Delphi Complete Works of Lucian

by Lucian Samosata

  10. Goddesses too are not ashamed to reveal their subjection to beauty, but seem to take a sort of pride in intercourse with this or that beautiful man, and giving accounts of the favours they’ve bestowed on men. Furthermore, in the wide range of all other customary pursuits, each goddess is a patroness of one particular thing and never quarrels with another over her sphere of power, for Athena is leader of men in matters of war but does not compete against Artemis in the chase, while she in the same way yields to Athena in military matters, and, where marriage is concerned, Hera yields to Aphrodite, while in her own department she meets with no interference from her. But each so prides herself on her beauty and thinks herself so superior to all others that, when Discord wished to make them fight against each other, she merely made beauty the issue amongst them, for she thought that thus she would easily achieve her wish, and her calculations were shrewd and accurate. One can see the preeminence of beauty from this: when they had taken up the apple and read the inscription, since each assumed the apple was hers, and none of them would vote against herself and admit her inferiority in looks to another, they went up to Zeus, who was the father of two of them, and brother and husband to the third, to entrust the decision to him. But though he could himself have pronounced who was the most beautiful and though there were many brave, wise and intelligent men in Greece and elsewhere, yet he entrusted the decision to Paris, son of Priam, and thereby gave a clear honest vote to show that beauty is superior to intellect, wisdom and strength.

  11. These goddesses have always been so eager and zealous to hear their beauty praised that they have persuaded the glorifier of heroes and poet of the gods to take the names he gives them only from their beauty. Thus Hera would prefer to be called “white-armed” than “reverend goddess, daughter of mighty Cronos,” Athena would not choose to be called “Trito-born” rather than “grey-eyed,” and Aphrodite will set the highest store on being called “golden.” All these words refer to beauty.

  12. Indeed this not only shows the attitude of the mighty to this question but is also an infallible proof of the superiority of beauty to everything else. Thus Athena’s verdict is that it is superior both to courage and intellect, for she was patroness of both these, while Hera proclaims that beauty is preferable to all power and authority, and she also had Zeus to support her plea. If then beauty is so divine and august and taken so very seriously by the gods, how would it be right for us not to imitate the gods ourselves in word and deed and use all we have in the service of beauty?”

  13. Such was the speech on beauty made by Philo, who added at the end of it that he would have said more had he not known that long speeches are unpopular at dinners. Immediately after him Aristippus began to speak, though only after much persuasion by Androcles, since he was chary of following Philo and didn’t wish to speak. He began as follows.

  14. “Many men have on many occasions forgone discussion of the topics best and most advantageous to us and have embarked upon other subjects from which they think they bring themselves renown, although to their audience their words are of no profit. In their expositions some of them vie with each other on the same topics, some impart information that is untrue, while others discourse on quite unessential topics, though they ought to have left all these aside and been at pains to say something of greater value. Since I think that they have formed no sound opinion of the truth and since moreover I consider it quite inane to accuse people of mistaking the highest ideal and then to be guilty of the same oneself, I shall make the subject of my speech at once most profitable and most beautiful to my hearers, and one which anyone at all would admit to be ideal to hear.

  15. If, then, we were now discussing anything other than beauty, we should have been satisfied to have a single speech and be rid of the subject; but this topic affords such boundless scope to those wishing to embark upon its discussion that a man does not consider himself unlucky if his speech should fail to do justice to the subject, but rather does he consider himself comparatively fortunate if he can add to the praises paid by many others some contribution of his own. For, when something has been so conspicuously honoured by the Higher Powers, when it has been held so divine and pursued so eagerly by men, when something is the most proper ornament of all living things, making its possessors to he courted by all, while its absence makes men hated and unfit to be seen, who, I ask, could be eloquent enough to praise that thing as it deserves? However, since it needs so many to praise it that it can scarcely receive its due, it is in no way unfitting for me too to say something about it, even though I shall be speaking after Philo. Indeed, it is so much the most august and divine of all things that — but I won’t go into all the ways in which gods have honoured beauties.

  16. Be that as it may, in olden times Helen, daughter of Zeus, excited such admiration amongst all men that, even before she had reached marriageable age, Theseus, who had gone to the Peloponnese on some business, upon seeing her, was struck with such admiration for her beauty that, though he had the most assured of thrones and no ordinary glory, he considered that life would he intolerable without her, whereas he would surpass all men in good fortune, should it fall to him to have her for wife. With these thoughts in his mind, rejecting the idea of receiving her in marriage from her father, since he knew that he wouldn’t give her before she had reached marriageable age, and, because he held her father’s power in con - tempt and scorn and despised everything formidable in the Peloponnese, Theseus took Peirithous with him to help carry her off, and, after seizing her against her father’s will, brought her to Aphidna in Attica. He conceived such gratitude to Peirithous for aiding him in this that he loved him so dearly for the rest of his days that the friendship of Theseus and Peirithous became an example even for later generations. When Peirithous for his part had to go to Hades to court the daughter of Demeter, and Theseus despite his many pleas could not dissuade him from this enterprise, Theseus went with him, thinking that he would thus fittingly pay his debt of gratitude by risking his life for him.

