Sexual life in ancient Greece : with thirty-two full-page plates

Tue PoEMS OF THE ANTHOLOGY

to flee from its cage. Eros himself has bound the wings of the soul, kindled a fire in it, and given the thirsty one nothing but hot tears to drink. All lamentation is in vain, as it has allowed Eros to grow up in its inmost parts.

But all that, thinks the poet, is quite natural, for the boy is so beautiful that even Aphrodite would prefer him to Eros asa son. He has obtained his beauty from the Graces themselves, who once met the boy and embraced him ; this explains the charming grace of his youthful body, his sweet chatter, and the mute but yet eloquent language of his eyes. Longing for him takes the place of love, when he stays away afar, even when he has been obliged to set out on a journey by sea. Then the poet envies the ship, the waves, and the wind, which may enjoy the presence of the only loved one; and he would become a dolphin, that he might bear him on his back gently towards the longed-for destination.

(a) “ Love brought to me under my mantle at night the sweet dream of a soft-laughing boy of eighteen, still wearing the chlamys ; and I, pressing the tender flesh to my breast, culled empty hopes. Still does the desire of the memory heat me, and in my eyes still abideth sleep that caught for me in the chase that winged phantom. O soul, ill-starred in love, cease at last even in dreams to be warmed all in vain by beauty’s images.”

(b) “ The South Wind, blowing fair for sailors, O ye who are sick for love, has carried off Andragathus, my soul’s half. Thrice happy the ships, thrice fortunate the waves of the sea, and four times blessed the wind that bears the boy. Would I were a dolphin that, carried on my shoulders, he could cross the seas to look on Rhodes, the home of sweet lads.”

It annoys the poet to be awakened prematurely from such dreams. The silly crowing of a cock, who

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