The Instructor 2.7.54
Summary: Wisdom warns against dining and drinking with married women; if women must be present they should be modestly dressed, and men should keep their eyes and posture decorous.
Greek text · Stählin 1:190
εὖ γάρ τοι παραγγέλλειν ἡ σοφία φαίνεται· »μετὰ ὑπάνδρου γυναικὸς μὴ κάθου τὸ σύνολον καὶ μὴ συμμετακλιθῇς ἐπʼ ἀγκῶνα μετʼ αὐτῆς.« τοῦτʼ ἔστι μὴ συνδείπνει πυκνότερον, μηδὲ ἔσθιε μετʼ αὐτῆς. διὸ καὶ ἐπιφέρει· »μηδὲ συμβολὰς ποίει μετʼ αὐτῆς ἐν οἴνῳ, μή ποτε ἐκκλίνῃ ἡ καρδία σου ἐπʼ αὐτήν, καὶ τῷ αἵματί σου ὀλισθήσῃ εἰς ἀπώλειαν·« σφαλερὰ γὰρ ἡ πάροινος ἐλευθερία παρανθεῖν δυναμένη· ὕπανδρον δὲ ὠνόμασεν, ἐπεὶ μείζων ὁ κίνδυνος τῷ λῦσαι τὴν δέσιν τῆς συμβιώσεως πειρωμένῳ. εἰ δὲ καὶ ἀνάγκη τις περιτύχοι παριέναι κελεύουσα, αἳ μὲν κεκαλύφθων ἄγαν ἀμπεχόνῃ ἔκτοσθεν, ἔνδοθεν δὲ αἰδοῖ· ὅσαι δὲ μὴ ὕπανδροι, ἐσχάτη ταύταις διαβολὴ εἰς ἀνδρῶν παρεῖναι συμπόσιον καὶ ταῦτα οἰνωμένων. οἳ δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν κλισίαν τὰς ὄψεις πήξαντες ἀμετασάλευτοι τοῖς ἀγκῶσιν ἐρηρεισμένοι μόνοις παρέστων τοῖς ὠσίν· εἰ δὲ καὶ καθέζοιντο, μὴ ἐναλλὰξ τὼ πόδε ἐχόντων μηδὲ μὴν θάτερον τοῖν μηροῖν θατέρῳ ἐπιφερόντων ἢ τὴν χεῖρα τῷ γενείῳ ὑπερειδόντων· ἀγεννὲς
English · Claude translation
For Wisdom seems to command well: “Do not sit at all with a married woman, nor recline on your elbow with her”; that is, do not dine with her often, nor eat with her. So it adds: “Nor feast with her over wine, lest your heart turn aside to her, and with your blood you slip into destruction.” For the freedom of wine is dangerous, apt to rob one of the bloom of chastity. It named a married woman, since the danger is greater for one who tries to loosen the bond of a shared life. If some necessity requires them to be present, let the married women be well covered outwardly with clothing and inwardly with modesty; for unmarried women it is the utmost reproach to be present at a men's banquet, especially of men flushed with wine. Let the men, fixing their eyes on the couch, unmoving, leaning on their elbows, be present only with their ears. And if they sit, let them not cross their feet, nor put one thigh on the other, nor prop the chin with the hand; for it is ignoble
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotation is Sir 9:9. The sentence continues in the next section.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 2.7.54 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/2/7/54/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 2.7.54 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/2/7/54/).
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