- Source
- Demosthenes. Orationes, Vol. II, Part 2. Rennie, W., editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1921.
- 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.tlg033.humanitext-grc2:24-30
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
The speaker argues that he was not the surety by highlighting the contradiction in the three-year delay of the claim, citing the law that limits suretyship to one year, and emphasizing the absurdity of bringing a lawsuit when the original agreements were lost.
οὐ γὰρ δὴ τοῦτό γʼ αὐτῷ ἔνι1 εἰπεῖν, ὡς διὰ τὴν πρὸς ἐμὲ φιλίαν ὤκνει μοι ἀπεχθέσθαι. αὐτὸς γὰρ εἰσεπέπρακτο ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ πρὸς ἔχθραν τὰς χιλίας δραχμὰς τὰς τοῦ Παρμένοντος, καὶ ὅτʼ ἐξώρμιζε τὴν ναῦν ἐπιβουλεύων ἀποδρᾶναι καὶ ἀποστερῆσαι τὸ ἐπὶ τὴν τράπεζαν χρέως, ἐκωλύθη ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ. ὥστε εἰ ἦν ἠγγυημένος ἐγὼ τὸν Παρμένοντα, οὐκ ἂν τρίτῳ ἔτει ὕστερον, ἀλλʼ εὐθὺς τότε εἰσέπραττεν ἄν με τὴν ἐγγύην.
For he cannot indeed say this, that out of friendship for me he hesitated to become hateful to me. For he himself had had the thousand drachmae of Parmenon exacted from him by me with enmity, and when he was putting his ship out of port, plotting to run away and deprive the bank of the debt, he was prevented by me. So if I had been surety for Parmenon, he would not be demanding payment of the surety from me three years later, but immediately then.
ἀλλὰ νὴ Δία εὐπόρως διέκειτο, ὥστʼ ἐνεδέχετο αὐτῷ καὶ ὕστερον ἐπʼ ἐμὲ ἐλθεῖν, τότε δʼ ἀσχόλως εἶχεν περὶ ἀναγωγὴν ὤν. ἀλλὰ διʼ ἀπορίαν ἐξειστήκει τῶν ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τὴν ναῦν ἐπεπράκει. εἰ δʼ ἄρα ἐμποδών τι αὐτῷ ἐγένετο τοῦ μὴ εὐθὺς τότε δικάσασθαι, διὰ τί πέρυσιν ἐπιδημῶν, μὴ ὅτι δικάσασθαι, ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἐγκαλέσαι2 μοι ἐτόλμησεν; καίτοι προσῆκεν, εἰ ὁ μὲν Παρμένων ὠφλήκει αὐτῷ τὴν δίκην, ἐγὼ δὲ ἐγγυητὴς ἦν, προσελθεῖν αὐτόν μοι ἔχοντα μάρτυρας καὶ ἀπαιτῆσαι τὴν ἐγγύην, εἰ μὴ προπέρυσιν, ἐν τῷ ἐξελθόντι ἐνιαυτῷ· καὶ εἰ μὲν αὐτῷ ἀπεδίδουν, κομίσασθαι, εἰ δὲ μή, δικάζεσθαι.
But, by Zeus, perhaps he was well-off, so that it was possible for him to come against me even later, and at that time he was busy, being about to set sail. But because of poverty he had lost his possessions and had sold his ship. And if, indeed, something stood in his way so that he did not bring a lawsuit immediately then, why, when he was in town last year, did he not venture, I do not say to bring a lawsuit, but even to make a demand of me? And yet it was proper, if Parmenon had lost the lawsuit to him and I was the surety, that he should come to me with witnesses and demand the surety, if not the year before last, at least in the past year; and if I paid him, to receive it, and if not, to bring a lawsuit.
τῶν γὰρ τοιούτων ἐγκλημάτων πρότερον τὰς ἀπαιτήσεις ποιοῦνται ἅπαντες ἢ δικάζονται. οὐκ ἔστιν τοίνυν ὅστις μαρτυρήσει παραγενέσθαι, ὅπου οὗτος ἢ πέρυσιν ἢ προπέρυσιν ἐδικάσατό μοι ἢ λόγον ὁντινοῦν ἐποιήσατο πρὸς ἐμὲ περὶ ὧν νυνί μοι δικάζεται. ὅτι δʼ ἐπεδήμει πέρυσιν, ὅτε αἱ δίκαι ἦσαν, λαβέ μοι τὴν μαρτυρίαν. ΜΑΡΤΥΡΙΑ.
