by Demosthenes
[20] You see, men of Athens, what keeps happening and the annoyance resulting from the matter. But even if there were no annoying results, and if it were not absolutely impossible for us both to have the same name, it surely is not fair for him to have his share of my property by virtue of the adoption which my father made under compulsion, and for me to be robbed of the name which that father gave me of his own free will and under constraint from no one. I, certainly, think it is not. Now, to show you that my father not only made the entry in the list of the clansmen in the manner which has been testified to you, but that he gave me this name when he kept the tenth day after my birth, please take this deposition.” Deposition”
[21] ἀκούετ᾽, ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ὅτι ἐγὼ μέν εἰμ᾽ ἐπὶ τοὐνόματος τούτου πάντα τὸν χρόνον, τουτονὶ δὲ Βοιωτὸν εἰς τοὺς φράτερας, ἡνίκ᾽ ἠναγκάσθη, ἐνέγραψεν ὁ πατήρ. ἡδέως τοίνυν ἐροίμην ἂν αὐτὸν ἐναντίον ὑμῶν: εἰ μὴ ἐτελεύτησεν ὁ πατήρ, τί ἄν ποτ᾽ ἐποίεις πρὸς τοῖς δημόταις; οὐκ ἂν εἴας σεαυτὸν ἐγγράφειν Βοιωτόν; ἀλλ᾽ ἄτοπον δίκην μὲν λαγχάνειν τούτου, κωλύειν δὲ πάλιν. καὶ μὴν εἴ γ᾽ εἴας αὐτόν, ἐνέγραψεν ἄν σ᾽ εἰς τοὺς δημότας, ὅπερ εἰς τοὺς φράτερας. οὐκοῦν δεινόν, ὦ γῆ καὶ θεοί, φάσκειν μὲν ἐκεῖνον αὑτοῦ πατέρ᾽ εἶναι, τολμᾶν δ᾽ ἄκυρα ποιεῖν ἁκεῖνος ἔπραξεν ζῶν.
[21] You hear then, men of Athens, that I have always been in possession of the name Mantitheus; but that my father, when he was compelled to enter him, entered the defendant in the list of clansmen as Boeotus. I should be glad, then, to ask him in your presence, “If my father had not died, what would you have done in the presence of your demesman? Would you not have allowed yourself to be registered as Boeotus?” But it would have been absurd to bring suit to force this and then afterwards to seek to prevent it. And yet, if you had allowed him, my father would have enrolled you in the register of demesmen by the same name as he did in that of the clansmen. Then, O Earth and the Gods, it is monstrous for him to claim that Mantias is his father, and yet to have the audacity to try to make of none effect what Mantias did in his lifetime.
[22] ἐτόλμα τοίνυν πρὸς τῷ διαιτητῇ πρᾶγμ᾽ ἀναιδέστατον λέγειν, ὡς ὁ πατὴρ αὑτοῦ δεκάτην ἐποίησεν ὥσπερ ἐμοῦ καὶ τοὔνομα τοῦτ᾽ ἔθετ᾽ αὐτῷ, καὶ μάρτυράς τινας παρείχετο, οἷς ἐκεῖνος οὐδεπώποτ᾽ ὤφθη χρώμενος. ἐγὼ δ᾽ οὐδέν᾽ ὑμῶν ἀγνοεῖν οἴομαι, ὅτι οὔτ᾽ ἂν ἐποίησε δεκάτην οὐδεὶς παιδίου μὴ νομίζων αὑτοῦ δικαίως εἶναι, οὔτε ποιήσας καὶ στέρξας, ὡς ἂν υἱόν τις στέρξαι, πάλιν ἔξαρνος ἐτόλμησε γενέσθαι.
[22] He had the effrontery, moreover, to make before the arbitrator the most audacious assertions, that my father kept the tenth day after birth for him, just as for me, and gave him the name Mantitheus; and he brought forward as witnesses persons with whom my father was never known to be intimate. But I think that not one of you is unaware that no man would have kept the tenth day for a child which he did not believe was rightly his own; nor, if he had kept the day and shown the affection one would feel for a son, would afterward have dared to deny him.
