Letter 779

To the Same Person. O, by saying what to you shall I be strong enough to check you from your licentious resolve? O, by speaking to you what useful and fitting word for soul-profiting counsel shall I bar you from wickedness? O, by laying what sort of bridles of instruction upon the hard-mouthed horse might I be able to rein you back from pleasure? O, by doing what to you at last shall I loose you from your madness for the female sex, and bind you fast with the bonds of chastity?

Ὦ τί σοι λέξας, ἰσχύσω ἀνακόψαι σε τῆς ἀκολάστου γνώμης; ὦ τί σοι χρήσιμον καὶ ἁρμόδιον πρὸς ξυμβουλὴν ψυχωφελῆ εἰρηκώς, ἀπείρξω τῆς κακίας; ὦ ποταποὺς παιδευμάτων χαλινοὺς ἐπιβαλὼν τῷ σκληροστώμῳ ἵππῳ, δυνηθείην ἀναχαιτίσαι τῆς ἡδονῆς; ὦ τί σοί ποτε ποιήσας, λύσω μὲν τῆς πρὸς τὸ θῆλυ μανίας, δήσω δὲ τοῖς τῆς ἁγνείας δεσμοῖς;