And Aspasia, the friend of Socrates, imported great numbers of beautiful women, and Greece was entirely filled with her courtesans; as that witty writer Aristophanes (in his Acharnenses[28]) relates,—saying, that the Peloponnesian war was excited by Pericles, on account of his love for Aspasia, and on account of the girls who had been carried away from her by the Megarians. For some young men, drunk with the cottabus Going to Megara, carry off by stealth A harlot named Simætha. Then the citizens Of Megara, full of grief and indignation, Stole in return two of Aspasia's girls; And this was the beginning of the war Which devastated Greece, for three lewd women. 26. I therefore, my most learned grammarian, warn you to beware of the courtesans who want a high price, because You may see other damsels play the flute, All playing th' air of Phœbus, or of Jove; But these play no air save the air of the hawk, as Epicrates says in his Anti-Lais; in which play he also uses the following expressions concerning the celebrated Lais:— But this fair Lais is both drunk and lazy, And cares for nothing, save what she may eat And drink all day. And she, as I do think, Has the same fate the eagles have; for they, When they are young, down from the mountains stoop, Ravage the flocks and eat the timid hares, Bearing their prey aloft with fearful might. But when they're old, on temple tops they perch, Hungry and helpless; and the soothsayers Turn such a sight into a prodigy. And so might Lais well be thought an omen; For when she was a maiden, young and fresh, She was quite savage with her wondrous riches; And you might easier get access to The satrap Pharnabazus. But at present, Now that she's more advanced in years, and age Has meddled with her body's round proportions, 'Tis easy both to see her and to scorn her. Now she runs everywhere to get some drink; She'll take a stater—aye, or a triobolus; She will admit you, young or old; and is Become so tame, so utterly subdued, That she will take the money from your hand. Anaxandrides also, in his Old-Man's Madness, mentions Lais, and includes her with many other courtesans in a list which he gives in the following lines:— _A._ You know Corinthian Lais? _B._ To be sure; My countrywoman. _A._ Well, she had a friend, By name Anthea. _B._ Yes; I knew her well. _A._ Well, in those days Lagisca was in beauty; Theolyta, too, was wondrous fair to see, And seemed likely to be fairer still; And Ocimon was beautiful as any. 27. This, then, is the advice I want to give you, my friend Myrtilus; and, as we read in the Cynegis of Philetærus,—