- 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-grc2:8.36.1-8.36.9
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
The author argues that failures occurring despite taking all possible guarantees should not be blamed on the victims but on the deceivers, and introduces the tragedy of Achaeus as a prime historical example.
διὸ καὶ τοῖς μὲν ἀσκέπτως ἑαυτοὺς ἐγχειρίζουσι τοῖς ὑπεναντίοις ἐπιτιμητέον, τοῖς δὲ τὴν ἐνδεχομένην πρόνοιαν ποιουμένοις οὐκ ἐγκλητέον·
Therefore also, those who heedlessly commit themselves to their opponents are to be blamed, but those who take all possible precautions are not to be accused.
τὸ μὲν γὰρ μηδενὶ πιστεύειν εἰς τέλος1 ἄπρακτον, τὸ δὲ λαβόντα τὰς ἐνδεχομένας πίστεις πράττειν τὸ κατὰ λόγον ἀνεπιτίμητον.
For to trust no one at all is impractical, whereas to act after receiving all possible guarantees is reasonable and unblamable.
εἰσὶ δʼ ἐνδεχόμεναι πίστεις ὅρκοι, τέκνα, γυναῖκες, τὸ μέγιστον ὁ προγεγονὼς βίος.
And possible guarantees are oaths, children, wives, and, most importantly, one’s past life.
ᾗ2 καὶ τὸ διὰ τῶν τοιούτων ἀλογηθῆναι καὶ περιπεσεῖν οὐ τῶν πασχόντων, ἀλλὰ τῶν πραξάντων ἐστὶν ἔγκλημα.
Wherefore also, to be deceived and fall into disaster despite such guarantees is not a fault of the victims, but of those who committed the treachery.
διὸ καὶ μάλιστα μὲν τοιαύτας ζητεῖν πίστεις δεῖ, διʼ ὧν ὁ πιστευθεὶς οὐ δυνήσεται τὴν πίστιν ἀθετεῖν.
Therefore, one must especially seek such guarantees by which the trusted person will not be able to break his trust.
ἐπεὶ δὲ σπάνιον εὑρεῖν ἐστι τὸ τοιοῦτο, δεύτερος ἂν εἴη πλοῦς3 τὸ τῶν κατὰ λόγον φροντίζειν, ἵνʼ ἄν του καὶ σφαλλώμεθα, τῆς παρὰ τοῖς ἐκτὸς συγγνώμης μὴ διαμαρτάνωμεν. ὃ καὶ περὶ πλείους μὲν δὴ γεγένηται τῶν πρότερον·
But since it is rare to find such a thing, the next best course (the “second voyage”) would be to attend to what is reasonable, so that even if we are deceived in some way, we may not fail to obtain sympathy from those outside. This indeed has happened to many in former times.
ἐναργέστατον δʼ ἔσται καὶ τοῖς καιροῖς ἔγγιστον τοῖς ὑπὲρ ὧν ὁ νῦν δὴ λόγος ἐνέστηκε τὸ κατʼ Ἀχαιὸν συμβάν.4
But the clearest example, and the closest to the very circumstances which our present discourse concerns, is what happened to Achaeus.
ὃς οὐδὲν τῶν ἐνδεχομένων πρὸς εὐλάβειαν καὶ πρὸς ἀσφάλειαν παραλιπών, ἀλλʼ ὑπὲρ ἁπάντων προνοηθείς, ἐφʼ ὅσον ἀνθρωπίνῃ γνώμῃ δυνατὸν ἦν, ὅμως ἐγένετο τοῖς ἐχθροῖς ὑποχείριος.
He, having left nothing undone that was possible for caution and safety, but having provided for everything as far as was possible for human intellect, nevertheless fell into the hands of his enemies.
τό γε μὴν συμβὰν ἔλεον μὲν τῷ παθόντι καὶ συγγνώμην ἀπειργάσατο παρὰ τοῖς ἐκτός, διαβολὴν δὲ καὶ μῖσος τοῖς πράξασιν.
Yet this occurrence brought sympathy and pardon to the victim from those outside, but reproach and hatred upon those who did the deed.
- 8.36.2εἰς τέλος
This adverbial phrase means "completely" or "utterly," modifying the negative pronoun μηδενί to emphasize total distrust ("to trust no one at all"). Although it can also mean "to the end" temporally, here it more naturally denotes the degree of completeness, given the context that absolute and unqualified distrust renders action impossible (ἄπρακτον).
- 8.36.4ᾗ
The dative feminine singular of the relative pronoun used on its own as an adverb, meaning "whereby," "wherefore," or "in which way." It serves to connect the discussion to the consequences arising through the specific means of guarantees mentioned in the preceding sentence.
- 8.36.6δεύτερος ἂν εἴη πλοῦς
The "second voyage" (δεύτερος πλοῦς) is a famous Greek idiom meaning "the next best course," deriving from the necessity of using oars when the wind fails. Here it functions as a predicate nominative describing the subject infinitive phrase τὸ τῶν κατὰ λόγον φροντίζειν.
- 8.36.7τὸ κατʼ Ἀχαιὸν συμβάν
An articular neuter participial phrase ("what happened to Achaeus") which functions as the grammatical subject of the sentence. The superlative adjectives at the beginning, ἐναργέστατον and ἔγγιστον, are in the nominative neuter singular to agree with this subject.
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-10-09)
- 2026-10-09 Collated with the printed edition — source 1