- 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-grc2:3.38.1-3.38.7
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-25
Cleon criticizes the delay in carrying out the punishment and severely denounces the Athenian citizens for being easily swayed by novel rhetoric while neglecting actual affairs.
‘ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν ὁ αὐτός εἰμι τῇ γνώμῃ καὶ θαυμάζω μὲν τῶν προθέντων αὖθις περὶ Μυτιληναίων λέγειν καὶ χρόνου διατριβὴν ἐμποιησάντων, ὅ ἐστι πρὸς τῶν ἠδικηκότων μᾶλλον (ὁ γὰρ παθὼν τῷ δράσαντι ἀμβλυτέρᾳ τῇ ὀργῇ ἐπεξέρχεται, ἀμύνεσθαι δὲ τῷ παθεῖν ὅτι ἐγγυτάτω κείμενον1 ἀντίπαλον ὂν μάλιστα τὴν τιμωρίαν ἀναλαμβάνει), θαυμάζω δὲ καὶ ὅστις ἔσται ὁ ἀντερῶν καὶ ἀξιώσων ἀποφαίνειν τὰς μὲν Μυτιληναίων ἀδικίας ἡμῖν ὠφελίμους οὔσας, τὰς δ’ ἡμετέρας ξυμφορὰς τοῖς ξυμμάχοις βλάβας καθισταμένας.
”Now for my own part, I am of the same opinion, and I wonder at those who proposed to speak again on the Mytilenaeans and who have caused a delay of time, which is more to the advantage of those who did wrong (for the victim proceeds against the doer with his anger blunted, whereas a retaliation following as close as possible upon the suffering, being on equal terms, best recovers the satisfaction). I wonder also who will be the one to speak against us and to claim to prove that the crimes of the Mytilenaeans are beneficial to us, and that our misfortunes are established as damages to our allies.
καὶ δῆλον ὅτι ἢ τῷ λέγειν πιστεύσας τὸ πάνυ δοκοῦν ἀνταποφῆναι ὡς οὐκ ἔγνωσται ἀγωνίσαιτ’ ἄν, ἢ κέρδει ἐπαιρόμενος τὸ εὐπρεπὲς τοῦ λόγου ἐκπονήσας παράγειν πειράσεται.
And it is clear that such a person, either trusting in his eloquence, would strive to prove that what has been fully decided has not been decided, or, led on by gain, will try to mislead you by elaborating a specious speech.
ἡ δὲ πόλις ἐκ τῶν τοιῶνδε ἀγώνων τὰ μὲν ἆθλα ἑτέροις δίδωσιν, αὐτὴ δὲ τοὺς κινδύνους ἀναφέρει.
But from such contests as these, the state gives the prizes to others, while she herself bears the dangers.
αἴτιοι δ’ ὑμεῖς κακῶς ἀγωνοθετοῦντες, οἵτινες εἰώθατε θεαταὶ μὲν τῶν λόγων γίγνεσθαι, ἀκροαταὶ δὲ τῶν ἔργων,2 τὰ μὲν μέλλοντα ἔργα ἀπὸ τῶν εὖ εἰπόντων σκοποῦντες ὡς δυνατὰ γίγνεσθαι, τὰ δὲ πεπραγμένα ἤδη, οὐ τὸ δρασθὲν πιστότερον ὄψει λαβόντες ἢ τὸ ἀκουσθέν, ἀπὸ τῶν λόγῳ καλῶς ἐπιτιμησάντων·
And you are to blame for presiding badly over these contests, you who are accustomed to become spectators of words and listeners of deeds, judging of future deeds as possible from those who speak well, and of things already done, not taking the action done as more credible by sight than what is heard, but from those who have cleverly censured them in speech.
καὶ μετὰ καινότητος μὲν λόγου ἀπατᾶσθαι ἄριστοι, μετὰ δεδοκιμασμένου δὲ μὴ ξυνέπεσθαι ἐθέλειν, δοῦλοι ὄντες τῶν αἰεὶ ἀτόπων, ὑπερόπται δὲ τῶν εἰωθότων, καὶ μάλιστα μὲν αὐτὸς εἰπεῖν ἕκαστος βουλόμενος δύνασθαι,3 εἰ δὲ μή, ἀνταγωνιζόμενοι τοῖς τοιαῦτα λέγουσι μὴ ὕστεροι ἀκολουθῆσαι δοκεῖν τῇ γνώμῃ, ὀξέως δέ τι λέγοντος προεπαινέσαι, καὶ προαισθέσθαι τε πρόθυμοι εἶναι τὰ λεγόμενα καὶ προνοῆσαι βραδεῖς τὰ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀποβησόμενα, ζητοῦντές τε ἄλλο τι ὡς εἰπεῖν ἢ ἐν οἷς ζῶμεν, φρονοῦντες δὲ οὐδὲ περὶ τῶν παρόντων ἱκανῶς· ἁπλῶς τε ἀκοῆς ἡδονῇ ἡσσώμενοι καὶ σοφιστῶν θεαταῖς ἐοικότες καθημένοις μᾶλλον ἢ περὶ πόλεως βουλευομένοις.
You are the best at being deceived by novelty of speech, but unwilling to follow what has been tested, being slaves to whatever is always strange, and despisers of what is customary. Each of you especially wishes to be able to speak himself, but if not, in rivalry with those who speak such things, you do not want to seem to follow behind in comprehension; you are ready to applaud beforehand when someone says something sharp, and eager to perceive beforehand what is being said, yet slow to foresee the consequences that will result from them. Seeking, so to speak, something other than the conditions in which we live, and not even thinking sufficiently about the present. In a word, you are overcome by the pleasure of hearing, and are more like spectators sitting before sophists than men deliberating about the state.”
- 3.38.1τῷ παθεῖν ὅτι ἐγγυτάτω κείμενον
The articular infinitive τῷ παθεῖν (the suffering) is modified by the participle phrase ὅτι ἐγγυτάτω κείμενον (placed as close as possible), functioning as a nominal phrase indicating temporal proximity. There is a variant reading of the genitive τοῦ παθεῖν.
- 3.38.4θεαταὶ μὲν τῶν λόγων γίγνεσθαι, ἀκροαταὶ δὲ τῶν ἔργων
A deliberate inversion of the natural pairing: normally one is a "listener" (ἀκροατής) of words and a "spectator" (θεατής) of deeds. Cleon inverts these terms to satirize the perverted intellectual aestheticism of the Athenians.
- 3.38.6καὶ μάλιστα μὲν αὐτὸς εἰπεῖν ἕκαστος βουλόμενος δύνασθαι
The entire period from §3.38.6 to §3.38.7 lacks a finite verb for the main clause, consisting instead of a series of nominative participles (βουλόμενος, ζητοῦντες, ἡσσώμενοι, etc.) modifying the subject ὑμεῖς. The infinitive δύνασθαι depends on βουλόμενος as a complementary infinitive.