§4ἐπὶ τοὺς παλαιοὺς; ἀνάγαγε τὸν λόγον, ὧν ταῖς μὲν τεκεῖν πρώταις, τοῖς δʼ ἰδεῖν συνέβη τικτόμενον βρέφος·
Bring the argument back to the ancients, of whom it befell the women to be the first to give birth, and the men to be the first to see a newborn child.
οὔτε νόμος ἦν ἐκείνοις τεκνοτροφεῖν προστάττων οὔτε προσδοκία χάριτος ἢ τροφείων
ἐπὶ νέοις δανειζομένων
χαλεπὰς δὲ μᾶλλον εἴποιμʼ ἂν εἶναι καὶ μνησικάκους τὰς τεκούσας τοῖς βρέφεσι, κινδύνων τε μεγάλων καὶ πόνων αὐταῖς γιγνομένων· "
ὡς δʼ ὅταν ὠδίνουσαν ἔχῃ βέλος ὀξὺ γυναῖκα
δριμύ, τό τε προϊεῖσι μογοστόκοι Εἰλείθυιαι,
Ἥρης θυγατέρες, πικρὰς ὠδῖνας ἔχουσαι. "
ταῦτʼ οὐχ Ὅμηρον αἱ γυναῖκες; ἀλλʼ Ὁμηρίδα γράψαι λέγουσι τεκοῦσαν ἢ τίκτουσαν ἔτι καὶ τὸ μῖγμα τῆς ἀλγηδόνος ὁμοῦ πικρὸν καὶ ὀξὺ γιγνόμενον ἐν τοῖς σπλάγχνοις ἔχουσαν.
For them there was neither any law commanding them to rear children, nor any expectation of gratitude or return for nurture, as of those who lend money upon the young. Indeed, I would rather say that mothers would be harsh and resentful toward their infants, since great dangers and pains befell them; "And as when a sharp arrow possesses a woman in labor, a bitter one, which the labor-prolonging Eileithyiai, daughters of Hera, send forth, holding bitter pangs in their power." Women say that not Homer, but a female descendant of Homer (Homeris) wrote these lines, one who had given birth or was still giving birth, and who had in her very vitals the mixture of pain, both bitter and sharp.
ἀλλὰ τὸ φύσει φιλόστοργον ἔκαμπτε καὶ ἦγεν· ἔτι θερμὴ καὶ διαλγὴς καὶ κραδαινομένη τοῖς πόνοις οὐχ ὑπερέβη τὸ νήπιον οὐδʼ ἔφυγεν, ἀλλʼ ἐπεστράφη καὶ προσεμειδίασε καὶ ἀνείλετο καὶ ἠσπάσατο, μηδὲν ἡδὺ καρπουμένη μηδὲ χρήσιμον ἀλλʼ ἐπιπόνως καὶ ταλαιπώρως ἀναδεχομένη τῶν σπαργάνων
"
ἐρειπίοις
θάλπουσα καὶ ψύχουσα, καὶ πόνῳ πόνον
ἐκ νυκτὸς ἀλλάσσουσα τὸν μεθʼ ἡμέραν. "
τίνων ταῦτα μισθῶν ἢ χρειῶν ἐκείνοις;
But the natural affection bent and guided her; though still warm, aching all over, and trembling from her labors, she did not pass by the infant nor flee from it, but turned toward it, smiled upon it, lifted it up, and embraced it, reaping nothing pleasant or useful, but painfully and wretchedly taking it up in "remnants (worn-out swaddling clothes)," "warming and cooling it, and exchanging labor for labor, from night into day." For what rewards or utilities did they do this?
ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τοῖς νῦν· αἱ γὰρ ἐλπίδες ἄδηλοι καὶ μακραί.
But neither do people now; for their hopes are uncertain and far off.
ἄμπελον ἰσημερίας ἐαρινῆς σκάψας μετοπωρινῆς ἐτρύγησε, πυρὸν ἔσπειρε δυομένης Πλειάδος εἶτʼ ἀνατελλούσης θερίζει, βόες καὶ ἵπποι καὶ ὄρνιθες ἕτοιμα τίκτουσιν ἐπὶ τὰς χρείας ἀνθρώπου δʼ ἡ μὲν ἐκτροφὴ πολύπονος ἡ δʼ αὔξησις βραδεῖα, τῆς δʼ ἀρετῆς μακρὰν οὔσης προαποθνῄσκουσιν οἱ πλεῖστοι πατέρες.
He who digs his vine at the vernal equinox reaps it in autumn; he who sows wheat at the setting of the Pleiades harvests it at their rising; cattle, horses, and birds bring forth offspring ready at once for use; but the rearing of man involves much labor, and his growth is slow, and since virtue is far off, most fathers die before seeing it.
