---
title: "Against Onetor II · Πρὸς Ὀνήτορα ἐξούλης β΄"
author: "Demosthenes"
translator: "Augustus Taber Murray"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Classical Greek"
url: https://scriptura.si/works/demosthenes-against-onetor-2/
cite: "Demosthenes, tr. Augustus Taber Murray, Against Onetor II · Πρὸς Ὀνήτορα ἐξούλης β΄. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/demosthenes-against-onetor-2/"
---

# Against Onetor II · Πρὸς Ὀνήτορα ἐξούλης β΄

*Demosthenes, tr. Augustus Taber Murray*

The second speech against Onetor.

> Greek: ed. William Rennie, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0014.tlg031, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Augustus Taber Murray, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0014.tlg031.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## Contents

1. [Sections 1–14](https://scriptura.si/works/demosthenes-against-onetor-2/1.md)

## 1. Sections 1–14

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/demosthenes-against-onetor-2/1/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/demosthenes-against-onetor-2/1/#p-N

[¶0] 1. There is one proof which I omitted in my former speech, quite as important as any of those which were brought forward, to prove that these men did not pay the marriage-portion to Aphobus. This I shall speak of first, and shall then undertake to refute the falsehoods which the defendant has uttered before you. For the fellow, men of the jury, when he first determined to lay claim to the property of Aphobus, declared that he had paid as the marriage-portion, not a talent, as he now alleges, but eighty minae; and he set up pillars on the house for two thousand drachmae, and on the land for a talent, wishing to preserve both the one and the other for Aphobus.

> Greek: 1. ὃ παρέλιπον ἐν τῷ προτέρῳ λόγῳ τεκμήριον, οὐδενὸς τῶν εἰρημένων ἔλαττον, τοῦ μὴ δεδωκέναι τὴν προῖκα τούτους Ἀφόβῳ, τοῦτο πρῶτον εἰπών, μετὰ τοῦτο καὶ περὶ ὧν οὗτος ἔψευσται πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐξελέγχειν αὐτὸν πειράσομαι. οὗτος γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, τὸ πρῶτον ὅτε τῶν Ἀφόβου διενοεῖτʼ ἀμφισβητεῖν, οὐχὶ τάλαντον ἔφη τὴν προῖκα, ὥσπερ νυνί, ἀλλʼ ὀγδοήκοντα μνᾶς δεδωκέναι, καὶ τίθησιν ὅρους ἐπὶ μὲν τὴν οἰκίαν δισχιλίων, ἐπὶ δὲ τὸ χωρίον ταλάντου, βουλόμενος μὴ μόνον τοῦτο, ἀλλὰ κἀκείνην διασῴζειν αὐτῷ.

[¶1] 2. When, however, the trial against him had been decided, and he saw what your attitude was toward those who were too brazen in their wrongdoings, he came to his senses, and concluded that I should appear to be suffering outrageous treatment, if, after being robbed of such large sums, I should be unable to recover anything whatever from Aphobus, who had my property in his possession, but it should become clear that I was prevented by the defendant from recovering anything.

> Greek: 2. γενομένης δέ μοι τῆς δίκης πρὸς αὐτόν, ἰδὼν ὡς διάκεισθʼ ὑμεῖς πρὸς τοὺς λίαν ἀναιδῶς ἀδικοῦντας, ἔννους γίγνεται, καὶ δεινὰ πάσχειν ἡγήσατο δόξειν ἐμὲ τοσούτων χρημάτων ἀπεστερημένον, εἰ μηδʼ ὁτιοῦν ἕξοιμι τῶν Ἀφόβου λαβεῖν τοῦ τἄμʼ ἔχοντος, ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ τούτου κωλυόμενος φανερὸς γενήσομαι.

[¶2] 3. What, then, does he do? He removes the pillars from the house, and declares that the marriage-portion was a talent only, which sum was guaranteed by a mortgage on the land. Yet, if the inscription on the house was set up by him in fairness and sincerity, it is plain that the one on the land was also. But if he set up a false inscription in the former case with the intent to commit fraud, it is probable that the latter one was false also.

