Editing Simonides of Ceos (section)

====The miser====
In his play ''[[Peace (play)|Peace]]'', [[Aristophanes]] imagined that the tragic poet [[Sophocles]] had turned into Simonides: "He may be old and decayed, but these days, if you paid him enough, he'd go to sea in a sieve."<ref>Aristophanes, ''[[Peace (play)|Peace]]'' 695&nbsp;[[wikt:ff.|ff.]], translated by A.H. Sommerstein, ''Aristophanes: The Birds and Other Plays'', Penguin Books (1978), page 121</ref> A [[Scholion|scholiast]], commenting on the passage, wrote: "Simonides seems to have been the first to introduce money-grabbing into his songs and to write a song for pay" and, as proof of it, quoted a passage from one of Pindar's odes ("For then the Muse was not yet fond of profit nor mercenary"), which he interpreted as covert criticism of Simonides. The same scholiast related a popular story that the poet kept two boxes, one empty and the other full – the empty one being where he kept favours, the full one being where he kept his money.<ref>For scholiast see D.A. Campbell, ''Greek Lyric III'', page 349</ref><ref>for Pindar's ode, see ''Isthmian'' 2, antistrophe&nbsp;1</ref> According to [[Athenaeus]], when Simonides was at Hieron's court in [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]], he used to sell most of the daily provisions that he received from the tyrant, justifying himself thus: "So that all may see Hieron's magnificence and my moderation."<ref>Athenaeus 14.656de, cited by D. Campbell, ''Greek Lyric III'', Loeb Classical Library (1991), page 349</ref> [[Aristotle]] reported that the wife of Hieron once asked Simonides whether it was better to be wealthy or wise, to which he apparently replied: "Wealthy; for I see the wise spending their days at the doors of the wealthy."<ref>Aristotle ''Rhet.'' 16 Feb, 1391a, cited by D. Campbell, ''Greek Lyric III'', Loeb Classical Library (1991), page 365</ref>

According to an anecdote recorded on a papyrus, dating to around 250&nbsp;BC, Hieron once asked the poet if everything grows old: "Yes," Simonides answered, "all except money-making; and kind deeds age most quickly of all."<ref>''Hibeh Papyrus'' 17, cited by D. Campbell, ''Greek Lyric III'', Loeb Classical Library (1991), page 365</ref> He once rejected a small fee to compose a victory ode for the winner of a mule race (it was not a prestigious event) but, according to Aristotle, changed his mind when the fee was increased, resulting in this magniloquent opening: "Greetings, daughters of storm-footed steeds!"<ref>Aristotle ''Rhet.'' 3 February 1405b, cited by D. Campbell, ''Greek Lyric III'', Loeb Classical Library (1991), page 383</ref> In a quote recorded by [[Plutarch]], he once complained that old age had robbed him of every pleasure but making money.<ref>Plutarch ''an Seni'' 768b, cited by D. Campbell, ''Greek Lyric III'', Loeb Classical Library (1991), page 365</ref>

All these amusing anecdotes might simply reflect the fact that he was the first poet to charge fees for his services – generosity is glimpsed in his payment for an inscription on a friend's epitaph, as recorded by [[Herodotus]].<ref>David Campbell, ''Greek Lyric Poetry'', Bristol Classical Press (1982), page 379, citing ''Herodotus'' 7.228.3–4</ref> Herodotus also mentions an earlier poet [[Arion]], who had amassed a fortune on a visit to Italy and Sicily, so maybe Simonides was not the first professional poet, as claimed by the Greeks themselves.<ref>Hdt. 1.24.1, cited by C.M. Bowra, ''Pindar'', Oxford University Press (reprint 2000), p.&nbsp;355</ref>