Myrrhiné.
I could not find my girdle in the dark. However, if the matter is so pressing, here we are; so speak.
Lysistrata.
No, but let us wait a moment more, till the women of Bœotia arrive and those from the Peloponnese.
Myrrhiné.
Yes, that is best. . . . Ah! here comes Lampito.
Lysistrata.
Good day, Lampito, dear friend from Lacedæmon. How well and handsome you look! what a rosy complexion! and how strong you seem; why, you could strangle a bull surely!
Lampito.
Yes, indeed, I really think I could. ’Tis because I do gymnastics and practise the kick dance.[1]
Lysistrata.
And what superb bosoms!
Lampito.
La! you are feeling me as if I were a beast for sacrifice.
Lysistrata.
And this young woman, what countrywoman is she?
Lampito.
She is a noble lady from Bœotia.
Lysistrata.
Ah! my pretty Bœotian friend, you are as blooming as a garden.
- ↑ In allusion to the gymnastic training which was de rigueur at Sparta for the women no less than the men, and in particular to the dance of the Lacedæmonian girls, in which the performer was expected to kick the fundament with the heels—always a standing joke among the Athenians against their rivals and enemies the Spartans.
