Yesterday I found you in a rage and I thought that I was looking at another woman. The cause of this was the transport of passion which completely destroyed the charm of your countenance. Put on another mien at once. No more of your savage glances! Not even the moon seems to us to be still shining when it is obscured by clouds; nor Aphrodite to be beautiful when she is angry or in tears; nor Hera to be ox-eyed when she indulges in wrath against Zeus; nor the sea to be bright when it is stirred up. Athena even tossed her flute away because it deformed her features. And moreover we now call the Furies the Eumenides, implying that they renounce their gloomy nature. And we delight in rose-bramble because, sprung as they are from a savge shrub that can hurt and prick, they nevertheless burst forth in roses. In the case of a woman calmness of countenance is the bright flower of her charm. Be not harsh or terrifying; do not filch away your own beauty nor despoil yourself of the roses that bloom in the eyes of you fair ladies. And if you don't believe what I say, take your mirror and see how your countenance has changed. Good for you for heeding the warning! Surely youi despised yourself, or feared yourself, or failed to recognize yourself, or had a change of heart.
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