Xenophon of Ephesus, An Ephesian Tale 2.5.2 · 2.5.2
Her promise and her threat
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Ἐὰν γὰρ πεισθῇς, πατέρα τὸν ἐμὸν Ἄψυρτον ἐγὼ πείσω σοί με συνοικίσαι, καὶ τὴν νῦν σοι γυναῖκα ἀποσκευασόμεθα, πλουτήσεις δὲ καὶ μακάριος ἔσῃ· ἐὰν δὲ ἀντείπῃς, ἐννόει μὲν οἷα πείσῃ τῆς ὑβρισμένης ἑαυτὴν ἐκδικούσης, οἷα δὲ οἱ μετὰ σοῦ, κοινωνοὶ τῆς σῆς ὑπερηφανίας ⟨καὶ⟩ σύμβουλοι γενόμενοι.
"For if you are persuaded, I will persuade my father Apsyrtus to marry me to you, and we will get rid of your present wife, and you will be rich and happy. But if you refuse, think what you will suffer when the woman you have insulted avenges herself, and what those with you will suffer, who have become partners and advisers in your arrogance."
Word by word
The setting
Book 2, chapter 5. Manto's letter goes on with an offer and a warning.
A note on this passage
Manto's promise and her threat share a sound. She writes πεισθῇς, "if you are persuaded," and πείσω, "I will persuade," both from πείθω, and then warns him with πείσῃ, "you will suffer," from πάσχω, whose future has the same forms as the future middle of πείθω. "Your present wife" is Anthia: Manto has known from the start that he is married (2.3.2).
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