Introduction

Now the female is distinguished by nature from the slave. For nature makes nothing in an economizing spirit … but one thing with a view to one thing; and each instrument would perform most finely if it served one task rather than many. The barbarians, though, have the same arrangement for female and slave. The reason for this is that they have no naturally ruling element: with them, the partnership [of man and woman] is that of female slave and male slave. This is why the poets say “it is fitting for Greeks to rule barbarians” – the assumption being that barbarian and slave are the same thing.