Letter 148: A lover may lie under pressure of longing, but letters can offer the beloved's outline.
The proverb knew lovers' passion well: even if they choose to swear falsely, it promises them pardon from the gods. Look, I have written to you, though I had promised not to write. So strongly am I led by longing that I become a lover who lies. But write often, and give lovers at least the outline of an image in place of the sight itself.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
Ἐπιφανίωι Καλῶς ἄρα ᾔδει τὸ τῶν ἐρώντων πάθος ἡ παροιμία· κἂν ἐπιορκεῖν ἐθέλωσιν, συγγνώμην αὐτοῖς ἐκ θεῶν ἐπαγγέλλεται. ἰδοὺ γάρ σοι γέγραφα, καίτοι μὴ γράφειν ὑπεσχημένος. οὕτως ἀγόμεθα τῷ πόθῳ καὶ γίνομαι ψεύστης ἐρωτικός. ἀλλὰ γράφε πολλάκις καὶ δίδου τύπον γοῦν εἰκόνος ἀντὶ θέας τοῖς ἐρασταῖς.
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern procopius gaza batch9 matia greek v1.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://www.matia.gr/pisth/pdf/pg_migne/Procopius_of_Gaza_PG_87a-87c/Epistulae.pdf
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