[23] οὐδὲ γὰρ εἴ τι τῇ μητρὶ πρὸς ὀργὴν ἦλθεν τῇ τούτων, τούτους ἂν ἐμίσει, νομίζων αὑτοῦ εἶναι: πολὺ γὰρ μᾶλλον εἰώθασιν, ὧν ἂν ἑαυτοῖς διενεχθῶσιν ἀνὴρ καὶ γυνή, διὰ τοὺς παῖδας καταλλάττεσθαι ἢ δι᾽ ἃν ἀδικηθῶσιν ὑφ᾽ αὑτῶν, τοὺς κοινοὺς παῖδας πρὸς μισεῖν. οὐ τοίνυν ἐκ τούτων ἔστιν ἰδεῖν μόνον ὅτι ψεύσεται, ταῦτ᾽ ἂν λέγῃ, ἀλλὰ πρὶν ἡμέτερος φάσκειν συγγενὴς εἶναι, εἰς Ἱπποθωντίδ᾽ ἐφοίτα φυλὴν εἰς παῖδας χορεύσων.
[23] For even if he might have got into some quarrel with the mother of these children, he would not have hated them, if he believed them to be his own. For man and wife are much more apt, in cases where they are at variance with one another, to become reconciled for the sake of their children, than, on the ground of the injuries which they have done one to the other, to hate their common children also. However, it is not from these facts alone that you may see that he will be lying, if he makes these statements; but, before he claimed to be a kinsman of ours, he used to go to the tribe Hippothontis to dance in the chorus of boys.
[24] καίτοι τίς ἂν ὑμῶν οἴεται τὴν μητέρα πέμψαι τοῦτον εἰς ταύτην τὴν φυλήν, δεινὰ μέν, ὥς φησιν, ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς πεπονθυῖαν, δεκάτην δ᾽ εἰδυῖαν πεποιηκότ᾽ ἐκεῖνον καὶ πάλιν ἔξαρνον ὄντα; ἐγὼ μὲν οὐδέν᾽ ἂν οἶμαι. εἰς γὰρ τὴν Ἀκαμαντίδ᾽ ὁμοίως ἐξῆν σοι φοιτᾶν, καὶ ἐφαίνετ᾽ ἂν οὖσ᾽ ἀκόλουθος ἡ φυλὴ τῇ θέσει τοὐνόματος. ὡς τοίνυν ταῦτ᾽ ἀληθῆ λέγω, τούτων μάρτυρας ὑμῖν τοὺς συμφοιτῶντας καὶ τοὺς εἰδότας παρέξομαι.”Μάρτυρες”
[24] And yet, who among you imagines that his mother would have sent him to this tribe, if, as she alleges, she had been cruelly treated by my father, and knew that he had kept the tenth day, and afterward denied it? Not one, I am sure. For it would have been just as much your right to go to school to the tribe Acamantis, and then the tribe would have been in manifest agreement with the giving of the name. To prove that I am speaking the truth in this, I shall bring before you as witnesses those who went to school with him, and know the facts.” Witnesses”
[25] οὕτω τοίνυν φανερῶς παρὰ τὸν τῆς αὑτοῦ μητρὸς ὅρκον καὶ τὴν τοῦ δόντος ἐκείνῃ τὸν ὅρκον εὐήθειαν πατρὸς τετυχηκὼς καὶ ἀνθ᾽ Ἱπποθωντίδος ἐν Ἀκαμαντίδι φυλῇ γεγονώς, οὐκ ἀγαπᾷ Βοιωτὸς οὑτοσί, ἀλλὰ καὶ δίκας ἐμοὶ δύ᾽ ἢ τρεῖς εἴληχεν ἀργυρίου πρὸς αἷς καὶ πρότερόν μ᾽ ἐσυκοφάντει. καίτοι πάντας οἶμαι τοῦθ᾽ ὑμᾶς εἰδέναι, τίς ἦν χρηματιστὴς ὁ πατήρ.
[25] Nevertheless, although it is so plain that by his mother’s oath and the simplicity of him who tendered the oath to her, he has obtained a father and established his birth in the tribe Acamantis, instead of Hippothontis, the defendant Boeotus is not content with this, but has actually entered two or three suits against me for money, in addition to the malicious and baseless actions which he brought against me before. And yet I think you all know what sort of a man of business my father was.