  17. Helen returned to Argos during another absence of Theseus, when she was now of marriageable age, and, though the kings of Greece had no lack of beautiful well-born women to marry, they ignored all other women as inferior and assembled to court her. Since they realised that she would he fought for and they feared that Greece would be cast into war if they fought against each other, by common agreement they took a solemn oath to support the man thought worthy of Helen, and not to allow anyone to attempt anything unjust, since each thought that thus he was securing allies for himself. All accordingly failed in their private aim except Menelaus, but they very soon put their common aim to the test. For shortly afterwards a quarrel about beauty started among the goddesses, and they left the decision to Paris, son of Priam. Though overpowered by the physical attractions of the goddesses, he was compelled to decide between the gifts they offered. When Hera offered him the kingdom of Asia, Athena prowess in war and Aphrodite marriage with Helen, he reflected that, while mean fellows might on occasion obtain a kingdom as great, the privilege of Helen’s favours would fall to nobody of a future generation, and so preferred marriage with her.

  18. When that celebrated expedition had been made against the Trojans and Europe then for the first time had invaded Asia, though the Trojans could have given Helen back and lived without fear in their own country, and the Greeks could have allowed them to keep Helen and be rid of the hardships of war and campaigning, nevertheless neither side proved willing to do so, since they thought they’d never find a war with a better cause for which to die. The gods too, though well aware that their own sons would die in the war, did nothing to stop them but encouraged them, thinking it brought them no less glory to die fighting for Helen than to have been horn sons of gods. But why talk of the children of the gods? The gods themselves then engaged with each other in a mightier and more terrible war than the one they had fought against the Giants. For in that they fought alongside each other, but on this occasion they fought against each ot
her. What clearer proof than this could there be to show how much beauty excels everything else connected with men in the judgment of the immortals? For, when they can be clearly seen never to have quarrelled over anything else at all, and yet for beauty not only to have sacrificed their sons but once even to have fought against each other and some of them even to have suffered wounds, are they not showing by a unanimous vote that they value beauty above all else?

  19. But, lest I be thought for want of things to say about beauty to be lingering on the same theme for ever, I wish to pass to another proof of the merit of beauty no less weighty than what I’ve just been saying and to tell of Hippodamia, the daughter of Oenomaus of Arcadia, and all those victims of her beauty whom she induced to choose death in preference to the light of day, if parted from her. For, once she was of age, and her father saw that she far surpassed all other women, he was overpowered by her beauty, for she had such a superabundance of it that her own father was unnaturally attracted to her. He therefore wished to keep her for himself, hut in order to escape the censure of men, he pretended to he willing to give her in marriage to the man worthy of her, and devised a plan even more wicked than his lust and one which he thought would easily secure him what he wished. For he would yoke the swiftest horses then in Arcadia to a chariot skilfully constructed to ensure the greatest possible speed and compete against his daughter’s suitors, offering her to them as the prize of victory, if they passed him, or death if they were defeated. He also insisted that she should mount the chariot with them so that they might be distracted by her and their attention wander from their horsemanship. But, after the first competitor in the race had proved unsuccessful and lost the maiden as well as his life, the others, considering it puerile to show fear for the contest or to change any of their plans and detesting Oenomaus’ cruelty, vied one with another in being first to die, as though afraid they might lose the chance of dying for the maiden. And so the butchery went on till thirteen young men had died. But the gods were filled with hatred for Oenomaus for being so wicked, while they pitied the victims and also the maiden, them because of the prize they’d lost and her because she wasn’t having the proper enjoyment of her beauty, and were also concerned for the young man, Pelops by name, who was about the enter the contest. They therefore presented him with a chariot even more skilfully constructed than that of Oenomaus and with immortal steeds. These were to enable him to gain possession of the maiden, which he did after he had killed his father-in-law at the end of his victorious race.

  20. Thus beauty is regarded by men as something divine, and valued as all-important, and many are the places to which its eager pursuit has taken the gods. Therefore no one could justly blame me for considering that this discourse of mine on beauty serves a useful purpose.”

  Such was the discourse of Aristippus.

  HERMIPPUS

  21.That leaves you, Charidemus. You must add your speech to set the final seal on the beauties of beauty.

  CHARIDEMUS

  In heaven’s name, please don’t force me to continue any further; for what I’ve already told you is sufficient to show you how our conversation went. Besides, I forget what I said. It’s easier to remember other people’s words than one’s own.

  HERMIPPUS

  But that’s what we wanted to get from you right from the start; for we were not so much concerned to hear their words as yours. If therefore you deprive us of that, all your efforts so far will have been in vain. By Hermes, I beg you, give me the full discussion, as you promised at the outset.

