Miscellanies 2.18.89
Summary: The law restrains the captor's desire by a waiting period and by cutting the captive's hair; if he no longer wants her, he may not sell her or keep her as a slave but must set her free.
Greek text · Stählin 2:160–161
ὁρᾷς φιλανθρωπίαν μετʼ ἐγκρατείας; τῷ ἐρῶντι κυρίῳ τῆς αἰχμαλώτου γεγονότι οὐκ ἐπιτρέπει χαρίζεσθαι τῇ ἡδονῇ, ἀνακόπτει δὲ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν διαστήματι μεμετρημένῳ καὶ προσέτι ἀποκείρει τῆς αἰχμαλώτου καὶ τὰς τρίχας, ἵνα τὸν ἐφύβριστον δυσωπήσῃ ἔρωτα· εἰ γὰρ λογισμὸς ἀναπείθει γῆμαι, καὶ γενομένης αἰσχρᾶς ἀνθέξεται. ἔπειτα ἐάν τις τῆς ἐπιθυμίας κατάκορος γενόμενος μηκέτι κοινωνεῖν τῇ αἰχμαλώτῳ καταξιώσῃ, μηδὲ πιπράσκειν ταύτην ἐξεῖναι διατάττεται, ἀλλὰ μηδὲ ἔτι θεράπαιναν ἔχειν, ἐλευθέραν δὲ εἶναι καὶ τῆς οἰκετίας ἀπαλλάττεσθαι βούλεται, ὡς μὴ γυναικὸς ἑτέρας ἐπεισελθούσης πάθῃ τι τῶν κατὰ ζηλοτυπίαν ἀνηκέστων.
English · Claude translation
Do you see philanthropy with self-control? It does not allow the lover who has become master of the captive to gratify his pleasure, but checks desire by a measured interval, and moreover cuts off the captive's hair, to shame an insolent passion; for if reason persuades him to marry, he will hold to her even when she has become unattractive. Then, if someone, sated with desire, no longer thinks fit to have relations with the captive, it is ordered that he may not sell her, nor even keep her as a servant; it wishes her to be free and released from the household, so that, when another wife comes in, she may not suffer any of the incurable things that come from jealousy.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusion is Deut 21:12–14.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 2.18.89 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/2/18/89/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 2.18.89 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/2/18/89/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text