Πολλοὺς δ᾽ Ἀθήνας, πατρίδ᾽ εἰς θεόκτιτον
Ἀνήγαγον πραθέντας, ἄλλον ἐκδίκως,
Ἄλλον δικαίως· τοὺς δ᾽ ἀναγκαίης ὕπο
Χρειοῦς φυγόντας, γλῶσσαν οὔκετ᾽ Ἀττικὴν
Ἱέντας, ὡς ἂν πολλαχῇ πλανωμένους·
Τοὺς δ’ ἐνθάδ᾽ αὐτοῦ δουλίην ἀεικέα
Ἔχοντας, ἤδη δεσπότας τρομευμένους,
Ἐλευθέρους ἔθηκα.
also Plutarch, Solon, c. 15.
[174] Plutarch, Solon, c. 23: compare c. 13. The statement in Sextus Empiricus (Pyrrhon. Hypot. iii, 24, 211), that Solon enacted a law permitting fathers to kill (φονεύειν) their children, cannot be true, and must be copied from some untrustworthy authority: compare Dionys. Hal. A. R. ii, 26, where he contrasts the prodigious extent of the patria potestas among the early Romans, with the restrictions which all the Greek legislators alike,—Solon, Pittakus, Charondas,—either found or introduced: he says, however, that the Athenian father was permitted to disinherit legitimate male children, which does not seem to be correct.