§44οἶμαι γὰρ ἂν αὐτὸν πάντων γενέσθαι ταύτῃ χαλεπώτατον δικαστήν, εἴπερ αἴσθοιτο, οἵα περὶ τοὺς παῖδας αὐτοῦ γεγένηται.
For I think that, if he should perceive what kind of person she has been toward his children, he would become the harshest judge of all to her.
πολλοῦ γʼ ἂν δεήσειεν ἀχθεσθῆναι κατὰ τοὺς νόμους ὑμῶν ψηφισαμένων, ἀλλὰ πολὺ ἂν μᾶλλον, εἰ τὰς τῶν παίδων διαθήκας ἀκύρους ἴδοι γενομένας.
He would be far from being displeased if you vote according to the laws; rather, he would be much more so if he should see his children's wills made void.
καὶ γὰρ εἰ μὲν εἰς τὸν οἶκον τὸν ἐμὸν δεδωκὼς ἦν Θρασύλοχος τὴν οὐσίαν, τοῦτʼ ἂν ἐπιτιμᾶν εἶχον αὐτῷ· νῦν δʼ εἰς τὸν αὐτῶν μʼ εἰσεποιήσατο, ὥστʼ οὐκ ἐλάττω τυγχάνουσιν εἰληφότες ὧν δεδώκασιν.
For if Thrasylochus had given his estate to my house, they might have reason to reproach him; but as it is, he adopted me into their own house, so that they happen to have received no less than they have given.
χωρὶς δὲ τούτων, §45οὐδένα μᾶλλον εἰκός ἐστιν ἢ Θράσυλλον εὔνουν εἶναι τοῖς κατὰ δόσιν ἀμφισβητοῦσιν· καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς καὶ τὴν τέχνην ἔμαθε παρὰ Πολεμαινέτου τοῦ μάντεως καὶ τὰ χρήματʼ ἔλαβεν οὐ κατὰ γένος ἀλλὰ διʼ ἀρετήν, ὥστʼ οὐκ ἂν δήπου φθονήσειεν, εἴ τις περὶ τοὺς παῖδας αὐτοῦ χρηστὸς γενόμενος τῆς αὐτῆς δωρεᾶς ἧσπερ ἐκεῖνος ἠξιώθη.
Apart from these things, it is natural for no one more than Thrasyllus to be well-disposed to those who make claims under a bequest; for he himself both learned his art from Polemaenetus the seer and received his wealth not by kinship but because of his virtue, so that he would surely not grudge it if someone, having shown himself useful to his children, [should obtain] the same gift of which he himself was deemed worthy.
μεμνῆσθαι δὲ χρὴ καὶ τῶν ἐν ἀρχῇ ῥηθέντων.
And you must also remember what was said at the beginning.
§46ἐπέδειξα γὰρ ὑμῖν αὐτὸν οὕτω περὶ πολλοῦ τὴν ἡμετέραν οἰκειότητα ποιησάμενον ὥστε γῆμαι καὶ τὴν ἀδελφὴν τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τὴν ἀνεψιάν.
For I demonstrated to you that he valued our connection so highly that he married both my father's sister and my cousin.
καίτοι τίσιν ἂν θᾶττον τὴν αὑτοῦ θυγατέρʼ ἐξέδωκεν ἢ τούτοις παρʼ ὧνπερ αὐτὸς λαμβάνειν ἠξίωσεν;
And yet, to whom would he have more readily given his own daughter than to those from whom he himself chose to receive wives?
ἐκ ποίας δʼ ἂν οἰκίας ἥδιον εἶδεν υἱὸν αὑτῷ κατὰ τοὺς νόμους εἰσποιηθέντα μᾶλλον ἢ ταύτης, ἐξ ἧσπερ καὶ φύσει παῖδας ἐζήτησεν αὑτῷ γενέσθαι;
And from what house would he have more gladly seen a son adopted for himself according to the laws than from this one, from which he also sought to have children born to him by nature?
§47ὥστʼ ἂν μὲν ἐμοὶ ψηφίσησθε τὸν κλῆρον, καὶ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ὑμῖν καλῶς ἕξει καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους ἅπαντας οἷς προσήκει τι τούτων τῶν πραγμάτων· ἂν δʼ ὑπὸ ταύτης πεισθέντες ἐξαπατηθῆτε, οὐ μόνον ἔμʼ ἀδικήσετε ἀλλὰ καὶ Θρασύλοχον τὸν τὴν διαθήκην καταλιπόντα καὶ Σώπολιν καὶ τὴν ἀδελφὴν τὴν ἐκείνων, ἣ νῦν ἐμοὶ συνοικεῖ, καὶ τὴν μητέρʼ αὐτῶν, ἣ πασῶν ἂν εἴη δυστυχεστάτη γυναικῶν, εἰ μὴ μόνον ἐξαρκέσειεν αὐτῇ στέρεσθαι τῶν παίδων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦτʼ αὐτῇ προσγένοιτο, ὥστʼ ἐπιδεῖν ἄκυρον μὲν τὴν ἐκείνων γνώμην οὖσαν, ἔρημον δὲ τὸν οἶκον γιγνόμενον,
So if you vote the estate to me, your decision will be honorable both toward him and toward all others who have any concern in these matters; but if, persuaded by this woman, you are deceived, you will wrong not only me, but also Thrasylochus who left the will, and Sopolis, and their sister, who is now living with me as my wife, and their mother, who would be the most miserable of all women, if it should not suffice for her to be deprived of her children, but if this should also be added to her lot, so as to see their will made invalid and the house left desolate, and [to see] this woman, who rejoiced in her family's misfortunes, claiming the property, while I, who acted in such a way toward her family, am unable to obtain any justice.