[26] ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἐάσω ταῦτα. ἀλλ᾽ εἰ δίκαι᾽ ὀμώμοκεν ἡ μήτηρ ἡ τούτων, ἐπ᾽ αὐτοφώρῳ συκοφάντην ἐπιδεικνύει τοῦτον ταῖς δίκαις ταύταις. εἰ γὰρ οὕτω δαπανηρὸς ἦν, ὥστε γάμῳ γεγαμηκὼς τὴν ἐμὴν μητέρα, ἑτέραν εἶχε γυναῖκα, ἧς ὑμεῖς ἐστέ, καὶ δύ᾽ οἰκίας ᾤκει, πῶς ἂν ἀργύριον τοιοῦτος ὢν κατέλιπεν;
[26] I will say nothing about this; but if the mother of these men has sworn truly, it absolutely p
roves that the fellow is acting as a malicious pettyfogger in these suits. For if my father was so extravagant that after having married my mother in lawful wedlock, he kept another woman, whose children you are, and maintained two establishments, how pray if he were a man of this sort, could he have left any money?
[27] οὐκ ἀγνοῶ τοίνυν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ὅτι Βοιωτὸς οὑτοσὶ δίκαιον μὲν οὐδὲν ἕξει λέγειν, ἥξει δ᾽ ἐπὶ ταῦθ᾽ ἅπερ ἀεὶ λέγει, ὡς ἐπηρέαζεν ὁ πατὴρ αὐτῷ πειθόμενος ὑπ᾽ ἐμοῦ, ἀξιοῖ δ᾽ αὐτὸς ὡς δὴ πρεσβύτερος ὢν τοὔνομ᾽ ἔχειν τὸ τοῦ πρὸς πατρὸς πάππου. πρὸς δὴ ταῦτ᾽ ἀκοῦσαι βέλτιον ὑμᾶς βραχέα. ἐγὼ γὰρ οἶδα τοῦτον, ὅτ᾽ οὔπω συγγενὴς ἦν ἐμοί, ὁρῶν ὥσπερ ἂν ἄλλον τιν᾽ οὑτωσί, νεώτερον ὄντ᾽ ἐμοῦ καὶ συχνῷ, ὅσ᾽ ἐξ ὄψεως, οὐ μὴν ἰσχυρίζομαι τούτῳ （καὶ γὰρ εὔηθες）:
[27] I am well aware, men of Athens, that the defendant, Boeotus, will have no valid argument to advance, but will have recourse to the statements he is always making, that my father was induced by me to treat him with despite; and he claims the right, alleging that he is older than I, to bear the name of his paternal grandfather. As to this, it is better for you to listen to a few statements. I remember seeing him, before he became a relative of mine, casually, as one might see anyone else, and thought him younger than I, and to judge by appearances, much younger; but I will not insist upon this, for it would be silly to do so.
[28] ἀλλ᾽ εἴ τις ἔροιτο Βοιωτὸν τουτονί, ὅτ᾽ ἐν Ἱπποθωντίδι φυλῇ ἠξίους χορεύειν, οὔπω τοῦ πατρὸς εἶναι φάσκων τοῦ ἐμοῦ υἱός, τί σαυτὸν ἔχειν δικαίως ἂν θείης ὄνομα; εἰ γὰρ Μαντίθεον, οὐκ ἂν διὰ τοῦτό γε φαίης ὅτι πρεσβύτερος εἶ ἐμοῦ. ὃς γὰρ οὐδὲ τῆς φυλῆς τότε σοι προσήκειν ἡγοῦ τῆς ἐμῆς, πῶς ἂν τοῦ γε πάππου τοῦ ἐμοῦ ἠμφεσβήτεις;
[28] However, suppose one should ask this Boeotus the following questions: “When you thought it right to join the chorus in the tribe Hippothontis before you claimed to be the son of my father, what name would you have set down as rightly belonging to you? For if you should say, Mantitheus, you could not do so on the plea that you are older than I, for since at that time you did not suppose you had any connection even with my tribe, how could you claim to be related to my grandfather?
