Plutarch, Amatorius, ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs, 11

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[11]

ΑΥΤΟΒΟΥΛΟΣ.

ὡς οὖν ὁ τοῦ Πεισίου φίλος ὥσπερ ἐν πολέμῳ 15 προσελάσας τὸν ἵππον αὐτὸ τοῦτο τεταραγμένος εἶπεν, ὅτι Βάκχωνʼ ἥρπακεν Ἰσμηνοδώρα, τὸν μὲν Ζεύξιππον ὁ πατὴρ ἔφη γελάσαι καὶ εἰπεῖν, ὅτε δὴ καὶ φιλευριπίδην ὄντα,

πλούτῳ χλιδῶσα θνητὰ δʼ ὦ¹ γύναι φρονεῖς²·

³ 20 τὸν δὲ Πεισίαν ἀναπηδήσαντα βοᾶν, ὦ θεοί, τί πέρας ἔσται τῆς ἀνατρεπούσης τὴν πόλιν ἡμῶν ἐλευθερίας; ἤδη γὰρ εἰς ἀνομίαν τὰ πράγματα διὰ τῆς 755c αὐτονομίας βαδίζει⁴· καίτοι γελοῖον ἴσως ἀγανακτεῖν περὶ νόμων καὶ δικαίων, ἡ γὰρ φύσις παρανομεῖται 25 γυναικοκρατουμένη. τί τοιοῦτον ἡ Λῆμνος; ἴωμεν ἡμεῖς, ἴωμεν εἶπεν ὅπως καὶ τὸ γυμνάσιον ταῖς γυναιξὶ παραδῶμεν καὶ τὸ βουλευτήριον, εἰ παντάπασιν ἡ πόλις ἐκνενεύρισται. προάγοντος οὖν τοῦ Πεισίου, ὁ μὲν Πρωτογένης οὐκ ἀπελείπετο τὰ μὲν συναγανακτῶν τὰ δὲ πραΰνων ἐκεῖνον· ὁ δʼ 5 Ἀνθεμίων νεανικὸν μέν ἔφη τὸ τόλμημα καὶ Λήμνιον ὡς ἀληθῶς, αὐτοὶ γάρ ἐσμεν⁵, σφόδρʼ ἐρώσης γυναικός, καὶ ὁ Σώκλαρος ὑπομειδιῶν οἴει γὰρ 755d ἁρπαγήν ἔφη γεγονέναι καὶ βιασμόν, οὐκ ἀπολόγημα καὶ στρατήγημα τοῦ νεανίσκου νοῦν ἔχοντος, 10 ὅτι τὰς τῶν ἐραστῶν ἀγκάλας διαφυγὼν ἐξηυτομόληκεν εἰς χεῖρας καλῆς καὶ πλουσίας γυναικός; μὴ λέγε ταῦτʼ εἶπεν ὦ Σώκλαρε, μηδʼ ὑπονόει ἐπὶ⁶ Βάκχωνος ὁ Ἀνθεμίων· καὶ γὰρ εἰ μὴ φύσει τὸν τρόπον ἁπλοῦς ἦν καὶ ἀφελής, ἐμὲ γʼ οὐκ ἂν⁷ 15 ἀπεκρύψατο, τῶν τʼ ἄλλων⁸ μεταδιδοὺς ἁπάντων, ἒν τε τούτοις ὁρῶν προθυμότατον ὄντα τῆς Ἰσμηνοδώρας βοηθόν· ἔρωτι δὲ μάχεσθαι χαλεπόν οὐ 755e θυμῷ καθʼ Ἡράκλειτον⁹· ὅ, τι γὰρ ἂν θελήσῃ, καὶ ψυχῆς ὠνεῖται καὶ χρημάτων καὶ δόξης. ἐπεί τί 20 κοσμιώτερον Ἰσμηνοδώρας ἐν τῇ πόλει; πότε δʼ εἰσῆλθεν ἢ λόγος αἰσχρὸς ἢ πράξεως ὑπόνοια φαύλης ἔθιγε τῆς οἰκίας; ἀλλʼ ἔοικε θεία τις ὄντως εἰληφέναι τὴν ἄνθρωπον ἐπίπνοια καὶ κρείττων ἀνθρωπίνου λογισμοῦ.

Amatorius. Plutarch. ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs. Leipzig. 1892.

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Current edition Perseus

Ἐρωτικός (Greek) (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol. IV. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1892.)

Translations (1)

Of Love. Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. IV. Goodwin, William W., editor; Philips, John, translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874.) — 11 focus

[11]

AUTOB.

But when Pisias’s friend, with his horse all foaming and in a sweat, as if he had brought intelligence from the army in tithe of war, had delivered his news, being hardly able to speak for want of breath, and concluding his story with saying that Ismenodora had ravished Baccho; my father told me, that Zeuxippus fell a laughing, and as he was a great admirer of that poet, repeated the verses of Euripides:

Wanton with wealth, fair lady, thou hast done

No more than nature teaches every one.

AUTOB.

But Pisias, starting up out of his seat, made a great exclamation, crying out: O ye Gods! when will ye put an end to this licentiousness, that will in the end subvert our city? For now all things are running into disorder through violation of the laws; but perhaps it is now looked upon as a slight matter to transgress the law and violate justice, for even the law of nature is transgressed and broken by the insolent anarchy of the female sex. Was ever there any such thing committed in the island of Lemnos? Let us go, said he, let us go and deliver up the wrestling-place and the council house to the women, if the city be so effeminate as to put up with these indignities. Thus Pisias brake from the company in a fury; nor would Protogenes leave him, partly offended at what had happened, and partly to assuage and mollify his friend. But Anthemion: ’Twas a juvenile bold attempt, said he, and a truly Lemnian one — I venture to say so since we are now by ourselves — of a lady warmly in love. To whom Soclarus smiling: Do you then believe, said he, that this was a real ravishment and force, and not rather a stratagem of the young man’s own contrivance (for he has wit at will), to the end he might escape out of the hands of his ruder male lovers into the embraces of a fair and rich widow? Never say so, said Anthemion, nor have such a suspicion of Baccho. For were he not naturally, as he is, of a plain and open temper, he would still never have concealed this thing from me, to whom he has always imparted his secrets, and whom he knew to be always a favorer of Ismenodora’s design. But, according to the saying of Heraclitus, it is a hard matter to withstand love, not anger; for whatever love has a desire to, it will purchase with the hazard of life, fortune, and reputation. Now where is there a more modest and orderly woman in all our city than Ismenodora? When did you ever hear an ill word spoken of her? Or when did ever any thing done in her house give the least suspicion of an ill act? Rather we may say that she seems to be inspired beyond other women with something above human reason.

Notes on the current edition

Ἐρωτικός

1. δ’ ὧ] δὴ X

2. φρόνει Nauckius

3. Nauck. p. 678

4. βαδίζειν BE

5. em. M: ἴσμεν

6. ἐπὶ] malim περὶ aut τι περὶ

7. γ’ οὐκ ἂν] γοῦν BE. γοῦν οὐκ ἂν R

8. τ’ ἂλλων X: τελῶν

9. Ἡράκλειτον] Bywater. p. 41

Plutarch Amatorius 11

ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs

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ΑΥΤΟΒΟΥΛΟΣ.

Current edition Perseus

AUTOB.

AUTOB.

Notes on the current edition

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