- 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-grc2:1.41.1-1.41.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-26
The Corinthian envoys assert their just claims against Athens based on Greek custom and request a return for past favors, pointing out that in times of crisis men disregard even friend or foe for the sake of victory.
‘δικαιώματα μὲν οὖν τάδε πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἔχομεν ἱκανὰ κατὰ τοὺς Ἑλλήνων νόμους, παραίνεσιν δὲ καὶ ἀξίωσιν χάριτος τοιάνδε, ἣν1 οὐκ ἐχθροὶ ὄντες ὥστε βλάπτειν οὐδ’ αὖ φίλοι ὥστ’ ἐπιχρῆσθαι, ἀντιδοθῆναι ἡμῖν ἐν τῷ παρόντι φαμὲν χρῆναι.
’Thus we have these claims of right against you, sufficient according to the laws of the Greeks, and we have such advice and claim of favor as follows, which we, being neither enemies so as to injure you, nor on the other hand friends so as to be in close intimacy, say ought to be given to us in return at present.
νεῶν γὰρ μακρῶν σπανίσαντές ποτε πρὸς τὸν Αἰγινητῶν ὑπὲρ τὰ Μηδικὰ2 πόλεμον παρὰ Κορινθίων εἴκοσι ναῦς ἐλάβετε· καὶ ἡ εὐεργεσία αὕτη τε καὶ ἡ ἐς Σαμίους, τὸ δι’ ἡμᾶς Πελοποννησίους αὐτοῖς μὴ βοηθῆσαι, παρέσχεν ὑμῖν Αἰγινητῶν μὲν ἐπικράτησιν, Σαμίων δὲ κόλασιν, καὶ ἐν καιροῖς τοιούτοις ἐγένετο οἷς μάλιστα ἄνθρωποι ἐπ’ ἐχθροὺς τοὺς σφετέρους ἰόντες τῶν ἁπάντων ἀπερίοπτοί εἰσι παρὰ τὸ νικᾶν·3
For once, being in want of long ships for the war against the Aeginetans, before the Persian War, you received twenty ships from the Corinthians; and this benefit, as well as that in the case of the Samians—namely, that through us the Peloponnesians did not assist them—provided you with the conquest of the Aeginetans and the punishment of the Samians; and they occurred at such crises in which men, when marching against their own enemies, are most of all regardless of everything else in comparison with victory.
φίλον τε γὰρ ἡγοῦνται τὸν ὑπουργοῦντα, ἢν καὶ πρότερον ἐχθρὸς ᾖ, πολέμιόν τε τὸν ἀντιστάντα, ἢν καὶ τύχῃ φίλος ὤν, ἐπεὶ καὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα χεῖρον τίθενται4 φιλονικίας ἕνεκα τῆς αὐτίκα.
For they consider him a friend who helps them, even if he was previously an enemy, and him an enemy who opposes them, even if he happens to be a friend; since they even neglect their own affairs for the sake of the immediate rivalry.’
- 1.41.1ἣν
The relative pronoun ἣν has ἀξίωσιν χάριτος (claim of favor) as its antecedent, and functions as the subject accusative of the passive infinitive ἀντιδοθῆναι.
- 1.41.2ὑπὲρ τὰ Μηδικὰ
The preposition ὑπέρ with the accusative here expresses a temporal relation meaning "before" or "prior to". It refers to the conflict with Aegina (around the 490s BC) prior to the Persian Wars (490 and 480-479 BC).
- 1.41.2παρά τὸ νικᾶν
The preposition παρά with the accusative infinitive τὸ νικᾶν expresses comparison or exception ("in comparison with winning" or "except for winning"), emphasizing that everything else is disregarded for the sake of victory.
- 1.41.3τὰ οἰκεῖα χεῖρον τίθενται
The middle verb τίθενται (literally "to place for themselves") combined with the comparative adverb χεῖρον ("worse" or "lower") means "to regard their own affairs as of less importance" or "to neglect/postpone their domestic interests".