§1περὶ πολλοῦ ἂν ποιησαίμην, ὦ ἄνδρες, τὸ τοιούτους ὑμᾶς ἐμοὶ δικαστὰς περὶ τούτου τοῦ πράγματος γενέσθαι, οἷοίπερ ἂν ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς εἴητε τοιαῦτα πεπονθότες· εὖ γὰρ οἶδʼ ὅτι, εἰ τὴν αὐτὴν γνώμην περὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἔχοιτε, ἥνπερ περὶ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν, οὐκ ἂν εἴη ὅστις οὐκ ἐπὶ τοῖς γεγενημένοις ἀγανακτοίη, ἀλλὰ πάντες ἂν περὶ τῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐπιτηδευόντων τὰς ζημίας μικρὰς ἡγοῖσθε.
I would value it highly, gentlemen, if you should prove to be such judges to me in this matter as you would be to yourselves if you had suffered such treatment; for I well know that, if you should hold the same opinion about others which you hold about yourselves, there would be no one who would not be indignant at what has happened, but you would all regard the penalties as small for those who practice such deeds.
§2καὶ ταῦτα οὐκ ἂν εἴη μόνον παρʼ ὑμῖν οὕτως ἐγνωσμένα, ἀλλʼ ἐν ἁπάσῃ τῇ Ἑλλάδι· περὶ τούτου γὰρ μόνου τοῦ ἀδικήματος καὶ ἐν δημοκρατίᾳ καὶ ὀλιγαρχίᾳ ἡ αὐτὴ τιμωρία τοῖς ἀσθενεστάτοις πρὸς τοὺς τὰ μέγιστα δυναμένους ἀποδέδοται, ὥστε τὸν χείριστον τῶν αὐτῶν τυγχάνειν τῷ βελτίστῳ· οὕτως, ὦ ἄνδρες, ταύτην τὴν ὕβριν ἅπαντες ἄνθρωποι δεινοτάτην ἡγοῦνται.
And this would not be so decided among you alone, but in the whole of Greece; for regarding this crime alone, under both democracy and oligarchy, the same retribution is assigned to the weakest against the most powerful, so that the lowest meets with the same treatment as the best; thus, gentlemen, all men regard this insolence as the most terrible.
§3περὶ μὲν οὖν τοῦ μεγέθους τῆς ζημίας ἅπαντας ὑμᾶς νομίζω τὴν αὐτὴν διάνοιαν ἔχειν, καὶ οὐδένα οὕτως ὀλιγώρως διακεῖσθαι, ὅστις οἴεται δεῖν συγγνώμης τυγχάνειν ἢ μικρᾶς ζημίας ἀξίους ἡγεῖται τοὺς τῶν τοιούτων ἔργων αἰτίους· ἡγοῦμαι δέ, §4ὦ ἄνδρες, τοῦτό με δεῖν ἐπιδεῖξαι, ὡς ἐμοίχευεν Ἐρατοσθένης τὴν γυναῖκα τὴν ἐμὴν καὶ ἐκείνην τε διέφθειρε καὶ τοὺς παῖδας τοὺς ἐμοὺς ᾔσχυνε καὶ ἐμὲ αὐτὸν ὕβρισεν εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν τὴν ἐμὴν εἰσιών, καὶ οὔτε ἔχθρα ἐμοὶ καὶ ἐκείνῳ οὐδεμία ἦν πλὴν ταύτης, οὔτε χρημάτων ἕνεκα ἔπραξα ταῦτα, ἵνα πλούσιος ἐκ πένητος γένωμαι, οὔτε ἄλλου κέρδους οὐδενὸς πλὴν τῆς κατὰ τοὺς νόμους τιμωρίας.
Now, concerning the magnitude of the penalty, I believe you all hold the same view, and that no one is so neglectfully disposed as to think that those responsible for such deeds should obtain pardon, or to deem them worthy of a small penalty; but I believe, gentlemen, that I must demonstrate this: that Eratosthenes seduced my wife, corrupted her, brought shame upon my children, and insulted me myself by entering my house, and that there was no enmity between him and me prior to this, nor did I do this for the sake of money, to become rich from being poor, nor for any other gain except the vengeance according to the laws.
§5ἐγὼ τοίνυν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὑμῖν ἅπαντα ἐπιδείξω τὰ ἐμαυτοῦ πράγματα, οὐδὲν παραλείπων, ἀλλὰ λέγων τἀληθῆ· ταύτην γὰρ ἐμαυτῷ μόνην ἡγοῦμαι σωτηρίαν, ἐὰν ὑμῖν εἰπεῖν ἅπαντα δυνηθῶ τὰ πεπραγμένα.
