- 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.tlg016.humanitext-grc2:10-17
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-26
The speaker argues that aiding Megalopolis aligns with Athens' consistent policy of helping the wronged, refutes opponents' concerns regarding Oropus and Spartan hostility, and exposes Sparta's deceptive maneuvers aimed at rallying allies for its planned campaign against Messene.
νῦν μέν γε βοηθεῖν δόξετʼ Ἀρκάσι, καὶ τὴν εἰρήνην σπουδάζειν εἶναι βεβαίαν, ὑπὲρ ἧς ἐκινδυνεύσατε καὶ παρετάξασθε· τότε δʼ εὔδηλοι πᾶσιν ἔσεσθε οὐ τοῦ δικαίου μᾶλλον εἵνεκα Μεσσήνην εἶναι βουλόμενοι1 ἢ τοῦ πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους φόβου. δεῖ δὲ σκοπεῖν μὲν καὶ πράττειν ἀεὶ τὰ δίκαια, συμπαρατηρεῖν δʼ ὅπως ἅμα καὶ συμφέροντʼ ἔσται ταῦτα.
Now indeed, you will seem to be assisting the Arcadians, and to be eager for the peace to be secure, on behalf of which you faced danger and were drawn up in battle; but then you will be clear to all as wishing Messene to exist not so much for the sake of justice as for the sake of your fear of the Lacedaemonians. But one must always consider and do what is just, yet at the same time observe how these things will also be advantageous.
ἔστι τοίνυν τοιοῦτός τις λόγος παρὰ τῶν ἀντιλεγόντων, ὡς κομίσασθαι τὸν Ὠρωπὸν ἡμᾶς ἐγχειρεῖν δεῖ, εἰ δὲ τοὺς βοηθήσαντας ἂν ἡμῖν νῦν ἐπʼ αὐτὸν ἐχθροὺς κτησόμεθα, οὐχ ἕξομεν συμμάχους. ἐγὼ δὲ τὸ μὲν κομίσασθαι Ὠρωπὸν πειρᾶσθαι δεῖν φημι καὶ αὐτός· τὸ δʼ ἐχθροὺς ἡμῖν Λακεδαιμονίους ἔσεσθαι νῦν,2 ἐὰν ποιώμεθα συμμάχους Ἀρκάδων τοὺς βουλομένους ἡμῖν εἶναι φίλους, μόνοις οὐδʼ εἰπεῖν ἐξεῖναι νομίζω τοῖς πείσασιν ὑμᾶς, ὅτʼ ἐκινδύνευον Λακεδαιμόνιοι, βοηθεῖν.
Now there is a certain argument of this kind from those who oppose us, to the effect that we ought to attempt to recover Oropus, but if we now make enemies of those who would have assisted us to gain it, we shall have no allies. But for my part, I too say that we must try to recover Oropus; but as for the claim that the Lacedaemonians will be our enemies now, if we make allies of those of the Arcadians who wish to be our friends, I think that those alone who persuaded you to assist the Lacedaemonians when they were in danger have no right even to say this.
οὐ γὰρ ταῦτα λέγοντες ἔπεισαν ὑμᾶς, πάντων Πελοποννησίων ἐλθόντων ὡς ὑμᾶς καὶ μεθʼ ὑμῶν ἀξιούντων ἐπὶ τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους ἰέναι, τοὺς μὲν μὴ προσδέξασθαι (καὶ διὰ τοῦθʼ, ὅπερ ἦν ὑπόλοιπον αὐτοῖς, ἐπὶ Θηβαίους ἦλθον), ὑπὲρ δὲ τῆς Λακεδαιμονίων σωτηρίας καὶ χρήματʼ εἰσφέρειν καὶ τοῖς σώμασι κινδυνεύειν·3 οὐδʼ ἂν ὑμεῖς ἠθελήσατε δήπου σῴζειν αὐτούς, εἰ τοῦτο προὔλεγον ὑμῖν, ὅτι σωθέντες, ἐὰν μὴ ποιεῖν ὅ τι βούλονται πάλιν αὐτοὺς ἐᾶτε καὶ ἀδικεῖν, οὐδεμίαν ὑμῖν χάριν ἕξουσι τῆς σωτηρίας.
