§20καὶ πίστιν παρʼ ἐμοῦ λαβοῦσα μηδὲν πείσεσθαι κακόν, κατηγόρει πρῶτον μὲν ὡς μετὰ τὴν ἐκφορὰν αὐτῇ προσίοι, ἔπειτα ὡς αὐτὴ τελευτῶσα εἰσαγγείλειε καὶ ὡς ἐκείνη τῷ χρόνῳ πεισθείη, καὶ τὰς εἰσόδους οἷς τρόποις προσίοιτο, καὶ ὡς Θεσμοφορίοις ἐμοῦ ἐν ἀγρῷ ὄντος ᾤχετο εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν μετὰ τῆς μητρὸς τῆς ἐκείνου· καὶ τἆλλα τὰ γενόμενα πάντα ἀκριβῶς διηγήσατο.
And she, having received a pledge from me that she would suffer no harm, began to disclose, first how he used to approach her after the funeral, and then how she herself finally brought messages, and how the wife was persuaded in time, and the ways in which he made his entries, and how, during the Thesmophoria when I was in the countryside, she went to the temple with his mother; and she detailed precisely everything else that had happened.
ἐπειδὴ δὲ πάντα εἴρητο αὐτῇ, §21εἶπον ἐγώ,
ὅπως τοίνυν ταῦτα μηδεὶς ἀνθρώπων πεύσεται· εἰ δέ μή, οὐδέν σοι κύριον ἔσται τῶν πρὸς ἔμʼ ὡμολογημένων.
When everything had been told by her, I said, "See to it, then, that no one of mankind learns of this; otherwise, nothing agreed upon with me shall be valid for you.
ἀξιῶ δέ σε ἐπʼ αὐτοφώρῳ ταῦτά μοι ἐπιδεῖξαι· ἐγὼ γὰρ οὐδὲν δέομαι λόγων, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἔργον φανερὸν γενέσθαι, εἴπερ οὕτως ἔχει. §22ὡμολόγει ταῦτα ποιήσειν.
And I require you to show me this in the very act; for I have no need of words, but for the deed to become manifest, if indeed it is so." She agreed to do this.
καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα διεγένοντο ἡμέραι τέσσαρες ἢ πέντε, ὡς ἐγὼ μεγάλοις ὑμῖν τεκμηρίοις ἐπιδείξω.
And after this, four or five days elapsed, as I shall demonstrate to you with strong proofs.
πρῶτον δὲ διηγήσασθαι βούλομαι τὰ πραχθέντα τῇ τελευταίᾳ ἡμέρᾳ.
But first I wish to relate what was done on the last day.
Σώστρατος ἦν μοι ἐπιτήδειος καὶ φίλος.
Sostratus was a close associate and friend of mine.
τούτῳ ἡλίου δεδυκότος ἰόντι ἐξ ἀγροῦ ἀπήντησα.
I met him as he was returning from the countryside after sunset.
§23εἰδὼς δʼ ἐγὼ ὅτι τηνικαῦτα ἀφιγμένος οὐδένα καταλήψοιτο οἴκοι τῶν ἐπιτηδείων, ἐκέλευον, συνδειπνεῖν· καὶ ἐλθόντες οἴκαδε ὡς ἐμέ, ἀναβάντες εἰς τὸ ὑπερῷον ἐδειπνοῦμεν.
Knowing that having arrived at that hour he would find none of his close friends at home, I invited him to dine with me; and coming to my house, we went up to the upper floor and dined.
ἐπειδὴ δὲ καλῶς αὐτῷ εἶχεν, ἐκεῖνος μὲν ἀπιὼν ᾤχετο, ἐγὼ δʼ ἐκάθευδον.
When he had fared well, he departed, and I went to sleep.
ὁ δʼ Ἐρατοσθένης, ὦ ἄνδρες, εἰσέρχεται, καὶ ἡ θεράπαινα ἐπεγείρασά με εὐθὺς φράζει ὅτι ἔνδον ἐστί.
But Eratosthenes, gentlemen, entered, and the maidservant, having awakened me, at once told me that he was inside.
κἀγὼ εἰπὼν ἐκείνῃ ἐπιμελεῖσθαι τῆς θύρας, καταβὰς σιωπῇ ἐξέρχομαι, καὶ ἀφικνοῦμαι ὡς τὸν καὶ τόν, καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἔνδον κατέλαβον, τοὺς δὲ οὐκ ἐπιδημοῦντας ηὗρον.
And I, having told her to watch the door, went down in silence and went out; and I went to the houses of this person and that, and some I found at home, while others I discovered were not in town.
§24παραλαβὼν δʼ ὡς οἷόν τε ἦν πλείστους ἐκ τῶν παρόντων ἐβάδιζον.
