Satyricon, vol 7, Marchena Notes | Page 3

already
married another man.
The best proof that, during the time of the Romans the women
preferred soldiers to other men is in the claims to successful enterprises
by the bragging soldier of Plautus. Pyrgopolinices thought it was only
necessary to pose as a great warrior, to have all the women chasing
after him; therefore, his parasite and his slave spoke of nothing but the
passions be inspired in women. Tradition has it that among the
Samnites, the bravest men had the choice of the fairest women, and to
this custom is attributed one of the reasons these people were so
warlike.
In the times of chivalry the greatest exploits were achieved for the

pleasure of one's Lady-Love, and there were even such valiant knights,
as Don Quixote, who went about the world proving by force of arms
that their ladies had no peer. The poverty-stricken troubadours singing
harmoniously about their beautiful women found them flying away in
the arms of knights who had broken lances at tournaments, or had
performed the greatest feats of arms. In fine, all the peoples of the
world have said with Dryden:
"None but the brave deserves the fair."

II.
Ses camarades se saisissent de moi et de Quartilla. His comrades seized
hold of Quartilla and me.
The profession of Quartilla corresponded to that which is followed by
our ladies of the Palace Royal. This Palace Royal is a sort of Babylon,
with this difference; that the former prostitute themselves all the year
round, and that they are not quite so attractive as the Chaldean beauties.
For the rest, one of the incontestable facts of ancient history is this
prostitution of the women of Babylon in honor of Venus, and I cannot
understand why Voltaire refused to believe it, since religions have
always been responsible for the most abominable actions, and because
religious wars, the horrors of intolerance, the impostures of priests, the
despotism of kings, the degradation and stupidity of the people, have
been the direct fatal effects of religions; and seeing that the blind
fanaticism of martyrs and the brutal cruelty of tyrants is a hundred
times more deplorable than a sacrifice equally agreeable to the victim
and to the one who officiates at the sacrifice; and seeing that the
enjoyment and giving of life is no less holy than the maceration and
caging of innocent animals.
The origin of courtesans is lost in the deepest antiquity. It appears that
it was one of the patriarchal customs to enjoy them, for Judah slept
with Thamar, widow of his two sons, and who, to seduce him,
disguised herself as a courtesan. Another courtesan, Rahab, played a
great role in the first wars of the people of the Lord: it was this same
Rahab who married Solomon, father of Boaz, fourth forefather of
David, and thirty- second forefather of Jesus Christ, our divine Savior.
Yet the eternal sagacity of man has failed to take notice of this
profession and to resent the injustice done it by the scorn of men. The

elected kings of the people, the man who adopts the word father
according to the flesh, are descendants of a courtesan.
For the rest, it must be admitted that many who follow this noble
profession are unworthy of it and only too well justify the ignominy
which is levelled against the entire class. You see these miserable
creatures with livid complexions and haggard eyes, with voices of
Stentor, breathing out at the same time the poisons which circulate in
their veins and the liquors with which they are intoxicated; you see on
their blemished and emaciated bodies, the marks of beings more
hideous than they (twenty come to satisfy their brutal passions for
every one of them); you listen to their vile language, you hear their
oaths and revolting expressions: to go to these Megeres is often to
encounter brigands and assassins: what a spectacle! It is the deformity
of vice in the rags of indigence.
Ah! But these are not courtesans, they are the dregs of cities. A
courtesan worthy of the name is a beautiful woman, gracious and
amiable, at whose home gather men of letters and men of the world; the
first magistrates, the greatest captains: and who keeps men of all
professions in a happy state of mind because she is pleasing to them,
she inspires in them a desire for reciprocal pleasure: such an one was
Aspasia who, after having charmed the cultured people of Athens was
for a long time the good companion of Pericles, and contributed much,
perhaps, towards making his century what it was, the age of taste in arts
and letters. Such an one also was Phryne, Lais, Glycera, and their
names will always be celebrated; such, also, was Ninon d'Enclos, one
of the ornaments