[5]
In my view also the fact that the fruits of the
earth by which men live were first manifest among us,1 even apart from their being a superlative boon to all men,
constitutes an acknowledged proof that this land is the mother of our ancestors.
For all things that bring forth young produce at the same time nutriment out of
the organism itself2 for those that are born. This very thing
has been done by this land.3
1 According to tradition the olive was created by the goddess Athena, while the culture of grain, especially wheat and barley, was established by Demeter, whose mysteries were celebrated at Eleusis close to Athens.
2 Or, “by a law of nature herself.”
3 This topic is treated in more detail in Plat. Menex. 237e-238b.
Demosthenes. Demosthenes with an English translation by Norman W. DeWitt, Ph.D., and Norman J. DeWitt, Ph.D. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1949.
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