[29] ἔτι δ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τὸν μὲν τῶν ἐτῶν χρόνον οὐδεὶς οἶδεν ὑμῶν （ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ ἐμοὶ πλείονα, οὗτος δ᾽ ἑαυτῷ φήσει）, τὸν δὲ τοῦ δικαίου λόγον ἅπαντες ἐπίστασθε. ἔστι δ᾽ οὗτος τίς; ἀφ᾽ οὗ παῖδας ἐποιήσατο τούτους ὁ πατήρ, ἀπὸ τούτου καὶ νομίζεσθαι. πρότερον τοίνυν ἔμ᾽ εἰς τοὺς δημότας ἐνέγραψε Μαντίθεον, πρὶν εἰσαγαγεῖν τοῦτον εἰς τοὺς φράτερας. ὥστ᾽ οὐ τῷ χρόνῳ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ δικαίῳ πρεσβεῖον ἔχοιμ᾽ ἂν ἐγὼ τοὔνομα τοῦτ᾽ εἰκότως.
[29] Besides, men of Athens, not one of you knows the number of the years, for I shall say that I am the elder, and he will say that he is, but you all understand the just way of reckoning. And what is this? That these men should be considered children of my father from the date when he adopted them. Well then, he entered me on the register of the demesmen as Mantitheus, before he introduced this man to the clansmen. Therefore not by virtue of time only, but also by virtue of justice I have the right to bear this name as a mark of seniority.
[30] εἶεν. εἰ δέ τίς σ᾽ ἔροιτο, ‘εἰπέ μοι, Βοιωτέ, πόθεν νῦν Ἀκαμαντίδος φυλῆς γέγονας καὶ τῶν δήμων Θορίκιος καὶ υἱὸς Μαντίου, καὶ τὸ μέρος τῶν ὑπ᾽ ἐκείνου καταλειφθέντων ἔχεις;’ οὐδὲν ἂν ἄλλ᾽ ἔχοις εἰπεῖν, πλὴν ὅτι κἀμὲ ζῶν ἐποιήσατο Μαντίας. τί τεκμήριον, εἴ τίς σ᾽ ἔροιτο, ἢ μαρτύριόν ἐστί σοι τούτου; εἰς τοὺς φράτεράς μ᾽ εἰσήγαγε, φήσειας ἄν. τί οὖν σ᾽ ἐνέγραψεν ὄνομα, εἴ τις ἔροιτο, Βοιωτὸν ἂν εἴποις: τοῦτο γὰρ εἰσήχθης.
[30] Very well. Now, suppose one should ask you this question? “Tell me, Boeotus, how is it that you have now become a member of the tribe Acamantis, and of the deme Thoricus, and a son of Mantias, and have your share in the property left by him?” You could give no other answer than, “Mantias while living acknowledged me, too, as his son.” If one should ask you what proof you had of this or what evidence, you would say, “He introduced me to the clansmen.” But if one asked under what name he enrolled you, you would say, “Boeotus,” for that is the name by which you were introduced.
[31] οὐκοῦν δεινὸν εἰ τῆς μὲν πόλεως καὶ τῶν ὑπ᾽ ἐκείνου καταλειφθέντων διὰ τοὔνομα τοῦτο μέτεστί σοι, τοῦτο δ᾽ ἀξιοῖς ἀφεὶς ἕτερον μεταθέσθαι σαυτῷ. φέρ᾽, εἴ σ᾽ ὁ πατὴρ ἀξιώσειεν ἀναστάς, ἢ μένειν ἐφ᾽ οὗ σ᾽ αὐτὸς ἐποιήσατ᾽ ὀνόματος, ἢ πατέρ᾽ ἄλλον σαυτοῦ φάσκειν εἶναι, ἆρ᾽ οὐκ ἂν μέτρι᾽ ἀξιοῦν δοκοίη; ταὐτὰ τοίνυν ταῦτ᾽ ἐγώ σ᾽ ἀξιῶ, ἢ πατρὸς ἄλλου σεαυτὸν παραγράφειν, ἢ τοὔνομ᾽ ἔχειν ὃ ‘κεῖνος ἔδωκέ σοι.
[31] It is, then, an outrage that whereas thanks to that name you have a share in the right of citizenship and in the estate left by my father, you should see fit to fling it aside and take another name. Come; suppose my father were to rise from the grave and demand of you either to abide by the name under which he adopted you, or to declare yourself the son of some other father, would his demand not be thought a reasonable one? Well then, I make this same demand of you, either to add to your name that of another father, or to keep the name which Mantias gave you.