For in all such claims, everyone makes demands before they go to law. Therefore, there is no one who will testify to having been present when this man, either last year or the year before last, brought a lawsuit against me or made any statement whatsoever to me concerning the matters for which he now sues me. And to show that he was in town last year, when the lawsuits were going on, take, please, the testimony. [ΜΑΡΤΥΡΙΑ]
λαβὲ δή μοι καὶ τὸν νόμον, ὃς κελεύει τὰς ἐγγύας ἐπετείους εἶναι. καὶ οὐκ ἰσχυρίζομαι τῷ νόμῳ, ὡς οὐ δεῖ με δίκην δοῦναι εἰ ἠγγυησάμην, ἀλλὰ μάρτυρά μοί φημι τὸν νόμον εἶναι τοῦ μὴ ἐγγυήσασθαι καὶ αὐτὸν τοῦτον· ἐδεδίκαστο γὰρ ἄν μοι τῆς ἐγγύης ἐν τῷ χρόνῳ τῷ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ γεγραμμένῳ. ΝΟΜΟΣ.
Take, please, also the law which ordains that suretyships shall be for one year. And I do not rely on the law to argue that I ought not to pay if I became surety, but I say that the law is a witness for me, and so is this man himself, that I did not become surety; for he would have sued me on the suretyship within the time written in the law. [ΝΟΜΟΣ]
γενέσθω τοίνυν καὶ τοῦτο ὑμῖν τεκμήριον τοῦ ψεύδεσθαι Ἀπατούριον· εἰ γὰρ ἠγγυησάμην ἐγὼ τούτῳ τὸν Παρμένοντα, οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως τούτῳ μὲν ὑπὲρ ἐκείνου ἀπηχθόμην, πρόνοιαν ποιούμενος ὅπως μὴ ἀπολεῖ ἃ διʼ ἐμοῦ τούτῳ συνέβαλεν, αὐτὸς δʼ ἐμαυτὸν περιεῖδον3 ἂν ὑπʼ ἐκείνου πρὸς τοῦτον ἐν ἐγγύῃ καταλειπόμενον. τίνα γὰρ ἐλπίδα ἔσχον τοῦτον ἀποσχήσεσθαί μου, ὃν αὐτὸς ἠναγκάκειν ἐκείνῳ τὰ δίκαια ποιῆσαι; καὶ τὴν ἐγγύην αὐτὸν εἰσπράξας τὴν πρὸς τὴν τράπεζαν πρὸς ἀπέχθειαν, τί προσεδόκων ὑπὸ τούτου αὐτὸς πείσεσθαι;
Therefore, let this also be a proof to you that Apatourius is lying: for if I had become surety for Parmenon to this man, there is no way that, while I became hated by this man on behalf of the former, taking care that he should not lose what he had lent to this man through me, I would have overlooked my own self being left by him in suretyship to this man. For what hope had I that this man would spare me, whom I myself had forced to do justice to the other? And having, to his enmity, exacted from him the surety due to the bank, what did I expect to suffer at his hands?
ἄξιον τοίνυν καὶ τοῦτʼ ἐνθυμηθῆναι, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, ὅτι οὐκ ἄν ποτε ἔξαρνος ἐγενόμην, εἰ ἠγγυήμην· πολὺ γὰρ ὁ λόγος ἦν μοι ἰσχυρότερος ὁμολογοῦντι τὴν ἐγγύην ἐπὶ τὰς συνθήκας ἰέναι,4 καθʼ ἃς ἡ ἐπιτροπὴ ἐγένετο. ὅτι μὲν γὰρ τρισὶν ἐπετράπη διαιτηταῖς, μεμαρτύρηται ὑμῖν· ὁπότε δὲ μὴ ἔγνωσται ὑπὸ τῶν τριῶν, τί βουλόμενος ἠρνούμην ἂν τὴν ἐγγύην; μὴ γὰρ γενομένης τῆς γνώσεως κατὰ τὰς συνθήκας, οὐδʼ ἂν ἐγὼ τῆς ἐγγύης ὑπόδικος ἦν. ὥστε οὐκ ἄν ποτε, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, παραλιπὼν τὴν οὖσάν μοι ἀπολογίαν, εἰ ἠγγυησάμην, ἐπὶ τὸ ἀρνεῖσθαι ἦλθον.