οὐκ ἐπεῖδε τὴν Σαλαμῖνα Νεοκλῆς τὴν Θεμιστοκλέους οὐδὲ τὸν Εὐρυμέδοντα Μιλτιάδης τὸν Κίμωνος οὐδʼ ἤκουσε Περικλέους Ξάνθιππος δημηγοροῦντος οὐδʼ Ἀρίστων Πλάτωνος φιλοσοφοῦντος, οὐδʼ Εὐριπίδου καὶ Σοφοκλέους νίκας οἱ πατέρες ἔγνωσαν ψελλιζόντων καὶ συλλαβιζόντων ἠκροῶντο καὶ κώμους καὶ πότους καὶ ἔρωτας αὐτῶν οἷα νέοι πλημμελούντων ἐπεῖδον·
Neocles did not see the Salamis of Themistocles, nor Miltiades the Eurymedon of Cimon, nor did Xanthippus hear Pericles haranguing the people, nor Ariston hear Plato philosophizing; nor did the fathers of Euripides and Sophocles know of their victories, but they listened to them lisping and spelling out syllables, and witnessed their misbehaviors, such as revels, drinking bouts, and love affairs, which they committed as young men.
ὥστʼ ἐπαινεῖσθαι καὶ μνημονεύεσθαι τοῦ Εὐήνου τοῦτο μόνον, ὧν ἐπέγραψεν,
"ἢ δέος ἢ λύπη παῖς· πατρὶ πάντα χρόνον"
ἀλλʼ ὅμως οὐ παύονται παῖδας τρέφοντες μάλιστα δʼ οἱ παίδων ἥκιστα δεόμενοι.
So that of the writings of Evenus this alone is praised and remembered: "A child is either a fear or a grief to a father for all time." Yet nonetheless they do not cease to rear children, and most of all those who least need children.
γελοῖον γάρ, εἴ τις οἴεται τοὺς πλουσίους θύειν καὶ χαίρειν γενομένων αὐτοῖς τέκνων, ὅτι τοὺς θρέψοντας ἕξουσι καὶ τοὺς θάψοντας· εἰ μὴ νὴ Δία κληρονόμων ἀπορίᾳ παῖδας τρέφουσιν· οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν εὑρεῖν οὐδʼ ἐπιτυχεῖν τοῦ τἀλλότρια βουλομένου λαμβάνειν.
For it would be ridiculous if anyone should think that the rich sacrifice and rejoice when children are born to them, because they will have those who will support them and bury them; unless, by Zeus, they rear children for lack of heirs—as if it were not possible to find or meet with someone who wishes to receive other people's property!
"
ψάμμος ἢ κόνις ἢ πτερὰ ποικιλοθρόων οἰωνῶν
τόσσον οὐκ ἂν χεύαιτʼ ἀριθμόν
"
ὅσος ἐστὶν ὁ τῶν κληρονομούντων.
"Sand or dust or feathers of many-voiced birds would not be shed in so great a number" as is the number of those who seek to inherit.
"Δαναὸς ὁ πεντήκοντα θυγατέρων πατήρ"
εἰ ἄτεκνος ἦν, πλείονας ἂν εἶχε κληρονομοῦντας καὶ οὐχ ὁμοίως.
"Danaus, the father of fifty daughters," if he had been childless, he would have had even more heirs, and not of the same kind.
οἱ μὲν γὰρ παῖδες; χάριν οὐδεμίαν ἔχουσιν οὐδʼ ἕνεκα τούτου θεραπεύουσιν οὐδὲ τιμῶσιν, ὡς ὀφείλημα τὸν κλῆρον ἐκδεχόμενοι· τῶν δʼ ἀλλοτρίων περὶ τὸν ἄτεκνον φωνὰς ἀκούεις ταῖς κωμικαῖς ἐκείναις ὁμοίας,
"
ὦ Δῆμε, λοῦσαι πρῶτον ἐκδικάσας μίαν,
ἔνθου, ῥόφησον, ἔντραγʼ, ἔχε τριώβολον. "
τὸ δʼ ὑπὸ τοῦ Εὐριπίδου λεγόμενον
"
τὰ χρήματʼ ἀνθρώποισιν εὑρίσκειν φίλους
δύναμίν τε πλείστην τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἔχειν,
"
οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἀληθές, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀτέκνων τούτους οἱ πλούσιοι δειπνίζουσιν, οἱ ἡγεμόνες θεραπεύουσιν, οἱ ῥήτορες μόνοις τούτοις προῖκα συνηγοροῦσιν.
For children feel no gratitude, nor do they court or honor their parents for this reason, since they receive the inheritance as a debt due to them; but in the case of the childless, you hear the voices of strangers around them, like those in the comedies: "O Demos, bathe first, having judged one lawsuit; take, gulp, chew, and have your three obols." And that which is said by Euripides, "Money finds friends for men, and has the greatest power among mankind," is not simply true, but is true in the case of the childless. It is these childless rich whom people entertain at dinner, whom leaders court, and for whom alone rhetoricians plead in court for free.