§48καὶ τὴν μὲν ἐπιχαίρουσαν τοῖς αὑτῆς κακοῖς ἐπιδικαζομένην τῶν χρημάτων, ἐμὲ δὲ μηδενὸς δυνάμενον τῶν δικαίων τυχεῖν, ὃς τοιαῦτʼ ἔπραξα περὶ τοὺς ἐκείνης, ὥστʼ εἴ τίς με σκοποῖτο μὴ πρὸς ταύτην ἀλλὰ πρὸς τοὺς πώποτε κατὰ δόσιν ἀμφισβητήσαντας, εὑρεθείην ἂν οὐδενὸς χείρων αὐτῶν περὶ τοὺς φίλους γεγενημένος.
So that if anyone should compare me, not with this woman, but with all those who have ever disputed a claim under a will, I would be found to have been second to none of them in my conduct toward my friends.
καίτοι χρὴ τοὺς τοιούτους τιμᾶν καὶ περὶ πολλοῦ ποιεῖσθαι πολὺ μᾶλλον ἢ τὰς ὑφʼ ἑτέρων δεδομένας δωρεὰς ἀφαιρεῖσθαι.
And yet you ought to honor such men and value them highly, rather than deprive them of the gifts given by others.
§49ἄξιον δʼ ἐστὶ καὶ τῷ νόμῳ βοηθεῖν καθʼ ὃν ἔξεστιν ἡμῖν καὶ παῖδας εἰσποιήσασθαι καὶ βουλεύσασθαι περὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων αὐτῶν, ἐνθυμηθέντας ὅτι τοῖς ἐρήμοις τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀντὶ παίδων οὗτός ἐστιν· διὰ γὰρ τοῦτον καὶ οἱ συγγενεῖς καὶ οἱ μηδὲν προσήκοντες μᾶλλον ἀλλήλων ἐπιμελοῦνται.
And it is also right to support the law according to which we are permitted both to adopt children and to dispose of our own property, reflecting that for those who are childless among men, this law stands in the place of children; for because of this, both relatives and those who are not related at all take better care of one another.
§50ἵνα δὲ παύσωμαι λέγων καὶ μηκέτι πλείω χρόνον διατρίβω, σκέψασθʼ ὡς μεγάλα καὶ δίκαιʼ ἥκω πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἔχων, πρῶτον μὲν φιλίαν πρὸς τοὺς καταλιπόντας τὸν κλῆρον παλαιὰν καὶ πατρικὴν καὶ πάντα τὸν χρόνον διατελέσασαν, ἔπειτʼ εὐεργεσίας πολλὰς καὶ μεγάλας καὶ περὶ δυστυχοῦντας ἐκείνους γεγενημένας, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις διαθήκας παρʼ αὐτῶν τῶν ἀντιδίκων ὁμολογουμένας, ἔτι δὲ νόμον ταύταις βοηθοῦντα, ὃς δοκεῖ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἅπασι καλῶς κεῖσθαι.
But that I may bring my speech to an end and no longer consume time, consider what powerful and just arguments I bring before you. First, a friendship with those who left the estate that is ancient, hereditary, and unbroken through all time; next, many and great services rendered to them when they were in misfortune; and in addition to these, a will acknowledged by my opponents themselves; and finally, a law supporting this, which is held by all Greeks to be excellently enacted.
§51τεκμήριον δὲ μέγιστον· περὶ γὰρ ἄλλων πολλῶν διαφερόμενοι περὶ τούτου ταὐτὰ γιγνώσκουσιν.
And here is the greatest proof of this: for though they differ on many other matters, they hold the same opinion on this.
δέομαι οὖν ὑμῶν καὶ τούτων μεμνημένους καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν εἰρημένων τὰ δίκαια ψηφίσασθαι, καὶ τοιούτους μοι γενέσθαι δικαστάς, οἵων περ ἂν αὐτοὶ τυχεῖν ἀξιώσαιτε.
I entreat you, therefore, remembering both these and the other things that have been said, to render a just verdict, and to prove yourselves such judges to me as you would wish to obtain for yourselves.