- Source
- Herodotus. Godley, Alfred Denis, editor. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, Ltd., 1920-1925 (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:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.92A.1-5.92A.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
Socles of Corinth fiercely denounces the Lacedaemonians' plan to restore tyranny in the cities, calling it an unnatural inversion of the natural order.
ἦ δὴ ὅ τε οὐρανὸς ἔνερθε ἔσται τῆς γῆς καὶ ἡ γῆ μετέωρος ὑπὲρ τοῦ1 οὐρανοῦ, καὶ ἄνθρωποι νομὸν ἐν θαλάσσῃ ἕξουσι καὶ ἰχθύες τὸν πρότερον ἄνθρωποι, ὅτε γε2 ὑμεῖς ὦ Λακεδαιμόνιοι ἰσοκρατίας καταλύοντες τυραννίδας ἐς τὰς πόλις κατάγειν παρασκευάζεσθε, τοῦ οὔτε ἀδικώτερον ἐστὶ οὐδὲν κατʼ ἀνθρώπους οὔτε μιαιφονώτερον.
Surely indeed the heaven will be beneath the earth and the earth high above the heaven, and men will have their range in the sea and fishes where men formerly did, since you, Lacedaemonians, abolishing equal rights, are preparing to bring tyrannies back into the cities, than which there is nothing more unjust among men nor more murderous.
εἰ γὰρ δὴ τοῦτό γε δοκέει ὑμῖν εἶναι χρηστὸν ὥστε τυραννεύεσθαι τὰς πόλις, αὐτοὶ πρῶτοι τύραννον καταστησάμενοι παρὰ σφίσι αὐτοῖσι οὕτω καὶ τοῖσι ἄλλοισι δίζησθε κατιστάναι· νῦν δὲ αὐτοὶ τυράννων ἄπειροι ἐόντες, καὶ φυλάσσοντες τοῦτο δεινότατα ἐν τῇ Σπάρτῃ μὴ γενέσθαι, παραχρᾶσθε ἐς τοὺς συμμάχους. εἰ δὲ αὐτοῦ ἔμπειροι ἔατε3 κατά περ ἡμεῖς, εἴχετε ἂν περὶ αὐτοῦ γνώμας ἀμείνονας συμβαλέσθαι ἤ περ νῦν.
For if indeed this seems to you to be a good thing, that cities should be ruled by tyrants, you yourselves first establishing a tyrant among yourselves, in this way seek to establish them for the others as well; but as it is, being yourselves without experience of tyrants, and guarding most strictly against this happening in Sparta, you deal outrageously with your allies. But if you were experienced in it, just as we are, you would be able to contribute better opinions about it than now.
- 5.92A.1τοῦ
A genitive of comparison modifying the comparatives ἀδικώτερον and μιαιφονώτερον, functioning as a relative pronoun. Although the grammatical antecedent is the feminine plural τυραννίδας, the neuter singular τοῦ is used because it refers to the abstract concept of 'tyranny' or the action of establishing it as a whole.
- 5.92A.1ὅτε γε
The temporal conjunction ὅτε combined with the emphatic particle γε. Here it does not merely mean 'when', but expresses a reason with indignation or sarcasm ('since indeed', 'seeing that').
- 5.92A.2ἔατε
The Ionic dialect form of ἦτε, the second-person plural imperfect of εἰμί. Together with εἴχετε ἂν (imperfect with ἄν) in the apodosis, it forms a present counterfactual condition (irrealis).