> Greek: 3. καὶ τί ποιεῖ; τοὺς ὅρους ἀπὸ τῆς οἰκίας ἀφαιρεῖ, καὶ τάλαντον μόνον εἶναι τὴν προῖκά φησιν, ἐν ᾧ τὸ χωρίον ἀποτετιμῆσθαι. καίτοι δῆλον ὅτι τοὺς ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας ὅρους εἰ δικαίως ἔθηκεν καὶ ὄντως ἀληθεῖς, δικαίως καὶ τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῦ χωρίου τέθηκεν· εἰ δʼ εὐθὺς ἀδικεῖν βουλόμενος ψευδεῖς ἔθηκεν ἐκείνους, εἰκὸς καὶ τούτους οὐκ ἀληθεῖς ὑπάρχειν.

[¶3] 4. This matter you should consider, not in the light of the proofs which I have advanced, but from the conduct of Onetor himself. No man on earth compelled him; he took down the pillars himself; and thus by his own act he makes clear that he is a liar. To prove that these statements of mine are true, that he even now declares that the land is mortgaged for a talent, but that he laid claim to two thousand drachmae more on the house, and took the pillars down after the suit was decided, I shall bring forward witnesses who know the facts. Now take the deposition. The Deposition It is plain, then, that Onetor having put up pillars on the house for two thousand drachmae, and on the land for a talent, intended to push his claim as though he had paid eighty minae.

> Greek: 4. τοῦτο τοίνυν οὐκ ἐξ ὧν ἐγὼ δεδήλωκα λόγων δεῖ σκοπεῖν, ἀλλʼ ἐξ ὧν αὐτὸς οὗτος διεπράξατο· οὐδʼ ὑφʼ ἑνὸς γὰρ ἀναγκασθεὶς ἀνθρώπων αὐτὸς ἀνεῖλεν τοὺς ὅρους, ἔργῳ φανερὸν ποιήσας ὅτι ψεύδεται. καὶ ταῦθʼ ὡς ἀληθῆ λέγω, τὸ μὲν χωρίον καὶ νῦν οὗτός φησιν ἀποτετιμῆσθαι ταλάντου, τὴν δʼ οἰκίαν ὡς προσωρίσατο δισχιλίων καὶ πάλιν τοὺς ὅρους ἀνεῖλεν γενομένης τῆς δίκης, τοὺς εἰδότας ὑμῖν μάρτυρας παρέξομαι. καί μοι λαβὲ τὴν μαρτυρίαν. ΜΑΡΤΥΡΙΑ.

[¶4] 5. Could you have stronger proof that there is not a word of truth in what he now says, than the fact that his present story is different from the one he told at first about the same matters? To me it seems that no stronger proof than this could be found.

> Greek: 5. δῆλον τοίνυν ὅτι δισχιλίων μὲν ὡρισμένος τὴν οἰκίαν, ταλάντου δὲ τὸ χωρίον, ὡς ὀγδοήκοντα μνᾶς δεδωκὼς ἔμελλεν ἀμφισβητήσειν. μεῖζον οὖν ἄν τι γένοιτο τεκμήριον ὑμῖν τοῦ μηδὲν ἀληθὲς νῦν λέγειν τοῦτον ἢ εἰ φανείη μὴ ταὐτὰ λέγων τοῖς ἐξ ἀρχῆς περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν; ἐμοὶ μὲν γὰρ οὐδὲν ἂν δοκεῖ τούτου μεῖζον εὑρεθῆναι.

[¶5] 6. Now note the shamelessness of the man. He had the audacity to say before you that he is not depriving me of what the land is worth beyond a talent, and that, too, when he has himself fixed its value as nothing more. With what end in view, Onetor, did you fix your pillars on the house for the two thousand extra drachmae, when you were demanding eighty minae, if the land was really worth more, instead of securing the two thousand drachmae also by a mortgage on the land?

> Greek: 6. σκέψασθε τοίνυν τὴν ἀναίδειαν, ὃς ἐν ὑμῖν ἐτόλμησεν εἰπεῖν, ὡς οὐκ ἀποστερεῖ μʼ ὅσῳ πλείονος ἄξιόν ἐστι ταλάντου, καὶ ταῦτʼ αὐτὸς τιμήσας οὐκ ἄξιον εἶναι πλείονος. τί γὰρ βουλόμενος δισχιλίων προσωρίσω τὴν οἰκίαν, ὅτε τὰς ὀγδοήκοντα μνᾶς ἐνεκάλεις, εἴ γε τὸ χωρίον ἄξιον ἦν πλείονος, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐπὶ τούτῳ καὶ τὰς δισχιλίας ἐτίθεις;

[¶6] 7. Or, when it suits your purpose to save all of the property of Aphobus, is the land to be worth a talent only, and are you to hold the house on a mortgage of two thousand drachmae more; and the marriage-portion being eighty minae, will you claim the right to hold both the land and the house; or again, when this is not to your interest, is all to be different: the house is to be worth a talent, because now it is I that hold it, and what is left of the farm is to be worth not less than two talents, in order that it may seem that I am wronging Aphobus, not myself being robbed?

