Hippolytus, 616-638 (Kovacs)
Chiara Palladino / JCLS / Hippolytus 616-638
- Created on 2022-04-18 16:32:35
- Modified on 2022-04-27 18:03:35
- Translated by David Kovacs
- Aligned by Chiara Palladino
Ἑλληνική Transliterate
English
ὦ Ζεῦ , τί δὴ κίβδηλον ἀνθρώποις κακὸν
γυναῖκας ἐς φῶς ἡλίου κατῴκισας ;
εἰ γὰρ βρότειον ἤθελες σπεῖραι γένος ,
οὐκ ἐκ γυναικῶν χρῆν παρασχέσθαι τόδε ,
ἀλλ᾽ ἀντιθέντας σοῖσιν ἐν ναοῖς βροτοὺς
ἢ χαλκὸν ἢ σίδηρον ἢ χρυσοῦ βάρος
παίδων πρίασθαι σπέρμα του τιμήματος ,
τῆς ἀξίας ἕκαστον , ἐν δὲ δώμασιν
ναίειν ἐλευθέροισι θηλειῶν ἄτερ .
νῦν δ᾽ ἐς δόμους μὲν πρῶτον ἄξεσθαι κακὸν
μέλλοντες ὄλβον δωμάτων ἐκτίνομεν .
τούτῳ δὲ δῆλον ὡς γυνὴ κακὸν μέγα :
προσθεὶς γὰρ ὁ σπείρας τε καὶ θρέψας πατὴρ
φερνὰς ἀπῴκισ᾽ , ὡς ἀπαλλαχθῇ κακοῦ .
ὁ δ᾽ αὖ λαβὼν ἀτηρὸν ἐς δόμους φυτὸν
γέγηθε κόσμον προστιθεὶς ἀγάλματι
καλὸν κακίστῳ καὶ πέπλοισιν ἐκπονεῖ
δύστηνος , ὄλβον δωμάτων ὑπεξελών .
ἔχει δ᾽ ἀνάγκην : ὥστε κηδεύσας καλῶς
γαμβροῖσι χαίρων σῴζεται πικρὸν λέχος ,
ἢ χρηστὰ λέκτρα πενθεροὺς δ᾽ ἀνωφελεῖς
λαβὼν πιέζει τἀγαθῷ τὸ δυστυχές .
γυναῖκας ἐς φῶς ἡλίου κατῴκισας ;
εἰ γὰρ βρότειον ἤθελες σπεῖραι γένος ,
οὐκ ἐκ γυναικῶν χρῆν παρασχέσθαι τόδε ,
ἀλλ᾽ ἀντιθέντας σοῖσιν ἐν ναοῖς βροτοὺς
ἢ χαλκὸν ἢ σίδηρον ἢ χρυσοῦ βάρος
παίδων πρίασθαι σπέρμα του τιμήματος ,
τῆς ἀξίας ἕκαστον , ἐν δὲ δώμασιν
ναίειν ἐλευθέροισι θηλειῶν ἄτερ .
νῦν δ᾽ ἐς δόμους μὲν πρῶτον ἄξεσθαι κακὸν
μέλλοντες ὄλβον δωμάτων ἐκτίνομεν .
τούτῳ δὲ δῆλον ὡς γυνὴ κακὸν μέγα :
προσθεὶς γὰρ ὁ σπείρας τε καὶ θρέψας πατὴρ
φερνὰς ἀπῴκισ᾽ , ὡς ἀπαλλαχθῇ κακοῦ .
ὁ δ᾽ αὖ λαβὼν ἀτηρὸν ἐς δόμους φυτὸν
γέγηθε κόσμον προστιθεὶς ἀγάλματι
καλὸν κακίστῳ καὶ πέπλοισιν ἐκπονεῖ
δύστηνος , ὄλβον δωμάτων ὑπεξελών .
ἔχει δ᾽ ἀνάγκην : ὥστε κηδεύσας καλῶς
γαμβροῖσι χαίρων σῴζεται πικρὸν λέχος ,
ἢ χρηστὰ λέκτρα πενθεροὺς δ᾽ ἀνωφελεῖς
λαβὼν πιέζει τἀγαθῷ τὸ δυστυχές .
O
Zeus
,
why
have
you
settled
women
in
the
light
of
the
sun
,
women
,
this
bane
mankind
find
counterfeit
?
If
you
wished
to
propagate
the
human
race
,
it
was
not
from
women
that
you
should
have
given
us
this
.
Rather
,
men
should
have
put
down
in
the
temples
either
bronze
or
iron
or
a
mass
of
gold
and
have
bought
offspring
,
each
man
for
a
price
corresponding
to
his
means
,
and
then
dwelt
in
houses
free
from
the
female
sex
.
But
as
matters
stand
,
when
we
are
about
to
take
unto
ourselves
a
bane
,
we
pay
out
the
wealth
of
our
homes
.
The
clear
proof
that
woman
is
a
great
bane
is
this
:
her
father
,
who
begat
her
and
raised
her
,
adds
a
dowry
to
her
and
thus
sends
her
off
in
order
to
be
quit
of
a
trouble
.
But
her
husband
,
who
has
taken
this
creature
of
ruin
into
his
house
,
takes
pleasure
in
adding
finery
to
the
statue
,
lovely
finery
to
a
statue
most
worthless
,
and
tricks
her
out
with
garments
,
wretch
that
he
is
,
destroying
by
degrees
the
wealth
of
his
house
.
There
is
a
fatal
necessity
.
Either
a
man
makes
a
good
connection
by
marriage
,
and
his
joy
in
his
in-laws
makes
him
preserve
a
marriage-relation
that
gives
him
pain
,
or
he
gets
a
good
wife
and
bad
in-laws
and
keeps
in
check
his
unhappiness
with
his
blessing
.