Kitap 10
80
Callias was also the first man who taught the elements of learning by iambics, in a licentious sort of language, described in the following manner— For I'm in labour, ladies; but from shame, I will, my dear, in separate lines and letters, Tell you the name of the child. There is a line Upright and long; and from the middle of it There juts forth on each side a little one, With upward look: and next a circle comes, On two short feet supported. And afterwards, following this example, as any one may suspect, Mæandrius the prose writer, turning away a little from the usual pronunciation in his descriptions, wrote those things which are found in his Precepts, in a less polished style than the above-mentioned Callias. And Euripides appears to have followed the same model when he composed those verses, in his Theseus, in which the elements of writing are described. But the character is an illiterate shepherd, who is showing that the name of Theseus is inscribed in the place in this way— For I indeed do nothing know of letters, But I will tell you all their shapes, and give Clear indications by which you may judge. There is a circle, round as though 't had been Work'd in a lathe, and in its centre space It has a visible sign. Then the second Has first of all two lines, and these are parted By one which cuts them both across the middle. The third's a curly figure, wreathed round. The fourth contains one line which mounts right up, And in a transverse course three others hang From its right side. The letter which cones fifth Admits of no such easy explanation; For there are two diverging lines above, Which meet in one united line below. The letter which comes last is like the third. [So as to make θ η ς ε υ ς.]
