- 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-grc2:3.58.1-3.58.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-26
The Plataean speakers appeal to their past services to Greece and their annual honors to the Spartan dead buried in Plataea, warning that executing them and giving their land to the Thebans would desecrate those graves and bring dishonor to Sparta.
‘καίτοι ἀξιοῦμέν γε καὶ θεῶν ἕνεκα τῶν ξυμμαχικῶν ποτὲ γενομένων καὶ τῆς ἀρετῆς τῆς ἐς τοὺς Ἕλληνας καμφθῆναι ὑμᾶς καὶ μεταγνῶναι εἴ τι ὑπὸ Θηβαίων ἐπείσθητε, τήν τε δωρεὰν ἀνταπαιτῆσαι αὐτοὺς1 μὴ κτείνειν οὓς μὴ ὑμῖν πρέπει, σώφρονά τε ἀντὶ αἰσχρᾶς κομίσασθαι χάριν, καὶ μὴ ἡδονὴν δόντας ἄλλοις κακίαν αὐτοὺς ἀντιλαβεῖν·
‘Yet we at least claim that, both for the sake of the gods who were once our common allies and because of our virtue towards the Greeks, you should be moved and change your mind if you have been at all persuaded by the Thebans, and that you should demand from them in return the favor of not killing those whom it is not fitting for you to kill, and thus win a wise reputation instead of a shameful one, and not, by giving pleasure to others, receive infamy for yourselves.
βραχὺ γὰρ τὸ τὰ ἡμέτερα σώματα διαφθεῖραι, ἐπίπονον δὲ τὴν δύσκλειαν αὐτοῦ2 ἀφανίσαι. οὐκ ἐχθροὺς γὰρ ἡμᾶς εἰκότως τιμωρήσεσθε, ἀλλ’ εὔνους, κατ’ ἀνάγκην πολεμήσαντας.
For it is an easy thing to destroy our bodies, but it is difficult to wipe out the infamy resulting from it. For you will not justly punish us as enemies, but as well-wishers who fought only by necessity.
ὥστε καὶ τῶν σωμάτων ἄδειαν ποιοῦντες ὅσια ἂν δικάζοιτε καὶ προνοοῦντες ὅτι ἑκόντας τε ἐλάβετε καὶ χεῖρας προϊσχομένους (ὁ δὲ νόμος τοῖς Ἕλλησι μὴ κτείνειν τούτους), ἔτι δὲ καὶ εὐεργέτας γεγενημένους διὰ παντός.
Therefore, by granting safety to our bodies, you would pass a pious judgment, especially if you consider that you received us when we surrendered voluntarily and holding out our hands (and the law among the Greeks is not to kill such persons), and furthermore that we have been your benefactors throughout.
ἀποβλέψατε γὰρ ἐς πατέρων τῶν ὑμετέρων θήκας, οὓς ἀποθανόντας ὑπὸ Μήδων καὶ ταφέντας ἐν τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ ἐτιμῶμεν κατὰ ἔτος ἕκαστον δημοσίᾳ ἐσθήμασί τε καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις νομίμοις, ὅσα τε ἡ γῆ ἡμῶν ἀνεδίδου ὡραῖα, πάντων ἀπαρχὰς ἐπιφέροντες, εὖνοι μὲν ἐκ φιλίας χώρας, ξύμμαχοι δὲ ὁμαίχμοις ποτὲ γενομένοις. ὧν3 ὑμεῖς τοὐναντίον ἂν δράσαιτε μὴ ὀρθῶς γνόντες.
For look at the tombs of your fathers, who, having died at the hands of the Medes and been buried in our land, have been honored by us year by year publicly with garments and other customary offerings, and by bringing the first-fruits of all that our land produced, as well-wishers from a friendly country, and as allies to those who were once our comrades-in-arms. You would do the very opposite of this if you should decide incorrectly.
σκέψασθέ τε· Παυσανίας μὲν γὰρ ἔθαπτεν αὐτοὺς νομίζων ἐν γῇ τε φιλίᾳ τιθέναι καὶ παρ᾽ ἀνδράσι τοιούτοις· ὑμεῖς δὲ εἰ κτενεῖτε ἡμᾶς καὶ χώραν τὴν Πλαταιίδα Θηβαΐδα ποιήσετε, τί ἄλλο ἢ ἐν πολεμίᾳ τε καὶ παρὰ τοῖς αὐθένταις4 πατέρας τοὺς ὑμετέρους καὶ ξυγγενεῖς ἀτίμους γερῶν ὧν νῦν ἴσχουσι καταλείψετε; πρὸς δὲ καὶ γῆν ἐν ᾗ ἠλευθερώθησαν οἱ Ἕλληνες δουλώσετε, ἱερά τε θεῶν οἷς εὐξάμενοι Μήδων ἐκράτησαν ἐρημοῦτε καὶ θυσίας τὰς πατρίους τῶν ἑσσαμένων καὶ κτισάντων ἀφαιρήσεσθε.
And consider: Pausanias buried them thinking that he was placing them in a friendly land and among men of such character; but if you kill us and make the Plataean territory Theban, what else will you do than leave your fathers and kinsmen in a hostile land and in the power of their murderers, deprived of the honors they now enjoy? And besides, you will enslave the land in which the Greeks were made free, desolate the temples of the gods to whom they prayed when they conquered the Medes, and abolish the ancestral sacrifices of those who established them.’
- 3.58.1τὴν δωρεὰν ἀνταπαιτῆσαι αὐτοὺς
The infinitive ἀνταπαιτῆσαι means 'to demand in return.' αὐτούς is the accusative referring to the Thebans. τὴν δωρεάν ('the gift/favor') refers to the execution of the Plataeans requested by the Thebans; the phrase means to demand in return from them the favor of not executing those whom it is unfitting to kill (μὴ κτείνειν).
- 3.58.2αὐτοῦ
The genitive αὐτοῦ is a neuter singular referring back to the infinitive clause in the preceding sentence, τὸ τὰ ἡμέτερα σώματα διαφθεῖραι (the destruction of our bodies, i.e., the execution), pointing to the ill-repute arising from that act.
- 3.58.4ὧν
The relative pronoun ὧν has as its antecedent the whole series of honors and services mentioned in the preceding sentence. Combined with μὴ ὀρθῶς γνόντες ('if you decide wrongly'), it means 'you would do the opposite of these things.'
- 3.58.5παρὰ τοῖς αὐθένταις
The word αὐθέντης means 'perpetrator' or 'murderer.' Here it refers to the Thebans, who sided with the Persians (Medizers) during the Persian Wars and thus were accomplices to the killing of the Lacedaemonians, emphasizing the dishonor of leaving the Spartan ancestors next to them.