Poseidon Now, Hermes, is this just, to let this


 



dog-headed Egyptian take precedence of me,
Poseidon? Hermes No, Earthshaker; but, you see, Lysippos made you of bronze and poor because the
Corinthians had no gold at the time, and Anoubis
is whole mines richer than you. So you must e'en
put up with being shoved aside, and not lose your
temper if a god with such a great golden muzzle
as his has been preferred to you. Aphrodite Take me, too, then, Hermes, and
place me somewhere in the front rows, for I am
golden. Hermes Not as far as I can see, Aphrodite.
Unless I am exceedingly blear-eyed, you were
quarried out of the white stone of Pentele, and
then, at the good pleasure of Praxiteles, you became Aphrodite and were handed over to the
Knidians. Aphrodite But I will furnish you a trustworthy
referee in Homer, who, up and down in his poetry,
declares me "golden Aphrodite." Hermes Oh, Homer says that Apollo, too, is full
of gold and rich, but now you will see him sitting
somewhere in the worst seats, for the robbers
took his crown and stripped the pegs from his
lyre. So you may congratulate yourself that you
are not placed down among the servants.