- 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-grc2:3.12.1-3.12.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-24
The speaker explains that their alliance was based on mutual fear rather than friendship, and justifies their preemptive revolt as a necessary measure of self-defense.
τίς οὖν αὕτη ἢ φιλία ἐγίγνετο ἢ ἐλευθερία πιστή, ἐν ᾗ παρὰ γνώμην ἀλλήλους ὑπεδεχόμεθα, καὶ οἱ μὲν ἡμᾶς ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ δεδιότες ἐθεράπευον, ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐκείνους ἐν τῇ ἡσυχίᾳ τὸ αὐτὸ ἐποιοῦμεν· ὅ τε τοῖς ἄλλοις μάλιστα εὔνοια πίστιν βεβαιοῖ, ἡμῖν τοῦτο ὁ φόβος ἐχυρὸν παρεῖχε, δέει τε τὸ πλέον ἢ φιλίᾳ κατεχόμενοι ξύμμαχοι ἦμεν· καὶ ὁποτέροις θᾶσσον παράσχοι ἀσφάλεια θάρσος,1οὗτοι πρότεροί τι καὶ παραβήσεσθαι ἔμελλον.
’What kind of friendship, then, or reliable freedom was this, in which we received one another contrary to our real feelings, and they courted us in war out of fear, while we did the same to them in time of peace? And whereas goodwill is what most secures trust in others, in our case fear made this security firm, and we were allies bound more by fear than by friendship; and whichever of the two security should first inspire with confidence, these were likely to be the first to commit some breach.
ὥστε εἴ τῳ δοκοῦμεν ἀδικεῖν προαποστάντες διὰ τὴν ἐκείνων μέλλησιν τῶν ἐς ἡμᾶς δεινῶν, αὐτοὶ οὐκ ἀνταναμείναντες2 σαφῶς εἰδέναι εἴ τι αὐτῶν ἔσται, οὐκ ὀρθῶς σκοπεῖ.
Therefore, if anyone thinks we do wrong in revolting beforehand because of their delay of inflicting terrible things upon us, without ourselves waiting in turn to know clearly whether any of them will happen, he does not view the matter correctly.
εἰ γὰρ δυνατοὶ ἦμεν ἐκ τοῦ ἴσου καὶ ἀντεπιβουλεῦσαι καὶ ἀντιμελλῆσαι, τί ἔδει ἡμᾶς ἐκ τοῦ ὁμοίου ἐπ’ ἐκείνοις εἶναι; ἐπ’ ἐκείνοις δὲ ὄντος αἰεὶ τοῦ ἐπιχειρεῖν3 καὶ ἐφ’ ἡμῖν εἶναι δεῖ τὸ προαμύνασθαι.
For if we were able on equal terms both to plot against them in return and to delay in return, why did we need to be at their mercy on the same terms? But since the power of attacking is always in their hands, the power of defending ourselves beforehand ought to be in ours as well.’
- 3.12.1ὁποτέροις θᾶσσον παράσχοι ἀσφάλεια θάρσος
The optative παράσχοι without ἄν expresses an indefinite or conditional generality ('whichever of the two security should first inspire with confidence'). The subject of the clause is ἀσφάλεια (security) and the object is θάρσος (confidence/boldness).
- 3.12.2αὐτοὶ οὐκ ἀνταναμείναντες
The nominative plural pronoun αὐτοὶ and participle ἀνταναμείναντες agree grammatically with the subject of the subordinate verb δοκοῦμεν ('we seem'), referring to the Mytilenaeans, even though the main subject of the sentence is εἴ τῳ ('if to anyone') with the singular verb σκοπεῖ ('he considers'). This is an anacoluthon (change of construction) based on the logical subject.
- 3.12.3ἐπ’ ἐκείνοις δὲ ὄντος αἰεὶ τοῦ ἐπιχειρεῖν
The preposition ἐπί with the dative means 'in the power of' or 'dependent on'. In this genitive absolute construction, the subject is the substantivized infinitive τὸ ἐπιχειρεῖν ('the power of attacking'). This corresponds directly to ἐφ’ ἡμῖν ('in our power') in the following main clause.