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Not long ago, my dear Sarapion,A poet living at Athens in Plutarch’s day; see Moralia, 396 d ff. and 628 a. I carne upon some lines, not badly done, which Dicaearchus thinks EuripidesNauck, Trag. Graec. Frag., Euripides, no. 969. addressed to Archelaüs: I will not give poor gifts to one so rich, Lest you should take me for a fool, or I Should seem by giving to invite a gift. For he does no favour who gives small gifts from scanty means to wealthy men; and since it is not credible that his giving is for nothing, he acquires in addition a reputation for disingenuousness and servility. Observe also how, as far as independence and honour are concerned, material gifts fall far below those bestowed by literary discourse and wisdom; and these gifts it is both honourable to give and, at the same time, to ask a return of like gifts from the recipients. I, at any rate, as I send to you, and by means of you for our friends there, some of our Pythian discourses, an offering of our first-fruits, as it were, confess that I am expecting other discourses, both more numerous and of better quality, from you and your friends, inasmuch as you have not only all the advantages of a great city,At this time Athens had been for several centuries a university city. but you have also more abundant leisure amid many books and all manner of discussions.
