Num censes calliplocamon callisphyron ullam
non licitum esse uterum atque etiam inguina tangere mammis,
conpernem aut varam fuisse Amphitryonis acoetin
Alcmenam atque alias, Ledam ipsam denique—nolo
dicere; tute vide atque disyllabon elige quodvis—
couren eupatereiam aliquam rem insignem habuisse,
verrucam, naevum, punctum, dentem eminulum unum?
(Lucilius, fr. 567-573)
You don’t think, do you that any ‘fair-tressed’, ‘fair-ankled’ woman could not have touched belly and even groin with her breasts, or that Alcmena ‘spouse of Amphitryon’ could not have been knock-kneed or bandy-legged, and that others, even Leda herself, could not have been—I don’t want to say it: see to it yourself and choose any disyllable you want—that ‘a girl of good parentage’ could not have had some outstanding mark, a wart, a mole, a spot, one little protruding tooth? (tr. Llewelyn Morgan)
Crambe Repetita 