§22ἐτόλμα τοίνυν πρὸς τῷ διαιτητῇ πρᾶγμʼ ἀναιδέστατον λέγειν, ὡς ὁ πατὴρ αὑτοῦ δεκάτην ἐποίησεν ὥσπερ ἐμοῦ καὶ τοὔνομα τοῦτʼ ἔθετʼ αὐτῷ, καὶ μάρτυράς τινας παρείχετο, οἷς ἐκεῖνος οὐδεπώποτʼ ὤφθη χρώμενος.
Furthermore, he dared to say a most shameless thing before the arbitrator: that our father had celebrated the tenth-day festival for him just as he did for me, and had given him this name, and he presented certain witnesses whom our father was never seen to have associated with.
ἐγὼ δʼ οὐδένʼ ὑμῶν ἀγνοεῖν οἴομαι, ὅτι οὔτʼ ἂν ἐποίησε δεκάτην οὐδεὶς παιδίου μὴ νομίζων αὑτοῦ δικαίως εἶναι, οὔτε ποιήσας καὶ στέρξας, ὡς ἂν υἱόν τις στέρξαι, πάλιν ἔξαρνος ἐτόλμησε γενέσθαι.
But I think none of you is unaware that no one would celebrate a tenth-day festival for a child whom he did not believe to be rightfully his own, nor, having celebrated it and loved him as a father loves a son, would he dare to deny him again.
§23οὐδὲ γὰρ εἴ τι τῇ μητρὶ πρὸς ὀργὴν ἦλθεν τῇ τούτων, τούτους ἂν ἐμίσει, νομίζων αὑτοῦ εἶναι· πολὺ γὰρ μᾶλλον εἰώθασιν, ὧν ἂν ἑαυτοῖς διενεχθῶσιν ἀνὴρ καὶ γυνή, διὰ τοὺς παῖδας καταλλάττεσθαι ἢ διʼ ἃν ἀδικηθῶσιν ὑφʼ αὑτῶν, τοὺς κοινοὺς παῖδας πρὸς μισεῖν.
For even if he felt some anger toward their mother, he would not have hated these children, believing them to be his own; for it is much more common for a husband and wife, when they have differences with each other, to be reconciled because of their children, than for them to hate their common children because of the wrongs they have suffered from each other.
οὐ τοίνυν ἐκ τούτων ἔστιν ἰδεῖν μόνον ὅτι ψεύσεται, ταῦτʼ ἂν λέγῃ, ἀλλὰ πρὶν ἡμέτερος φάσκειν συγγενὴς εἶναι, εἰς Ἱπποθωντίδʼ ἐφοίτα φυλὴν εἰς παῖδας χορεύσων.
That he is lying if he says this can be seen not only from these things, but because, before he claimed to be our relative, he used to go to the Hippothontid tribe to dance among the boys.
§24καίτοι τίς ἂν ὑμῶν οἴεται τὴν μητέρα πέμψαι τοῦτον εἰς ταύτην τὴν φυλήν, δεινὰ μέν, ὥς φησιν, ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς πεπονθυῖαν, δεκάτην δʼ εἰδυῖαν πεποιηκότʼ ἐκεῖνον καὶ πάλιν ἔξαρνον ὄντα;
And yet, who among you would think that his mother would have sent him to that tribe, when she had suffered terrible things at the hands of our father, as she says, and knew that he had celebrated the tenth-day festival and then denied him again?
ἐγὼ μὲν οὐδένʼ ἂν οἶμαι.
I certainly think no one would.
εἰς γὰρ τὴν Ἀκαμαντίδʼ ὁμοίως ἐξῆν σοι φοιτᾶν, καὶ ἐφαίνετʼ ἂν οὖσʼ ἀκόλουθος ἡ φυλὴ τῇ θέσει τοὐνόματος.
For it was equally open to you to go to the Acamantid tribe, and that tribe would have appeared consistent with the giving of the name.
ὡς τοίνυν ταῦτʼ ἀληθῆ λέγω, τούτων μάρτυρας ὑμῖν τοὺς συμφοιτῶντας καὶ τοὺς εἰδότας παρέξομαι. ΜΑΡΤΥΡΕΣ. §25οὕτω τοίνυν φανερῶς παρὰ τὸν τῆς αὑτοῦ μητρὸς ὅρκον καὶ τὴν τοῦ δόντος ἐκείνῃ τὸν ὅρκον εὐήθειαν πατρὸς τετυχηκὼς καὶ ἀνθʼ Ἱπποθωντίδος ἐν Ἀκαμαντίδι φυλῇ γεγονώς, οὐκ ἀγαπᾷ Βοιωτὸς οὑτοσί, ἀλλὰ καὶ δίκας ἐμοὶ δύʼ ἢ τρεῖς εἴληχεν ἀργυρίου πρὸς αἷς καὶ πρότερόν μʼ ἐσυκοφάντει.
