Humanitext Reader

Theophrastus · Fragments §112.1

Contests of Women's Virtue and Beauty

Passage 117 of 196 · Greek

Summary

Theophrastus mentions contests for women concerning temperance and domestic management among the barbarians, and contests of beauty among the Tenedians and Lesbians.

§112.1Fr. 112 Ἐνιαχοῦ φησὶν ὁ αὐτὸς Θ. καὶ κρίσεις γυναικῶν περὶ σωφροσύνης γίνεσθαι καὶ οἰκονομίας ὥσπερ ἐν τοῖς βαρβάροις· ἑτέρωθι δὲ κάλλους ὡς δέον καὶ τοῦτο τιμᾶσθαι, καθάπερ καὶ παρὰ Τενεδίοις καὶ Λεσβίοις.
Fr. 112 The same Theophrastus says that in some places, just as among the barbarians, contests for women also take place concerning temperance and domestic management; and in other places, contests of beauty, on the grounds that this too ought to be honored, just as among the Tenedians and Lesbians.

Notes

  1. §112.1ὡς δέον — An accusative absolute construction using the neuter singular accusative participle of the impersonal verb δεῖ, accompanied by ὡς to express a subjective reason ("on the grounds that it ought to"). It governs the infinitive τιμᾶσθαι, whose subject is τοῦτο (referring to κάλλος, "beauty").
  2. §112.1κάλλους — A genitive noun. Contextually, the noun κρίσεις ("contests/judgments") is understood from the preceding clause, making it "contests of beauty" (κρίσεις κάλλους).

Cite this passage

Theophrastus, Fragments §112.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0093.tlg010x09.humanitext-grc1:112.1

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