Athenaeus, The Learned Banqueters (Deipnosophistae) 604a · 604a
Crimson cheeks
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Sophocles, quoting Phrynichus — λάμπει δ’ ἐπὶ πορφυρέαις παρῇσι φῶς ἔρωτος.’
Ion of Chios — καὶ πρὸς τόδε ἠμείφθη ὁ Ἐρετριεὺς ἢ Ἐρυθραῖος γραμμάτων ἐὼν διδάσκαλος·
the schoolmaster — ‘ σοφὸς μὲν δὴ σύ γε εἶ, ὦ Σοφόκλεις, ἐν ποιήσει· ὅμως μέντοι γε οὐκ εὖ εἴρηκε Φρύνιχος πορφυρέας εἰπὼν τὰς γνάθους τοῦ καλοῦ. εἰ γὰρ ὁ ζωγράφος χρώματι πορφυρέῳ ἐναλείψειε τουδὶ τοῦ παιδὸς τὰς γνάθους, οὐκ ἂν ἔτι καλὸς φαίνοιτο. οὐ κάρτα δεῖ τὸ καλὸν τῷ μὴ καλῷ φαινομένῳ εἰκάζειν ἄν.’
Ion of Chios — γελάσας ἐπὶ τῷ Ἐρετριεῖ Σοφοκλῆς·
Sophocles — ‘ οὐδὲ τόδε
‘On crimson cheeks shines the light of love.’” To this the schoolmaster from Eretria or Erythrae, a teacher of letters, replied: “You are wise in poetry, Sophocles, of course. Still, Phrynichus did not speak well when he called the cheeks of a beautiful boy crimson. If a painter smeared crimson paint on this boy's cheeks here, he would no longer look beautiful. One should not compare the beautiful to what does not look beautiful.” Sophocles laughed at the Eretrian: “Then not this either…
Word by word
The setting
Sophocles quotes a line of the tragic poet Phrynichus about a blushing face, and a pedantic schoolmaster at the table objects.
A note on this passage
Phrynichus was a tragic poet a generation older than Aeschylus, and almost nothing of his work survives; this line is one of the scraps. Sophocles uses it as a compliment to the boy, said within his hearing.<br><br>The schoolmaster ruins the moment by taking it literally. He is a type every reader of Athenaeus knows, the man who corrects poetry at dinner, and the book is full of his descendants. Ion does not even remember whether he came from Eretria or Erythrae, which is its own small put-down.
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