- Source
- Thucydides. Historiae, Vol 1-2. Jones, Henry Stuart, editor. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1910. (1942 printing).
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.123.1-1.123.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-23
The Corinthians argue that they should stop blaming the past and instead unite to face the future with endurance, emphasizing that they should boldly go to war with divine support and the cooperation of other states, and that they are not the ones breaking the treaty.
τὰ μὲν οὖν προγεγενημένα τί δεῖ μακρότερον ἢ ἐς ὅσον τοῖς νῦν ξυμφέρει αἰτιᾶσθαι; περὶ δὲ τῶν ἔπειτα μελλόντων τοῖς παροῦσι βοηθοῦντας1 χρὴ ἐπιταλαιπωρεῖν (πάτριον γὰρ ὑμῖν ἐκ τῶν πόνων τὰς ἀρετὰς κτᾶσθαι), καὶ μὴ μεταβάλλειν τὸ ἔθος, εἰ ἄρα πλούτῳ τε νῦν καὶ ἐξουσίᾳ ὀλίγον προφέρετε (οὐ γὰρ δίκαιον ἃ τῇ ἀπορίᾳ ἐκτήθη τῇ περιουσίᾳ ἀπολέσθαι), ἀλλὰ θαρσοῦντας ἰέναι κατὰ πολλὰ ἐς τὸν πόλεμον, τοῦ τε θεοῦ χρήσαντος2 καὶ αὐτοῦ ὑποσχομένου ξυλλήψεσθαι καὶ τῆς ἄλλης Ἑλλάδος ἁπάσης ξυναγωνιουμένης, τὰ μὲν φόβῳ, τὰ δὲ ὠφελίᾳ.
Why then is it necessary to find fault with the past at greater length than is useful for the present? But regarding what is to come hereafter, we must labor further, helping our present state (for it is your ancestral custom to acquire virtues from labors), and not change your habit, even if you now excel slightly in wealth and power (for it is not right that what was acquired in poverty should be lost in affluence); but to go to war with good courage for many reasons, since the god has given his oracle and promised himself to help, and all the rest of Greece will join in the struggle, partly through fear, partly for advantage.
σπονδάς τε οὐ λύσετε πρότεροι, ἅς γε καὶ ὁ θεὸς κελεύων πολεμεῖν νομίζει παραβεβάσθαι,3 ἠδικημέναις4 δὲ μᾶλλον βοηθήσετε· λύουσι γὰρ οὐχ οἱ ἀμυνόμενοι, ἀλλ’ οἱ πρότεροι ἐπιόντες.
And you will not be the first to break the treaty, which even the god, by commanding war, considers to have been violated; rather you will come to the aid of one that has been wronged. For those who break it are not those who defend themselves, but those who are the first to attack.
- 1.123.1τοῖς παροῦσι βοηθοῦντας
τοῖς παροῦσι is a neuter plural dative meaning "the present state" or "current circumstances", serving as the object of βοηθοῦντας (a participle agreeing with the omitted accusative subject of χρή, i.e., ἡμᾶς / ὑμᾶς). The phrase means "helping/supporting the present state".
- 1.123.1τοῦ τε θεοῦ χρήσαντος
The beginning of a series of genitive absolutes modifying ἰέναι. Three genitive absolute clauses (τοῦ τε θεοῦ χρήσαντος, αὐτοῦ ὑποσχομένου, and τῆς ἄλλης Ἑλλάδος ... ξυναγωνιουμένης) are coordinated to present the reasons and grounds for going to war.
- 1.123.2ἅς γε καὶ ὁ θεὸς κελεύων πολεμεῖν νομίζει παραβεβάσθαι
The relative pronoun ἅς (referring to σπονδάς) is the subject of the infinitive παραβεβάσθαι (perfect passive infinitive of παραβαίνω) in an accusative-with-infinitive construction. ὁ θεὸς is the subject of the main clause, and νομίζει is the main verb. Literally, "which [treaties] even the god, by commanding war, considers to have been violated."
- 1.123.2ἠδικημέναις
A perfect passive participle in the feminine plural dative, referring to the preceding σπονδάς (treaty). It serves as the object of βοηθήσετε, which governs the dative. This is a personification meaning "to come to the aid of the wronged [treaties]."