The Instructor 3.11.69
Summary: Affected, mincing walks are the mark of catamites and courtesans; the harlot's steps do not lead to life.
Greek text · Stählin 1:274
ἔχοι δʼ ἂν κἀκεῖνο ἄριστα τὸ εἰρημένον τὸ δʼ ὅλον οὐκ ἐπίσταμαι ἐγὼ ψιθυρίζειν οὐδὲ κατακεκλασμένως πλάγιον ποιήσας τὸν τράχηλον περιπατεῖν, ὥσπερ ἑτέρους ὁρῶ κιναίδους ἐνθάδε πολλοὺς ἐν ἄστει καὶ πεπιττοκοπημένους. αἱ δὲ γυναικεῖοι κινήσεις καὶ θρύψεις καὶ χλιδαὶ κολουστέαι παντελῶς· τὸ γὰρ ἁβροδίαιτον τῆς περὶ τὸν περίπατον κινήσεως καὶ τὸ »σαυλὰ βαίνειν«, ὥς φησιν Ἀνακρέων, κομιδῇ ἑταιρικά, ὥς γέ μοι φαίνεται. ἡ κωμῳδία φησὶν »τὰ ἴχνη τὰ ἑταιρικὰ ὥραν ἀπολείπειν καὶ τρυφήν«. »ἴχνη δὲ πορνικὰ οὐκ ἐρείδεται εἰς ἀλήθειαν· ὁδοὺς γὰρ ζωῆς οὐκ ἐπέρχεται, σφαλεραὶ δὲ αἱ τροχιαὶ αὐτῆς καὶ οὐκ εὔγνωστοι.«
English · Claude translation
That saying would fit very well: “In general I do not know how to whisper, nor to walk with my neck bent sideways affectedly, as I see many other catamites here in the city, and those plucked with pitch.” Womanish movements, affectations, and luxuries must be cut off entirely; for luxuriousness in the movement of walking and “walking mincingly,” as Anacreon says, are quite courtesan-like, it seems to me. Comedy says that “the steps of a courtesan leave behind charm and luxury.” “But the harlot's steps do not rest on truth; for she does not go on the paths of life, and her tracks are slippery and hard to know.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The first quotation is from an unknown comic poet; the others are Anacreon (fragment 168), an unknown comedy, and Prov 5:5–6 (LXX).
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.11.69 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/11/69/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.11.69 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/11/69/).
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