  CHARIDEMUS

  It would have been better for you to he content with this much and relieve me of an unpleasant task. But since you are so set on hearing my speech also, I must oblige you with this further favour. This then was how my speech went:

  22. “If I were beginning the first speech on beauty, I should need many introductory remarks, but since I am following many previous speakers, it seems reasonable for me to treat their speeches as introductory remarks and continue the argument where they left off, since the discussions are not being held in two different places, but here, and at one and the same time, so that it’s possible even for those present to forget that each of us is not making a speech of his own, but each is proceeding in turn with the same discussion. Therefore what each of you has said individually about beauty would be sufficient to bring honour to any other man, but I have the very much greater task of ensuring that later generations too shall be well supplied with praises of beauty over and above those just delivered. For beauty brings to one’s mind from many quarters a great many ideas, each of which one feels one should mention first, as though one were in a meadow rich with flowers, where each successive bloom that appears invites one to pick it. I shall choose out of everything those points which I feel should not be omitted, and speak briefly, so that I may pay due tribute to beauty and also act in a way acceptable to you by refraining from a long speech.

  23. Those whom we think superior to ourselves for courage or in any other virtue tend to incur our envy, unless by their daily benefactions they force us to he well disposed to them; as a result of this the things they undertake may not go well for them. But so far are we from envying the beautiful for their loveliness that, immediately we see them, we become their captives, show them inordinate affection and unhesitatingly act as their slaves in every way we can, as though they were our superiors. Thus one would more gladly obey someone blessed with beauty than issue orders to a person without beauty, and one would feel more gratitude to the beauty who gives many orders than the one who gives none at all.

  24. Our enthusiasm for all other good things which we lack ends when we obtain them, but of beauty we have never ever had too much; no, even if we surpass the son of Aglaia, who once set sail with the Achaeans for Troy, or beautiful Hyacinthus, or Narcissus of Lacedaemon, we are not satisfied, but are afraid that we may unwittingly be surpassed in beauty by later generations.

  25. Beauty is, as it were, the universal ideal in very nearly every human activity; beauty is considered by generals in arraying their armies, by orators in composing their speeches, and moreover by artists in painting their portraits. But why should I only mention those things which have beauty for their end? For, in constructing the things which we have come to find indispensable, we show the greatest zeal for making them as beautiful as possible. For Menelaus was not so much concerned with using his palace as with astonishing his visitors; that is why he lavished such wealth on its construction and made it so very beautiful. Moreover he succeeded in his purpose, for the son of Odysseus is said, when visiting Menelaus in search of news about his father, to have admired it so much that he said to Peisistratus, son of Nestor “Twas like being in the palace of Olympian Zeus.’ Furthermore Odysseus himself, the boy’s father, had ships ‘with cheeks of red’ simply because he wished to be able to astonish those that saw them. And, if one cares to examine each of the arts and crafts, one will find that they all more or less aim at beauty and regard the achieving of beauty as all important.

  26. Beauty is thought so superior to everything else that, though one could find many things more honoured than those that partake of justice or wisdom or courage, nothing can be found better than the things informed with beauty, just as indeed nothing is held in less honour than the things without beauty. At any rate it’s only those lacking beauty that we call ugly, since we regard any other advantage possessed by a man as immaterial if he be without beauty.

  27. Therefore those who transact state affairs for citizens of a democracy and those subject to tyrants are called by us demagogues and toadies respectively, but we reserve our admiration for those subject to the power of beauty, calling those who show concern for the beautiful diligent and aesthetic and regarding them as common benefactors. When, therefore, beauty is so revered and so much a part of all men’s prayers, and, when people count it gain to be able to serve it in any way, could we not have been blamed with good cause if, when able to gain so great a benefit, we have bee
n wilfully relinquishing it without even being able to see that we’re punishing ourselves?”

  28. Such was the extent of my speech, for I excluded from it many of the things which I could have said about beauty, because I could see that the discussion was becoming protracted.

  HERMIPPUS

  How lucky you are to have enjoyed such a discussion! Still, thanks to you, I have now become almost as lucky as you.

  NERO — Νέρων

  Translated by M. D. Mcleod

  NERO is attributed to Lucian in N and two other Lucianic manuscripts, but there can be little doubt that it is the work of one of the three Philostrati, and probably of the first Philostratus, whose other works have been lost though their titles are listed in the Suda, rather than his son, Philostratus the “Athenian,” who wrote The Life of Apollonius of Tyana for the empress Julia Domna, though her death in 217 A.D. seems to have preceded its publication. The reasons for ascribing Nero to a Philostratus are as follows:

  (1) The style is quite unlike that of Lucian, but in the view of C. L. Kayser, the Teubner editor, it is very like that of the Philostrati.

  (2) C. 4 of Nero is very like The Life of Apollonius 4.24, while the only other mention of Musonius digging at Corinth rather than being in exile at Gyara is ibid. 5.19. Note that elsewhere the “Athenian” mentions Musonius as imprisoned, presumably at Rome (ibid. 4.35 and 4.46), and as under detention in Gyara (ibid. 7.16).