e to face with such a youth, to hear
him talk, to share his toils, to walk with him, to nurse him in
sickness, to attend him on the sea, to suffer chains and darkness
with him if need be? He who hated him should be my foe, and who so
loved him should be loved by me. At his death I would die; one
grave should cover us both; one cruel hand cut short our lives!"

In the sequel of the dialogue Lucian makes it clear that he intends
these raptures of Callicratidas to be taken in great measure for
romantic boasting. Yet the fact remains that, till the last, Greek
paiderastia among the better sort of men implied no effeminacy.
Community of interest in sport, in exercise, and in open-air life
rendered it attractive.[106]

"Son of Eudiades, Euphorion,
After the boxing-match, in which he beat,
With wreaths I crowned, and set fine silk upon,
His forehead and soft blossoms honey-sweet;
Then thrice I kissed him all beblooded there;
His mouth I kissed, his eyes, his every bruise;
More fragrant far than frankincense, I swear.
Was the fierce chrism that from his brows did ooze."

"I do not care for curls or tresses
Displayed in wily wildernesses;
I do not prize the arts that dye
A painted cheek with hues that fly:
Give me a boy whose face and hand
Are rough with dust or circus-sand,
Whose ruddy flesh exhales the scent
Or health without embellishment:
Sweet to my sense is such a youth,
Whose charms have all the charm of truth:
Leave paints and perfumes, rouge, and curls,
To lazy, lewd Corinthian girls."

The palaestra was the place at Athens where lovers enjoyed the greatest
freedom. In the _Phaedrus_ Plato observes that the attachment of the
lover for a boy grew by meetings and personal contact[107] in the
gymnasiums and other social resorts, and in the _Symposium_ he mentions
gymnastic exercises, with philosophy, and paiderastia, as the three
pursuits of freemen most obnoxious to despots. AEschines, again
describing the manners of boy-lovers in language familiar to his
audience, uses these phrases: "having grown up in gymnasium and games,"
and "the man having been a noisy haunter of gymnasiums, and having been
the lover of multitudes." Aristophanes, also, in the _Wasps_,[108]
employs similar language: "and not seeking to go revelling around in
exercising grounds." I may compare Lucian, _Amores_, cap.