To prove that I am speaking the truth in this, I will present to you those who went there with him and those who know the facts as witnesses. [WITNESSES] Thus, having clearly obtained a father contrary to his own mother's oath and through the simplicity of the father who offered her the oath, and having come to be in the Acamantid tribe instead of the Hippothontid, this Boeotus here is not content, but has also brought two or three lawsuits for money against me, in addition to his previous sycophancy against me.
καίτοι πάντας οἶμαι τοῦθʼ ὑμᾶς εἰδέναι, τίς ἦν χρηματιστὴς ὁ πατήρ.
And yet I think you all know what kind of money-maker our father was.
§26ἐγὼ δʼ ἐάσω ταῦτα.
But I will pass over these things.
ἀλλʼ εἰ δίκαιʼ ὀμώμοκεν ἡ μήτηρ ἡ τούτων, ἐπʼ αὐτοφώρῳ συκοφάντην ἐπιδεικνύει τοῦτον ταῖς δίκαις ταύταις.
Yet, if their mother has sworn truly, she exposes him as a sycophant caught in the act by these lawsuits.
εἰ γὰρ οὕτω δαπανηρὸς ἦν, ὥστε γάμῳ γεγαμηκὼς τὴν ἐμὴν μητέρα, ἑτέραν εἶχε γυναῖκα, ἧς ὑμεῖς ἐστέ, καὶ δύʼ οἰκίας ᾤκει, πῶς ἂν ἀργύριον τοιοῦτος ὢν κατέλιπεν;
For if he was so extravagant that, while married to my mother, he kept another woman, to whom you belong, and maintained two houses, how could such a man have left any money?
§27οὐκ ἀγνοῶ τοίνυν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ὅτι Βοιωτὸς οὑτοσὶ δίκαιον μὲν οὐδὲν ἕξει λέγειν, ἥξει δʼ ἐπὶ ταῦθʼ ἅπερ ἀεὶ λέγει, ὡς ἐπηρέαζεν ὁ πατὴρ αὐτῷ πειθόμενος ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ, ἀξιοῖ δʼ αὐτὸς ὡς δὴ πρεσβύτερος ὢν τοὔνομʼ ἔχειν τὸ τοῦ πρὸς πατρὸς πάππου.
I am not unaware, men of Athens, that this Boeotus here will have nothing just to say, but will resort to those things which he always says, namely, that our father, persuaded by me, ill-treated him, and he claims that since he is older, he has the right to have the name of his paternal grandfather.
πρὸς δὴ ταῦτʼ ἀκοῦσαι βέλτιον ὑμᾶς βραχέα.
To these arguments, it is better for you to hear a few words.
ἐγὼ γὰρ οἶδα τοῦτον, ὅτʼ οὔπω συγγενὴς ἦν ἐμοί, ὁρῶν ὥσπερ ἂν ἄλλον τινʼ οὑτωσί, νεώτερον ὄντʼ ἐμοῦ καὶ συχνῷ, ὅσʼ ἐξ ὄψεως, οὐ μὴν ἰσχυρίζομαι τούτῳ (καὶ γὰρ εὔηθες)· §28ἀλλʼ εἴ τις ἔροιτο Βοιωτὸν τουτονί, ὅτʼ ἐν Ἱπποθωντίδι φυλῇ ἠξίους χορεύειν, οὔπω τοῦ πατρὸς εἶναι φάσκων τοῦ ἐμοῦ υἱός, τί σαυτὸν ἔχειν δικαίως ἂν θείης ὄνομα; εἰ γὰρ Μαντίθεον, οὐκ ἂν διὰ τοῦτό γε φαίης ὅτι πρεσβύτερος εἶ ἐμοῦ.
For I know this man, when he was not yet my relative, seeing him just as any other person, to be younger than me and by a considerable amount, as far as appearance goes, though I do not insist on this (for that would be foolish); but if anyone should ask this Boeotus: "When you claimed the right to dance in the Hippothontid tribe, not yet claiming to be the son of my father, what name would you have justly claimed to have?" For if you say "Mantitheus," you could not say so on the ground that you are older than me.
ὃς γὰρ οὐδὲ τῆς φυλῆς τότε σοι προσήκειν ἡγοῦ τῆς ἐμῆς, πῶς ἂν τοῦ γε πάππου τοῦ ἐμοῦ ἠμφεσβήτεις;
For you who did not even think then that my tribe belonged to you, how could you have disputed the name of my grandfather?