§10Πολύστρατος
ἔχʼ ἀτρέμας.
Polystratus: Hold on, wait a minute.
συνίημι γὰρ ἤδη πάνυ σαφῶς ἥντινα καὶ λέγεις τὴν γυναῖκα, τούτοις τε αὐτοῖς γνωρίσας καὶ τῇ πατρίδι.
For I already understand very clearly which woman you mean, having recognized her by these very details and by her homeland.
καὶ εὐνούχους δέ τινας ἕπεσθαι αὐτῇ ἔφης.
And you also said that some eunuchs followed her.
Λυκῖνος
νὴ Δία, καὶ στρατιώτας τινάς.
Lycinus: Yes, by Zeus, and some soldiers too.
Πολύστρατος
τὴν βασιλεῖ συνοῦσαν, ὦ μακάριε, τὴν ἀοίδιμον ταύτην λέγεις.
Polystratus: You are speaking of that famous woman, my dear friend, who lives with the king.
Λυκῖνος
τί δέ ἐστιν αὐτῇ τοὔνομα;
Lycinus: And what is her name?
Πολύστρατος
πάνυ καὶ τοῦτο γλαφυρόν, ὦ Λυκῖνε, καὶ ἐπέραστον· ὁμώνυμος γάρ ἐστιν τῇ τοῦ Ἀβραδάτα ἐκείνῃ τῇ καλῇ· οἶσθα πολλάκις ἀκούσας Ξενοφῶντος ἐπαινοῦντός τινα σώφρονα καὶ καλὴν γυναῖκα.
Polystratus: This too is very elegant, Lycinus, and lovely; for she is the namesake of that beautiful wife of Abradatas; you know of her, having often heard Xenophon praising a certain wise and beautiful woman.
Λυκῖνος
νὴ Δία, καὶ ὥσπερ γε ὁρῶν αὐτὴν οὕτω διατέθειμαι, ὁπόταν κατʼ ἐκεῖνό που ἀναγιγνώσκων γένωμαι, καὶ μονονουχὶ καὶ ἀκούω λεγούσης αὐτῆς ἃ πεποίηται λέγουσα, καὶ ὡς ὥπλιζε τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ οἵα ἦν παραπέμπουσα αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὴν μάχην.
Lycinus: Yes, by Zeus, and I am so affected, just as if I were seeing her, whenever I happen to be reading that passage, and I almost even hear her speaking the words she is made to speak, and how she armed her husband and what she was like as she sent him off to the battle.
§11Πολύστρατος
ἀλλʼ, ὦ ἄριστε, σὺ μὲν ὥσπερ τινὰ ἀστραπὴν παραδραμοῦσαν ἅπαξ εἶδες αὐτήν, καὶ ἔοικας τὰ πρόχειρα ταῦτα, λέγω δὲ τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὴν μορφήν, ἐπαινεῖν· τῶν δὲ τῆς ψυχῆς ἀγαθῶν ἀθέατος εἶ, οὐδὲ οἶσθα ὅσον τὸ κάλλος ἐκεῖνό ἐστιν αὐτῆς, μακρῷ τινι ἄμεινον καὶ θεοειδέστερον τοῦ σώματος.
Polystratus: But, my excellent friend, you saw her but once, like a passing flash of lightning, and you seem to praise these obvious things—I mean the body and the form; but of the goods of her soul you are without a sight, nor do you know how great that beauty of hers is, which is by far better and more godlike than her body.
ἐγὼ δὲ συνήθης γάρ εἰμι καὶ λόγων ἐκοινώνησα πολλάκις ὁμοεθνὴς ὤν. καὶ γάρ, ὡς οἶσθα καὶ αὐτός, τὸ ἥμερον καὶ φιλάνθρωπον καὶ τὸ μεγαλόφρον καὶ σωφροσύνην καὶ παιδείαν πρὸ τοῦ κάλλους ἐπαινῶ· ἄξια γὰρ προκεκρίσθαι ταῦτα τοῦ σώματος· ἐπεὶ ἄλογον ἂν εἴη καὶ γελοῖον, ὥσπερ εἴ τις τὴν ἐσθῆτα πρὸ τοῦ σώματος θαυμάζοι.
