Phthora ton eleutheron
φθορὰ τῶν ἐλευθέρων
Phthora ton eleutheron (φθορὰ τῶν ἐλευθέρων) is only mentioned in a spurious law in Aesch. c. Tim. § 12, according to which the γυμνασιάρχαι who did not keep those above the age of boys out of the palaestra at the celebration of the Hermaea were liable to this charge; cf. § 10 (Att. Process, ed. Lipsius, p. 411). This very feast was the occasion on which Socrates was introduced to the young Lysis (Plat. Lys. p. 206 D f.).
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.