- 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-grc2:1.22.1-1.22.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
Thucydides explains his method of reconstructing speeches and investigating actual events with great care, declaring his work to be a possession for all time rather than a temporary entertainment.
καὶ ὅσα μὲν λόγῳ εἶπον ἕκαστοι ἢ μέλλοντες πολεμήσειν ἢ ἐν αὐτῷ ἤδη ὄντες, χαλεπὸν τὴν ἀκρίβειαν αὐτὴν τῶν λεχθέντων διαμνημονεῦσαι ἦν ἐμοί τε ὧν αὐτὸς ἤκουσα καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοθέν ποθεν ἐμοὶ ἀπαγγέλλουσιν· ὡς δ’ ἂν ἐδόκουν1 ἐμοὶ ἕκαστοι περὶ τῶν αἰεὶ παρόντων τὰ δέοντα μάλιστ’ εἰπεῖν, ἐχομένῳ2 ὅτι ἐγγύτατα τῆς ξυμπάσης γνώμης τῶν ἀληθῶς λεχθέντων, οὕτως εἴρηται.
And as for all that they said in speech, each of them, either when they were about to make war or were already in the midst of it, it was difficult to remember the exact phrasing itself of the words spoken, both for me regarding the things I myself heard, and for those who reported them to me from various other places. Thus, in such a manner as I thought each would have spoken what was most appropriate concerning the situations that from time to time arose, while keeping as close as possible to the general sense of the words actually spoken, so they have been written.
τὰ δ’ ἔργα τῶν πραχθέντων ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ οὐκ ἐκ τοῦ παρατυχόντος πυνθανόμενος ἠξίωσα γράφειν, οὐδ’ ὡς ἐμοὶ ἐδόκει, ἀλλ’ οἷς3 τε αὐτὸς παρῆν καὶ παρὰ τῶν ἄλλων ὅσον δυνατὸν ἀκριβείᾳ περὶ ἑκάστου ἐπεξελθών.
But regarding the actual deeds of what was done in the war, I did not think it fit to write them by inquiring from any chance informant, nor as it seemed to me, but only after investigating each matter with as much accuracy as possible, both those at which I myself was present and those I learned from others.
ἐπιπόνως δὲ ηὑρίσκετο, διότι οἱ παρόντες τοῖς ἔργοις ἑκάστοις οὐ ταὐτὰ περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν ἔλεγον, ἀλλ’ ὡς ἑκατέρων τις εὐνοίας ἢ μνήμης ἔχοι.4
And the truth was found out with much labor, because those who were present at each deed did not say the same things about the same events, but spoke according as each had of goodwill to one side or the other, or of memory.
καὶ ἐς μὲν ἀκρόασιν ἴσως τὸ μὴ μυθῶδες αὐτῶν ἀτερπέστερον φανεῖται· ὅσοι δὲ βουλήσονται τῶν τε γενομένων τὸ σαφὲς σκοπεῖν καὶ τῶν μελλόντων ποτὲ αὖθις κατὰ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον τοιούτων καὶ παραπλησίων ἔσεσθαι, ὠφέλιμα κρίνειν αὐτὰ ἀρκούντως ἕξει.5 κτῆμά τε ἐς αἰεὶ μᾶλλον ἢ ἀγώνισμα ἐς τὸ παραχρῆμα ἀκούειν ξύγκειται.
And perhaps the absence of the fabulous in them will appear rather unpleasing for listening; but as many as shall wish to examine the clear truth of the events which have happened, and of those which will in the future, according to human nature, be such and similar again—it will be sufficient to judge them useful. Indeed, it has been composed as a possession for all time rather than as a prize-essay to be heard for the moment.
- 1.22.1ὡς δ’ ἂν ἐδόκουν
The combination of ἄν with the imperfect indicative (ἐδόκουν) expresses a past potentiality or what would have seemed likely. It is a personal construction with ἕκαστοι as the subject ('as each seemed to me likely to have spoken'), equivalent in sense to an impersonal construction.
- 1.22.1ἐχομένῳ
Dative masculine singular present participle agreeing with the implied pronoun ἐμοί. The middle voice of ἔχω in the sense of 'clinging to' or 'keeping close to' takes the genitive (τῆς ξυμπάσης γνώμης).
- 1.22.2οἷς
Relative pronoun in the dative case. The antecedent (τούτοις) is omitted, and the dative is governed by the verb of the relative clause, παρῆν (from πάρειμι, 'to be present at').
- 1.22.3ὡς ... ἔχοι
The idiom ὡς + genitive + ἔχω signifies 'according as one is conditioned with respect to...'. Here, the genitives εὐνοίας and μνήμης are governed by ἔχοι (optative of ἔχω in an indirect question).
- 1.22.4ἀρκούντως ἕξει
The verb ἔχω with an adverb (ἀρκούντως) is used intransitively (or impersonally) to mean 'to be in a certain state' ('it will be sufficient'). The infinitive κρίνειν acts as the subject, meaning 'to judge them useful will be sufficient'.