Wednesday, November 08, 2023
The Laws
Stobaeus, Anthology 4.4.25 (vol. 4, pt. 1, p. 191 Wachsmuth & Hense; my translation):
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Zaleucus, the lawgiver of the Locrians, said that the laws are like spider-webs. For if a fly or gnat comes into contact with them, it is held fast, but if a wasp or bee does, it breaks through and flies off. In the same way, if a poor man comes into contact with the laws, he is kept in custody, but if a rich man or able speaker does, he breaks through and escapes.Cf. Jan Fredrik Kindstrand, Anacharsis: The Legend and the Apophthegmata (Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1981), pp. 118-119 and 149-150 (A41 = Plutarch, Life of Solon 5.4 and Valerius Maximus 7.2 ext. 14).
Ζάλευκος ὁ τῶν Λοκρῶν νομοθέτης τοὺς νόμους ἔφησε τοῖς ἀραχνίοις ὁμοίους εἶναι· ὥσπερ γὰρ εἰς ἐκεῖνα ἐὰν μὲν ἐμπέσῃ μυῖα ἢ κώνωψ, κατέχεται· ἐὰν δὲ σφὴξ ἢ μέλιττα, διαρρήξασα ἀφίπταται· οὕτω καὶ εἰς τοὺς νόμους ἐὰν μὲν ἐμπέσῃ πένης, συνέχεται· ἐὰν δὲ πλούσιος ἢ δυνατὸς λέγειν, διαρρήξας ἀποτρέχει.
