Plutarch, Amatorius, ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs, 23

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[23]

ΑΥΤΟΒΟΥΛΟΣ.

πολλῶν δὲ τοιούτων γεγονότων καὶ παρʼ ἡμῖν καὶ παρὰ τοῖς βαρβάροις, τίς ἂν¹ ἀνάσχοιτο τῶν τὴν Ἀφροδίτην λοιδορούντων, ὡς Ἔρωτι προσθεμένη καὶ παροῦσα κωλύει φιλίαν γενέσθαι; τὴν μὲν οὖν² πρὸς ἄρρενʼ, ἄρρενος ὁμιλίαν, μᾶλλον δʼ 5 ἀκρασίαν καὶ ἐπιπήδησιν, εἴποι τις ἂν ἐννοήσας

ὕβρις τάδʼ οὐχὶ³ Κύπρις ἐξεργάζεται.

⁴ διὸ τοὺς μὲν ἡδομένους τῷ πάσχειν εἰς τὸ χείριστον τιθέμενοι γένος κακίας οὔτε πίστεως μοῖραν 768f οὔτʼ αἰδοῦς οὔτε φιλίας⁵ νέμομεν, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἀληθῶς 10 κατὰ⁶ τὸν Σοφοκλέα

φίλων τοιούτων οἱ μὲν ἐστερημένοι

⁷

χαίρουσιν⁸, οἱ δʼ ἔχοντες εὔχονται φυγεῖν.

ὅσοι δὲ μὴ κακοὶ πεφυκότες ἐξηπατήθησαν ἢ κατεβιάσθησαν ἐνδοῦναι καὶ παρασχεῖν ἑαυτούς, οὐδένα 15 μᾶλλον ἀνθρώπων ἢ τοὺς διαθέντας ὑφορώμενοι καὶ μισοῦντες διατελοῦσι καὶ πικρῶς ἀμύνονται καιροῦ παραδόντος⁹. Ἀρχέλαόν τε γὰρ ἀπέκτεινε Κρατέας¹⁰ ἐρώμενος γεγονώς, καὶ τὸν Φεραῖον Ἀλέξανδρον Πυθόλαος. Περίανδρος δʼ ὁ Ἀμβρακιωτῶν 20 τύραννος ἠρώτα τὸν ἐρώμενον εἰ μήπω κυεῖ¹¹, κἀκεῖνος 769a παροξυνθεὶς ἀπέκτεινεν αὐτόν. ἀλλὰ¹² γυναιξὶ γε¹³ γαμέταις ἀρχαὶ ταῦτα φιλίας, ὥσπερ ἱερῶν μεγάλων κοινωνήματα. καὶ τὸ τῆς ἡδονῆς μικρόν, ἡ δʼ ἀπὸ ταύτης ἀναβλαστάνουσα καθʼ ἡμέραν τιμὴ καὶ χάρις καὶ ἀγάπησις ἀλλήλων καὶ πίστις οὔτε Δελφοὺς ἐλέγχει ληροῦντας, ὅτι τὴν Ἀφροδίτην Ἄρμα¹⁴ 5 καλοῦσιν, οὔθʼ Ὅμηρον φιλότητα τὴν τοιαύτην προσαγορεύοντα συνουσίαν· τόν τε Σόλωνα μαρτυρεῖ γεγονέναι τῶν γαμικῶν ἐμπειρότατον νομοθέτην, κελεύσαντα μὴ ἔλαττον ἢ τρὶς κατὰ μῆνα τῇ γαμετῇ πλησιάζειν, οὐχ ἡδονῆς ἕνεκα πόθεν;ʼ ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ 10 αἱ πόλεις διὰ χρόνου σπονδὰς ἀνανεοῦνται πρὸς 769b ἀλλήλας, οὕτως ἄρα βουλόμενον¹⁵ ἀνανεοῦσθαι τὸν γάμον ἐκ τῶν ἑκάστοτε συλλεγομένων ὀχλημάτων¹⁶ ἐν τῇ τοιαύτῃ φιλοφροσύνῃ. ἀλλὰ πολλὰ φαῦλα καὶ μανικὰ τῶν γυναικείων¹⁷ ἐρώτων. τί δʼ οὐχὶ 15 πλείονα τῶν παιδικῶν;

οἰκειότητος¹⁸ ἐμβλέπων ὠλίσθανον

¹⁹

ἀγένειος ἁπαλὸς καὶ νεανίας καλός,

ἐμφύντʼ²⁰ ἀποθανεῖν κἀπιγράμματος²¹ τυχεῖν.

ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ τοῦτο παιδομανία, οὕτως ἐκεῖνο γυναικομανία²² 20 τὸ πάθος, οὐδέτερον δʼ Ἔρως ἐστίν. ἄτοπον οὖν τὸ γυναιξὶν ἀρετῆς φάναι μηδʼ ἄλλης μετεῖναι²³· τί δὲ δεῖ λέγειν περὶ²⁴ σωφροσύνης καὶ συνέσεως αὐτῶν, ἔτι δὲ πίστεως καὶ δικαιοσύνης, ὅπου καὶ τὸ ἀνδρεῖον καὶ τὸ θαρραλέον καὶ τὸ μεγαλόψυχον 769c ἐν πολλαῖς ἐπιφανὲς²⁵; γέγονε; τὸ δὲ πρὸς 5 τἄλλα καλὴν²⁶ τὴν φύσιν αὐτῶν, ἀλλὰ²⁷ ψέγοντας εἰς μόνην φιλίαν ἀνάρμοστον ἀποφαίνειν, παντάπασι δεινόν. καὶ γὰρ φιλότεκνοι καὶ φίλανδροι καὶ τὸ στερκτικὸν ὅλως ἐν αὐταῖς, ὥσπερ εὐφυὴς χώρα καὶ δεκτικὴ φιλίας, οὔτε πειθοῦς οὔτε χαρίτων ἄμοιρον 10 ὑπόκειται. καθάπερ δὲ λόγῳ ποίησις ἡδύσματα²⁸ μέλη καὶ μέτρα καὶ ῥυθμοὺς ἐφαρμόσασα καὶ τὸ παιδεῦον αὐτοῦ κινητικώτερον ἐποίησε καὶ τὸ βλάπτον ἀφυλακτότερον οὕτως ἡ φύσις γυναικὶ περιθεῖσα 769d χάριν ὄψεως καὶ φωνῆς πιθανότητα καὶ μορφῆς 15 ἐπαγωγὸν εἶδος, τῇ μὲν ἀκολάστῳ πρὸς ἡδονὴν καὶ ἀπάτην τῇ δὲ σώφρονι πρὸς εὔνοιαν ἀνδρὸς καὶ φιλίαν μεγάλα συνήργησεν. ὁ μὲν οὖν Πλάτων τὸν Ξενοκράτη, τἄλλα γενναῖον ὄντα καὶ μέγαν αὐστηρότατον δὲ τῷ ἤθει, παρεκάλει θύειν ταῖς Χάρισι. 20 χρηστῇ δ’ ἄν τις γυναικὶ καὶ σώφρονι παραινέσειε τῷ Ἔρωτι θύειν, ὅπως εὐμενὴς συνοικουρῇ τῷ γάμῳ καὶ ἡδὺς ²⁹ γυναικείοις, καὶ μὴ πρὸς ἑτέραν ἀπορρυεὶς ὁ ἀνὴρ ἀναγκάζηται τὰς ἐκ τῆς κωμῳδίας λέγειν φωνὰς

οἵαν ἀδικῶ γυναῖχʼ³⁰ ὁ δυσδαίμων ἐγώ.

³¹ 769e τὸ γὰρ ἐρᾶν ἐν γάμῳ τοῦ ἐρᾶσθαι μεῖζον ἀγαθὸν 5 ἐστι· πολλῶν γὰρ ἁμαρτημάτων ἀπαλλάττει, μᾶλλον δὲ πάντων ὅσα διαφθείρει καὶ λυμαίνεται τὸν γάμον.

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

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

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.) — 23 focus

[23]

AUTOB.

Now in regard there have been many such, as well among us as among the barbarians, who can bear with those that reproach Venus that, being coupled and present with Love, she becomes a hindrance of friendship? Whereas any sober and considerate person may rather revile the company of male with male, and justly call it intemperance and lasciviousness,

A vile affront to Nature, no effect

Of lovely Venus or of chaste respect.

AUTOB.

And therefore, as for those that willingly prostitute their bodies, we look upon them to be the most wicked and flagitious persons in the world, void of fidelity, neither endued with modesty nor any thing of friendship; and but too truly and really, according to Sophocles,

They who ne’er had such friends as these,

Believe their blessing double;

And they that have them, pray the Gods

To rid them of the trouble.

AUTOB.

And as for those who, not being by nature lewd and wicked, were circumvented and forced to prostitute themselves, there are no men whom these always look upon with greater suspicion and more perfect hatred than those that deluded and flattered them into so vile an act, and they bitterly revenge themselves when they find an opportunity. For Crateas killed Archelaus, who had rid him in his youth; and Pytholaus slew Alexander of Pherae. Periander tyrant of the Ambraciotes asked his minion, whether he were not yet with child; which the lad took so heinously that he stabbed him.

AUTOB.

On the other hand, among women that are married, these are but the beginnings of friendship, as it were, a communicating and imparting of great and sacred mysteries. The pleasure of coition is the least thing; but the honor, the submission to mutual love and fidelity which daily germinates from this, convince us that neither the Delphians raved, who gave the name of Arma (union) to Venus, nor that Homer was in an error, who called the conjunction of man and woman by the name of friendship; but that Solon was a lawgiver the most experienced in conjugal affairs, who decreed that a husband should lie with his wife thrice a month at least, — not for pleasure’s sake, but that, as cities renew their treaties one with another at such a time, so the alliance of matrimony might be renewed by this enjoyment, after the jars which may have arisen in the mean time. But you will say, there are many men in love with women that act amiss and furiously. But are there not more enormities committed by those that are enamored upon boys?

