Xenophon of Ephesus, An Ephesian Tale 1.3.4 · 1.3.4
Love they cannot hold back
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Ὡς δὲ ἦλθον ἑκάτερος παρʼ ἑαυτόν, ἔγνωσαν τότε οἷ κακῶν ἐγεγόνεσαν· καὶ ἔννοια ἐκείνους ὑπῄει τῆς ὄψεως θατέρου καὶ ὁ ἔρως ἐν αὐτοῖς ἀνεκαίετο καὶ τὸ περιττὸν τῆς ἡμέρας αὐξήσαντες τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν, ἐπειδὴ εἰς ὕπνον ᾔεσαν, ἐν ἀθρόῳ γίνονται τῷ δεινῷ, καὶ ὁ ἔρως ἐν ἑκατέροις ἦν ἀκατάσχετος.
When each of them had gone home, they realized then how far into trouble they had come. The thought of the other's looks crept over them, and love was kindled in them. Through the rest of the day they increased their desire, and when they went to sleep they were in the full force of their anguish, and the love in each of them was beyond control.
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The setting
Book 1, chapter 3. The rest of that day and the night after the festival.
A note on this passage
In 1.3.1 the god "held" Habrocomes "fast," κατεῖχε. The chapter ends with love ἀκατάσχετος, "not to be held back," an adjective made from the same verb, κατέχω, with the negative prefix ἀ-. Here the power is ὁ ἔρως, the feeling inside each of them, printed in small letters; in 1.3.1 it was Ἔρως, the god. Capital letters for names are a modern printing convention, so the line between the god and the feeling is drawn by the editor.
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