It is worth while also to consider this, men of the jury, that I would never have denied it, if I had become surety; for my argument would have been much stronger if, while admitting the suretyship, I had recourse to the agreements under which the arbitration was referred. For that the arbitration was referred to three arbitrators has been testified to you; and since no decision was made by the three, for what reason should I have denied the suretyship? For if the decision was not made in accordance with the agreements, I would not even be liable under the suretyship. So, men of the jury, I would never, if I had become surety, have passed over the defense that was open to me and resorted to denial.
ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ τοῦτο μεμαρτύρηται ὑμῖν, ὅτι ἐπειδὴ ἠφανίσθησαν αἱ συνθῆκαι ὑπὸ τούτων, ἐζήτουν ἑτέρας γράφεσθαι οὗτος καὶ ὁ Παρμένων, ὡς ἀκύρων ὄντων αὐτοῖς τῶν πρότερον ὡμολογημένων. καίτοι ὁπότε περὶ τῆς μελλούσης γνώσεως γενήσεσθαι ἑτέρας ἐνεχείρουν συνθήκας γράφεσθαι, ἐπειδὴ αἱ ὑπάρχουσαι ἀπώλοντο, πῶς ἐνῆν μὴ γραφεισῶν συνθηκῶν ἑτέρων ἢ δίαιταν γενέσθαι ἢ ἐγγύην; περὶ αὐτοῦ γὰρ τούτου διενεχθέντες οὐκ ἔγραψαν ἕτερα γράμματα, ὁ μὲν ἀξιῶν ἕνα διαιτητὴν αὑτῷ εἶναι, ὁ δὲ τρεῖς. ὁπότε δὲ αἱ μὲν ἐξ ἀρχῆς συνθῆκαι ἠφανίσθησαν, καθʼ ἃς ἐμέ φησιν γενέσθαι ἐγγυητήν, ἕτεραι δὲ μὴ ἐγράφησαν, πῶς ὀρθῶς ἂν ἐμοὶ δικάζοιτο, καθʼ οὗ μὴ ἔχει παρασχέσθαι συνθήκας;
Moreover, this also has been testified to you, that when the agreements were made to disappear by these men, this man and Parmenon sought to have others drawn up, since the previous agreements were invalid for them. And yet, when they were attempting to draw up other agreements concerning the future award, since the existing ones were lost, how was it possible, if no other agreements were drawn up, for either an arbitration or a suretyship to exist? For, having disagreed on this very point, they did not write another document, this man demanding that there be one arbitrator for him, and the other demanding three. And since the original agreements, under which he says I became surety, have disappeared, and no other agreements were drawn up, how can he justly bring a lawsuit against me, against whom he has no agreements to produce?
- 24ἔνι
ἔνι is the barytone form of ἔνεστι, used impersonally to mean 'it is possible'. Here it is construed with the dative αὐτῷ to mean 'it is possible for him to say'.
- 25μὴ ὅτι δικάσασθαι, ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἐγκαλέσαι
The idiomatic expression μὴ ὅτι ... ἀλλʼ οὐδέ means 'not to mention..., not even...'. Originating from an ellipsis of μὴ λέγε ὅτι ('do not say that'), it dismisses the former action (bringing a lawsuit) as out of the question, to emphasize that not even the simpler latter action (making a demand) was performed.
- 28οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως ... ἂν ... περιεῖδον
The negative expression οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως ('there is no way that') governs a counterfactual past indicative verb περιεῖδον with the potential particle ἄν ('would have overlooked'). Together, they express a strong counterfactual denial: 'there is no way that I would have overlooked my own self being left...'.
- 29ὁμολογοῦντι τὴν ἐγγύην ἐπὶ τὰς συνθήκας ἰέναι
The dative participle ὁμολογοῦντι agrees with the omitted dative pronoun μοι (the logical subject of ἦν μοι). The infinitive ἰέναι ('to go to', 'have recourse to') depends on the comparative adjective ἰσχυρότερος, completing the construction: 'my argument would have been much stronger if, while admitting the suretyship, I had recourse to...'.