The Instructor 3.11.62

Summary: Short hair toughens a man's head; women should tie their hair simply with a plain pin, since elaborate braiding damages the hair and makes them fearful of spoiling it.

Greek text · Stählin 1:271

τοῖς πολλοῖς ἐξομοιούμενοι τὸ ἁμαρτάνειν ἀδεῶς κεκάρπωνται. οὐ μόνον οὖν αὐστηρὸν δεικνύει τὸν ἄνδρα τῆς κεφαλῆς τὸ ψιλόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ δυσπαθὲς κατασκευάζει τὸ κρανίον, προσομιλεῖν ἐθίζον καὶ κρύει καὶ καύματι, καὶ τὰς ἀπὸ τούτων διωθεῖται βλάβας, ἃς ἡ κόμη σπόγγου τρόπον εἰς ἑαυτὴν ἀναλαμβάνουσα, ἐγκατασκήπτει τῷ ἐγκεφάλῳ παράμονον ἐκ τῆς νοτίδος τὴν βλάβην. Ταῖς γυναιξὶ δὲ ἀπόχρη μαλάσσειν τὰς τρίχας καὶ ἀναδεῖσθαι τὴν κόμην εὐτελῶς περόνῃ τινὶ λιτῇ παρὰ τὸν αὐχένα, ἀφελεῖ θεραπείᾳ συναυξούσαις εἰς κάλλος γνήσιον τὰς σώφρονας κόμας. καὶ γὰρ αἱ περιπλοκαὶ τῶν τριχῶν αἱ ἑταιρικαὶ καὶ αἱ τῶν σειρῶν ἀναδέσεις πρὸς τῷ εἰδεχθεῖς αὐτὰς δεικνύναι κόπτουσι τὰς τρίχας, ἀποτίλλουσαι ταῖς πανούργοις ἐμπλοκαῖς, διʼ ἃς οὐδὲ θιγγάνουσι τῆς κεφαλῆς τῆς σφῶν αὐτῶν συγχεῖν τὰς τρίχας φοβούμεναι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ ὕπνος αὐταῖς μετὰ δέους παραγίνεται, μὴ κατασκύλωσιν λαθοῦσαι τὸ σχῆμα

English · Claude translation

and, being like the many, have reaped fearless sinning. A close-cropped head not only shows a man to be austere, but also hardens the skull, accustoming it to cold and heat, and wards off the harm from these, which long hair, soaking it up like a sponge, brings down on the brain, a lasting harm from the moisture. For women it is enough to make their hair soft and to tie up their hair simply with a plain pin at the neck, their self-controlled locks growing with simple care into genuine beauty. For the courtesans' braiding of hair and binding of plaits, besides making them look ugly, cut the hair, pulling it out with their cunning plaits; because of which they do not even touch their own heads, afraid of disarranging their hair; and even sleep comes to them with fear, lest they unwittingly spoil the shape

About this passage

Source

Stählin 1:271 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 1, Protrepticus und Paedagogus, GCS 12 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1905) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 1: Protrepticus und Paedagogus (GCS 12, 1905), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in Stählin, GCS 12. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1905); made independently of existing English translations.

Compare

Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)

Topics

Ethics

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.11.62 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/11/62/).

Plain text

Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.11.62 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/11/62/).

Greek text · Stählin 1:271

English · Claude translation

About this passage

Notes

Translation notes

Cite this passage