§192ὅσοι δὲ ἄρρενος τμῆμά εἰσι, τὰ ἄρρενα διώκουσι, καὶ τέως μὲν ἂν παῖδες ὦσιν, ἅτε τεμάχια ὄντα τοῦ ἄρρενος, φιλοῦσι τοὺς ἄνδρας καὶ χαίρουσι συγκατακείμενοι καὶ συμπεπλεγμένοι τοῖς ἀνδράσι, καί εἰσιν οὗτοι βέλτιστοι τῶν παίδων καὶ μειρακίων, ἅτε ἀνδρειότατοι ὄντες φύσει.
But those who are a slice of a male pursue males, and as long as they are boys, since they are slices of the male, they love men and enjoy lying with and embracing men, and these are the best of the boys and youths, since they are by nature the most manly.
φασὶ δὲ δή τινες αὐτοὺς ἀναισχύντους εἶναι, ψευδόμενοι· οὐ γὰρ ὑπʼ ἀναισχυντίας τοῦτο δρῶσιν ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ θάρρους καὶ ἀνδρείας καὶ ἀρρενωπίας, τὸ ὅμοιον αὐτοῖς ἀσπαζόμενοι.
Some indeed say that they are shameless, but they lie; for they do this not out of shamelessness, but out of boldness, courage, and manliness, welcoming what is like themselves.
μέγα δὲ τεκμήριον· καὶ γὰρ τελεωθέντες μόνοι ἀποβαίνουσιν εἰς τὰ πολιτικὰ ἄνδρες οἱ τοιοῦτοι.
And here is a great proof: for when they are fully grown, they are the only ones who turn out to be men in public affairs.
ἐπειδὰν δὲ ἀνδρωθῶσι, παιδεραστοῦσι καὶ πρὸς γάμους καὶ παιδοποιίας οὐ προσέχουσι τὸν νοῦν φύσει, ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου ἀναγκάζονται· ἀλλʼ ἐξαρκεῖ αὐτοῖς μετʼ ἀλλήλων καταζῆν ἀγάμοις.
But when they become men, they become lovers of boys, and by nature they do not pay attention to marriage and begetting children, but are forced to do so by law; but it is enough for them to live out their lives with one another unmarried.
πάντως μὲν οὖν ὁ τοιοῦτος παιδεραστής τε καὶ φιλεραστὴς γίγνεται, ἀεὶ τὸ συγγενὲς ἀσπαζόμενος.
Absolutely, then, such a person becomes both a lover of boys and a lover of his lovers, always welcoming what is akin to him.
ὅταν μὲν οὖν καὶ αὐτῷ ἐκείνῳ ἐντύχῃ τῷ αὑτοῦ ἡμίσει καὶ ὁ παιδεραστὴς καὶ ἄλλος πᾶς, τότε καὶ θαυμαστὰ ἐκπλήττονται φιλίᾳ τε καὶ οἰκειότητι καὶ ἔρωτι, οὐκ ἐθέλοντες ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν χωρίζεσθαι ἀλλήλων οὐδὲ σμικρὸν χρόνον.
Whenever, then, he happens upon that very half of his own—both the lover of boys and everyone else—then they are struck with an amazing impact by friendship, intimacy, and love, being unwilling, so to speak, to be parted from one another even for a short time.
καὶ οἱ διατελοῦντες μετʼ ἀλλήλων διὰ βίου οὗτοί εἰσιν, οἳ οὐδʼ ἂν ἔχοιεν εἰπεῖν ὅτι βούλονται σφίσι παρʼ ἀλλήλων γίγνεσθαι.
And these are the ones who continue with one another through life, who would not even be able to say what they want to get from one another.
οὐδενὶ γὰρ ἂν δόξειεν τοῦτʼ εἶναι ἡ τῶν ἀφροδισίων συνουσία, ὡς ἄρα τούτου ἕνεκα ἕτερος ἑτέρῳ χαίρει συνὼν οὕτως ἐπὶ μεγάλης σπουδῆς· ἀλλʼ ἄλλο τι βουλομένη ἑκατέρου ἡ ψυχὴ δήλη ἐστίν, ὃ οὐ δύναται εἰπεῖν, ἀλλὰ μαντεύεται ὃ βούλεται, καὶ αἰνίττεται.
For to no one would this seem to be the intercourse of sex, as if for the sake of this the one enjoys being with the other with such great eagerness; but it is clear that the soul of each desires something else, which it cannot say, but divines what it wants, and hints at it.
καὶ εἰ αὐτοῖς ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ κατακειμένοις ἐπιστὰς ὁ Ἥφαιστος, ἔχων τὰ ὄργανα, ἔροιτο· τί ἔσθʼ ὃ βούλεσθε, ὦ ἄνθρωποι, ὑμῖν παρʼ ἀλλήλων γενέσθαι; καὶ εἰ ἀποροῦντας αὐτοὺς πάλιν ἔροιτο· ἆρά γε τοῦδε ἐπιθυμεῖτε, ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ γενέσθαι ὅτι μάλιστα ἀλλήλοις, ὥστε καὶ νύκτα καὶ ἡμέραν μὴ ἀπολείπεσθαι ἀλλήλων;
And if, as they were lying in the same place, Hephaestus were to stand over them, holding his tools, and ask: "What is it, O humans, that you want to happen to you from one another?" And if, as they were at a loss, he were to ask them again: "Is this then what you desire, to come together in the same place as much as possible with one another, so as not to be parted from one another night and day?
εἰ γὰρ τούτου ἐπιθυμεῖτε, θέλω ὑμᾶς συντῆξαι καὶ συμφυσῆσαι εἰς τὸ αὐτό, ὥστε δύʼ ὄντας ἕνα γεγονέναι καὶ ἕως τʼ ἂν ζῆτε, ὡς ἕνα ὄντα, κοινῇ ἀμφοτέρους ζῆν, καὶ ἐπειδὰν ἀποθάνητε, ἐκεῖ αὖ ἐν Ἅιδου ἀντὶ δυοῖν ἕνα εἶναι κοινῇ τεθνεῶτε·
For if you desire this, I am willing to melt you together and weld you into the same thing, so that, being two, you become one, and as long as you live, as being one, you both live together in common, and when you die, there again in Hades, instead of two, you may be one, having died together in common.
ἀλλʼ ὁρᾶτε εἰ τούτου ἐρᾶτε καὶ ἐξαρκεῖ ὑμῖν ἂν τούτου τύχητε· ταῦτʼ ἀκούσας ἴσμεν ὅτι οὐδʼ ἂν εἷς ἐξαρνηθείη οὐδʼ ἄλλο τι ἂν φανείη βουλόμενος, ἀλλʼ ἀτεχνῶς οἴοιτʼ ἂν ἀκηκοέναι τοῦτο ὃ πάλαι ἄρα ἐπεθύμει, συνελθὼν καὶ συντακεὶς τῷ ἐρωμένῳ ἐκ δυοῖν εἷς γενέσθαι.
But see if you love this and if it is enough for you if you obtain this." Hearing this, we know that not even one would refuse, nor would anyone appear to want anything else, but would absolutely think he had heard this which he had after all long desired: to come together and be melted with his beloved, and to become one from two.