But I—for I am an acquaintance, and have often shared in conversation with her, being her fellow countryman—for indeed, as you yourself also know, I praise gentleness, benevolence, magnanimity, moderation, and education before physical beauty; for these things deserve to be preferred to the body; since it would be irrational and ridiculous, just as if someone were to admire the clothing before the body.
τὸ δʼ ἐντελὲς κάλλος, οἶμαι, τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὁπόταν εἰς τὸ αὐτὸ συνδράμῃ ψυχῆς ἀρετὴ καὶ εὐμορφία σώματος.
And perfect beauty, I think, is this: when virtue of the soul and beauty of the body run together into the same.
ἀμέλει πολλὰς ἄν σοι δείξαιμι μορφῆς μὲν εὖ ἡκούσας, τὰ δʼ ἄλλα αἰσχυνούσας τὸ κάλλος, ὡς καὶ μόνον φθεγξαμένων ἀπανθεῖν αὐτὸ καὶ ἀπομαραίνεσθαι ἐλεγχόμενόν τε καὶ ἀσχημονοῦν καὶ παρʼ ἀξίαν συνὸν πονηρᾷ τινι δεσποίνῃ τῇ ψυχῇ.
Certainly, I could show you many women who are well-endowed in form, but in other respects shame their beauty, so that even when they merely speak, that beauty fades and withers away, being exposed and showing itself unseemly, coexisting unworthily with a wicked mistress, namely the soul.
καὶ αἵ γε τοιαῦται ὅμοιαί μοι δοκοῦσιν τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις ἱεροῖς· κἀκεῖ γὰρ αὐτὸς μὲν ὁ νεὼς κάλλιστός τε καὶ μέγιστος, λίθοις τοῖς πολυτελέσιν ἠσκημένος καὶ χρυσῷ καὶ γραφαῖς διηνθισμένος, ἔνδον δὲ ἢν ζητῇς τὸν θεόν, ἢ πίθηκός ἐστιν ἢ ἶβις ἢ τράγος ἢ αἴλουρος.
And such women seem to me to be like Egyptian temples; for there, the temple itself is most beautiful and grand, adorned with precious stones and gold and embellished with paintings, but if you look for the god inside, it is either an ape, or an ibis, or a goat, or a cat.
τοιαύτας πολλὰς ἰδεῖν ἔνεστιν.
One can see many such women.
Οὐ τοίνυν ἀπόχρη τὸ κάλλος, εἰ μὴ κεκόσμηται τοῖς δικαίοις κοσμήμασι, λέγω δὴ οὐκ ἐσθῆτι ἁλουργεῖ καὶ ὅρμοις, ἀλλʼ οἷς προεῖπον ἐκείνοις, ἀρετῇ καὶ σωφροσύνῃ καὶ ἐπιεικείᾳ καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ὁπόσα ταύτης ὅρος ἐστίν.
Therefore, beauty is not sufficient unless it is adorned with its proper ornaments—I mean indeed, not with purple clothing and necklaces, but with those things I mentioned before: virtue, moderation, fairness, benevolence, and whatever other things are the boundary of this.
§12Λυκῖνος
οὐκοῦν, ὦ Πολύστρατε, μῦθον ἀντὶ μύθου ἄμειψαι αὐτῷ τῷ μέτρῳ, φασίν, ἢ καὶ λώϊον, δύνασαι γάρ, καί τινα εἰκόνα γραψάμενος τῆς ψυχῆς ἐπίδειξον, ὡς μὴ ἐξ ἡμισείας θαυμάζοιμι αὐτήν.
Lycinus: Therefore, Polystratus, exchange story for story 'in the self-same measure', as they say, or even better, for you are able; and write some portrait of her soul and show it, so that I may not admire her only by half.