Xenophon of Ephesus, An Ephesian Tale 1.9.8 · 1.9.8
A vow made to the eyes
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Τοιγαροῦν ὑμᾶς πολλὰ φιλῶ καὶ ὑμῖν ἐφαρμόζω τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τοὺς ἐμούς, τοὺς Ἁβροκόμου διακόνους· ὑμεῖς δὲ ἀεὶ βλέποιτε ταῦτα, καὶ μήτε Ἁβροκόμῃ ἄλλην δείξητε καλήν, μήτε ἐμοὶ δόξῃ τις ἄλλος εὔμορφος· ἔχετε ψυχάς, ἃς αὐτοὶ ἐξεκαύσατε· ταύτας ὁμοίως τηρήσατε.
"So I kiss you many times, and I fit to you my own eyes, the servants of Habrocomes. And you, may you always look on this; never show Habrocomes another woman as beautiful, and may no other man seem handsome to me. You hold the souls that you yourselves set on fire: guard them alike."
Word by word
The setting
Book 1, chapter 9. Anthia's words to his eyes end in a vow.
A note on this passage
Anthia's vow takes up the two adjectives of 1.1.5, where Habrocomes laughed at anyone who called a boy καλός or a girl εὔμορφος, since he thought himself the only beauty. Now she asks his eyes never to show him another woman as καλή, and wishes that no other man may seem εὔμορφος to her. His eyes served her (διηκονήσατε, 1.9.7), and her own eyes are his διάκονοι, "servants," the word Mark uses for one who serves the rest (Mark 10:43) and the source of English "deacon."
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