[32] νὴ Δί᾽, ἀλλ᾽ ὕβρει καὶ ἐπηρείᾳ τινὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἐτέθη σοι. ἀλλὰ πολλάκις μέν, ὅτ᾽ οὐκ ἐποιεῖθ᾽ ὁ πατὴρ τούτους, ἔλεγον οὗτοι ὡς οὐδὲν χείρους εἰσὶν οἱ τῆς μητρὸς τῆς τούτου συγγενεῖς τῶν τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ ἐμοῦ. ἔστι δ᾽ ὁ Βοιωτὸς ἀδελφοῦ τῆς τούτου μητρὸς ὄνομα. ἐπειδὴ δ᾽ εἰσάγειν ὁ πατὴρ τούτους ἠναγκάζετο, ἐμοῦ προεισηγμένου Μαντιθέου, οὕτω τοῦτον εἰσάγει Βοιωτόν, τὸν ἀδελφὸν δ᾽ αὐτοῦ Πάμφιλον. ἐπεὶ σὺ δεῖξον, ὅστις Ἀθηναίων ταὐτὸν ὄνομα τοῖς αὑτοῦ παισὶν ἔθετο δυοῖν: κἂν δείξῃς, ἐγὼ συγχωρήσω δι᾽ ἐπήρειάν σοι τοῦτο τοὔνομα θέσθαι τὸν πατέρα.
[32] Ah, you may say, but that name was given you by way of derision or insult. No; very often, during the time when my father refused to acknowledge them, these men used to say that the kinsfolk of the defendant’s mother were quite as good as those of my father. Boeotus is the name of his mother’s brother; and when my father was compelled to bring them into the clan, when I had already been introduced as Mantitheus, he introduced the defendant as Boe
otus, and his brother as Pamphilus. For I challenge you to show me any Athenian who ever gave the same name to two of his sons. If you can, I will grant that my father gave you this name by way of insult.
[33] καίτοι εἴ γε τοιοῦτος ἦσθα, ὥστε ποιήσασθαι μὲν σαυτὸν ἀναγκάσαι, ἐξ ὅτου δ᾽ ἀρέσεις ἐκείνῳ τρόπου μὴ σκοπεῖν, οὐκ ἦσθ᾽ οἷον δεῖ τὸν προσήκοντ᾽ εἶναι περὶ τοὺς γονέας, οὐκ ὢν δ᾽ οὐκ ἐπηρεάζου δικαίως ἄν, ἀλλ᾽ ἀπωλώλεις. ἢ δεινόν γ᾽ ἂν εἴη, εἰ κατὰ μὲν τῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ νομιζομένων παίδων οἱ περὶ τῶν γονέων ἰσχύσουσιν νόμοι, κατὰ δὲ τῶν αὑτοὺς εἰσβιαζομένων ἄκοντας ποιεῖσθαι ἄκυροι γενήσονται.
[33] And yet, if your character was such that you could force him to adopt you, but not study how you might please him, you were not what a true son ought to be toward his parents; and, if you were not, you would have deserved, not only to be treated with indignity, but even to be put to death. It would indeed be an outrageous thing, if the laws concerning parents are to be binding upon children whom the father recognizes as his own, but are to be of no effect against those who have forced themselves in and compelled an unwilling adoption.
[34] ἀλλ᾽, ὦ χαλεπώτατε Βοιωτέ, μάλιστα μὲν ὧν πράττεις πάντων παῦσαι, εἰ δ᾽ ἄρα μὴ βούλει, ἐκεῖνό γε πρὸς Διὸς πείθου: παῦσαι μὲν σαυτῷ παρέχων πράγματα, παῦσαι δ᾽ ἐμὲ συκοφαντῶν, ἀγάπα δ᾽ ὅτι σοι πόλις, οὐσία, πατὴρ γέγονεν. οὐδεὶς ἀπελαύνει σ᾽ ἀπὸ τούτων, οὔκουν ἔγωγε. ἀλλ᾽ ἂν μέν, ὥσπερ εἶναι φὴς ἀδελφός, καὶ τὰ ἔργ᾽ ἀδελφοῦ ποιῇς, δόξεις εἶναι συγγενής, ἂν δ᾽ ἐπιβουλεύῃς, δικάζῃ, φθονῇς, βλασφημῇς, δόξεις εἰς ἀλλότρι᾽ ἐμπεσὼν ὡς οὐ προσήκουσιν οὕτω χρῆσθαι.