Athenaeus of Naucratis, Deipnosophistae 13.609e–610a: beauty contest for girls/women
Title
Athenaeus of Naucratis, Deipnosophistae 13.609e–610a: beauty contest for girls/women
Date
2nd/3rd century CE
Type
Anecdote collection
Source Type
Literary source
Translation
I am aware, too, that on one occasion there was a contest of beauty instituted among women. And Nicias, speaking of it in his History of Arcadia, says that Cypselus instituted it, having built a city in the plain which is watered by the Alpheus; in which he established some Parrhasians, and consecrated a plot of sacred ground and an altar to Ceres of Eleusis, in whose festival it was that he had instituted this contest of beauty. And he says that the woman who gained the victory in this contest was Herodice. And even to this day this contest is continued; and the women who contend in it are called Goldbearing. And Theophrastus says that there is also a contest of beauty which takes place among the Eleans, and that the decision is come to with great care and deliberation; and that those who gain the victory receive arms as their prize, which Dionysius of Leuctra says are offered up to Minerva. And he says, too, that the victor is adorned with fillets by his friends, and goes in procession to the temple; and that a crown of myrtle is given to him (at least this is the statement of Myrsilus, in his Historical Paradoxes). “But in some places,” says the same Theophrastus, “there are contests between the women in respect of modesty and good management, as there are among the barbarians; and at other places also there are contests about beauty, on the ground that this also is entitled to honour, as for instance, there are in Tenedos and Lesbos.
Translation used
Charles D. Yonge, The Deipnosophists or Banquet of the learned of Athenaeus, London 1854.
Text
οἶδα δὲ καὶ περὶ κάλλους γυναικῶν ἀγῶνά ποτε διατεθέντα: περὶ οὗ ἱστορῶν Νικίας ἐν τοῖς Ἀρκαδικοῖς διαθεῖναί φησιν αὐτὸν Κύψελον, πόλιν κτίσαντα ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ περὶ τὸν Ἀλφειόν: εἰς ἣν κατοικίσαντα: Παρρασίων τινὰς τέμενος καὶ βωμὸν ἀναστῆσαι Δήμητρι Ἐλευσινίᾳ, ἧς ἐν τῇ ἑορτῇ καὶ τὸν τοῦ κάλλους ἀγῶνα ἐπιτελέσαι: καὶ νικῆσαι πρῶτον αὐτοῦ τὴν γυναῖκα Ἡροδίκην. ἐπιτελεῖται δὲ καὶ μέχρι νῦν ὁ ἀγὼν οὗτος, καὶ αἱ ἀγωνιζόμεναι γυναῖκες χρυσοφόροι ὀνομάζονται. Θεόφραστος δὲ ἀγῶνα κάλλους φησὶ γίνεσθαι παρὰ Ἠλείοις, καὶ τὴν κρίσιν ἐπιτελεῖσθαι μετὰ σπουδῆς λαμβάνειν τε τοὺς νικήσαντας ἆθλα ὅπλα: ἅπερ ἀνατίθεσθαί φησιν Διονύσιος ὁ Λευκτρικὸς τῇ Ἀθηνᾷ, τὸν δὲ νικήσαντα ταινιούμενον ὑπὸ τῶν φίλων καὶ πομπεύοντα ἕως τοῦ ἱεροῦ παραγίνεσθαι. τὸν στέφανον δ᾽ αὐτοῖς δίδοσθαι μυρρίνης ἱστορεῖ Μυρσίλος ἐν Ἱστορικοῖς Παραδόξοις. ἐνιαχοῦ δέ φησιν ὁ αὐτὸς Θεόφραστος καὶ κρίσεις γυναικῶν περὶ σωφροσύνης γίνεσθαι καὶ οἰκονομίας, ὥσπερ ἐν τοῖς βαρβάροις: ἑτέρωθι δὲ κάλλους, ὡς δέον καὶ τοῦτο τιμᾶσθαι, καθάπερ καὶ παρὰ Τενεδίοις καὶ Λεσβίοις:
Edition used
Charles Burton Gulick (ed.), Athenaeus, The Deipnosophists, vol. 6 ( = Loeb Classical Library; 327), London 1937.
Collection
Citation
Athenaeus of Naucratis, “Athenaeus of Naucratis, Deipnosophistae 13.609e–610a: beauty contest for girls/women,” Cynisca: Documenting Women and Girls in Ancient Greek Sports, accessed December 22, 2024, https://fdz.bib.uni-mannheim.de/cynisca/items/show/7.