So often as these eyes of mine behold

That beardless youth, that smooth and lovely boy,

I faint and fall; then wish I him to hold

Within mine arms, and so to die with joy;

And that on tomb were set, where I do lie,

An epigram, mine end to testify.

AUTOB.

But though there is this raging passion after boys, as well as a dotage upon women, yet can neither be said to be truly love. And therefore it is an absurdity to aver that women are not capable even of other virtues. For why speak of so many signals of their chastity, prudence, justice, and fidelity, when we find others no less eminent for their fortitude, resolution, and magnanimity; after all which, to tax them of being naturally incapable of friendship only — not to mention the other virtues — is a hard case. For they are naturally lovers of their children, affectionate to their husbands; and this same natural affection of theirs, like a fertile soil, as it is capable of friendship, so is no less pliable to persuasion, nor less accompanied with all the graces. But as poetry, adapting to speech the conditements of melody, measure, and rhythm, renders the wholesome and instructive part of it so much the more moving, and the noxious part so much the more apt to corrupt the mind; so, Nature having adorned a woman with the charms of beauty and persuasive language, a lascivious woman makes use of these perfections to please herself and deceive others, but in a modest and sober woman they work wonders towards the gaining and fixing the good will and favor of her husband. Therefore Plato exhorted Xenocrates, otherwise generous and brave, but very morose in his humor, to sacrifice to the Graces; but he would have exhorted a virtuous and modest woman to sacrifice to Love, for his propitious favor to her marriage, in ordering it so that her behavior may prove a sufficient charm to keep her husband at home,... and that he may not ramble after other women, and then be forced to exclaim, as in the comedy,

Curse to this rage of mine, so given to roam;

What a good wife do I abuse at home!

AUTOB.

For in wedlock to love is a far greater blessing than to be beloved; since it preserves and keeps people from falling into many errors, nay, all those that corrupt and ruin matrimony.

Notes on the current edition

Ἐρωτικός

1. ἂν *

2. μὲν οὖν scripsi cum W: μὲν. Post μὲν enim οὖν facile et deesse et addi potest cf. p. 121b. 123a. c. 260e. 371c. 762d. 763c. 771c

3. οὐχὶ Meinekius: οὐχ ἡ

4. Nauck. p. 917

5. φιλίας dant BE non φιλίαν

6. κατὰ] καὶ BE

7. Nauck. p. 313

8. καὶ χαίρουσιν BE

9. παραδόντος] παρασχόντος W sed cf. Vit. Cacs. c. 19

10. Κρατεύας Basileensis

11. malim κύοι

12. ἀλλὰ] ἅμα BE

13. γε R: τε

14. Ἀρμα] cf. Hesych. s. v. et p. 679c

15. R: βουλόμενοι

16. ὀχλημάτων *: σχημάτων vid. Symb.

17. M: γυναικῶν cf. p. 770c

18. οἰκειότητος] scr. vid. οἰκεῖον ἧθος cf. p. 750e, de sententia p 680e

19. cf. Kock. 3 p. 451

20. em. God. Hermannus: ἐνφύντα

21. ib. idem: καὶ ἐπιγράμματος

22. οὕτως ἐκεῖνο γυναικομανία ego addidi, cur exciderint facile intellegitur

23. μηδ’ ἄλλης μετεῖναι μηδὲ φιλίας supplevit R. Equidem pro μηδ’ ἄλλης scripserim μηδαμῇ

24. τί δὲ δεῖ λέγειν περὶ Winckelmannus: τί δεῖ λέγειν; περὶ δὲ BE

25. ἐπιφανὲς] ἐπιφανείαις BE

26. ib. *: γέγονε δὲ πρὸς τὰ ἄλλα κατὰ BE cf. Symb. Plat. Hipp. mai. p. 295c. Demosth. 41, 32 τὴν σὴν φύσιν οὐ πρὸς ἡδονὴν - καλὴν ποιῆσαι

27. ἀλλὰ *: ἀλλ’ ἢ

28. ἡδύσματα] praedicatum est; cf. p. 347f

29. lac. 26 B 31 E. Fort. ἵμερον καὶ πόθον ἔργοις ( συγ) καταμιγνὺς aut προσομιλῇ χάριτας ἔργοις καταμιγνὺς cf. Nauck. p. 648

30. ib. γυναῖκα mei

31. Kock. 3 p. 450

Plutarch Amatorius 23

ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs

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ΑΥΤΟΒΟΥΛΟΣ.

Current edition Perseus

AUTOB.

AUTOB.

AUTOB.

AUTOB.

AUTOB.

AUTOB.

Notes on the current edition

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