For they did not persuade you by saying these things, when all the Peloponnesians came to you and demanded to go against the Lacedaemonians with you—to refuse to receive them (and on this account, which was the only course left to them, they went to the Thebans), but on behalf of the safety of the Lacedaemonians both to contribute money and to risk your lives; nor indeed would you have wished to save them, if they had forewarned you of this, that when saved, unless you permit them again to do whatever they wish and to commit injustice, they will feel no gratitude to you for their safety.
καὶ μὴν εἰ σφόδρʼ ἐναντίον ἐστὶ τοῖς Λακεδαιμονίων ἐπιχειρήμασιν τὸ τοὺς Ἀρκάδας ἡμᾶς συμμάχους ποιήσασθαι, προσήκει δήπου πλείω χάριν αὐτοὺς ἔχειν ὧν ἐσώθησαν ὑφʼ ἡμῶν εἰς τοὺς ἐσχάτους ἐλθόντες κινδύνους ἢ ὧν ἀδικεῖν κωλύονται νῦν ὀργίζεσθαι. ὥστε πῶς οὐ βοηθήσουσιν ἡμῖν ἐπʼ Ὠρωπόν, ἢ κάκιστοι πάντων ἀνθρώπων δόξουσιν εἶναι; μὰ τοὺς θεοὺς ἔγωγʼ οὐχ ὁρῶ.
Furthermore, even if our making the Arcadians allies is highly contrary to the enterprises of the Lacedaemonians, they ought surely to feel greater gratitude for having been saved by us when they had come into the extreme dangers, than to be angry at being prevented from committing injustice now. Therefore, how will they not assist us against Oropus, or will they seem to be the basest of all men? By the gods, I for my part do not see.
θαυμάζω τοίνυν καὶ τῶν λεγόντων τοῦτον τὸν λόγον, ὡς εἰ συμμάχους ποιησόμεθʼ Ἀρκάδας καὶ ταῦτα πράξομεν, μεταβάλλεσθαι δόξει καὶ οὐδὲν ἔχειν πιστὸν ἡ πόλις. ἐμοὶ μὲν γὰρ δοκεῖ τοὐναντίον, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι. διὰ τί; ὅτι τῶν πάντων οὐδένʼ ἂν ἀντειπεῖν οἴομαι ὡς οὐ καὶ Λακεδαιμονίους καὶ πρότερον Θηβαίους καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον Εὐβοέας ἔσωσεν ἡ πόλις, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα συμμάχους ἐποιήσατο, ἕν τι καὶ ταὔτʼ ἀεὶ βουλομένη πράττειν.
I wonder also at those who use this argument, that if we make the Arcadians our allies and do these things, the city will seem to be shifting her ground and to possess no credibility. For to me, men of Athens, the contrary seems to be the case. Why? Because I think no one of all men would deny that the city saved both the Lacedaemonians, and before them the Thebans, and lastly the Euboeans, and afterwards made them allies, always wishing to do one and the same thing.
ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο τί; τοὺς ἀδικουμένους σῴζειν. εἰ τοίνυν ταῦθʼ οὕτως ἔχει, οὐκέτʼ ἂν ἡμεῖς εἴημεν οἱ μεταβαλλόμενοι, ἀλλʼ οἱ μὴ ʼθέλοντες τοῖς δικαίοις ἐμμένειν, καὶ φανήσεται τὰ πράγματʼ ἀεὶ διὰ τοὺς πλεονεκτεῖν βουλομένους μεταβαλλόμενα, οὐχ ἡ πόλις ἡμῶν.
And what is this? To save those who are being wronged. If, therefore, this is so, it would no longer be we who are shifting our ground, but those who are unwilling to abide by what is just; and it will appear that affairs are always changing because of those who wish to grasp for more, and not because of our city.
