Xenophon, Memorabilia, Edgar Carew Marchant (Translator), 4.4.19

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[19]
Do you know what is meant by unwritten laws, Hippias?
Yes, those that are uniformly observed in every country.
Could you say that men made them?
Nay, how could that be, seeing that they cannot all meet together and do not speak the same language?
Then by whom have these laws been made, do you suppose?
I think that the gods made these laws for men. For among all men the first law is to fear the gods.

Memorabilia. Xenophon. Edgar Carew Marchant (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1923.

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Current edition Perseus

Memorabilia (English) (Xenophon in Seven Volumes, Vol. 4. Marchant, Edgar Cardew, editor, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1923.)

Editions (1)

Ἀπομνημονεύματα Perseus (Xenophon. Opera omnia, Vol. 2. Marchant, Edgar Cardew, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1921.) — 4.4.19 focus

[19] ἀγράφους δέ τινας οἶσθα, ἔφη, ὦ Ἱππία, νόμους; τούς γʼ ἐν πάσῃ, ἔφη, χώρᾳ κατὰ ταὐτὰ νομιζομένους. ἔχοις ἂν οὖν εἰπεῖν, ἔφη, ὅτι οἱ ἄνθρωποι αὐτοὺς ἔθεντο; καὶ πῶς ἄν, ἔφη, οἵ γε οὔτε συνελθεῖν ἅπαντες ἂν δυνηθεῖεν οὔτε ὁμόφωνοί εἰσι; τίνας οὖν, ἔφη, νομίζεις τεθεικέναι τοὺς νόμους τούτους; ἐγὼ μέν, ἔφη, θεοὺς οἶμαι τοὺς νόμους τούτους τοῖς ἀνθρώποις θεῖναι· καὶ γὰρ παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις πρῶτον νομίζεται θεοὺς σέβειν.

Xenophon Memorabilia 4.4.19

Edgar Carew Marchant (Translator)

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