h things are ruinous to the constitution, he said,
bad for stomachs, brains, and soul alike; or as he used to put it, with
a touch of sarcasm, (8) "It must have been by feasting men on so many
dainty dishes that Circe produced her pigs; only Odysseus through his
continency and the 'promptings (9) of Hermes' abstained from touching
them immoderately, and by the same token did not turn into a swine." So
much for this topic, which he touched thus lightly and yet seriously.

(5) {ei me ti daimonion eie}, "save under some divinely-ordained
calamity." Cf. "Cyrop." I. vi. 18; "Symp." viii. 43.

(6) See "Ages." ix; Cic. "Tusc." v. 34, 97; "de Fin." ii. 28, 90.

(7) Cf. Plut. "Mor." 128 D; Clement, "Paedag." 2. 173, 33; "Strom." 2,
492, 24; Aelian, "N. A." 8, 9.

(8) "Half in gibe and half in jest," in ref. to "Od." x. 233 foll.:
"So she let them in..."

(9) {upothemosune}, "inspiration." Cf. "Il." xv. 412; "Od." xvi. 233.

But as to the concerns of Aphrodite, his advice was to hold strongly
aloof from the fascination of fair forms: once lay finger on these
and it is not easy to keep a sound head and a sober mind. To take a
particular case. It was a mere kiss which, as he had heard, Critobulus
(10) had some time given to a fair youth, the son of Alcibiades. (11)
Accordingly Critobulus being present, Socrates propounded the question.

(10) For Critobulus (the son of Crito) see "Econ." i. 1 foll.; "Symp."
i. 3 foll.

(11) See Isocr. "Or." xvi. Cobet conj. {ton tou 'Axiokhou uion}, i.e.
Clinias.

Soc. Tell me, Xenophon, have you not always believed Critobulus to be a
man of sound sense, not wild and self-willed? Should you not have said
that he was remarkable for his prudence rather than thoughtless or
foolhardy?

Xen. Certainly that is what I should have said of him.

Soc. Then you are now to regard him as quite the reverse--a hot-blooded,
reckless libertine: this is the sort of man to throw somersaults into
knives, (12) or to leap into the jaws of fire.

(12) Cf. "Symp." ii. 10, iv. 16. See Schneider ad loc.

Xen. And what have you seen him doing, that you give him so bad a
character?

Soc. Doing? Why, has not the fellow dared to steal a kiss from the son
of Alcibiades, most fair of youths and in the golden prime?

Xen. Nay, then, if that is the foolhardy adventure, it is a danger which
I could well encounter myself.

Soc. Pour soul! and what do you expect your fate to be after that