> Greek: 7. ἢ ὅταν μέν σοι δοκῇ πάντα τὰ Ἀφόβου διασῴζειν, τό τε χωρίον ἔσται ταλάντου μόνον ἄξιον, καὶ τὴν οἰκίαν ἐν δισχιλίαις προσέξεις, ἥ τε προὶξ ὀγδοήκοντα μναῖ γενήσονται, καὶ ἀξιώσεις ἔχειν ἀμφότερα· ὅταν δέ σοι μὴ συμφέρῃ, τἀναντία πάλιν ἡ μὲν οἰκία ταλάντου, διότι νῦν ἐγὼ ταύτην ἔχω, τοῦ δὲ χωρίου τὸ περιὸν οὐκ ἐλάττονος ἢ δυοῖν ἄξιον, ἵνʼ ἐγὼ δοκῶ βλάπτειν τοῦτον, οὐκ ἀποστερεῖσθαι;

[¶7] 8. Do you see that, while you pretend to have paid the dowry, you are shown not to have paid it in any way whatsoever? For that line of conduct is sincere and free from guile, which remains throughout such as it was at the first, but you are proven to have followed the contrary course, so as to fulfil your service as an underling to my detriment.

> Greek: 8. ὁρᾷς ὡς ὑποκρίνει μὲν δεδωκέναι τὴν προῖκα, φαίνει δὲ κατʼ οὐδʼ ὁντινοῦν τρόπον δεδωκώς; τὰ γὰρ ἀληθῆ καὶ μὴ κακουργούμενα τῶν πραγμάτων ἁπλῶς, οἷʼ ἂν ἐξ ἀρχῆς πραχθῇ, τοιαῦτʼ ἐστίν· σὺ δὲ τοὐναντίον ἐξελέγχει πράξας εἰς τὴν καθʼ ἡμῶν ὑπηρεσίαν.

[¶8] 9. It is worth while to consider in the light of these facts what sort of an oath he would have sworn, if an oath had been tendered him. For, when he declared that the dowry was eighty minae, if one had granted that he should recover that sum on condition of his swearing that this statement of his was true, what would he have done? Is it not plain that he would have taken the oath? What can he say to deny that he would have sworn it under those circumstances, when he demands the right to do so now? Well then, his own words prove that he would have perjured himself; for he now claims that he paid, not eighty minae, but a talent. What reason is there why one should believe that he is forswearing himself in one statement rather than in the other? Or what opinion should one rightly hold of a man who thus lightly convicts himself of perjury?

> Greek: 9. ἄξιον τοίνυν καὶ τὸν ὅρκον, ὁποῖόν τινʼ ἂν ὤμοσεν, εἴ τις ἔδωκεν, ἐκ τούτων ἰδεῖν. ὃς γὰρ ὀγδοήκοντα μνᾶς ἔφη τὴν προῖκʼ εἶναι, εἰ τότʼ αὐτῷ τις ἔδωκεν, ὀμόσαντι ταῦτʼ ἀληθῆ λέγειν, κομίσασθαι, τί ἐποίησεν ἄν; ἢ δῆλον ὅτι ὤμοσεν; τί γὰρ καὶ λέγων οὐ φήσει τότʼ ἂν ὀμόσαι, νῦν γε τοῦτʼ ἀξιῶν; οὐκοῦν ὅτι γʼ ἐπιώρκησεν ἄν, ἑαυτὸν ἐξελέγχει· νῦν γὰρ οὐκ ὀγδοήκοντα μνᾶς, ἀλλὰ τάλαντον δεδωκέναι φησίν. τί μᾶλλον ἂν οὖν εἰκότως τις αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνʼ ἐπιορκεῖν ἢ τάδʼ ἡγοῖτο; ἢ τίνα τις δικαίως ἂν ἔχοι περὶ τούτου διάνοιαν, τοῦ ῥᾳδίως οὕτως αὑτὸν ἐξελέγχοντος ὄντʼ ἐπίορκον;

[¶9] 10. But perhaps not all of his acts have been of this nature, nor is he proven in every instance to be a trickster. Yet it has been shown that he sought in Aphobus’s interest to have the damages fixed at a talent, and himself offered to act as bail for the payment to me of that sum. Yet observe that this is a proof not only that his wife was living with Aphobus and that Onetor was on intimate terms with him, but also that he had not paid the dowry.

