Denunciation of Theban Selfishness and Past Betrayals — Isocrates, Plataicus 22–32, Greek & English

§22

νῦν δὲ τὰς μὲν οὐσίας τὰς ἡμετέρας ἰδίᾳ διηρπάκασι, τῆς δὲ διαβολῆς ἅπασι τοῖς συμμάχοις ἥκουσι μεταδώσοντες. ἣν¹ ὑμεῖς, ἢν σωφρονῆτε, φυλάξεσθε· πολὺ γὰρ κάλλιον τούτους ἀναγκάσαι μιμήσασθαι τὴν ὁσιότητα τὴν ὑμετέραν ἢ τῆς τούτων παρανομίας αὐτοὺς πεισθῆναι μετασχεῖν, οἳ μηδὲν τῶν αὐτῶν τοῖς ἄλλοις γιγνώσκουσιν.

But now, they have plundered our property for themselves individually, and have come to share the slander with all the allies. You, if you are wise, will guard against this; for it is far better to compel these men to imitate your piety than to be persuaded yourselves to share in their lawlessness, they who hold none of the same opinions as the others.

§23

οἶμαι γὰρ ἅπασι φανερὸν εἶναι διότι προσήκει τοὺς εὖ φρονοῦντας ἐν μὲν τῷ πολέμῳ σκοπεῖν ὅπως ἐκ παντὸς τρόπου πλέον ἕξουσι τῶν ἐχθρῶν, ἐπειδὰν δʼ εἰρήνη γένηται, μηδὲν περὶ πλείονος ποιεῖσθαι τῶν ὅρκων καὶ τῶν συνθηκῶν.

For I think it is manifest to all that it is fitting for those who are wise to see to it in war that they get the advantage over their enemies by every means, but when peace is made, to value nothing more than oaths and treaties.

§24

οὗτοι δὲ τότε μὲν ἐν ἁπάσαις ταῖς πρεσβείαις ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐλευθερίας καὶ τῆς αὐτονομίας ἐποιοῦντο τοὺς λόγους· ἐπειδὴ δὲ νομίζουσιν αὑτοῖς ἄδειαν γεγενῆσθαι, πάντων τῶν ἄλλων ἀμελήσαντες ὑπὲρ τῶν ἰδίων κερδῶν καὶ τῆς αὑτῶν βίας λέγειν τολμῶσι, καὶ φασὶ τὸ Θηβαίους ἔχειν τὴν ἡμετέραν,² τοῦτο συμφέρον εἶναι τοῖς συμμάχοις, κακῶς εἰδότες ὡς οὐδʼ αὐτοῖς τοῖς παρὰ τὸ δίκαιον πλεονεκτοῦσιν οὐδὲ πώποτε συνήνεγκεν, ἀλλὰ πολλοὶ δὴ τῆς ἀλλοτρίας ἀδίκως ἐπιθυμήσαντες περὶ τῆς αὑτῶν δικαίως εἰς τοὺς μεγίστους κινδύνους κατέστησαν.

But these men, at that time, in all their embassies made speeches on behalf of liberty and autonomy; but since they think they have obtained impunity, neglecting all other things, they dare to speak for their private gains and their own violence, and they assert that the Thebans’ possessing our land is advantageous to the allies, knowing ill that it has never turned out to the advantage even of those who grasp for more contrary to justice, but indeed many who unjustly coveted the land of others have justly been brought into the greatest dangers concerning their own.

§26

ἀλλὰ μὴν οὐδʼ ἐκεῖνό γʼ ἕξουσι λέγειν, ὡς αὐτοὶ μέν, μεθʼ ὧν ἂν γένωνται, πιστοὶ διατελοῦσιν ὄντες, ἡμᾶς δʼ ἄξιον φοβεῖσθαι, μὴ κομισάμενοι τὴν χώραν πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους ἀποστῶμεν· εὑρήσετε γὰρ ἡμᾶς μὲν δὶς ἐκπεπολιορκημένους ὑπὲρ τῆς φιλίας τῆς ὑμετέρας, τούτους δὲ πολλάκις εἰς ταύτην τὴν πόλιν ἐξημαρτηκότας.

Nay, they will not even be able to say this: that they themselves remain faithful to whomsoever they join, whereas we are to be feared lest, having recovered our land, we should revolt to the Lacedaemonians; for you will find that we have twice been besieged and taken for our friendship with you, while these men have many times sinned against this city.

