It is a terrible, yes a terrible and Intolerable evil, what the young Men do throughout this city. For although There are most beauteous damsels in the brothels, Which any man may see standing all willing In the full light of day, with open bosoms, Showing their naked charms, all of a row, Marshall'd in order; and though they may choose Without the slightest trouble, as they fancy, Thin, stout, or round, tall, wrinkled, or smooth-faced, Young, old, or middle-aged, or elderly, So that they need not clamber up a ladder, Nor steal through windows out of free men's houses, Nor smuggle themselves in in bags of chaff; For these gay girls will ravish you by force, And drag you in to them; if old, they'll call you Their dear papa; if young, their darling baby: And these a man may fearlessly and cheaply Amuse himself with, morning, noon, or night, And any way he pleases; but the others He dares not gaze on openly nor look at, But, fearing, trembling, shivering, with his heart, As men say, in his mouth, he creeps towards them. And how can they, O sea-born mistress mine, Immortal Venus! act as well they ought, E'en when they have the opportunity, If any thought of Draco's laws comes o'er them? [Sidenote: COURTESANS.] 25. And Philemon, in his Brothers, relates that Solon at first, on account of the unbridled passions of the young, made a law that women might be brought to be prostituted at brothels; as Nicander of Colophon also states, in the third book of his History of the Affairs of Colophon,—saying that he first erected a temple to the Public Venus with the money which was earned by the women who were prostituted at these brothels. But Philemon speaks on this subject as follows:— But you did well for every man, O Solon; For they do say you were the first to see The justice of a public-spirited measure, The saviour of the state—(and it is fit For me to utter this avowal, Solon);— You, seeing that the state was full of men, Young, and possess'd of all the natural appetites, And wandering in their lusts where they'd no business, Bought women, and in certain spots did place them, Common to be, and ready for all comers. They naked stand: look well at them, my youth,— Do not deceive yourself; a'nt you well off? You're ready, so are they: the door is open— The price an obol: enter straight—there is No nonsense here, no cheat or trickery; But do just what you like, and how you like. You're off: wish her good-bye; she's no more claim on you.