Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §1.144.1-1.144.4

Proposed Response to Sparta and Call for War Preparations

Passage 144 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Pericles advises the Athenians to avoid expanding their empire during the war and proposes a just and specific response to the Spartan demands, encouraging them to prepare for the inevitable conflict by emulating the courage of their ancestors.

§1.144.1‘πολλὰ δὲ καὶ ἄλλα ἔχω ἐς ἐλπίδα τοῦ περιέσεσθαι, ἢν ἐθέλητε ἀρχήν τε μὴ ἐπικτᾶσθαι ἅμα πολεμοῦντες καὶ κινδύνους αὐθαιρέτους μὴ προστίθεσθαι· μᾶλλον γὰρ πεφόβημαι τὰς οἰκείας ἡμῶν ἁμαρτίας ἢ τὰς τῶν ἐναντίων διανοίας.

'And I have many other grounds for hope of victory, if you are willing not to attempt to acquire new empire while waging war, and not to add self-imposed dangers; for I am more afraid of our own mistakes than of the designs of our enemies.

§1.144.2ἀλλ’ ἐκεῖνα μὲν καὶ ἐν ἄλλῳ λόγῳ ἅμα τοῖς ἔργοις δηλωθήσεται· νῦν δὲ τούτοις ἀποκρινάμενοι ἀποπέμψωμεν, Μεγαρέας μὲν ὅτι ἐάσομεν ἀγορᾷ καὶ λιμέσι χρῆσθαι, ἢν καὶ Λακεδαιμόνιοι ξενηλασίας μὴ ποιῶσι μήτε ἡμῶν μήτε τῶν ἡμετέρων ξυμμάχων (οὔτε γὰρ ἐκεῖνο κωλύει ἐν ταῖς σπονδαῖς οὔτε τόδε), τὰς δὲ πόλεις ὅτι αὐτονόμους ἀφήσομεν, εἰ καὶ αὐτονόμους ἔχοντες ἐσπεισάμεθα, καὶ ὅταν κἀκεῖνοι ταῖς ἑαυτῶν ἀποδῶσι πόλεσι μὴ σφίσι [τοῖς Λακεδαιμονίοις] ἐπιτηδείως αὐτονομεῖσθαι, ἀλλ’ αὐτοῖς ἑκάστοις ὡς βούλονται· δίκας τε ὅτι ἐθέλομεν δοῦναι κατὰ τὰς ξυνθήκας, πολέμου δὲ οὐκ ἄρξομεν, ἀρχομένους δὲ ἀμυνούμεθα.

But those matters shall be made clear in another speech along with the actual events; for the present, let us send these men back with this answer: as to the Megarians, that we will allow them to use our market and harbours, if the Lacedaemonians also do not enforce alien acts against us or our allies (for neither the former nor the latter is forbidden in the treaty); and as to the cities, that we will leave them independent, if they were independent when we made the treaty, and as soon as they also restore to their own cities the right to be independent not in a manner suitable to the Lacedaemonians, but as each of them wishes for themselves; and as to lawsuits, that we are willing to submit to arbitration according to the treaty, and that we will not begin war, but will defend ourselves against those who do.

ταῦτα γὰρ δίκαια καὶ πρέποντα ἅμα τῇδε τῇ πόλει ἀποκρίνασθαι.

For this is a just and at the same time a fitting answer for this city to make.

§1.144.3εἰδέναι δὲ χρὴ ὅτι ἀνάγκη πολεμεῖν, ἢν δὲ ἑκούσιοι μᾶλλον δεχώμεθα, ἧσσον ἐγκεισομένους τοὺς ἐναντίους ἕξομεν, ἔκ τε τῶν μεγίστων κινδύνων ὅτι καὶ πόλει καὶ ἰδιώτῃ μέγισται τιμαὶ περιγίγνονται.

But we must know that war is necessary, and if we accept it more voluntarily, we shall find our enemies less aggressive; and we must know that it is from the greatest dangers that the greatest honours accrue to both state and individual.

§1.144.4οἱ γοῦν πατέρες ἡμῶν ὑποστάντες Μήδους καὶ οὐκ ἀπὸ τοσῶνδε ὁρμώμενοι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ὑπάρχοντα ἐκλιπόντες, γνώμῃ τε πλέονι ἢ τύχῃ καὶ τόλμῃ μείζονι ἢ δυνάμει τόν τε βάρβαρον ἀπεώσαντο καὶ ἐς τάδε προήγαγον αὐτά.

Our fathers, at any rate, when they withstood the Persians, did not start from such large resources as ours, but even abandoned what they had, and by wisdom more than fortune, and by courage greater than their power, repelled the barbarian and advanced our fortunes to their present height.

ὧν οὐ χρὴ λείπεσθαι, ἀλλὰ τούς τε ἐχθροὺς παντὶ τρόπῳ ἀμύνεσθαι καὶ τοῖς ἐπιγιγνομένοις πειρᾶσθαι αὐτὰ μὴ ἐλάσσω παραδοῦναι. ’

We must not fall short of them, but must defend ourselves against our enemies in every way, and try to hand down our empire to our descendants unimpaired.'

Notes

1.144.1τοῦ περιέσεσθαι — A genitive of the articular future infinitive, serving as an appositional or objective genitive explaining the noun `ἐλπίδα` (hope). It expresses the "hope of prevailing", with the subject of the infinitive omitted but understood as the Athenians themselves.
1.144.2Μεγαρέας — A construction of prolepsis (anticipation). The noun, which would syntactically belong to the subsequent `ὅτι` clause, is anticipated and placed before the clause for emphasis, as if it were the direct object of the main verb `ἀποκρινάμενοι`. The same structure applies to `τὰς δὲ πόλεις` below.
1.144.2μὴ σφίσι ... ἐπιτηδείως αὐτονομεῖσθαι — The infinitive `αὐτονομεῖσθαι` has as its subject the dative `ταῖς ἑαυτῶν ... πόλεσι` (their own cities), which also acts as the object of `ἀποδῶσι`. `σφίσι` (themselves, referring to the Lacedaemonians) goes with `ἐπιτηδείως` (in a manner suitable), meaning "to be independent not in a way that suits the Lacedaemonians (i.e., under oligarchy), but as each city itself wishes."
1.144.3ἔκ τε τῶν μεγίστων κινδύνων ὅτι — This `ὅτι` clause acts as the object of the impersonal construction `εἰδέναι δὲ χρὴ` (we must know) at the beginning of the section, in parallel with the earlier `ὅτι ἀνάγκη πολεμεῖν`. The prepositional phrase `ἔκ τε τῶν μεγίστων κινδύνων` (from the greatest dangers) is placed before `ὅτι` for emphasis, forming a hyperbaton.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §1.144.1-1.144.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.144.1-1.144.4

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