- 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-grc2:3.67.1-3.67.7
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-26
The Theban envoys urge the Lacedaemonians not to be swayed by Plataea's past virtues, demanding a strict and just punishment for their crimes while rejecting any verbal excuses.
‘καὶ ταῦτα, ὦ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, τούτου ἕνεκα ἐπεξήλθομεν καὶ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν καὶ ἡμῶν, ἵνα ὑμεῖς μὲν εἰδῆτε δικαίως αὐτῶν καταγνωσόμενοι,1 ἡμεῖς δὲ ἔτι ὁσιώτερον τετιμωρημένοι.
’And we have detailed these things, Lacedaemonians, both for your sake and for our own, for this reason: so that you may know that you will be judging them justly, and that we have taken vengeance in an even more holy manner.
καὶ μὴ παλαιὰς ἀρετάς, εἴ τις ἄρα καὶ ἐγένετο, ἀκούοντες ἐπικλασθῆτε, ἃς χρὴ τοῖς μὲν ἀδικουμένοις ἐπικούρους εἶναι, τοῖς δὲ αἰσχρόν τι δρῶσι διπλασίας ζημίας,2 ὅτι οὐκ ἐκ προσηκόντων ἁμαρτάνουσιν. μηδὲ ὀλοφυρμῷ καὶ οἴκτῳ ὠφελείσθων, πατέρων τε τάφους τῶν ὑμετέρων ἐπιβοώμενοι καὶ τὴν σφετέραν ἐρημίαν.
And do not let yourselves be softened by hearing of their past virtues, if indeed there ever were any; these ought to be a help to the wronged, but to those who do something shameful, a double penalty, because they commit sins that do not befit them. Nor let them benefit from lamentation and pity, by invoking the tombs of your fathers and their own desolation.
καὶ γὰρ ἡμεῖς ἀνταποφαίνομεν πολλῷ δεινότερα παθοῦσαν τὴν ὑπὸ τούτων ἡλικίαν ἡμῶν διεφθαρμένην, ὧν πατέρες οἱ μὲν πρὸς ὑμᾶς τὴν Βοιωτίαν ἄγοντες ἀπέθανον ἐν Κορωνείᾳ, οἱ δὲ3 πρεσβῦται λελειμμένοι καὶ οἰκίαι ἐρῆμοι πολλῷ δικαιοτέραν ὑμῶν ἱκετείαν ποιοῦνται τούσδε τιμωρήσασθαι.
For we, on our part, point out that our youth, destroyed by them, suffered far more terrible things—those whose fathers died at Coroneia while trying to bring Boeotia to your side, while the remaining old men and their desolate houses make a far more just supplication to you to take vengeance on these men.
οἴκτου τε ἀξιώτεροι τυγχάνειν οἱ ἀπρεπές τι πάσχοντες τῶν ἀνθρώπων, οἱ δὲ δικαίως, ὥσπερ οἵδε, τὰ ἐναντία ἐπίχαρτοι εἶναι.
And those of men who suffer what is unbefitting are more worthy to obtain pity, whereas those who suffer justly, like these men, should conversely be a cause for rejoicing.
καὶ τὴν νῦν ἐρημίαν δι’ ἑαυτοὺς ἔχουσιν· τοὺς γὰρ ἀμείνους ξυμμάχους ἑκόντες ἀπεώσαντο. παρενόμησάν τε οὐ προπαθόντες ὑφ’ ἡμῶν, μίσει δὲ πλέον ἢ δίκῃ κρίναντες καὶ οὐκ ἀνταποδόντες νῦν τὴν ἴσην τιμωρίαν·4 ἔννομα γὰρ πείσονται καὶ οὐχὶ ἐκ μάχης χεῖρας προϊσχόμενοι, ὥσπερ φασίν, ἀλλ’ ἀπὸ ξυμβάσεως ἐς δίκην σφᾶς αὐτοὺς παραδόντες.
And they have their present desolation through their own fault, for they voluntarily rejected their better allies. And they broke the law without having previously suffered at our hands, judging by hatred rather than by justice, and not having now returned an equal recompense. For they will suffer what is lawful, having surrendered themselves to justice not from battle holding out their hands, as they say, but by agreement.
ἀμύνατε οὖν, ὦ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, καὶ τῷ τῶν Ἑλλήνων νόμῳ ὑπὸ τῶνδε παραβαθέντι, καὶ ἡμῖν ἄνομα παθοῦσιν ἀνταπόδοτε χάριν δικαίαν ὧν πρόθυμοι γεγενήμεθα, καὶ μὴ τοῖς τῶνδε λόγοις περιωσθῶμεν ἐν ὑμῖν, ποιήσατε δὲ τοῖς Ἕλλησι παράδειγμα οὐ λόγων τοὺς ἀγῶνας προθήσοντες ἀλλ’ ἔργων, ὧν ἀγαθῶν μὲν ὄντων βραχεῖα ἡ ἀπαγγελία ἀρκεῖ, ἁμαρτανομένων δὲ λόγοι ἔπεσι κοσμηθέντες προκαλύμματα γίγνονται.
Avenge, therefore, Lacedaemonians, the law of the Greeks which has been broken by these men, and return to us, who have suffered unlawful things, a just return for the zeal we have shown; and let us not be pushed aside before you by their words, but make an example for the Greeks, proposing contests not of words but of deeds, of which, if they are good, a brief report suffices, but if they are sinful, words adorned with phrases become a screen.
ἀλλ’ ἢν οἱ ἡγεμόνες, ὥσπερ νῦν ὑμεῖς, κεφαλαιώσαντες πρὸς τοὺς ξύμπαντας διαγνώμας ποιήσησθε, ἧσσόν τις ἐπ’ ἀδίκοις ἔργοις λόγους καλοὺς ζητήσει.’
But if the leaders, as you do now, make decisions on the whole by summing up, men will be less likely to seek beautiful words for unjust deeds.’
- 3.67.1δικαίως αὐτῶν καταγνωσόμενοι
This is a future supplementary participle accompanying the verb εἰδῆτε (οἶδα), meaning 'knowing that you will be judging them justly'. It agrees with the subject ὑμεῖς. The subsequent phrase ἡμεῖς δὲ ... τετιμωρημένοι follows a similar participial construction to indicate what the speakers have accomplished.
- 3.67.2ἃς χρὴ τοῖς μὲν ἀδικουμένοις ἐπικούρους εἶναι, τοῖς δὲ αἰσχρόν τι δρῶσι διπλασίας ζημίας
The relative pronoun ἃς (referring to ἀρετάς) serves as the accusative subject of the infinitive εἶναι introduced by the impersonal verb χρή. The complement ἐπικούρους (accusative plural) and the subsequent διπλασίας ζημίας (accusative plural) denote what those virtues ought to be to the respective dative objects.
- 3.67.3ὧν πατέρες οἱ μὲν ... οἱ δὲ ...
The antecedent of the relative pronoun ὧν is τὴν ... ἡλικίαν (the youth) in the preceding clause. The subject 'their fathers' (πατέρες) is further split into partitive subjects in apposition: οἱ μὲν (some) and οἱ δὲ (the remaining old men and houses).
- 3.67.5καὶ οὐκ ἀνταποδόντες νῦν τὴν ἴσην τιμωρίαν
The subject of the active participle ἀνταποδόντες is the Plataeans. It means that they did not return an equal recompense for the past favors of the Thebans, thus justifying the lawful punishment they are about to receive.