Plutarch's Marriage Advice (moral, soul, translation, church, moral)

[angellous_evangellous]

Plutarch, from the Moralia 142d-e, translation my own:

"For if the woman submits herself to her husband, she is to be commended, but if the woman desires to have control, she is more shameful than being controlled. But it is necessary for the husband to control the wife not as a despot [controls] his property but as [his] soul [controls] [his own] body - being sympathetic and woven together with her own kindnesses"


The "kindnesses" is a noun which can refer back to the feminine "soul" or the feminine "wife" above. If we take the antecedent as "soul" then we translate it "together with its own kindnesses" or the wife "her own kindnesses." Usually proximity rules and we should have "it" instead of "her" - but since Plutarch is comparing the soul to the woman I did what we call a 'gloss' - an interpretative act in translating where I choose my preference. The translator for the Loeb classical edition does the same thing... Like it - love it - ask for more of it...

In our psycho-babble, which would of course be meaningful only to us, I think that this translates into our sensibilities as "the husband should control his wife as he controls his soul - sympathetically woven together into her emotional being."


Compare to Paul, another first century writer:


Ephesians 5:22-25 from the ESV

22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,

26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

There's more from Plutarch... I'm still translating but I thought that I would post some notes. Interesting stuff.

[angellous_evangellous]

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