Page:Catullus, Tibullus and Propertius.djvu/161

Rh To borrow his manner of speech, Phœbus had gifted her with song, Calliope with the Aonian lyre: she excelled in attractive conversation, and combined the characteristics of Venus and Minerva. It cannot have been in empty compliment that Propertius styles her "his clever maid," and prides himself on his success in pleasing her in encounters of wit and raillery, or regards her appreciation of "music's gentle charms" as the secret of his favour in her eyes. The whole tone of his poetic tributes bespeaks a recognition of her equality as to wit and intellect, and we may fairly credit her with the mental endowments of the famous Greek hetæræ. Amongst her other attractions was a skill in music and dancing, commemorated by the poet in II. iii. 9-22:—