Therefore, I will demonstrate to you my affairs from the beginning, omitting nothing, but speaking the truth; for I believe this is my only safety, if I can tell you everything that has been done.
§6ἐγὼ γάρ, ὦ Ἀθηναῖοι, ἐπειδὴ ἔδοξέ μοι γῆμαι καὶ γυναῖκα ἠγαγόμην εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν, τὸν μὲν ἄλλον χρόνον οὕτω διεκείμην ὥστε μήτε λυπεῖν μήτε λίαν ἐπʼ ἐκείνῃ εἶναι ὅ τι ἂν ἐθέλῃ ποιεῖν, ἐφύλαττόν τε ὡς οἷόν τε ἦν, καὶ προσεῖχον τὸν νοῦν ὥσπερ εἰκὸς ἦν.
For I, Athenians, when it seemed good to me to marry and I brought a wife to my house, for the initial period I was so disposed as neither to annoy her nor to let it be too much in her power to do whatever she wished, and I watched her as much as possible, and paid attention as was reasonable.
ἐπειδὴ δέ μοι παιδίον γίγνεται, ἐπίστευον ἤδη καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐμαυτοῦ ἐκείνῃ παρέδωκα, ἡγούμενος ταύτην οἰκειότητα μεγίστην εἶναι·
But when a child was born to me, I began to trust her and handed over all my affairs to her, believing this to be the greatest bond of intimacy.
ἐν μὲν οὖν τῷ πρώτῳ χρόνῳ, §7ὦ Ἀθηναῖοι, πασῶν ἦν βελτίστη· καὶ γὰρ οἰκονόμος δεινὴ καὶ φειδωλὸς καὶ ἀκριβῶς πάντα διοικοῦσα·
In the first period indeed, Athenians, she was the best of all; for she was a clever housewife, thrifty, and managing everything precisely.
ἐπειδὴ δέ μοι ἡ μήτηρ ἐτελεύτησε, πάντων τῶν κακῶν ἀποθανοῦσα αἰτία μοι γεγένηται.
But when my mother died, her death became the cause of all my troubles.
§8ἐπʼ ἐκφορὰν γὰρ αὐτῇ ἀκολουθήσασα ἡ ἐμὴ γυνὴ ὑπὸ τούτου τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὀφθεῖσα, χρόνῳ διαφθείρεται· ἐπιτηρῶν γὰρ τὴν θεράπαιναν τὴν εἰς τὴν ἀγορὰν βαδίζουσαν καὶ λόγους προσφέρων ἀπώλεσεν αὐτήν.
For having followed her to her funeral, my wife, being seen by this man, was in time corrupted; for by watching the maidservant who went to the market and offering words to her, he ruined her.
§9πρῶτον μὲν οὖν, ὦ ἄνδρες,(δεῖ γὰρ καὶ ταῦθʼ ὑμῖν διηγήσασθαι) οἰκίδιον ἔστι μοι διπλοῦν, ἴσα ἔχον τὰ ἄνω τοῖς κάτω κατὰ τὴν γυναικωνῖτιν καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἀνδρωνῖτιν.
First of all then, gentlemen (for I must relate these things to you as well), I have a small double-storied house, having the upper parts equal to the lower parts, in respect to both the women's quarters and the men's quarters.
ἐπειδὴ δὲ τὸ παιδίον ἐγένετο ἡμῖν, ἡ μήτηρ αὐτὸ ἐθήλαζεν· ἵνα δὲ μή, ὁπότε λοῦσθαι δέοι, κινδυνεύῃ κατὰ τῆς κλίμακος καταβαίνουσα, ἐγὼ μὲν ἄνω διῃτώμην, αἱ δὲ γυναῖκες κάτω.
When our child was born, the mother breastfed it; and so that she might not run any risk in going down the stairs whenever it was necessary to bathe, I lived upstairs, and the women downstairs.
§10καὶ οὕτως ἤδη συνειθισμένον ἦν, ὥστε πολλάκις ἡ γυνὴ ἀπῄει κάτω καθευδήσουσα ὡς τὸ παιδίον, ἵνα τὸν τιτθὸν αὐτῷ διδῷ καὶ μὴ βοᾷ.
And this was already so customary that often my wife went downstairs to sleep with the child, in order to give it the breast and prevent it from crying.
καὶ ταῦτα πολὺν χρόνον οὕτως ἐγίγνετο, καὶ ἐγὼ οὐδέποτε ὑπώπτευσα, ἀλλʼ οὕτως ἠλιθίως διεκείμην, ὥστε ᾤμην τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ γυναῖκα πασῶν σωφρονεστάτην εἶναι τῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει.
And this went on in this way for a long time, and I never suspected anything, but was so foolishly disposed that I thought my own wife was the most chaste of all those in the city.