δοκοῦσι δέ μοι Λακεδαιμόνιοι μάλα δεινῶν ἔργον ἀνθρώπων ποιεῖν. νῦν γάρ φασιν ἐκεῖνοι δεῖν Ἠλείους μὲν τῆς Τριφυλίας τινὰ κομίσασθαι, Φλειασίους δὲ τὸ Τρικάρανον, ἄλλους δέ τινας τῶν Ἀρκάδων τὴν αὑτῶν, καὶ τὸν Ὠρωπὸν ἡμᾶς, οὐχ ἵνʼ ἑκάστους ἡμῶν ἴδωσιν ἔχοντας τὰ αὑτῶν, οὐδʼ ὀλίγου δεῖ·
Now the Lacedaemonians seem to me to be acting like very crafty men. For they now say that the Eleans ought to recover a certain part of Triphylia, the Phliasians Tricaranum, and certain others of the Arcadians their own land, and we Oropus, not in order that they may see each of us possessing our own—far from it;
ὀψὲ γὰρ ἂν φιλάνθρωποι γεγονότες εἶεν·4 ἀλλʼ ἵνα πᾶσι δοκῶσι συμπράττειν ὅπως ἕκαστοι κομίσωνται ταῦθʼ ἅ φασιν αὑτῶν εἶναι, ἐπειδὰν δʼ ἴωσʼ ἐπὶ Μεσσήνην αὐτοί, συστρατεύωνται πάντες αὐτοῖς οὗτοι καὶ βοηθῶσι προθύμως, ἢ δοκῶσʼ ἀδικεῖν, περὶ ὧν ἔφασαν ἕκαστοι σφῶν αὐτῶν εἶναι συμψήφους λαβόντες ἐκείνους, μὴ τὴν ὁμοίαν αὐτοῖς ἀποδιδόντες.
for they would have become benevolent quite late; but rather in order that they may seem to cooperate with all so that each may recover what they claim to be their own, and then, whenever they themselves march against Messene, all these may join in the campaign with them and assist them eagerly, or else seem to act unjustly, if, after having obtained them as supporters concerning what each claimed to be their own, they do not return a similar favor to them.
- 10εὔδηλοι πᾶσιν ἔσεσθε ... βουλόμενοι
A personal construction of the adjective εὔδηλος with the future verb ἔσεσθε and the nominative participle βουλόμενοι, equivalent to an impersonal construction (εὔδηλον ἔσται ὅτι...). It translates to "it will be manifest to all that you wish...", where the subject of the clause is attracted into the nominative of the participle.
- 11τὸ δʼ ἐχθροὺς ἡμῖν Λακεδαιμονίους ἔσεσθαι νῦν
The accusative infinitive clause is nominalized by the neuter singular accusative article τὸ. Although display_text reads ἔσεσθε following some manuscripts, syntactically it functions as the future infinitive ἔσεσθαι. This entire nominal phrase acts as an accusative object of the subsequent verb νομίζω ("as for the claim that the Lacedaemonians will be our enemies now"), placed at the beginning of the sentence for strong contrastive emphasis.
- 12ἔπεισαν ὑμᾶς ... μὴ προσδέξασθαι ... εἰσφέρειν ... κινδυνεύειν
The main verb ἔπεισαν ("persuaded") governs the accusative object ὑμᾶς ("you"), followed by multiple infinitives after a long intervening parenthetical genitive absolute (πάντων... ἰέναι). The negative aorist infinitive μὴ προσδέξασθαι ("not to receive") and the subsequently connected present infinitives εἰσφέρειν ("to contribute") and κινδυνεύειν ("to risk") both function as complement infinitives expressing the action forced upon the object.
- 17ὀψὲ γὰρ ἂν φιλάνθρωποι γεγονότες εἶεν
The particle ἂν combined with the periphrastic perfect optative consisting of the perfect participle γεγονότες and the present optative third-person plural εἶεν of εἰμί. It expresses a potentiality or counterfactual condition ("they would have become..."), serving as a logical conclusion or a sharp irony: "for they would have become benevolent quite late (if that were indeed the case)."