“Your young son plays the flute remarkably well. May I ask who is his teacher?” asked Polygnotus.
“The pedagogue, Niceratus, has given Mimnermus instructions in flute playing. It is an art in which I wish the lad to become proficient. The Bœotians have ever excelled with the flute and I would not have Mimnermus less skilled in the art than his grandfather for whom he is named.”
“In my opinion,” said Cimon, “a youth can spend his time more profitably than with music. Think you that with the Persian expelled, all warfare is past? Remember Athens is an object of envy to Sparta, Thebes and Corinth, to say nothing of such islands as Aegina, Samos and Naxos, and who knows what may take place when Mimnermus is in his early manhood!”
“I believe all sciences and arts should form a part of every man’s education,” replied the poet quietly, “but to each one should be allowed the privilege to specialize in that particular phase of culture which is dearest to his heart.”
Cimon laughed good-naturedly. “I confess my tastes are one-sided too, but I truly believe that our new friend, Zopyrus, is equally skilled with the sword or the pen. I swear by the gods I never saw mortal man fight more heroically than he at Platæa, and yet he can recite the works of Homer, Hesiod and Sappho, and is well acquainted with the histories of Persia, Babylonia, Assyria and Egypt!”
“Nevertheless,” remarked Zopyrus to whom all eyes were now turned, “I admire a specialist and will say that I hope to cultivate the arts more assiduously. I do not enjoy fighting, but God has given me a strong body and I hope the ability to judge correctly between right and wrong.”
Pasicles leaned forward in his chair and looked with peculiar interest at the young stranger.
“Do you know the tragedian, Aeschylus?” he asked.
Zopyrus replied in the negative, wondering at his host’s question.
“Your statement that God has given you a strong body,” continued the poet, “is a peculiar one. Among the numerous friends of my profession, Aeschylus alone speaks frequently of ‘God.’ Does it not seem strange that he exalts Zeus so far above the others, each one of whom has his or her interest in the affairs of men?”