- Source
- Demosthenes. Orationes, Vol. I. Butcher, S. H., editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903.
- 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:tlg0014.tlg015.humanitext-grc2:19-26
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
The speaker warns that the collapse of democracy in other states threatens Athens' own democracy, citing the example of the Argives to argue that Athens should not fear the Persian King, and criticizes domestic speakers who advocate for foreign interests.
θαυμάζω δʼ εἰ1 μηδεὶς ὑμῶν ἡγεῖται Χίων ὀλιγαρχουμένων καὶ Μυτιληναίων, καὶ νυνὶ Ῥοδίων καὶ πάντων ἀνθρώπων ὀλίγου δέω λέγειν εἰς ταύτην τὴν δουλείαν ὑπαγομένων, συγκινδυνεύειν τι τὴν παρʼ ἡμῖν πολιτείαν, μηδὲ λογίζεται τοῦθʼ ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως,2 εἰ διʼ ὀλιγαρχίας ἅπαντα συστήσεται, τὸν παρʼ ὑμῖν δῆμον ἐάσουσιν. ἴσασι γὰρ οὐδένας ἄλλους πάλιν εἰς ἐλευθερίαν ἂν τὰ πράγματʼ ἐξάγοντας· ὅθεν δὴ κακὸν αὑτοῖς ἄν τι γενέσθαι προσδοκῶσι, τοῦτʼ ἀνελεῖν βουλήσονται.
And I am surprised if none of you considers that, with Chios and Mytilene under oligarchies, and now Rhodes, and indeed almost all mankind, I might well say, being drawn into this slavery, our own constitution is sharing in some danger; and if no one reflects on this fact, that it is impossible, if everything is established under oligarchies, that they will leave your democracy alone. For they know that there are no others who would lead affairs back to freedom; and therefore, they will wish to destroy that from which they expect some evil might come to them.
τοὺς μὲν οὖν ἄλλους τοὺς ἀδικοῦντάς τινας αὐτῶν τῶν κακῶς πεπονθότων ἐχθροὺς ἡγεῖσθαι χρή· τοὺς δὲ τὰς πολιτείας καταλύοντας καὶ μεθιστάντας εἰς ὀλιγαρχίαν κοινοὺς ἐχθροὺς παραινῶ νομίζειν ἁπάντων τῶν ἐλευθερίας ἐπιθυμούντων.
Therefore, while those others who wrong some people should be considered enemies by the victims themselves who have suffered, I advise you to regard those who destroy constitutions and change them into oligarchies as the common enemies of all who desire freedom.
ἔπειτα καὶ δίκαιον, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, δημοκρατουμένους αὐτοὺς τοιαῦτα φρονοῦντας φαίνεσθαι περὶ τῶν ἀτυχούντων δήμων, οἷάπερ ἂν τοὺς ἄλλους ἀξιώσαιτε φρονεῖν3 περὶ ὑμῶν, εἴ ποθʼ, ὃ μὴ γένοιτο, τοιοῦτό τι συμβαίη. καὶ γὰρ εἰ δίκαιά τις φήσει Ῥοδίους πεπονθέναι, οὐκ ἐπιτήδειος ὁ καιρὸς ἐφησθῆναι· δεῖ γὰρ τοὺς εὐτυχοῦντας περὶ τῶν ἀτυχούντων ἀεὶ φαίνεσθαι τὰ βέλτιστα βουλευομένους, ἐπειδήπερ ἄδηλον τὸ μέλλον ἅπασιν ἀνθρώποις.
Furthermore, it is also just, men of Athens, that you, being yourself under a democracy, should be seen to hold such sentiments toward unfortunate democracies as you would expect others to hold toward you, if ever—which heaven forbid!—any such thing should happen. For even if someone should say that the Rhodians have suffered justly, it is not a proper occasion to exult over them; for those who are prosperous should always be seen consulting for the best interest of the unfortunate, since the future is unseen to all mankind.
