Ὁυτω τοι, μελια ταναα, ποτι κιονα μακρον
Ἡσω, Πανομφαιω Ζηνι μενους' ἱερα·
Ηδη γαρ χαλκος τε γερων, αυτη τε τετρυσαι
Πυκνα κραδαινομενα δηιω εν Πολεμω.
Or thus,
This trusty ashen spear we 'll hang above;
'Tis sacred now to Panomphœan Jove.
The arm is old which once its terrors tossed,
And sent it quivering through the serried host.
The following inscription is said to be by Plato. It was affixed to a mirror which the celebrated Laïs, in her old age, dedicated to Venus:
Ἡ σοβαρον γελασασα. κ. τ. λ.
I, Laïs, who, in Beauty's chain,
Held Greece a captive, and for whom
So many lovers sighed in vain,
Enchanted by my youthful bloom;
Subdued by age, this mirror true,
Cythera! thus I give to thee;
For what I am I will not view.
And what I was, I ne'er can be.
When a Grecian maiden arrived at womanhood, it was usual for her to dedicate some toy of her childhood to Venus, in token of her having abandoned her youthful occupations and amusements. Here is an inscription, by Callimachus, designed for an occasion of this kind. It is both graceful and elegant, yet is deficient in the simplicity which is the usual charm of these compositions among the Greeks. It is addressed to Venus Zephyritis:
Κογχος εγω Ζεφυριτι. κ. τ. λ.