"
ἰσχυρόν ἐστι πλούσιος ἀγνοούμενον
ἔχων κληρονόμον. "
πολλοὺς γοῦν πολυφίλους καὶ πολυτιμήτους ὄντας ἓν παιδίον γενόμενον ἀφίλους καὶ ἀδυνάτους ἐποίησεν.
"A rich man is powerful when his heir is unknown." At any rate, many who had numerous friends and were highly honored have been rendered friendless and powerless by the birth of a single child.
ὅθεν οὐδὲ πρὸς δύναμιν οὐδέν ἐστιν ὠφέλιμον ἀπὸ τῶν τέκνων, ἀλλὰ τῆς φύσεως τὸ πᾶν κράτος οὐχ ἧττον ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἢ θηρίοις.
Hence, there is no useful help to power derived from children, but the full power of Nature is no less active in men than in beasts.
§5ἐξαμαυροῦται γὰρ καὶ ταῦτα καὶ πολλὰ τῶν ἄλλων ὑπὸ τῆς κακίας, ὥσπερ λόχμης ἡμέροις σπέρμασι παραβλαστανούσης.
For these things and many other natural qualities are obscured by vice, just as a thicket grows up beside cultivated seeds.
ἢ μηδʼ ἑαυτὸν φύσει στέργειν τὸν ἄνθρωπον λέγωμεν, ὅτι πολλοὶ σφάττουσιν ἑαυτοὺς καὶ κατακρημνίζουσιν;
Or should we say that man does not love himself by nature, because many slaughter themselves and throw themselves down precipices?
ὁ δʼ Οἰδίπους
"
ἤρασσʼ βλέφαρα· φοίνιαι δʼ ὁμοῦ
γλῆναι γένειʼ ἔτεγγον. "
Ἡγησίας δὲ διαλεγόμενος πολλοὺς ἔπεισεν ἀποκαρτερῆσαι τῶν ἀκροωμένων
"πολλαὶ μορφαὶ τῶν δαιμονίων.
And Oedipus "struck his eyes; and the bloody pupils wet his beard at the same time." And Hegesias by lecturing persuaded many of his hearers to starve themselves to death.
"
ταῦτα δʼ ἐστὶν ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνα νοσήματα καὶ πάθη ψυχῆς τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν ἐξιστάντα τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ὡς αὐτοὶ καταμαρτυροῦσιν ἑαυτῶν· ἂν γὰρ ὗς τεκοῦσα δελφάκιον ἢ κύων διασπαράξῃ σκυλάκιον, ἀθυμοῦσι καὶ ταράττονται, καὶ θεοῖς ἀποτρόπαια θύουσι καὶ τέρας νομίζουσιν, ὡς πᾶσι κατὰ φύσιν στέργειν τὰ τικτόμενα καὶ τρέφειν οὐκ ἀναιρεῖν προσῆκον.
"Many are the forms of things divine." But these, like those, are diseases and passions of the soul that drive man out of his natural state, as they themselves bear witness against themselves; for if a sow that has given birth tears to pieces her piglet, or a dog her puppy, people are disheartened and troubled, and offer averting sacrifices to the gods, regarding it as a portent, since it is proper for all by nature to love and rear what is born and not to destroy it.
μὴν ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ ἐν τοῖς μετάλλοις πολλῇ συμπεφυρμένον γῇ καὶ κατακεχωσμένον ὅμως διαστίλβει τὸ χρυσίον, οὕτως ἡ φύσις ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἡμαρτημένοις ἤθεσι καὶ πάθεσιν ἐκφαίνει τὸ πρὸς τὰ ἔκγονα φιλόστοργον.
Nevertheless, just as in mines gold shines through although mixed with much earth and buried deep, so Nature reveals affection for offspring even in corrupt customs and passions.
οἱ μὲν γὰρ πένητες οὐ τρέφουσι τέκνα, φοβούμενοι μὴ χεῖρον ἢ προσήκει τραφέντα δουλοπρεπῆ καὶ ἀπαίδευτα καὶ τῶν καλῶν πάντων ἐνδεᾶ γένηται· τὴν γὰρ πενίαν ἔσχατον ἡγούμενοι κακὸν οὐχ ὑπομένουσι μεταδοῦναι τέκνοις ὥσπερ τινὸς χαλεποῦ καὶ μεγάλου νοσήματος.
For the poor do not rear children, because they fear lest, being reared worse than is fitting, they should become slavish, uneducated, and destitute of all beautiful things; for, regarding poverty as the ultimate evil, they cannot bear to pass it on to their children, just as if it were some grievous and great disease.