ἀκούω δʼ ἐγὼ πολλάκις ἐνταυθὶ παρʼ ὑμῖν τινῶν λεγόντων ὡς, ὅτʼ ἠτύχησεν ὁ δῆμος ἡμῶν, συνεβουλήθησάν τινες αὐτὸν σωθῆναι· ὧν ἐγὼ μόνων Ἀργείων ἐν τῷ παρόντι μνησθήσομαι βραχύ τι. οὐ γὰρ ἂν ὑμᾶς βουλοίμην, δόξαν ἔχοντας τοῦ σῴζειν τοὺς ἀτυχοῦντας ἀεί, χείρους Ἀργείων ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ πράξει φανῆναι, οἳ χώραν ὅμορον τῇ Λακεδαιμονίων οἰκοῦντες, ὁρῶντες ἐκείνους γῆς καὶ θαλάττης ἄρχοντας, οὐκ ἀπώκνησαν οὐδʼ ἐφοβήθησαν εὐνοϊκῶς ὑμῖν ἔχοντες φανῆναι, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρέσβεις ἐλθόντας ἐκ Λακεδαίμονος, ὥς φασιν, ἐξαιτήσοντάς τινας τῶν φυγάδων τῶν ὑμετέρων ἐψηφίσαντο, ἐὰν μὴ πρὸ ἡλίου δύντος ἀπαλλάττωνται, πολεμίους κρίνειν.
And I often hear some people here among you saying that, when our democracy met with disaster, there were some who wished for its salvation; of whom I shall mention only the Argives at present, and that briefly. For I should not like you, who have a reputation for always saving the unfortunate, to appear inferior to the Argives in this action—they who, inhabiting a territory bordering on the Lacedaemonians, and seeing them ruling land and sea, did not shrink nor fear to show goodwill toward you, but even when ambassadors came from Lacedaemon, as they say, to demand some of your exiles, they voted to declare them enemies unless they departed before sunset.
εἶτʼ οὐκ αἰσχρόν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, εἰ τὸ μὲν Ἀργείων πλῆθος οὐκ ἐφοβήθη τὴν Λακεδαιμονίων ἀρχὴν ἐν ἐκείνοις τοῖς καιροῖς οὐδὲ τὴν ῥώμην, ὑμεῖς δʼ ὄντες Ἀθηναῖοι βάρβαρον ἄνθρωπον, καὶ ταῦτα γυναῖκα,4 φοβήσεσθε; καὶ μὴν οἱ μὲν ἔχοιεν ἂν εἰπεῖν ὅτι πολλάκις ἥττηνται Λακεδαιμονίων, ὑμεῖς δὲ νενικήκατε μὲν πολλάκις βασιλέα, ἥττησθε δʼ οὐδʼ ἅπαξ οὔτε τῶν δούλων τῶν βασιλέως οὔτʼ αὐτοῦ ʼκείνου· εἰ γάρ τί που κεκράτηκε τῆς πόλεως βασιλεύς, ἢ τοὺς πονηροτάτους τῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶ προδότας αὐτῶν χρήμασι πείσας ἢ οὐδαμῶς ἄλλως κεκράτηκεν.
Is it not then shameful, men of Athens, if the common people of Argos did not fear the dominion of the Lacedaemonians in those times, nor their strength, but you, being Athenians, should fear a barbarian, and that too a woman? Furthermore, the Argives might be able to say that they have often been defeated by the Lacedaemonians; but you have often defeated the King, and have never once been defeated either by the servants of the King or by that King himself. For if the King has ever in any way prevailed over our city, he has prevailed by bribing the most wicked of the Greeks and those who betrayed them, and in no other way whatsoever.
καὶ οὐδὲ τοῦτʼ αὐτῷ συνενήνοχεν, ἀλλʼ ἅμʼ εὑρήσετʼ αὐτὸν τήν τε πόλιν διὰ Λακεδαιμονίων ἀσθενῆ ποιήσαντα καὶ περὶ τῆς αὑτοῦ βασιλείας κινδυνεύσαντα πρὸς Κλέαρχον καὶ Κῦρον. οὔτʼ οὖν ἐκ φανεροῦ κεκράτηκεν οὔτʼ ἐπιβουλεῦσαι συνενήνοχεν αὐτῷ. ὁρῶ δʼ ὑμῶν ἐνίους Φιλίππου μὲν ὡς ἄρʼ οὐδενὸς ἀξίου πολλάκις ὀλιγωροῦντας, βασιλέα δʼ ὡς ἰσχυρὸν ἐχθρὸν οἷς ἂν προέληται φοβουμένους. εἰ δὲ τὸν μὲν ὡς φαῦλον οὐκ ἀμυνούμεθα, τῷ δʼ ὡς φοβερῷ πάνθʼ ὑπείξομεν, πρὸς τίνας, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, παραταξόμεθα;
And even this has not benefited him, but you will find that at the very time he made our city weak through the Lacedaemonians, he risked his own kingdom against Clearchus and Cyrus. Neither, then, has he conquered openly, nor has his plotting benefited him. Yet I see some of you often disregarding Philip as being of no account, but fearing the King as a powerful enemy to whomever he may choose to oppose. If, then, we do not defend ourselves against the one because he is insignificant, and yield everything to the other because he is formidable, against whom, men of Athens, shall we draw up our forces?