Taking with me as many of them as possible from those who were present, I marched.
καὶ δᾷδας λαβόντες ἐκ τοῦ ἐγγύτατα καπηλείου εἰσερχόμεθα, ἀνεῳγμένης τῆς θύρας καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς ἀνθρώπου παρεσκευασμένης.
And having taken torches from the nearest tavern, we entered, the door having been left open and prepared by the woman.
ὤσαντες δὲ τὴν θύραν τοῦ δωματίου οἱ μὲν πρῶτοι εἰσιόντες ἔτι εἴδομεν αὐτὸν κατακείμενον παρὰ τῇ γυναικί, οἱ δʼ ὕστερον ἐν τῇ κλίνῃ γυμνὸν ἑστηκότα.
Pushing open the door of the bedroom, those of us who entered first saw him still lying beside my wife, and those who came in later saw him standing naked on the bed.
§25ἐγὼ δʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες, πατάξας καταβάλλω αὐτόν, καὶ τὼ χεῖρε περιαγαγὼν εἰς τοὔπισθεν καὶ δήσας ἠρώτων διὰ τί ὑβρίζει εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν τὴν ἐμὴν εἰσιών.
And I, gentlemen, having struck him down, brought him to the ground, and bringing his hands behind his back and binding them, I asked why he was committing this insult by entering my house.
κἀκεῖνος ἀδικεῖν μὲν ὡμολόγει, ἠντεβόλει δὲ καὶ ἱκέτευε μὴ ἀποκτεῖναι ἀλλʼ ἀργύριον πράξασθαι.
And he admitted his guilt, but entreated and begged me not to kill him, but to exact money.
ἐγὼ δʼ εἶπον ὅτι
οὐκ ἐγώ σε ἀποκτενῶ, §26ἀλλʼ ὁ τῆς πόλεως νόμος, ὃν σὺ παραβαίνων περὶ ἐλάττονος τῶν ἡδονῶν ἐποιήσω, καὶ μᾶλλον εἵλου τοιοῦτον ἁμάρτημα ἐξαμαρτάνειν εἰς τὴν γυναῖκα τὴν ἐμὴν καὶ εἰς τοὺς παῖδας τοὺς ἐμοὺς ἢ τοῖς νόμοις πείθεσθαι καὶ κόσμιος εἶναι. §27οὕτως, ὦ ἄνδρες, ἐκεῖνος τούτων ἔτυχεν ὧνπερ οἱ νόμοι κελεύουσι τοὺς τὰ τοιαῦτα πράττοντας, οὐκ εἰσαρπασθεὶς ἐκ τῆς ὁδοῦ, οὐδʼ ἐπὶ τὴν ἑστίαν καταφυγών, ὥσπερ οὗτοι λέγουσι·
But I said, "It is not I who will kill you, but the law of the city, which you, transgressing, held of less account than your pleasures, and preferred to commit such an offense against my wife and my children rather than to obey the laws and be orderly." Thus, gentlemen, he met with that fate which the laws command for those who commit such deeds, not having been dragged in from the street, nor having fled to the hearth, as these people claim.
πῶς γὰρ ἄν, ὅστις ἐν τῷ δωματίῳ πληγεὶς κατέπεσεν εὐθύς, περιέστρεψα δʼ αὐτοῦ τὼ χεῖρε, ἔνδον δὲ ἦσαν ἄνθρωποι τοσοῦτοι, οὓς διαφυγεῖν οὐκ ἐδύνατο, οὔτε σίδηρον οὔτε ξύλον οὔτε ἄλλο οὐδὲν ἔχων, ᾧ τοὺς εἰσελθόντας ἂν ἠμύνατο.
For how indeed could he, who was struck in the bedroom and fell immediately, whose hands I bound behind him, when there were so many people inside from whom he could not escape, and having neither iron nor wood nor any other thing with which he could have repelled those who entered?
§28ἀλλʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες, οἶμαι καὶ ὑμᾶς εἰδέναι ὅτι οἱ μὴ τὰ δίκαια πράττοντες οὐχ ὁμολογοῦσι τοὺς ἐχθροὺς λέγειν ἀληθῆ, ἀλλʼ αὐτοὶ ψευδόμενοι καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα μηχανώμενοι ὀργὰς τοῖς ἀκούουσι κατὰ τῶν τὰ δίκαια πραττόντων παρασκευάζουσι.
But, gentlemen, I think you also know that those who do not act justly do not admit that their enemies speak the truth, but they themselves tell lies and devise such schemes to arouse anger in their audience against those who act justly.
πρῶτον μὲν οὖν ἀνάγνωθι τὸν νόμον.
First of all, then, read the law.