Cephalus: I remember hearing Sophocles the poet greeted by a fellow who asked, "How about your service of Aphrodite, Sophocles—is your natural force still unabated?" And he replied, "Hush, man, most gladly have I escaped this thing you talk of, as if I had run away from a raging and savage beast of a master."
καὶ δὴ καὶ Σοφοκλεῖ ποτε τῷ ποιητῇ παρεγενόμην ἐρωτωμένῳ ὑπό τινος· 'πῶς' ἔφη, 'ὦ Σοφόκλεις, ἔχεις πρὸς τἀφροδίσια; ἔτι οἷός τε εἶ γυναικὶ συγγίγνεσθαι;' καὶ ὅς 'εὐφήμει' ἔφη, 'ὦ ἄνθρωπε· ἀσμενέστατα μέντοι αὐτὸ ἀπέφυγον, ὥσπερ λυττῶντά τινα καὶ ἄγριον δεσπότην ἀποφυγών.'
Original text (Ancient Greek)