εἰσὶ δέ τινες, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, παρʼ ὑμῖν δεινότατοι τὰ δίκαια λέγειν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἄλλων πρὸς ὑμᾶς, οἷς παραινέσαιμʼ ἂν ἔγωγε τοσοῦτον μόνον, ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους ζητεῖν τὰ δίκαια λέγειν, ἵνʼ αὐτοὶ τὰ προσήκοντα πρῶτοι φαίνωνται ποιοῦντες· ὡς ἔστʼ ἄτοπον περὶ τῶν δικαίων ὑμᾶς διδάσκειν αὐτὸν οὐ δίκαια ποιοῦντα· οὐ γάρ ἐστι δίκαιον ὄντα πολίτην τοὺς καθʼ ὑμῶν λόγους,5 ἀλλὰ μὴ τοὺς ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἐσκέφθαι.
There are some among you, men of Athens, who are most clever at arguing for the rights of others against you. To these I would give only this advice: to seek to argue for your rights against others, so that they themselves may be seen to be the first to do what is proper. For it is absurd to instruct you about justice when one is not acting justly oneself; for it is not just that a citizen should have studied the arguments against you, and not those on your behalf.
φέρε γὰρ πρὸς θεῶν σκοπεῖτε, τί δήποτʼ ἐν Βυζαντίῳ οὐδείς ἐσθʼ ὁ διδάξων ἐκείνους μὴ καταλαμβάνειν Χαλκηδόνα, ἣ βασιλέως μέν ἐστιν, εἴχετε δʼ αὐτὴν ὑμεῖς, ἐκείνοις δʼ οὐδαμόθεν προσῆκεν· μηδὲ Σηλυμβρίαν, πόλιν ὑμετέραν ποτὲ σύμμαχον οὖσαν, ὡς αὑτοὺς συντελῆ ποιεῖν καὶ Βυζαντίων ὁρίζειν τὴν τούτων χώραν παρὰ τοὺς ὅρκους καὶ τὰς συνθήκας, ἐν αἷς αὐτονόμους τὰς πόλεις εἶναι γέγραπται;
For, by the gods, consider why it is that in Byzantium there is no one to instruct them not to seize Chalcedon, which belongs to the King, and which you once held, while to them it in no way belonged; nor yet Selymbria, once an allied city of yours, so as to make it tributary to themselves, and to define the territory of these towns as belonging to Byzantium, contrary to the oaths and treaties in which it is written that the cities shall be independent?
- 19θαυμάζω δʼ εἰ
The clause introduced by εἰ after θαυμάζω, a verb of emotion, represents an actual fact or assumption, meaning "I wonder that..." rather than "I wonder whether...".
- 19οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως
οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως followed by the future indicative (here ἐάσουσιν) expresses a strong denial, meaning "it is impossible that..." or "there is no way that they will...".
- 21οἷάπερ ἂν τοὺς ἄλλους ἀξιώσαιτε φρονεῖν
A clause introduced by the relative pronoun οἷάπερ, correlating with the preceding demonstrative τοιαῦτα. The potential optative ἀξιώσαιτε with ἂν indicates a hypothetical situation: "such as you would expect others to hold."
- 23καὶ ταῦτα γυναῖκα
The idiomatic expression καὶ ταῦτα ("and that too", "especially"), using the neuter plural accusative of the pronoun, stands in apposition with the accusative object βάρβαρον ἄνθρωπον, further specified and emphasized by γυναῖκα.
- 25τοὺς καθʼ ὑμῶν λόγους
The preposition κατά with the genitive means "against" or "to the disadvantage of". Attributed by the definite article τοὺς, it functions as a noun meaning "arguments against you", contrasting with τοὺς ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ("arguments on your behalf").