
An oath at the family shrines
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Καὶ δὴ σχολῆς λαβομένη ἄγει τὴν κόρην πρὸς τὰ πατρῷα ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας ἱερά, καὶ δεῖται μὴ κατειπεῖν αὐτῆς καὶ ὅρκους λαμβάνει καὶ λέγει τὸν ἔρωτα τοῦ Ἁβροκόμου καὶ ἱκετεύει συλλαβέσθαι καὶ πολλὰ ὑπέσχετο συλλαβομένῃ.
So when she found a free moment, she took the girl to the family shrines in the house. She begged her not to betray her and made her swear an oath; then she told her of her love for Habrocomes, implored her to help, and promised her a great deal if she did.
Book 2, chapter 3. Manto has chosen Rhode, a slave who grew up with Anthia, as the one to help her.
Manto makes Rhode swear at τὰ πατρῷα ἱερά, the ancestral shrines of the house; ὅρκους λαμβάνει, "she takes oaths," is the Greek idiom for receiving someone's oath. The verb κατειπεῖν has changed direction since the last section. There Manto decided to κατειπεῖν her love, to speak it out; here, with a genitive, it means to speak out against someone, to inform on her, which Manto begs Rhode not to do.
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