Plutarch, Conjugalia Praecepta, Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator), 10

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[10] Herodotus was not right in saying ¹ that a woman lays aside her modesty along with her undergarment. On the contrary, a virtuous woman puts on modesty in its stead, and husband and wife bring into their mutual relations the greatest modesty as a token of the greatest love.

Conjugalia Praecepta. Plutarch. Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1928.

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Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

Advice to Bride and Groom (English) (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. II. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1928 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Γαμικὰ παραγγέλματα Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol I. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1888.) — 10 focus

[10] οὐκ ὀρθῶς Ἡρόδοτος¹ εἶπεν ὅτι ἡ γυνὴ 15 ἅμα τῷ χιτῶνι ἐκδύεται² καὶ τὴν αἰδῶ· τοὐναντίον γὰρ ἡ σώφρων ἀντενδύεται τὴν αἰδῶ, καὶ τοῦ μάλιστα φιλεῖν τῷ μάλιστα αἰδεῖσθαι συμβόλῳ χρῶνται πρὸς ἀλλήλους.

Translations (1)

Conjugal Precepts Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. II. Goodwin, William W., editor; Philips, John, translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874.) — 10 focus

[10] Nor can we approve the saying of Herodotus, that a woman lays aside her modesty with her shift. For surely then it is that a chaste woman chiefly vails herself with bashfulness, when, in the privacies of matrimonial duties, excess of love and maiden reverence become the secret signals and testimonies of mutual affection.

Notes on the current edition

Advice to Bride and Groom

1. Herodotus, i. 8. Cf. Plutarch, Moralia, 37 C, and Hieronymus, Adversus Iovinianum, chap. xlviii. (vol. ii. p. 292 of Migne’s edition).

Plutarch Conjugalia Praecepta 10

Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator)

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