> Greek: 10. ἀλλὰ νὴ Δίʼ ἴσως οὐχὶ πάντʼ αὐτῷ τοιαῦτα πέπρακται, οὐδὲ πανταχόθεν δῆλός ἐστι τεχνάζων. ἀλλὰ καὶ τιμώμενος φανερὸς γέγονεν ὑπὲρ Ἀφόβου ταλάντου, καὶ τοῦτʼ αὐτὸς ἡμῖν ἀποδώσειν ἐγγυώμενος. καίτοι σκέψασθʼ ὅτι τοῦτʼ ἔστι τεκμήριον οὐ μόνον τοῦ τὴν γυναῖκα συνοικεῖν Ἀφόβῳ καὶ τοῦτον οἰκείως ἔχειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ μὴ δεδωκέναι τὴν προῖκα.

[¶10] 11. For what man would be so foolish as, first, to pay out so large a sum, then to take as security a single piece of property, the title to which was under dispute, and finally, not satisfied with his previous losses and assuming that the one who had wronged him was now going to act justly, to become his bail for the damages assessed by the court? Nobody would, to my thinking. The assumption is not even rational, that a man unable to recover a talent for himself, should promise to pay that sum to another, and further to give bail for it. No; from these facts alone it is clear that he has never paid the dowry, but as a close friend of Aphobus he took this mortgage in return for my large property, wishing to make his sister jointly with Aphobus an inheritor of my estate.

> Greek: 11. τίς γὰρ ἀνθρώπων ἠλίθιός ἐστιν οὕτως ὥστʼ ἀργύριον μὲν δοὺς τοσοῦτον, ἔπειθʼ ἓν λαβὼν χωρίον ἀμφισβητούμενον εἰς ἀποτίμησιν, σὺν οἷς πρότερον ἐζημίωτο, τὸν ἀδικήσανθʼ ὡς δίκαιόν τι ποιήσοντα καὶ τοῦ τῆς δίκης ὀφλήματος προσεγγυήσασθαι; ἐγὼ μὲν οὐδένʼ οἶμαι. καὶ γὰρ οὐδὲ λόγον τὸ πρᾶγμʼ ἔχον ἐστίν, τὸν αὐτὸν αὑτῷ μὴ δυνάμενον κομίσασθαι τάλαντον, τοῦτον ἄλλῳ τινὶ φάσκειν ἀποτείσειν καὶ ταῦτʼ ἐγγυᾶσθαι. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπʼ αὐτῶν τούτων ἐστὶ δῆλον ὅτι τὴν μὲν προῖκʼ οὐκ ἔδωκεν, ἀντὶ δὲ πολλῶν χρημάτων τῶν ἐμῶν οἰκεῖος ὢν Ἀφόβῳ ταῦτʼ ἀπετιμᾶτο, κληρονόμον τὴν ἀδελφὴν τῶν ἐμῶν μετʼ ἐκείνου καταστῆσαι βουλόμενος.

[¶11] 12. Then he seeks now to deceive and beguile you by claiming that he set up the pillars before judgement was given against Aphobus. Aye, Onetor; but not before it was given by you, if what you now say is true. For it is clear that you acted as you did because you were convinced of his guilt. Again, this language of yours is absurd, as though you, men of the jury, did not know that all those who commit frauds of this sort determine what they are going to say, and that no one ever lost a suit through keeping quiet, or admitting that he was in the wrong; but it is, I think, when he has been convicted of making a false statement, that men know what manner of man he is.

> Greek: 12. εἶτα νῦν παρακρούσασθαι ζητεῖ καὶ φενακίζει, λέγων ὡς πρότερον τοὺς ὅρους ἔστησεν ἢ ʼκεῖνον τὴν δίκην ὀφλεῖν. οὐ πρότερόν γʼ ἢ παρὰ σοί, νῦν εἰ ἀληθῆ λέγεις. δῆλον γὰρ ὅτι καταγνοὺς ἀδικίαν αὐτοῦ ταῦτʼ ἐποίεις. εἶτα καὶ γελοῖον τοῦτο λέγειν, ὥσπερ οὐκ εἰδότων ὑμῶν ὅτι πάντες οἱ τὰ τοιαῦτʼ ἀδικοῦντες σκοποῦσι τί λέξουσιν, καὶ οὐδεὶς πώποτʼ ὦφλεν σιωπῶν οὐδʼ ἀδικεῖν ὁμολογῶν· ἀλλʼ ἐπειδὰν οἶμαι μηδὲν ἀληθὲς λέγων ἐξελεγχθῇ, τότε γιγνώσκεται ὁποῖός ἐστιν.

