- 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-grc2:6.55.1-6.55.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-07
The author proves that Hippias was the eldest and actual ruler by citing genealogies and inscriptions, arguing that Hipparchus only acquired the reputation of being the tyrant due to his tragic death.
ὅτι δὲ πρεσβύτατος ὢν Ἱππίας ἦρξεν,1 εἰδὼς μὲν καὶ ἀκοῇ ἀκριβέστερον ἄλλων ἰσχυρίζομαι, γνοίη δ’ ἄν τις καὶ αὐτῷ τούτῳ· παῖδες γὰρ αὐτῷ μόνῳ φαίνονται τῶν γνησίων ἀδελφῶν γενόμενοι, ὡς ὅ τε βωμὸς σημαίνει καὶ ἡ στήλη περὶ τῆς τῶν τυράννων ἀδικίας ἡ ἐν τῇ Ἀθηναίων ἀκροπόλει σταθεῖσα, ἐν ᾗ Θεσσαλοῦ μὲν οὐδ’ Ἱππάρχου οὐδεὶς παῖς γέγραπται, Ἱππίου δὲ πέντε, οἳ αὐτῷ ἐκ Μυρρίνης τῆς Καλλίου τοῦ Ὑπεροχίδου θυγατρὸς ἐγένοντο· εἰκὸς γὰρ ἦν τὸν πρεσβύτατον πρῶτον γῆμαι.
But that Hippias, being the eldest, ruled, I assert knowing it more accurately than others even by hearsay; and one might recognize it also by this very fact: for children appear to have been born to him alone of the legitimate brothers, as both the altar indicates and the stele about the injustice of the tyrants which was set up on the Acropolis of the Athenians, on which no child of Thessalus or Hipparchus is recorded, but five of Hippias, who were born to him of Myrrine, the daughter of Callias, son of Hyperochides; for it was natural that the eldest should marry first.
καὶ ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ στήλῃ πρῶτος γέγραπται μετὰ τὸν πατέρα, οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἀπεοικότως διὰ τὸ πρεσβεύειν τε ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ2 καὶ τυραννεῦσαι.
And on the same stele he is written first after his father, nor is this unlikely, because of his being the next in age from him and having exercised the tyranny.
οὐ μὴν οὐδ’ ἂν κατασχεῖν3 μοι δοκεῖ ποτὲ Ἱππίας τὸ παραχρῆμα ῥᾳδίως τὴν τυραννίδα, εἰ Ἵππαρχος μὲν ἐν τῇ ἀρχῇ ὢν ἀπέθανεν, αὐτὸς δὲ αὐθημερὸν καθίστατο· ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τὸ πρότερον ξύνηθες τοῖς μὲν πολίταις φοβερόν, ἐς δὲ τοὺς ἐπικούρους ἀκριβές, πολλῷ τῷ περιόντι τοῦ ἀσφαλοῦς κατεκράτησε, καὶ οὐχ ὡς ἀδελφὸς νεώτερος ὢν ἠπόρησεν,4 ἐν ᾧ οὐ πρότερον ξυνεχῶς ὡμιλήκει τῇ ἀρχῇ.
Indeed, neither does it seem to me that Hippias could ever have secured the tyranny so easily on the moment, if Hipparchus had died while in office and he himself had been established on the very day; but because of his prior habit of being fearsome to the citizens, and strict towards the mercenaries, he maintained his grip with a large margin of safety, and he was not at a loss as a younger brother would have been, in a situation where he had not previously been continuously conversant with power.
Ἱππάρχῳ δὲ ξυνέβη τοῦ πάθους τῇ δυστυχίᾳ ὀνομασθέντα καὶ τὴν δόξαν τῆς τυραννίδος ἐς τὰ ἔπειτα προσλαβεῖν.5
But it befell Hipparchus, because he was named in connection with the misfortune of his suffering, to acquire also in addition the reputation of having been the tyrant for posterity.
- 6.55.1ὅτι δὲ πρεσβύτατος ὢν Ἱππίας ἦρξεν
The noun clause introduced by the conjunction ὅτι functions as the direct object of the main verb ἰσχυρίζομαι, placed at the very beginning of the sentence to emphasize the main point of contention.
- 6.55.2διὰ τὸ πρεσβεύειν τε ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ
An articular infinitive phrase governed by the preposition διὰ. The phrase ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ (starting from him, i.e., the father) denotes the order of age following the father, meaning being the eldest next to him.
- 6.55.3ἂν κατασχεῖν
The infinitive with the particle ἄν functions as the apodosis of a past unreal condition under the verb of thinking (δοκεῖ). The corresponding protasis is found in the following conditional clause: εἰ Ἵππαρχος... ἀπέθανεν... καθίστατο.
- 6.55.3ὡς ἀδελθὸς νεώτερος ὢν ἠπόρησεν
Combined with the negative οὐχ, this phrase introduces a hypothetical comparison: 'he did not find himself at a loss, as a younger brother would have (if he had been unfamiliar with power)'.
- 6.55.4Ἱππάρχῳ δὲ ξυνέβη... ὀνομασθέντα... προσλαβεῖν
While the impersonal verb ξυνέβη takes the dative Ἱππάρχῳ, the participle ὀνομασθέντα, which modifies the logical subject of the infinitive προσλαβεῖν, is in the accusative. This is an instance of anacoluthon where the default accusative subject for an infinitive takes precedence over dative agreement.