Kitap 4
60
And Ctesippus the son of Chabrias carried hi extravagance and intemperance to such a height, that he old even the stones of his father's tomb, on which the Athenians had spent a thousand drachmæ, to furnish means for his luxury. And accordingly Diphilus says in his Men offering Sacrifices to the Dead— If Chabrias's son, the young Ctesippus, Had not become a friend of Phædimus, I should have brought a wholesome law forward To cause his father's monument to be finished. That each of all the citizens should give A stone of size to fill a waggon, and I say that that would not be much for him. And Timocles, in his Demosatyri, says— Ctesippus, the fine son of Chabrias, Has ceased to shave himself three times a-day. A great man among women, not with men. And Menander, in his Anger, says this of him— And I too once was a young man, O woman, Nor did I then five several times a-day Bathe, as I now do bathe; nor at that time Had I a soft cloak, such as now I have, Nor such perfumes as now; now I will paint myself, And pluck my hair, by Jove. Aye, I will be Ctesippus, not a man; and in brief time I too, like him, will eat up all the stones, For I'll not be content with earth alone. And perhaps it was on account of this extravagant luxury and debauchery that Demosthenes has handed down his name in his treatise on Immunities. But those who have devoured their patrimony ought to be punished in such a way as this, like the Nauclerus of Menander. For Menander says— O dearest mother of all mortals, Earth, How kind you are to all possess'd of sense; How worthy of all honour! Sure that man Who like a spendthrift eats his patrimony, Should be condemn'd to sail about for ever And never reach the shore; that he might feel To what great good he'd been insensible.
