POLYSTRATUS 
Then inasmuch as culture must stand at the head
of all that is fair, and particularly all that is acquired
by study, let us now create its likeness, rich, however, in colours and in modelling, that even in this
point we may not fall short of your achievement in
sculpture. So let her be pictured as possessing all
the good gifts that come from Helicon. Unlike
Clio, Polymnia, Calliope, and the others, each of
whom has a single accomplishment, she shall have
those of all the Muses, and in addition those of
Hermes and Apollo. For all that poets have set
forth with the embellishment of metre or orators
with the might of eloquence, all that historians
have related or philosophers recommended shall give
beauty to our picture, not simply to the extent of
tinting its surface, but staining it all deeply with
indelible colours till it will take no more. And you
must pardon me if I can show no ancient model for
this picture; for tradition tells us of nothing similar
in point of culture among the men of olden times.
But in spite of that, if you approve, it too may now

 

be hung; for no fault can be found with it, from
my point of view.
 LYCINUS 
It is very beautiful, to be sure, Polystratus, and
every line of it correctly drawn.
 POLYSTRATUS 
Next we must delineate her wisdom and understanding. We shall require many models there,
most of them ancient, and one, like herself, Ionic,
painted and wrought by Aeschines, the friend of
Socrates, and by Socrates himself, In the Aspasia, a Socratic dialogue by the philosopher Aeschines, not extant. of all craftsmen
the truest copyists because they painted with love.
It is that maid of Miletus, Aspasia, the consort
of the Olympian, Pericles. himself a marvel beyond compare.
Putting before us, in her, no mean pattern of
understanding, let us take all that she had of
experience in affairs, shrewdness in_ statescraft,
quick-wittedness, and penetration, and transfer the
whole of it to our own picture by accurate measurement; making allowance, however, for the fact
that she was painted on a small canvas, but our
figure is colossal in its scale.
 LYCINUS 
What do you mean by that?
 POLYSTRATUS 
I mean, Lycinus, that the pictures are not of
equal size, though they look alike; for the Athenian
state of those days and the Roman empire of to-day
are not equal, nor near it. Consequently, although



 

ours resembles the other exactly, yet in size at least
it is superior, as being painted on a very broad canvas.
 
The second model and the third shall be
the famous Theano Wife, or disciple, of Pythagoras, herself a philosophical writer of note. and the Lesbian poetess,
and Diotima Diotima, a priestess of Mantinea, probably fictitious, for we hear of her only through Plato in the Symposium (201 p). Socrates says there that she was wise in Love, and ascribes to her the metaphysical rhapsody on Love in which the dialogue culminates. shall be still another. Theano
shall contribute her high-mindedness, Sappho the
attractiveness of her way of living, and Diotima
shall be copied not only in those qualities for which
Socrates commended her, but in her general intelligence and power to give counsel. There you
have another picture, Lycinus, which may be hung
also.
 LYCINUS 
Yes, Polystratus, for it is marvellous. But paint
more of them.
 POLYSTRATUS 
That of her goodness and loving-kindness, my
friend, which will disclose the gentleness of her
nature and its graciousness to all those who make
demands upon her? Then let her be compared
with that Theano who was wife of Antenor, Theano, priestess of Athena in Troy (Iliad 6, 298), brought up Pedacus, her husband's illegitimate child, as if he were her own son (Jliad 5, 69). 
and with Arete, See Odyssey 7, 67 sq. and Arete’s daughter Nausicaa,
and with any other who in high station behaved
with propriety in the face of her good fortune.
 
Next in order, let her modesty be portrayed, and
her love for her consort, in such a way as to be
most like the daughter of Icarius, described by





 

Homer as modest and prudent (for that is the way
he drew the picture of Penelope); or like her
own homonym, the wife of Abradatas, whom we
mentioned a little while ago. See page275. 
 LYCINUS 
Once more you have created a very beautiful
picture, Polystratus; and now, perhaps, your portraits are finished, for you have traversed all of
her soul in praising it part by part.