[¶12] 13. And this is what appears to me to be exactly the plight of Onetor. For tell me, how can it be just, if you set up pillars for eighty minae, that the dowry should be eighty minae; and, if for more, more; and, if for less, less? Or how is it just, when your sister up to this present day has never lived with any other man, or been separated from Aphobus, when you have neither paid the dowry, nor been willing to have recourse to the torture, or to any other fair means of determining the matters at issue, that because you claim to have set up pillars, the farm shall belong to you? I certainly do not see how it can be. It is the truth to which we must look, not to arguments which a man has contrived (as you are doing) in order to seem to speak with some plausibility.

> Greek: 13. ὅπερ καὶ οὗτος ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ πάσχειν. ἐπεὶ φέρε, πῶς ἐστι δίκαιον, ἐὰν μὲν ὀγδοήκοντα μνῶν θῇς ὅρους, ὀγδοήκοντα μνᾶς εἶναι τὴν προῖκα, ἐὰν δὲ πλείονος πλέον, ἐὰν δʼ ἐλάττονος ἔλαττον; ἢ πῶς ἐστι δίκαιον, τῆς ἀδελφῆς τῆς σῆς μηδέπω καὶ τήμερον ἄλλῳ συνοικούσης μηδʼ ἀπηλλαγμένης Ἀφόβου, μηδὲ τὴν προῖκα δεδωκότος σοῦ, μηδʼ ὑπὲρ τούτων εἰς βάσανον μηδʼ εἰς ἄλλο δίκαιον μηδὲν καταφεύγειν ἐθέλοντος, ὅτι σὺ στῆσαι φὴς ὅρους, σὸν εἶναι τὸ χωρίον; ἐγὼ μὲν οὐδαμῶς οἶμαι· τὴν γὰρ ἀλήθειαν σκεπτέον, οὐχ ἅ τις αὑτῷ παρεσκεύασεν ἐξεπίτηδες εἰς τὸ λέγειν τι δοκεῖν, ὥσπερ ὑμεῖς.

[¶13] 14. Then—the most outrageous thing of all—suppose you had in reality paid the marriage-portion (which you have not paid), whose fault was it? Was it not yours? For you paid it on the security of my property. Was it not ten full years before he became your brother-in-law that Aphobus took possession of my estate for which judgement has been rendered against him? And was it right for you to recover the whole amount, while I, who had been awarded damages against him, I, an orphan who had been wronged and robbed of a marriage-portion that was genuine, I who with better right than any other man should have been exempted from the risk of having to pay costs, should be forced to suffer thus, and should have recovered nothing whatever, though ready to meet any of your proposals, had you been willing to do anything that justice required?

> Greek: 14. ἔπειτα τὸ δεινότατον· εἰ καὶ δεδωκότες ἦθʼ ὡς μάλιστα τὴν προῖκα, ἣν οὐ δεδώκατε, τίς ὁ τούτων αἴτιος; οὐχ ὑμεῖς, ἐπεὶ ⟨ἐπὶ⟩ τἄμʼ ἔδοτε; οὐχ ὅλοις ἔτεσιν πρότερον δέκα τἀμὰ λαβὼν εἶχεν ἐκεῖνος ὧν ὦφλεν τὴν δίκην, ἢ κηδεστήν σοι γενέσθαι; ἢ σὲ μὲν δεῖ κομίσασθαι πάντα, τὸν δὲ καὶ καταδικασάμενον καὶ διʼ ὀρφανίαν ἠδικημένον καὶ προικὸς ἀληθινῆς ἀπεστερημένον, ὃν μόνον ἀνθρώπων οὐδὲ τῆς ἐπωβελίας ἄξιον ἦν κινδυνεύειν, ἠναγκάσθαι τοιαῦτα παθεῖν, κεκομισμένον μηδʼ ὁτιοῦν, καὶ ταῦτʼ ἐθέλοντα ποιεῖν ⟨ἐφʼ⟩ ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς, εἴ τι τῶν δεόντων ἐβούλεσθε πράττειν;