mountain caves, or in the hollows of old stumps, or in the trunks
of dead trees? But leaving behind little by little these primitive ways,
they wove wool, built houses, and, imperceptibly, the art of these
various crafts, with time for teacher, produced beautiful lace in place
of simple cloth and lofty roofs instead of simple cabins. Magnificent
stonework was erected and the sad nakedness of the walls was
painted in flowery colors. Thus these arts and sciences, once mute
and sunk in oblivion, shone bright after their sleep. Each artist
handed down his invention to his successor, and each descendant
added his own to this heritage, filling out what was lacking.
of seed. Manifold wisdom and the virtuous desires, fueled by love
of the beautiful, could only come to light in a century that has left
nothing unexplored; thus love of youths has blossomed together
with divine philosophy. Therefore, Charicles, do not condemn as
evil everything not invented long ago, and do not disdain the love
of boys just because dealings with women have an older pedigree.
Let's remember that the very first discoveries were prompted by
need, but those arising from progress are only the better for it,
and worthier of our esteem.
the argument he seemed almost sorry to be Greek. Unconcerned
about undermining his own argument, he did not hide his thoughts
by speaking in low tones. Quite the contrary, he raised his voice and
fairly roared: "Neither lions, nor bears, nor boars love another male,
but their desires drive them solely towards their females." What's so
amazing about that? What man chooses by dint of reason, animals
cannot, for they are too stupid to think. If Prometheus or some
other god had endowed them with human reason, they would not
be living in the desert or the forest and they would not be devouring
each other, but, like us, they would build temples, gather around the
hearth in houses, and subject themselves to common laws. Animals
are condemned by their own nature to miss out on the providential