- Source
- Polybius. Vols. 1-4. Büttner-Wobst, Theodor, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1893.
- 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:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:12.11.1-12.11.8
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-07
Arguing that Timaeus, who demanded extreme accuracy in records, would never have omitted crucial evidence, the author exposes Timaeus' falsehood and quotes his own strict view of history.
παρεσιώπησεν;1 ὁ γὰρ τὰς συγκρίσεις ποιούμενος2 ἀνέκαθεν τῶν ἐφόρων πρὸς τοὺς βασιλεῖς τοὺς ἐν Λακεδαίμονι καὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας τοὺς Ἀθήνησι καὶ τὰς ἱερείας τὰς ἐν Ἄργει παραβάλλων πρὸς τοὺς ὀλυμπιονίκας, καὶ τὰς ἁμαρτίας τῶν πόλεων περὶ τὰς ἀναγραφὰς τὰς τούτων ἐξελέγχων, παρὰ τρίμηνον ἐχούσας τὸ διαφέρον, οὗτός ἐστι.
...have passed it over in silence? For he is the one who, from the beginning, makes comparisons of the ephors with the kings in Lacedaemon and the archons in Athens, contrasting them with the Olympic victors, and who exposes the errors of cities regarding their records, even where they differ by only three months.
καὶ μὴν ὁ τὰς ὀπισθοδόμους στήλας καὶ τὰς ἐν ταῖς φλιαῖς τῶν νεῶν προξενίας ἐξευρηκὼς Τίμαιός ἐστιν.
Moreover, it is Timaeus who searched out the stelae in the back chambers of temples and the treaties of proxy on the doorposts of temples.
ὃν οὔθʼ ὑπάρχον τι τῶν τοιούτων ἀγνοεῖν οὔθʼ εὑρόντα παραλιπεῖν πιστευτέον οὔτε ψευσαμένῳ συγγνώμην δοτέον οὐδαμῶς·
We must neither believe that he was ignorant of any such evidence when it existed, nor that he omitted it having found it, nor must any pardon be granted to him when he has lied;
πικρὸς γὰρ γεγονὼς καὶ ἀπαραίτητος ἐπιτιμητὴς τῶν πέλας εἰκότως ἂν καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν πλησίον αὐτὸς ἀπαραιτήτου τυγχάνοι κατηγορίας. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ προφανῶς ἐν τούτοις ἐψευσμένος, μεταβὰς ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ Λοκροὺς πρῶτον μέν φησι τήν τε πολιτείαν καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ φιλάνθρωπα τοῖς Λοκροῖς ἀμφοτέροις Ἀριστοτέλη καὶ Θεόφραστον κατεψεῦσθαι3 τῆς πόλεως.
for having been a bitter and relentless critic of his neighbors, he would himself naturally meet with a relentless accusation by his neighbors. Be that as it may, having clearly lied in these matters, and having passed on to the Locrians in Italy, he first says that Aristotle and Theophrastus lied about the city, regarding its constitution and other humane institutions to both sets of Locrians.
ἐγὼ δʼ οὐκ ἀγνοῶ μὲν ὅτι καὶ ταύτῃ τῆς πραγματείας ἀναγκασθήσομαι παρεκβαίνειν, διοριζόμενος καὶ διαβεβαιούμενος περὶ τούτων·
Now, I am not ignorant that on this point of my treatise also I shall be forced to digress, in defining and making assertions about these matters;
οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ διὰ ταύτην τὴν αἰτίαν εἰς ἕνα τόπον ὑπερεθέμην τὸν περὶ Τιμαίου λόγον, ἵνα μὴ πολλάκις ἀναγκάζωμαι τοῦ καθήκοντος ὀλιγωρεῖν. —
nevertheless, for this very reason I postponed the discussion about Timaeus to a single place, so that I might not be frequently forced to neglect my proper duty.
ὅτι Τίμαιός φησι μέγιστον ἁμάρτημα περὶ τὴν ἱστορίαν εἶναι τὸ ψεῦδος· διὸ καὶ παραινεῖ τούτοις, οὓς ἂν ἐξελέγξῃ διεψευσμένους ἐν τοῖς συγγράμμασιν, ἕτερόν τι ζητεῖν ὄνομα τοῖς βυβλίοις, πάντα δὲ μᾶλλον ἢ καλεῖν ἱστορίαν. —
For Timaeus says that the greatest error in history is falsehood; wherefore he also advises those whom he may expose as having lied in their writings to seek some other name for their books, and to call them anything rather than history.
- 12.11.1παρεσιώπησεν;
This verb serves as the apodosis to the conditional clause in the preceding section (§12.10.9: "ἦ πού γʼ ἂν οὗτος... ἐπιλαβόμενος..."). Formed as a rhetorical question, it means "would he have passed it over in silence? (surely not)."
- 12.11.1ὁ γὰρ τὰς συγκρίσεις ποιούμενος
The subject of the sentence is extremely long, consisting of the substantivized participle "ὁ ποιούμενος" (the one who makes comparisons) along with the coordinated participles "παραβάλλων" (contrasting) and "ἐξελέγχων" (exposing). The syntactic core of the sentence is resolved at the end by "οὗτός ἐστιν" (this is he).
- 12.11.5κατεψεῦσθαι
Infinitive of "καταψεύδομαι" (to lie about, falsely accuse) in indirect speech introduced by "φησί". The accusatives "Ἀριστοτέλη καὶ Θεόφραστον" function as the subject accusative of the infinitive, while the genitive "τῆς πόλεως" is the object of the verb.