But that the winged parties are the lovers,
And that he falsely bears this imputation:
So that it is out of pure ignorance
That painters clothe this deity with wings.
14. And Theophrastus, in his book on Love, says that Chæremon the tragedian said in one of his plays, that—
As wine adapts itself to the constitution
Of those who drink it, so likewise does Love
Who, when he's moderately worshipp'd,
Is mild and manageable; but if loosed
From moderation, then is fierce and troublesome.
On which account the same poet afterwards, distinguishing his powers with some felicity, says—
For he doth bend a double bow of beauty,
And sometimes men to fortune leads,
But sometimes overwhelms their lives
With trouble and confusion.[1]
But the same poet also, in his play entitled The Wounded Man, speaks of people in love in this manner:—
Who would not say that those who love alone
Deserve to be consider'd living men?
For first of all they must be skilful soldiers,
And able to endure great toil of body,
And to stick close to th' objects of their love:
They must be active, and inventive too,
Eager, and fertile in expedients,
And prompt to see their way in difficulties.
And Theophilus, in his Man fond of the Flute, says—
Who says that lovers are devoid of sense?
He is himself no better than a fool:
For if you take away from life its pleasures,
You leave it nothing but impending death.
And I myself am now indeed in love
With a fair maiden playing on the harp;
</poem>
The passage in Euripides is—
[Greek: Didym' Erôs ho chrysokomas
Tox' enteinetai charitôn
To men ep' euaiôni potmô
To d' epi synchysei biotas.]—Iph. in Aul. 552.
]
- ↑ This is a blunder of Athenæus; for the passage alluded to is evidently
that in the Iphigenia in Aulis of Euripides. The lines as quoted in the
text here are—
<poem>
[Greek: Didyma gar toxa auton
Enteinesthai charitôn
To men ep' euaiôni tycha
To d' epi synchysei biotas.
