The Instructor 3.11.75
Summary: Men should not idle in barbershops and taverns or gamble; only good company benefits, as the prohibition of pork symbolically teaches avoidance of swinish people.
Greek text · Stählin 1:277–278
Μὴ τοίνυν μηδὲ οἱ ἄνδρες ἐπὶ τῶν κουρείων καὶ καπηλείων διατρίβοντες ἀδολεσχούντων στωμυλευόμενοι, καὶ τὰς παριούσας θηρώμενοι γυναῖκας παυσάσθων ποτέ· πολλοὺς δὲ καὶ βλασφημοῦντες εἰς γέλωτα οὐ παύονται. κωλυτέα γε μὴν ἔτι καὶ ἡ διὰ τῶν κύβων παιδιά, πρὸς δὲ καὶ ἡ διὰ τῶν ἀστραγάλων μελέτη πλεονεξίας, ἣν μεταχειρίζεσθαι φιλοῦσι. τοιαῦτά τινα τῆς τρυφῆς τὸ ἀταμίευτον αὐτοῖς κακοσχολοῦσιν ἐξευρίσκει· αἰτία γὰρ ἡ ἀργία· ματαίων δέ τις ἐρᾷ τῶν ἐκτὸς τῆς ἀληθείας ὄντων· οὐ γὰρ ἔστι καὶ ἄλλως θυμηδίαν ἄνευ βλάβης κτήσασθαι· τῆς δὲ ἑκάστου τῶν ἀνθρώπων διανοίας μίμησίς ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ βίου προαίρεσις. ἀλλʼ, ὡς ἔοικεν, μόναι αἱ μετὰ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἀνδρῶν συναναστροφαὶ ὠφελοῦσιν. ἔμπαλιν γοῦν τὴν μετὰ τῶν φαύλων συνδιαίτησιν ἀνθρώπων ὑώδη γνωρίζων ὁ πάνσοφος διὰ Μωυσέως παιδαγωγὸς χοιρείων ἀπηγόρευσεν μεταλαμβάνειν τῷ λαῷ τῷ πρεσβυτέρῳ, ἐμφαίνων μὴ δεῖν τοὺς θεὸν ἐπιβοωμένους ἀκαθάρτοις ἀναμίγνυσθαι ἀνθρώποις, οἳ δίκην ὑῶν ἡδοναῖς σωματικαῖς καὶ δεισαλέαις τροφαῖς καὶ γαργαλισμοῖς ἀσελγέσι κνηστιῶντες πρὸς ἀφροδίτην κακόχαρτον ἡδονὴν χαίρουσιν.
English · Claude translation
Nor should men spend time in barbershops and taverns, babbling and chattering, and hunting the women who pass by; let them stop at last. Many do not stop slandering people to raise a laugh. Dice-playing must be forbidden too, and knucklebones, the practice of greed, which they love to pursue. The unrestrained extravagance of luxury invents such things for those who are idle; for idleness is the cause, and one loves vanities that are outside the truth; for it is not possible to gain cheer otherwise without harm, and each person's choice of life is an imitation of his mind. It seems that only the company of good men benefits. On the other hand, the all-wise Instructor, through Moses, recognizing that living with worthless people is swinish, forbade the people of old to eat pork, showing that those who call on God should not mix with unclean people, who, like pigs, itching for bodily pleasures, filthy food, and lewd titillation, rejoice in the evil-delighting pleasure of sexual love.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusion is Lev 11:7 (Deut 14:8), read allegorically as in Barnabas 10.3.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent: grave on πρὸς; misspelling in the digital text): Μὴ τοίνουν μηδὲ → Μὴ τοίνυν μηδὲ; πρός δὲ καὶ ἡ διὰ → πρὸς δὲ καὶ ἡ διὰ.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.11.75 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/11/75/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.11.75 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/11/75/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text