§1τί τις ἂν ἔχοι εἰπεῖν περὶ τῆς τῶν ἐλευθέρων παίδων ἀγωγῆς καὶ τίνι χρώμενοι σπουδαῖοι τοὺς τρόπους ἂν ἀποβαῖεν, φέρε σκεψώμεθα.
Let us consider what one might have to say regarding the upbringing of free-born children, and by practicing what habits they might become excellent in character.
§2βέλτιον δʼ ἴσως ἀπὸ τῆς γενέσεως ἄρξασθαι πρῶτον.
Perhaps it is better to begin first with their birth.
τοῖς τοίνυν ἐπιθυμοῦσιν ἐνδόξων τέκνων γενέσθαι πατράσιν ὑποθείμην ἂν ἔγωγε μὴ ταῖς τυχούσαις γυναιξὶ συνοικεῖν, λέγω δʼ οἷον ἑταίραις ἢ παλλακαῖς τοῖς γὰρ μητρόθεν ἢ πατρόθεν οὐκ εὖ γεγονόσιν ἀνεξάλειπτα παρακολουθεῖ τὰ τῆς δυσγενείας ὀνείδη παρὰ πάντα τὸν βίον καὶ πρόχειρα τοῖς ἐλέγχειν καὶ λοιδορεῖσθαι βουλομένοις.
To those fathers, then, who desire to become parents of illustrious children, I for my part would suggest that they should not cohabit with ordinary women—I mean, for instance, courtesans or concubines; for to those who are not well-born on either their mother's or their father's side, the indelible disgrace of their low birth follows them throughout their entire life, and is ever at hand for those who wish to refute and insult them.
καὶ σοφὸς ἦν ἄρʼ ὁ ποιητὴς ὅς φησιν
"
ὅταν δὲ κρηπὶς μὴ καταβληθῇ γένους
ὀρθῶς, ἀνάγκη δυστυχεῖν τοὺς ἐκγόνους
"
καλὸς οὖν παρρησίας θησαυρὸς εὐγένεια, ἧς δὴ πλεῖστον λόγον ποιητέον τοῖς νομίμου παιδοποιίας γλιχομένοις.
And wise indeed was the poet who says: "When the foundation of a race is not laid rightly, the descendants must of necessity be unfortunate "Nobility of birth, then, is a beautiful treasury of free speech, of which those who yearn for lawful offspring must make the greatest account.
καὶ μὲν δὴ τὰ φρονήματα τῶν ὑπόχαλκον καὶ κίβδηλον ἐχόντων τὸ γένος σφάλλεσθαι καὶ ταπεινοῦσθαι πέφυκε, καὶ μάλʼ ὀρθῶς ὁ λέγων ποιητής φησι
"
δουλοῖ γὰρ ἄνδρα, κἂν θρασύσπλαγχνός τις ᾖ,
ὅταν συνειδῇ μητρὸς ἢ πατρὸς κακά
"
ὥσπερ ἀμέλει μεγαλαυχίας ἐμπίπλανται καὶ φρυάγματος οἱ γονέων διασήμων.
And indeed, the spirits of those who have a base and counterfeit lineage are naturally prone to falter and be humbled; and very rightly says the poet who speaks: "For it enslaves a man, even if he be stout-hearted, whenever he is conscious of the evils of his mother or father "just as, to be sure, those of distinguished parents are filled with pride and haughtiness.
Διόφαντον γοῦν τὸν Θεμιστοκλέους πολλάκις λέγουσι φάναι καὶ πρὸς πολλοὺς ὡς ὅ τι ἂν αὐτὸς βούληται, τοῦτο καὶ τῷ δήμῳ συνδοκεῖ τῷ τῶν Ἀθηναίων. ἃ μὲν γὰρ αὐτὸς ἐθέλει, καὶ ἡ μήτηρ· ἃ δʼ ἂν ἡ μήτηρ, καὶ Θεμιστοκλῆς ἃ δʼ ἂν Θεμιστοκλῆς, καὶ πάντες Ἀθηναῖοι.
At any rate, they say that Diophantus, the son of Themistocles, often said to many people that whatever he himself wished, this also seemed good to the Athenian assembly; for what he himself wanted, his mother also wanted; and what his mother wanted, Themistocles also wanted; and what Themistocles wanted, all the Athenians wanted.
πάνυ δʼ ἄξιον ἐπαινεῖν καὶ Λακεδαιμονίους τῆς μεγαλοφροσύνης, οἵτινες Ἀρχίδαμον τὸν βασιλέα ἑαυτῶν ἐζημίωσαν χρήμασιν, ὅτι μικρὰν τὸ μέγεθος γυναῖκα γάμῳ λαβεῖν ὑπέμεινεν, ὑπειπόντες ὡς οὐ βασιλέας ἀλλὰ βασιλείδας παρασχεῖν αὐτοῖς διανοοῖτο.
And it is highly worthy to praise the Lacedaemonians for their high-mindedness, who fined Archidamus, their king, because he submitted to taking a woman small in stature in marriage, suggesting that he intended to provide them not with kings, but with kinglets.
§3ἐχόμενον δʼ ἂν εἴη τούτων εἰπεῖν ὅπερ οὐδὲ τοῖς πρὸ ἡμῶν παρεωρᾶτο.
It would be next in order to speak of what was not overlooked even by those before us.
τὸ ποῖον;
What is that?
ὅτι τοὺς ἕνεκα παιδοποιίας πλησιάζοντας ταῖς γυναιξὶν ἤτοι τὸ παράπαν ἀοίνους ἢ μετρίως γοῦν οἰνωμένους ποιεῖσθαι προσήκει τὸν συνουσιασμόν.
That those who approach their wives for the sake of child-begetting should make their intercourse either entirely free of wine or at least moderately so.
φίλοινοι γὰρ καὶ μεθυστικοὶ γίγνεσθαι φιλοῦσιν ὧν ἂν τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς σπορᾶς οἱ πατέρες ἐν μέθῃ ποιησάμενοι τύχωσιν.
For those whose fathers happened to perform the beginning of their sowing in drunkenness tend to become wine-lovers and drunkards.
καὶ Διογένης μειράκιον ἐκστατικὸν ἰδὼν καὶ παραφρονοῦν
νεανίσκε
ἔφησεν,
ὁ πατήρ σε μεθύων ἔσπειρε
καὶ περὶ μὲν τῆς γενέσεως τοσαῦτʼ εἰρήσθω μοι, περὶ δὲ τῆς ἀγωγῆς καὶ δὴ λεκτέον.
And Diogenes, seeing a youth ecstatic and out of his mind, said: "Young man," he said, "your father sowed you while drunk." And regarding birth, let so much have been said by me, and now we must indeed speak of upbringing.