- 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-grc2:6.92.1-6.92.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Alcibiades defends his own patriotism and the legitimacy of his actions as an exile, urging the Spartans not to hesitate to launch the expedition to both Sicily and Attica to defeat Athens.
γίγνεσθαι δέ τι αὐτῶν καὶ ἐν τάχει καὶ προθυμότερον ἐν ὑμῖν ἐστίν, ὦ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, ἐπεὶ ὥς γε δυνατά (καὶ οὐχ ἁμαρτήσεσθαι οἶμαι γνώμης) πάνυ θαρσῶ.
And that some of these things should be carried out both quickly and with greater zeal is in your power, O Lacedaemonians, since I am entirely confident that they are indeed possible (and I think I shall not be mistaken in my judgment).
‘καὶ χείρων οὐδενὶ ἀξιῶ δοκεῖν ὑμῶν εἶναι,1 εἰ τῇ ἐμαυτοῦ μετὰ τῶν πολεμιωτάτων φιλόπολίς ποτε δοκῶν εἶναι νῦν ἐγκρατῶς ἐπέρχομαι, οὐδὲ ὑποπτεύεσθαί μου ἐς τὴν φυγαδικὴν προθυμίαν τὸν λόγον.
”And I ask that I seem to none of you to be worse, if, having once been thought a patriot, I now vigorously attack my own country in company with its worst enemies, nor that my speech be suspected of the zeal of an exile.
φυγάς τε γάρ εἰμι τῆς τῶν ἐξελασάντων πονηρίας,2 καὶ οὐ τῆς ὑμετέρας, ἢν πείθησθέ μοι, ὠφελίας· καὶ πολεμιώτεροι οὐχ οἱ τοὺς πολεμίους που βλάψαντες ὑμεῖς ἢ οἱ τοὺς φίλους ἀναγκάσαντες πολεμίους γενέσθαι.
For I am an exile from the wickedness of those who drove me out, and not from your usefulness, if you listen to me; and worse enemies are not you who have harmed your enemies, but those who have forced their friends to become enemies.
τό τε φιλόπολι οὐκ ἐν ᾧ ἀδικοῦμαι ἔχω, ἀλλ’ ἐν ᾧ ἀσφαλῶς ἐπολιτεύθην. οὐδ’ ἐπὶ πατρίδα οὖσαν ἔτι ἡγοῦμαι νῦν ἰέναι, πολὺ δὲ μᾶλλον τὴν οὐκ οὖσαν ἀνακτᾶσθαι. καὶ φιλόπολις οὗτος ὀρθῶς, οὐχ ὃς ἂν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἀδίκως ἀπολέσας μὴ ἐπίῃ, ἀλλ’ ὃς ἂν ἐκ παντὸς τρόπου διὰ τὸ ἐπιθυμεῖν πειραθῇ αὐτὴν ἀναλαβεῖν.
And patriotism I do not have in that in which I am wronged, but in that in which I lived safely as a citizen. Nor do I think I am now marching against a country that is still mine, but much rather that I am trying to recover one that is no longer mine. And he is truly patriotic, not who, having unjustly lost his own country, does not attack it, but who, out of desire for it, tries in every way to win it back.
οὕτως ἐμοί τε ἀξιῶ ὑμᾶς καὶ ἐς κίνδυνον καὶ ἐς ταλαιπωρίαν πᾶσαν ἀδεῶς χρῆσθαι, ὦ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, γνόντας3 τοῦτον δὴ τὸν ὑφ’ ἁπάντων προβαλλόμενον λόγον, ὡς εἰ πολέμιός γε ὢν σφόδρα ἔβλαπτον, κἂν φίλος ὢν ἱκανῶς ὠφελοίην, ὅσῳ τὰ μὲν Ἀθηναίων οἶδα, τὰ δ᾽ ὑμέτερα ᾔκαζον· καὶ αὐτοὺς νῦν νομίσαντας περὶ μεγίστων δὴ τῶν διαφερόντων βουλεύεσθαι μὴ ἀποκνεῖν τὴν ἐς τὴν Σικελίαν τε καὶ ἐς τὴν Ἀττικὴν στρατείαν, ἵνα τά τε ἐκεῖ βραχεῖ μορίῳ ξυμπαραγενόμενοι μεγάλα σώσητε καὶ Ἀθηναίων τήν τε οὖσαν καὶ τὴν μέλλουσαν δύναμιν καθέλητε, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα αὐτοί τε ἀσφαλῶς οἰκῆτε καὶ τῆς ἁπάσης Ἑλλάδος ἑκούσης καὶ οὐ βίᾳ, κατ’ εὔνοιαν δὲ ἡγῆσθε.’
Therefore, O Lacedaemonians, I ask you to employ me without fear both for danger and for every hardship, recognizing this very argument put forward by everyone, that if, as an enemy, I did great harm, as a friend, I could also do great service, insofar as I know the affairs of the Athenians, whereas I only had to guess at yours; and that you yourselves, considering that you are now deliberating on matters of the greatest importance, should not hesitate to make the expedition both to Sicily and to Attica, so that, by arriving there with a small force, you may save great things and bring down the power of the Athenians, both present and future, and after this you yourselves may dwell in safety and lead the whole of Greece, she being willing and not by force, but through goodwill.”
- 6.92.2χείρων οὐδενὶ ἀξιῶ δοκεῖν ὑμῶν εἶναι
The genitive ὑμῶν could theoretically depend on the comparative χείρων ('worse than you'), but it is more naturally understood as a partitive genitive depending on the pronoun οὐδενὶ ('to no one of you').
- 6.92.3φυγάς τε γάρ εἰμι τῆς τῶν ἐξελασάντων πονηρίας
The genitive πονηρίας depending on the noun φυγάς is used not as a genitive of place ('exile from'), but in a figurative or causal sense, meaning 'an exile because of the wickedness of my expellers.' This forms a rhetorical contrast with the following τῆς ὑμετέρας ... ὠφελίας ('not an exile from being of service to you').
- 6.92.5γνόντας
The accusative participle γνόντας agrees in gender, number, and case with ὑμᾶς, which is the direct object of the main verb ἀξιῶ and the subject of the infinitive χρῆσθαι in the accusative-with-infinitive construction.