§6.775ΑΘ. ὅσα δὲ προτέλεια γάμων ἤ τις ἄλλη περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἱερουργία μελλόντων ἢ γιγνομένων ἢ γεγονότων προσήκουσά ἐστιν τελεῖσθαι, τοὺς ἐξηγητὰς ἐρωτῶντα χρὴ καὶ πειθόμενον ἐκείνοις ἕκαστον ἡγεῖσθαι πάντα ἑαυτῷ μετρίως γίγνεσθαι.
ATH.: As for all the preliminary marriage rites, or any other sacred ceremony concerning such matters that is fitting to be performed, whether for those about to marry, those marrying, or those already married, each person must consult the interpreters of sacred law, and by obeying them, consider that everything is going moderately well for himself.
περὶ δὲ τῶν ἑστιάσεων, φίλους μὲν χρὴ καὶ φίλας μὴ πλείους πέντε ἑκατέρων συγκαλεῖν, συγγενῶν δὲ καὶ οἰκείων ὡσαύτως τοσούτους ἄλλους ἑκατέρων·
And concerning the banquets, one must invite friends, both male and female, not more than five of each, and of relatives and associates likewise another such number of each.
ἀνάλωμα δὲ μὴ γίγνεσθαι πλέον ἢ κατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν μηδενί, τῷ μὲν εἰς χρήματα μεγίστῳ μνᾶν, τῷ δʼ ἥμισυ τοῦ τοσούτου, τῷ δʼ ἐφεξῆς οὕτω, καθάπερ ὑποβέβηκεν ἑκάστῳ τὸ τίμημα.
The expenditure must not be more than according to one's property for anyone: for the one of the highest class in wealth, a mina; for the second, half of that amount; and for the next in order, thus as each one's property qualification decreases.
καὶ τὸν μὲν πειθόμενον τῷ νόμῳ ἐπαινεῖν χρὴ πάντας, τὸν δὲ ἀπειθοῦντα κολαζόντων οἱ νομοφύλακες ὡς ἀπειρόκαλόν τε ὄντα καὶ ἀπαίδευτον τῶν περὶ τὰς νυμφικὰς μούσας νόμων.
And the one who obeys the law, all must praise; but the one who disobeys, let the guardians of the laws punish as being both tasteless and uneducated in the laws concerning the bridal Muses.
πίνειν δὲ εἰς μέθην οὔτε ἄλλοθί που πρέπει, πλὴν ἐν ταῖς τοῦ τὸν οἶνον δόντος θεοῦ ἑορταῖς, οὐδʼ ἀσφαλές, οὔτʼ οὖν δὴ περὶ γάμους ἐσπουδακότα, ἐν οἷς ἔμφρονα μάλιστα εἶναι πρέπει νύμφην καὶ νυμφίον μεταβολὴν οὐ σμικρὰν βίου μεταλλάττοντας, ἅμα δὲ καὶ τὸ γεννώμενον ὅπως ὅτι μάλιστα ἐξ ἐμφρόνων ἀεὶ γίγνηται· σχεδὸν γὰρ ἄδηλον ὁποία νὺξ ἢ φῶς αὐτὸ γεννήσει μετὰ θεοῦ.
To drink to excess is not fitting anywhere else, except in the festivals of the god who gave wine, nor is it safe, and least of all for one who is serious about marriage, in which the bride and bridegroom must be especially sensible, undergoing as they do a no small change in life, and at the same time so that the offspring may always be born from sensible parents as much as possible; for it is almost unclear what sort of night or light will generate it, with the help of a god.
καὶ πρὸς τούτοις δεῖ μὴ τῶν σωμάτων διακεχυμένων ὑπὸ μέθης γίγνεσθαι τὴν παιδουργίαν, ἀλλʼ εὐπαγὲς ἀπλανὲς ἡσυχαῖόν τε ἐν μοίρᾳ συνίστασθαι τὸ φυόμενον.
And in addition to this, the procreation must not take place when the bodies are relaxed by drunkenness, but the growing child must be conceptualized as firm, steady, quiet, and in its proper place.