§27

καὶ τὰς μὲν παλαιὰς προδοσίας πολὺ ἂν ἔργον εἴη λέγειν· γενομένου δὲ τοῦ Κορινθιακοῦ πολέμου διὰ τὴν ὕβριν τὴν τούτων, καὶ Λακεδαιμονίων μὲν ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς στρατευσάντων, διʼ ὑμᾶς δὲ σωθέντες οὐχ ὅπως τούτων χάριν ἀπέδοσαν, ἀλλʼ³ ἐπειδὴ διελέλυσθε τὸν πόλεμον, ἀπολιπόντες ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν Λακεδαιμονίων συμμαχίαν εἰσῆλθον.

And to speak of their ancient betrayals would be a long task; but when the Corinthian War arose because of their insolence, and the Lacedaemonians marched against them, though they were saved through you, far from returning thanks for this, as soon as you had ended the war, they abandoned you and entered into the alliance of the Lacedaemonians.

§28

καὶ Χῖοι μὲν καὶ Μυτιληναῖοι καὶ Βυζάντιοι συμπαρέμειναν, οὗτοι δὲ τηλικαύτην πόλιν οἰκοῦντες οὐδὲ κοινοὺς σφᾶς αὐτοὺς παρασχεῖν ἐτόλμησαν, ἀλλʼ εἰς τοῦτʼ ἀνανδρίας καὶ πονηρίας ἦλθον, ὥστʼ ὤμοσαν ἦ μὴν ἀκολουθήσειν μετʼ ἐκείνων ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς τοὺς διασώσαντας τὴν πόλιν αὐτῶν· ὑπὲρ ὧν δόντες τοῖς θεοῖς δίκην καὶ τῆς Καδμείας καταληφθείσης ἠναγκάσθησαν ἐνθάδε καταφυγεῖν. ὅθεν καὶ μάλιστʼ ἐπεδείξαντο τὴν αὑτῶν ἀπιστίαν·

And while the Chians, Mytilaeneans, and Byzantines remained by your side, these men, inhabiting so great a city, did not even dare to make themselves common allies, but came to such a pitch of cowardice and villainy that they swore indeed to follow those others against you who had saved their city; for which deeds they paid the penalty to the gods, and when the Cadmea was seized, they were forced to flee for refuge here. Wherefrom they most of all demonstrated their own faithlessness;

§29

σωθέντες γὰρ πάλιν διὰ τῆς ὑμετέρας δυνάμεως καὶ κατελθόντες εἰς τὴν αὑτῶν οὐδένα χρόνον ἐνέμειναν, ἀλλʼ εὐθὺς εἰς Λακεδαίμονα πρέσβεις ἀπέστελλον, ἕτοιμοι δουλεύειν ὄντες καὶ μηδὲν κινεῖν τῶν πρότερον πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὡμολογημένων. καὶ τί δεῖ μακρολογεῖν; εἰ γὰρ μὴ προσέταττον ἐκεῖνοι τούς τε φεύγοντας καταδέχεσθαι καὶ τοὺς αὐτόχειρας ἐξείργειν, οὐδὲν ἂν ἐκώλυεν⁴ αὐτοὺς μετὰ τῶν ἠδικηκότων ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς τοὺς εὐεργέτας στρατεύεσθαι.

for having been saved again by your power and having returned to their own land, they did not abide for any time, but immediately dispatched envoys to Lacedaemon, being ready to serve them as slaves and to change nothing of what had previously been agreed with them. And why need one speak at length? For if those others had not ordered them to receive back the exiles and to banish the perpetrators of the murders, nothing would have prevented them from marching with those who had wronged you against you, their benefactors.

§30

καὶ τοιοῦτοι μὲν νεωστὶ περὶ τὴν πόλιν τήνδε γεγενημένοι, τὸ δὲ παλαιὸν ἁπάσης τῆς Ἑλλάδος προδόται καταστάντες, αὐτοὶ μὲν ὑπὲρ οὕτως ἑκουσίων καὶ μεγάλων ἀδικημάτων συγγνώμης τυχεῖν ἠξιώθησαν, ἡμῖν δʼ ὑπὲρ ὧν ἠναγκάσθημεν, οὐδεμίαν ἔχειν οἴονται δεῖν, ἀλλὰ τολμῶσιν ὄντες Θηβαῖοι λακωνισμὸν ἑτέροις ὀνειδίζειν, οὓς πάντες ἴσμεν πλεῖστον χρόνον Λακεδαιμονίοις δεδουλευκότας καὶ προθυμότερον ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐκείνων ἀρχῆς ἢ τῆς αὑτῶν σωτηρίας πεπολεμηκότας.

