house, and devoted himself to a life of pleasure, lived with
Aspasia, the courtesan from Megara, and spent the greater part of
his substance on her. And Themistocles, when the Athenians were not
yet in such a state of intoxication, and had not yet begun to use
courtesans, openly filled a chariot with prostitutes, and drove early
in the morning through the Ceramicus when it was full. But Idomeneus
has made this statement in an ambiguous manner, so as to leave it
uncertain whether he means that he harnessed the prostitutes in his
chariot like horses, or merely that he made them mount his four-horsed
chariot. And Possis, in the third book of his History of the Affairs
of Magnesia, says, that Themistocles, having been invested with a
crowned magistracy in Magnesia, sacrificed to Minerva, and called the
festival the Panathenæa. And he sacrificed also to Dionysius Choopotes,
and celebrated the festival of the Choeis there. But Clearchus, in the
first book of his treatise on Friendship, says that Themistocles had
a triclinium of great beauty made for him, and said that he should be
quite contented if he could fill that with friends.
46. And Chamæleon of Pontus, in his Essay on Anacreon, having quoted
these lines—
And Periphoretus Artemon
Is loved by golden-hair'd Eurypyle,
says that Artemo derived this nickname from living luxuriously, and
being carried about (περιφέρεσθαι) on a couch. For Anacreon
says that he had been previously very poor, and then became on a sudden
very luxurious, in the following verses—
Having before a poor berberium cloak,
And scanty cap, and his poor ears
With wooden earrings decorated,
And wearing round his ribs a newly-bought
Raw ox-hide, fitter for a case
For an old-fashion'd shield, this wretch
Artemon, who long has lived
With bakers' women, and the lowest of the low,
Now having found a new style of life,
Often thrusts his neck into the yoke,
Or beneath the spear doth crouch;
And many a weal he can display,
Mark'd on his back with well-deserved scourge;
And well pluck'd as to hair and beard.
But now he mounts his chariot, he the son
Of Cyca, and his golden earrings wears;
And like a woman bears
An ivory parasol o'er his delicate head.
[Sidenote: ALCIBIADES.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account