ὁ δὲ διῳνωμένος αὐτός τε φέρεται πάντῃ καὶ φέρει, λυττῶν κατά τε σῶμα καὶ ψυχήν· σπείρειν οὖν παράφορος ἅμα καὶ κακὸς ὁ μεθύων, ὥστʼ ἀνώμαλα καὶ ἄπιστα καὶ οὐδὲν εὐθύπορον ἦθος οὐδὲ σῶμα ἐκ τῶν εἰκότων γεννῴη ποτʼ ἄν.
The man who is full of wine is carried about everywhere himself and carries others with him, raving in both body and soul; therefore, the drunkard is frantic and bad at sowing seed, so that in all probability he would generate a character and body that are irregular, untrustworthy, and not at all straight.
διὸ μᾶλλον μὲν ὅλον τὸν ἐνιαυτὸν καὶ βίον χρή, μάλιστα δὲ ὁπόσον ἂν γεννᾷ χρόνον, εὐλαβεῖσθαι καὶ μὴ πράττειν μήτε ὅσα νοσώδη ἑκόντα εἶναι μήτε ὅσα ὕβρεως ἢ ἀδικίας ἐχόμενα—εἰς γὰρ τὰς τῶν γεννωμένων ψυχὰς καὶ σώματα ἀναγκαῖον ἐξομοργνύμενον ἐκτυποῦσθαι καὶ τίκτειν πάντῃ φαυλότερα—διαφερόντως δὲ ἐκείνην τὴν ἡμέραν καὶ νύκτα ἀπέχεσθαι τῶν περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα·
Therefore, one must rather be cautious all year round and throughout life, and especially during whatever time one is procreating, and not do voluntarily anything that is diseased, or connected with insolence or injustice; for it is necessary that these things be wiped off and stamped upon the souls and bodies of the children generated, and that they be born far worse in every way.
ἀρχὴ γὰρ καὶ θεὸς ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἱδρυμένη σῴζει πάντα, τιμῆς ἐὰν τῆς προσηκούσης αὐτῇ παρʼ ἑκάστου τῶν χρωμένων λαγχάνῃ.
Distinctly on that day and night, one must abstain from such actions; for the "beginning" and "god" established among human beings preserves all things, if it obtains the appropriate honor from each of those who make use of it.
§6.776ΑΘ. νομίσαντα δʼ εἶναι χρὴ τὸν γαμοῦντα ταῖν οἰκίαιν ταῖν ἐν τῷ κλήρῳ τὴν ἑτέραν οἷον νεοττῶν ἐγγέννησιν καὶ τροφήν, χωρισθέντα ἀπὸ πατρὸς καὶ μητρὸς τὸν γάμον ἐκεῖ ποιεῖσθαι καὶ τὴν οἴκησιν καὶ τὴν τροφὴν αὑτοῦ καὶ τῶν τέκνων.
ATH.: And the one who marries must consider one of the two houses on the allotment as a sort of nest for breeding and rearing young, and, separating from father and mother, make his marriage, his dwelling, and the maintenance of himself and his children there.
ἐν γὰρ ταῖς φιλίαις ἐὰν μὲν πόθος ἐνῇ τις, κολλᾷ καὶ συνδεῖ πάντα ἤθη· κατακορὴς δὲ συνουσία καὶ οὐκ ἴσχουσα τὸν διὰ χρόνου πόθον ἀπορρεῖν ἀλλήλων ποιεῖ ὑπερβολαῖς πλησμονῆς.
For in friendships, if some longing is present, it glues and binds together all characters; but satiety of association, not retaining that longing which comes through lapse of time, makes people fall away from one another through excess of fullness.
ὧν δὴ χάριν μητρὶ καὶ πατρὶ καὶ τοῖς τῆς γυναικὸς οἰκείοις παρέντας χρὴ τὰς αὑτῶν οἰκήσεις, οἷον εἰς ἀποικίαν ἀφικομένους, αὐτοὺς ἐπισκοποῦντάς τε ἅμα καὶ ἐπισκοπουμένους οἰκεῖν, γεννῶντάς τε καὶ ἐκτρέφοντας παῖδας, καθάπερ λαμπάδα τὸν βίον παραδιδόντας ἄλλοις ἐξ ἄλλων, θεραπεύοντας ἀεὶ θεοὺς κατὰ νόμους.
