Letter 74
Synesius of Cyrene→Pylaemenes|c. 402 AD|synesius cyrene
grief death
To Pylaemenes.
I have just sent you my treatise [A Eulogy of Baldness], written in Attic style and finished with care. If it wins the approval of Pylaemenes — the most demanding critic in my audience — that alone will be enough to recommend it to posterity. But if the book strikes you as frivolous, remember that it is always permissible to treat light subjects lightly.
Letter 74: The "Eulogy of Baldness"
[1] To Pylaemenes
I have just sent you the treatise, written in Attic style and of finished workmanship. note [ A Eulogy of Baldness .] If it obtains the approbation of Pylaemenes, the most critical of our audience, this very fact will be quite sufficient to recommend it to posterity. [2] But if my book seems to you a frivolous production, remember that it is always permissible to treat light subjects lightly.
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To Pylaemenes.
I have just sent you my treatise [A Eulogy of Baldness], written in Attic style and finished with care. If it wins the approval of Pylaemenes — the most demanding critic in my audience — that alone will be enough to recommend it to posterity. But if the book strikes you as frivolous, remember that it is always permissible to treat light subjects lightly.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.