Phrastor, when he realized that Phano was not actually Stephanos’ daughter, kicked her out of his house, though she was pregnant, and refused to give back her dowry. Stephanos then brought a suit against Phrastor for the dowry, to which Phrastor responded by alleging that Stephanos betrothed a non-citizen girl to him.
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κοσμίαν: “well-behaved,” “decent”
πεπυσμένος < πυνθάνομαι
ἐξηπατήθη < ἐξαπατάω
ὅτ(ε) ἠγγυᾶτο: “when he got engaged to her,” i.e., at the time of the betrothal, < ἐγγυάομαι (mid.) = “have a woman betrothed to one”
οὖσαν: governed by the earlier ὡς, “on the grounds that she (Phano) was...”
τούτῳ ἐξ ἀστῆς...γυναικός: “(the daughter) of this man (Stephanos) by a citizen woman.” See LSJ ἐκ III.2.
πρίν…συνοικῆσαι: πρίν + infinitive = “before” (G. 568, S. 2431). Because the preceding πρότερον flags the upcoming πρίν (S. 2440), it is unnecessary to translate both words. Understand Stephanos as subject of συνοικῆσαι.
ἐκβάλλει: a technical (if harsh) way of saying “to divorce.” All that was required for divorce in Athens was for the woman to move out of the house. Either party could initiate.
ὡς ἐνιαυτόν: ὡς + a numeral (vel sim.) can mean “about, nearly.”
τὴν προῖκα οὐκ ἀποδίδωσιν: this is very unusual, in that generally after a divorce the dowry was given back to the woman (or more precisely to her κύριος); in this case, Phrastor is withholding it because he felt deceived.
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λαχόντος < λαγχάνω. λαγχάνω δίκην = “to obtain permission to bring a suit” by handing in a statement of the charge to the appropriate magistrate. See §45.
δίκην σίτου: if the husband did not return his wife’s dowry, the κύριος could bring a lawsuit (either a δίκη σίτου or a δίκη προικός). In a δίκη προικός, one sued for the return of the dowry at once; in a δίκη σίτου (literally a suit for “bread,” i.e., the maintenance of the woman), one sued for the husband to pay interest on the dowry, which was now considered “on loan” to him.
Ὠιδεῖον: the Odeon, a roofed theater built by Pericles, was near the Theater of Dionysos and used for musical competitions. It also seems to have served as a courthouse.
ἀποπέμπῃ: supply a subject like τις.
ἐπ’ ἐννέ(α) ὀβολοῖς: at a (high) rate of 9 obols per mina per month (i.e., 18% interest)
εἶναι: here with its impersonal sense, “it is possible, permitted” + dat. (in this case, τῷ κυρίῳ)
σίτου...δικάσασθαι: “to sue for maintenance,” genitive of charge (G. 514)
γράφεται...γραφήν: Phrastor brings this (more serious) counter-suit as a way of getting Stephanos to drop his charges. It works.
ὡς αὑτῷ προσήκουσαν: “as if she were his own kin” (LSJ προσήκω III.3).
νόμος: as mentioned above, Kapparis 1999: 198 argues that this and the law in §16 are authentic and are two parts of the same law.
δήμοσια: the property is to be public in the sense that it is confiscated by the state.
τοῦ ἑλόντος: “(shall belong to) the one who secures his conviction” < αἱρέω (LSJ A.II.4.c)
γραφέσθων: “let (anyone who wishes) indict (him)”
καθάπερ: καθά + περ = “just as”
τῆς ξενίας: genitive of charge or crime (see §5); the charge in a γραφὴ ξενίας is posing illegally as a citizen.
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ἐξελεγχθείς: conditional circumstantial participle (S. 2067), “if convicted of” + infin. ἠγγυηκέναι
ἠγγυηκέναι καί: the infinitive ἠγγυηκέναι is dependent on ἐξελεγχθείς (“convicted of having betrothed”); Dilts 2009 brackets the καί, following Reiske.
περιπεσεῖν < περιπίπτω; governed by κινδυνεύσει
ἀφίσταται: “gives up his claim on” + gen. < ἀφίστημι (LSJ B.1)
ἀνείλετο < ἀναιρέω (middle) “removed, canceled”; supply this verb again in the next clause.
