Athenian Military Openness Compared to Sparta — Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War Book 2 (2.39.1–2.39.4), Greek & English

§2.39.1

‘διαφέρομεν δὲ καὶ ταῖς τῶν πολεμικῶν μελέταις τῶν ἐναντίων τοῖσδε. τήν τε γὰρ πόλιν κοινὴν παρέχομεν, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὅτε ξενηλασίαις ἀπείργομέν τινα ἢ μαθήματος ἢ θεάματος, ὃ μὴ κρυφθὲν ἄν τις τῶν πολεμίων ἰδὼν ὠφεληθείη,¹ πιστεύοντες οὐ ταῖς παρασκευαῖς τὸ πλέον καὶ ἀπάταις ἢ τῷ ἀφ’ ἡμῶν αὐτῶν ἐς τὰ ἔργα εὐψύχῳ·² καὶ ἐν ταῖς παιδείαις οἱ μὲν ἐπιπόνῳ ἀσκήσει εὐθὺς νέοι ὄντες τὸ ἀνδρεῖον μετέρχονται, ἡμεῖς δὲ ἀνειμένως διαιτώμενοι οὐδὲν ἧσσον ἐπὶ τοὺς ἰσοπαλεῖς κινδύνους χωροῦμεν.

‘We differ also from our opponents in our military training in these respects. We lay our city open to all, and there is no time when we exclude anyone by alien acts from any learning or spectacle, which an enemy might see and profit by if it were not concealed; for we trust not so much to preparation and deceit as to the courage that comes from our own souls in action. And in education, while they from their very youth by painful training seek after manliness, we, living at ease, go to meet equal dangers no less readily.

§2.39.2

τεκμήριον δέ· οὔτε γὰρ Λακεδαιμόνιοι καθ’ ἑαυτούς, μεθ’ ἁπάντων δὲ ἐς τὴν γῆν ἡμῶν στρατεύουσι, τήν τε τῶν πέλας³ αὐτοὶ ἐπελθόντες οὐ χαλεπῶς ἐν τῇ ἀλλοτρίᾳ τοὺς περὶ τῶν οἰκείων ἀμυνομένους μαχόμενοι τὰ πλείω κρατοῦμεν.

Here is a proof: the Lacedaemonians do not invade our country by themselves, but with all their allies; whereas we, when we attack our neighbors’ territory by ourselves, usually conquer without difficulty in a foreign land those who are fighting in defense of their own homes.

§2.39.3

ἁθρόᾳ τε τῇ δυνάμει ἡμῶν οὐδείς πω πολέμιος ἐνέτυχε διὰ τὴν τοῦ ναυτικοῦ τε ἅμα ἐπιμέλειαν καὶ τὴν ἐν τῇ γῇ ἐπὶ πολλὰ ἡμῶν αὐτῶν ἐπίπεμψιν· ἢν δέ που μορίῳ τινὶ προσμείξωσι, κρατήσαντές τέ τινας ἡμῶν πάντας αὐχοῦσιν ἀπεῶσθαι⁴ καὶ νικηθέντες ὑφ᾽ ἁπάντων ἡσσῆσθαι.

And no enemy has ever yet met our power in its entirety, because of our simultaneous care for our navy and our own dispatch of forces to many places on land. But if they happen to engage with some part of our forces, if they defeat a few of us, they boast that they have repulsed us all, and if they are defeated, they claim to have been beaten by our whole force.

§2.39.4

καίτοι εἰ ῥᾳθυμίᾳ μᾶλλον ἢ πόνων μελέτῃ καὶ μὴ μετὰ νόμων τὸ πλέον ἢ τρόπων ἀνδρείας ἐθέλομεν κινδυνεύειν, περιγίγνεται ἡμῖν⁵ τοῖς τε μέλλουσιν ἀλγεινοῖς μὴ προκάμνειν, καὶ ἐς αὐτὰ ἐλθοῦσι μὴ ἀτολμοτέρους τῶν αἰεὶ μοχθούντων φαίνεσθαι, καὶ ἔν τε τούτοις τὴν πόλιν ἀξίαν εἶναι θαυμάζεσθαι καὶ ἔτι ἐν ἄλλοις.

And indeed, if we choose to face dangers with an easy mind rather than with painful training, and with a courage that comes from our habit of life rather than from laws, we have this advantage: we do not suffer beforehand from future troubles, and when we come to them, we show ourselves no less brave than those who are always laboring. Thus our city is worthy of admiration in these things and in others besides.

Syntax notes5 items

2.39.1ὃ μὴ κρυφθὲν ἄν τις τῶν πολεμίων ἰδὼν ὠφεληθείη
The antecedent of the relative pronoun ὃ is μαθήματος ἢ θεάματος. The participle μὴ κρυφθὲν expresses a condition ("if not concealed"), matching ἄν and the optative ὠφεληθείη (potential) to form a potential conditional apodosis.
2.39.1τῷ ἀφ’ ἡμῶν αὐτῶν ἐς τὰ ἔργα εὐψύχῳ
The neuter singular adjective εὐψύχῳ is substantivized by the article τῷ ("courage", "spirit"), qualified by the prepositional phrases ἀφ’ ἡμῶν αὐτῶν ("arising from ourselves") and ἐς τὰ ἔργα ("in action"). The entire phrase serves as the dative complement of πιστεύοντες ("trusting").
2.39.2τήν τε τῶν πέλας
The article τήν (accusative feminine singular) agrees with the omitted noun γῆν (land), easily supplied from the preceding clause ἐς τὴν γῆν. Thus, it means "the territory of our neighbors".
2.39.3κρατήσαντές τέ τινας ἡμῶν πάντας αὐχοῦσιν ἀπεῶσθαι
The subject of the perfect passive infinitive ἀπεῶσθαι, dependent on αὐχοῦσιν ("they boast"), is the accusative πάντας ("that all of us [have been repulsed]"), which is distinct from the subject of the main verb.
2.39.4περιγίγνεται ἡμῖν
An impersonal expression meaning "there remains to us" or "we have this advantage." It takes three coordinating infinitival clauses as its grammatical subjects: μὴ προκάμνειν, μὴ ... φαίνεσθαι, and the accusative-with-infinitive construction τὴν πόλιν ἀξίαν εἶναι with its own subject τὴν πόλιν.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25)urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.39.1-2.39.4