Xenophon of Ephesus, An Ephesian Tale 1.2.5 · 1.2.5
Anthia leads the girls
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Ἦρχε δὲ τῆς τῶν παρθένων τάξεως Ἄνθεια, θυγάτηρ Μεγαμήδους καὶ Εὐίππης, ἐγχωρίων. Ἦν δὲ τὸ κάλλος τῆς Ἀνθείας οἷον θαυμάσαι καὶ πολὺ τὰς ἄλλας ὑπερεβάλλετο παρθένους. Ἔτη μὲν τεσσαρεσκαίδεκα ἐγεγόνει, ἤνθει δὲ αὐτῆς τὸ σῶμα ἐπʼ εὐμορφίᾳ,
Anthia, the daughter of Megamedes and Euippe, a local couple, led the ranks of the girls. Her beauty was a thing to marvel at, and she far surpassed the other girls. She was fourteen years old, and her body was in bloom with loveliness.
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The setting
Book 1, chapter 2. The heroine of the story appears for the first time.
A note on this passage
Anthia's family mirrors Habrocomes'. Her father is Megamedes, "great in counsel," and his is Lycomedes; both names end in -medes, from μήδεα, "counsels." Her mother is Euippe, "good with horses," and a name with ἵππος in it suggested a rich family, since horses were a rich man's expense. In Aristophanes' Clouds a mother from a grand family insists on a horse in her son's name (Clouds 60–67).
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