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V

[5arg] How the philosopher Arcesilaus severely yet humorously taunted a man with the vice of voluptuousness and with unmanliness of expression and conduct.

PLUTARCH tells us 1 that Arcesilaus the philosopher used strong language about a certain rich man, who was too pleasure-loving, but nevertheless had a [p. 255] reputation for uprightness and freedom from sensuality. For when he observed the man's affected speech, his artfully arranged hair, and his wanton glances, teeming with seduction and voluptuousness, he said: “It makes no difference with what parts of your body you debauch yourself, front or rear.”

1 Sympos. vii. 5.3, De Tuend. San. 7.

The Attic Nights of Aulus Gellius. With An English Translation. John C. Rolfe. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1927.

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