Xenophon of Ephesus, An Ephesian Tale 2.9.4 · 2.9.4
The goatherd swears an oath
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Καὶ ἡ μὲν ἤγετο ἐπʼ ἀγρὸν συνεσομένη τῷ αἰπόλῳ· γενομένη δὲ ἐν τῷ χωρίῳ ἔνθα ὁ Λάμπων ἔνεμε τὰς αἶγας, προσπίπτει τοῖς γόνασιν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἱκετεύει κατοικτεῖραι καὶ τηρῆσαι· διηγεῖται δὲ ἥτις ἦν, τὴν προτέραν εὐγένειαν, τὸν ἄνδρα, τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν· ἀκούσας δὲ ὁ Λάμπων οἰκτείρει τὴν κόρην καὶ ὄμνυσιν ἦ μὴν φυλάξειν ἀμόλυντον, καὶ θαρρεῖν παρεκελεύετο.
So Anthia was taken to the country to live with the goatherd. When she reached the place where Lampon grazed his goats, she fell at his knees and begged him to pity her and protect her. She told him who she was: the noble family she came from, her husband, her captivity. When Lampon heard this, he pitied the girl and swore that he would truly keep her undefiled, and he urged her to take heart.
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The setting
Book 2, chapter 9. Anthia is sent out to the countryside, to the goatherd Manto has chosen for her.
A note on this passage
ὄμνυσιν ἦ μήν, "swears that truly," is the old form of a sworn promise, ἦ μήν with a future verb; in the Iliad Calchas asks Achilles to swear ἦ μέν, that he will truly protect him (Iliad 1.76–77). Manto told Lampon to use force; the goatherd swears to keep Anthia ἀμόλυντον, "undefiled." His oath lets her keep her own, sworn to Habrocomes on the voyage (1.11.4–6) and again in the prison at Tyre (2.7.5). He keeps his word. When Manto later orders him to kill Anthia, Anthia tells him he has been pious until now (2.11.5), and he sells her to merchants rather than kill her (2.11.9).
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