For which reasons, leaving their own dwellings to mother and father and to the wife's relatives, they must live as though they had arrived at a colony, observing others and at the same time being observed, and begetting and rearing children, handing down life like a torch from one to another, and always worshiping the gods according to the laws.
κτήματα δὲ τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο ποῖα ἄν τις κεκτημένος ἐμμελεστάτην οὐσίαν κεκτῇτο;
And after this, by possessing what kind of property would someone possess a most harmonious estate?
τὰ μὲν οὖν πολλὰ οὔτε νοῆσαι χαλεπὸν οὔτε κτήσασθαι, τὰ δὲ δὴ τῶν οἰκετῶν χαλεπὰ πάντῃ.
Most other things are neither difficult to conceive nor to acquire, but the question of domestic servants is difficult in every way.
τὸ δʼ αἴτιον, οὐκ ὀρθῶς πως καί τινα τρόπον ὀρθῶς περὶ αὐτῶν λέγομεν· ἐναντία γὰρ ταῖς χρείαις, καὶ κατὰ τὰς χρείας αὖ, ποιούμεθα περὶ δούλων καὶ τὰ λεγόμενα.
The cause is that we speak of them in a way not correctly, and in a certain way correctly; for we handle our practices concerning slaves, and what is said about them, in a manner contrary to utility, and then again in accordance with utility.
ΜΕ. πῶς δʼ αὖ τοῦτο λέγομεν;
MEG.: How is it that we say this?
οὐ γάρ πω μανθάνομεν, ὦ ξένε, ὅτι τὰ νῦν φράζεις.
For we do not yet understand, stranger, what you mean now.
ΑΘ. καὶ μάλα γε, ὦ Μέγιλλε, εἰκότως· σχεδὸν γὰρ πάντων τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἡ Λακεδαιμονίων εἱλωτεία πλείστην ἀπορίαν παράσχοιτʼ ἂν καὶ ἔριν τοῖς μὲν ὡς εὖ, τοῖς δʼ ὡς οὐκ εὖ γεγονυῖά ἐστιν—ἐλάττω δὲ ἥ τε Ἡρακλεωτῶν δουλεία τῆς τῶν Μαριανδυνῶν καταδουλώσεως ἔριν ἂν ἔχοι, τὸ Θετταλῶν τʼ αὖ πενεστικὸν ἔθνος—εἰς ἃ καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα βλέψαντας ἡμᾶς τί χρὴ ποιεῖν περὶ κτήσεως οἰκετῶν;
ATH.: And indeed, Megillus, naturally so; for the Helot system of the Lacedaemonians would probably cause the greatest difficulty and dispute of almost all Greek institutions, being regarded by some as good and by others as not good. A lesser dispute would be raised by the slavery of the Heracleotes in comparison with the subjection of the Mariandyni, and again by the Penestae class of the Thessalians. Looking at all these things, what ought we to do concerning the acquisition of domestic servants?
ὃ δὴ παριὼν τῷ λόγῳ ἔτυχον εἰπών, καὶ σύ με εἰκότως τί ποτε φράζοιμι ἠρώτησας, τόδε ἐστίν.
What I happened to say in passing just now in my argument, and what you naturally asked me what on earth I meant by it, is this.
ἴσμεν ὅτι που πάντες εἴποιμεν ἂν ὡς χρὴ δούλους ὡς εὐμενεστάτους ἐκτῆσθαι καὶ ἀρίστους· πολλοὶ γὰρ ἀδελφῶν ἤδη δοῦλοι καὶ ὑέων τισὶν κρείττους πρὸς ἀρετὴν πᾶσαν γενόμενοι, σεσώκασιν δεσπότας καὶ κτήματα τάς τε οἰκήσεις αὐτῶν ὅλας.
We know that we would probably all say that we ought to possess slaves who are as well-disposed and excellent as possible; for many slaves have already shown themselves better than brothers and sons to some in every kind of virtue, and have saved their masters, their estates, and their entire households.
ταῦτα γὰρ ἴσμεν που περὶ δούλων λεγόμενα.
For we know, I suppose, that these things are said about slaves.
ΜΕ. τί μήν;
MEG.: Indeed they are.