- 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-grc2:8.125.1-8.125.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
Upon returning to Athens, Themistocles is insulted by his enemy Timodemus, who claims his honors were due to Athens' reputation. Themistocles retorts with a famous reply on the necessity of both personal merit and a great homeland.
ὡς δὲ ἐκ τῆς Λακεδαίμονος ἀπίκετο ἐς τὰς Ἀθήνας, ἐνθαῦτα Τιμόδημος Ἀφιδναῖος τῶν ἐχθρῶν μὲν τῶν Θεμιστοκλέος ἐών, ἄλλως δὲ οὐ τῶν ἐπιφανέων ἀνδρῶν,1 φθόνῳ καταμαργέων ἐνείκεε τὸν Θεμιστοκλέα, τὴν ἐς Λακεδαίμονα ἄπιξιν προφέρων, ὡς διὰ τὰς Ἀθήνας ἔχοι τὰ γέρεα τὰ παρὰ Λακεδαιμονίων, ἀλλʼ οὐ διʼ ἑωυτόν.
When he returned from Lacedaemon to Athens, there Timodemus of Aphidnae, who was one of Themistocles’ enemies but otherwise not a man of distinction, being mad with envy, began to abuse Themistocles, bringing up his visit to Lacedaemon as a reproach, and saying that he held his honors from the Lacedaemonians because of Athens, and not because of himself.
ὁ δέ, ἐπείτε οὐκ ἐπαύετο λέγων ταῦτα ὁ Τιμόδημος, εἶπε οὕτω ἔχει τοι· οὔτʼ ἂν ἐγὼ ἐὼν Βελβινίτης ἐτιμήθην οὕτω πρὸς Σπαρτιητέων, οὔτʼ ἂν σὺ, ὤνθρωπε,2 ἐὼν Ἀθηναῖος.3 ταῦτα μέν νυν ἐς τοσοῦτο ἐγένετο.
And he, when Timodemus did not cease saying these things, said, “Thus indeed stands the matter: neither would I, if I had been a man of Belbina, have been so honored by the Spartans, nor would you, sir, though being an Athenian.” Now these things went thus far.
- 8.125.1ἄλλως δὲ οὐ τῶν ἐπιφανέων ἀνδρῶν
The genitive τῶν ἐπιφανέων ἀνδρῶν is a partitive genitive serving as the complement of the participle ἐών, meaning 'not one of the men of distinction'. ἄλλως means 'otherwise' or 'in other respects', indicating that apart from being Themistocles' enemy, he was not a prominent figure.
- 8.125.2ὤνθρωπε
A crasis of the vocative ὦ ἄνθρωπε into ὤνθρωπε. Meaning 'sir' or 'fellow,' in this context it carries a patronizing or sarcastic tone.
- 8.125.2οὔτʼ ἂν ἐγὼ ἐὼν Βελβινίτης ἐτιμήθην... οὔτʼ ἂν σὺ, ὤνθρωπε, ἐὼν Ἀθηναῖος
The indicative past ἐτιμήθην with ἂν expresses a contrary-to-fact condition. The participle ἐών (and the implied participle in the second clause) acts conditionally. In the second clause, ἂν ἐτιμήθης is omitted: 'nor would you, though being an Athenian, have been honored'.