No More Learning

AN ATHENIAN. Yes, take your flute, i' the gods' name. What a delight to
see him dance!

CHORUS OF LACONIANS. Oh Mnemosyne! inspire these men, inspire my muse who
knows our exploits and those of the Athenians. With what a godlike ardour
did they swoop down at Artemisium[467] on the ships of the Medes! What a
glorious victory was that! For the soldiers of Leonidas,[468] they were
like fierce wild-boars whetting their tushes. The sweat ran down their
faces, and drenched all their limbs, for verily the Persians were as many
as the sands of the seashore. Oh! Artemis, huntress queen, whose arrows
pierce the denizens of the woods, virgin goddess, be thou favourable to
the Peace we here conclude; through thee may our hearts be long united!
May this treaty draw close for ever the bonds of a happy friendship! No
more wiles and stratagems! Aid us, oh!
aid us, maiden huntress!

LYSISTRATA. All is for the best; and now, Laconians, take your wives away
home with you, and you, Athenians, yours. May husband live happily with
wife, and wife with husband. Dance, dance, to celebrate our bliss, and
let us be heedful to avoid like mistakes for the future.

CHORUS OF ATHENIANS Appear, appear, dancers, and the Graces with you! Let
us invoke, one and all, Artemis, and her heavenly brother, gracious
Apollo, patron of the dance, and Dionysus, whose eye darts flame, as he
steps forward surrounded by the Maenad maids, and Zeus, who wields the
flashing lightning, and his august, thrice-blessed spouse, the Queen of
Heaven! These let us invoke, and all the other gods, calling all the
inhabitants of the skies to witness the noble Peace now concluded under
the fond auspices of Aphrodite. Io Paean! Io Paean! dance, leap, as in
honour of a victory won. Evoe! Evoe! And you, our Laconian guests, sing
us a new and inspiring strain!

CHORUS OF LACONIANS. Leave once more, oh!