And though they themselves, having behaved in such a manner recently toward this city, and having of old stood as traitors to all Greece, were deemed worthy to receive pardon for such voluntary and great wrongdoings, they think that we ought to have no pardon for what we were forced to do. Instead, being Thebans, they dare to reproach others with Laconism, when we all know that they have for the longest time been enslaved to the Lacedaemonians and have fought more eagerly for their empire than for their own safety.

§31

ποίας γὰρ εἰσβολῆς ἀπελείφθησαν τῶν εἰς ταύτην τὴν χώραν γεγενημένων; ἢ τίνων οὐκ ἐχθίους ὑμῖν καὶ δυσμενέστεροι διετέλεσαν ὄντες; οὐκ ἐν τῷ Δεκελεικῷ πολέμῳ πλειόνων αἴτιοι κακῶν ἐγένοντο τῶν ἄλλων τῶν συνεισβαλόντων; οὐ δυστυχησάντων ὑμῶν μόνοι τῶν συμμάχων ἔθεντο τὴν ψῆφον, ὡς χρὴ τήν τε πόλιν ἐξανδραποδίσασθαι καὶ τὴν χώραν ἀνεῖναι μηλόβοτον ὥσπερ τὸ Κρισαῖον πεδίον;

For from what invasion made into this country were they absent? Or to whom did they not continue to be more hostile and ill-disposed than to you? Did they not in the Decelean War become the cause of more evils than all the others who joined in the invasion? When you met with misfortune, did they not, alone of the allies, cast their vote that the city should be enslaved and its land left as a sheep-pasture like the Crisaean plain?

§32

ὥστʼ εἰ Λακεδαιμόνιοι τὴν αὐτὴν γνώμην ἔσχον Θηβαίοις, οὐδὲν ἂν ἐκώλυε τοὺς ἅπασι τοῖς Ἕλλησιν αἰτίους τῆς σωτηρίας γενομένους⁵ αὐτοὺς ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἐξανδραποδισθῆναι καὶ ταῖς μεγίσταις συμφοραῖς περιπεσεῖν. καίτοι τίνα τηλικαύτην εὐεργεσίαν ἔχοιεν ἂν εἰπεῖν, ἥτις ἱκανὴ γενήσεται διαλῦσαι τὴν ἔχθραν τὴν ἐκ τούτων δικαίως ἂν ὑπάρχουσαν πρὸς αὐτούς;

So that if the Lacedaemonians had held the same opinion as the Thebans, nothing would have prevented those who had been the causes of salvation to all the Greeks from being themselves enslaved by the Greeks and falling into the greatest misfortunes. And yet, what so great a benefit could they have to mention, which will be sufficient to dissolve the enmity that justly exists against them because of these things?

Syntax notes5 items

22ἣν
ἣν is a relative pronoun in the feminine accusative singular, referring back to the preceding noun διαβολῆς. Functioning as a connecting relative at the beginning of the sentence, it links the sentences closely together like a demonstrative.
25τὸ Θηβαίους ἔχειν τὴν ἡμετέραν
τὸ Θηβαίους ἔχειν τὴν ἡμετέραν is an articular infinitive construction nominalized by the article τὸ. Θηβαίους is the subject accusative of the infinitive ἔχειν, and τὴν ἡμετέραν (with χώραν understood) is its object. The entire phrase stands in apposition to τοῦτο, the object of the verb φασὶ.
27οὐχ ὅπως τούτων χάριν ἀπέδοσαν, ἀλλʼ...
οὐχ ὅπως... ἀλλʼ... is an idiomatic construction meaning "far from doing... on the contrary...". It strongly denies the first action (returning thanks) to emphasize the gravity of the subsequent opposing action.
29εἰ γὰρ μὴ προσέταττον ἐκεῖνοι ... οὐδὲν ἂν ἐκώλυεν
This is a past contrary-to-fact conditional sentence. The protasis uses εἰ with the imperfect indicative (προσέταττον), and the apodosis uses ἄν with the imperfect indicative (ἐκώλυεν), expressing "if those men had not given orders..., nothing would have prevented..." (whereas they did give orders, and so it was prevented).
32τοὺς ἅπασι τοῖς Ἕλλησιν αἰτίους τῆς σωτηρίας γενομένους
The participle γενομένους, substantivized by the article τοὺς, refers to "those who became...". αἰτίους acts as a predicate accusative of the participle, accompanied by the genitive complement τῆς σωτηρίας ("causes of the salvation") and the dative of reference ἅπασι τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ("to all the Greeks").

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22) · Revision history (2, latest 2026-09-22)

2026-09-22 AI review — source 1
2026-09-21 AI review — source 1

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0010.tlg012.humanitext-grc2:22-32