- 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-grc2:12.25h.1-12.25h.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-07
The text criticizes Timaeus for his lack of practical experience, comparing him to a painter sketching from stuffed models, and emphasizes that a historian must have firsthand experience in various aspects of life.
ὅτι1 Τίμαιός φησιν ἐν τῇ τριακοστῇ καὶ τετάρτῃ βύβλῳ "3πεντήκοντα συνεχῶς ἔτη διατρίψας Ἀθήνησι ξενιτεύων καὶ πάσης ὁμολογουμένως ἄπειρος [ἐγένετο] πολεμικῆς χρείας, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τῆς τῶν τόπων θέασ"
That Timaeus says in his thirty-fourth book, “having spent fifty consecutive years in Athens as an alien, and being confessedly without any experience of military service, and further also of the observation of places.”
3. λοιπὸν ὅταν εἴς τι τῶν μερῶν τούτων ἐμπέσῃ κατὰ τὴν ἱστορίαν, πολλὰ μὲν ἀγνοεῖ καὶ ψεύδεται· κἄν ποτε δὲ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐπιψαύσῃ, παραπλήσιός ἐστι τοῖς ζωγράφοις τοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνασεσαγμένων θυλάκων2 ποιουμένοις τὰς ὑπογραφάς·
3. Consequently, whenever he falls upon any of these branches in his history, he is ignorant of many things and writes falsely; and even if he should ever touch upon the truth, he is like those painters who make their sketches from stuffed bags.
καὶ γὰρ ἐπʼ ἐκείνων ἡ μὲν ἐκτὸς ἐνίοτε γραμμὴ σῴζεται, τὸ δὲ τῆς ἐμφάσεως καὶ τῆς ἐνεργείας τῶν ἀληθινῶν ζῴων ἄπεστιν, ὅπερ ἴδιον ὑπάρχει τῆς ζωγραφικῆς τέχνης. τὸ δʼ αὐτὸ συμβαίνει καὶ περὶ Τίμαιον καὶ καθόλου τοὺς ἀπὸ ταύτης τῆς βυβλιακῆς ἕξεως ὁρμωμένους·
For in their case, though the outline is sometimes preserved, the vividness and energy of real living animals are absent, which is the specific quality of the art of painting. The very same thing happens to Timaeus, and generally to those who start from this bookish habit.
ἡ γὰρ ἔμφασις τῶν πραγμάτων αὐτοῖς ἄπεστι διὰ τὸ μόνον ἐκ τῆς αὐτοπαθείας τοῦτο γίνεσθαι τῆς τῶν συγγραφέων· ὅθεν οὐκ ἐντίκτουσιν ἀληθινοὺς ζήλους τοῖς ἀκούουσιν οἱ μὴ διʼ αὐτῶν πεπορευμένοι τῶν πραγμάτων.
For the vividness of events is absent from them, because this arises only from the personal experience of the writers; hence, those who have not passed through the events themselves do not inspire genuine enthusiasm in their hearers.
ᾗ καὶ τοιαύτας ᾤοντο δεῖν ἐν τοῖς ὑπομνήμασιν ὑπάρχειν ἐμφάσεις οἱ πρὸ ἡμῶν ὥσθʼ, ὅτε μὲν ὑπὲρ πολιτικῶν ὁ λόγος εἴη πραγμάτων, ἐπιφθέγγεσθαι3 διότι κατʼ ἀνάγκην ὁ γράφων πεπολίτευται καὶ πεῖραν ἔσχηκε τῶν ἐν τούτῳ τῷ μέρει συμβαινόντων, ὅτε δὲ περὶ πολεμικῶν, ὅτι πάλιν ἐστράτευκε καὶ κεκινδύνευκε, καὶ μὴν ὅτε περὶ βιωτικῶν, ὅτι τέτραφε τέκνα καὶ μετὰ γυναικὸς ἔζηκε. τὸ δὲ παραπλήσιον καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων τοῦ βίου μερῶν·
For this reason, our predecessors thought that such vividness ought to exist in historical records that, when the discourse was about political affairs, they would declare that the writer had of necessity taken part in public life and had experience of what happens in this department; and when about military affairs, that he had again served in the army and faced danger; and indeed, when about everyday life, that he had reared children and lived with a wife. And the same was true for the other departments of life.
ὃ4 παρὰ μόνοις εἰκὸς εὑρίσκεσθαι τῶν συγγραφέων τοῖς διʼ αὐτῶν πεπορευμένοις τῶν πραγμάτων καὶ τοῦτο τὸ μέρος περιπεποιημένοις τῆς ἱστορίας. πάντων μὲν οὖν οἷον αὐτουργὸν γενέσθαι καὶ δράστην δυσχερὲς ἴσως, τῶν μέντοι μεγίστων καὶ κοινοτάτων ἀναγκαῖον.
Which is likely to be found only in those writers who have passed through the events themselves and have acquired this branch of history. Now, to become, as it were, a self-helper and actor in all things is perhaps difficult, but in the greatest and most common things it is necessary.
- 12.25h.1ὅτι
The introductory ὅτι lacks a governing main verb, acting as a nominalizer introduced by the epitomator to mean "That [Timaeus says...]" for summarizing the excerpt.
- 12.25h.2ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνασεσαγμένων θυλάκων
Meaning "from stuffed bags or skins." It refers to drawing from taxidermic models or stuffed substitutes rather than live, active animals, metaphorically criticizing writing based on bookish substitutes without real experience.
- 12.25h.5ὥσθʼ ... ἐπιφθέγγεσθαι
The consecutive infinitive clause introduced by ὥστε limits the preceding adjective τοιαύτας, expressing the degree of "vividness so great that they would declare...".
- 12.25h.6ὃ
The neuter relative pronoun refers back not to a single noun but to the entire concept described in the preceding sentence, namely the vivid representation based on actual personal experience.