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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §1.43.1-1.43.4

Principle on Punishing Allies and Demand Not to Aid Corcyra

Passage 43 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The Corinthians urge the Athenians to return an equal favor by not accepting the Corcyraeans as allies or supporting them, recalling that Corinth previously recognized Athens' right to punish her own allies at Lacedaemon.

§1.43.1ἡμεῖς δὲ περιπεπτωκότες οἷς ἐν τῇ Λακεδαίμονι αὐτοὶ προείπομεν, τοὺς σφετέρους ξυμμάχους αὐτόν τινα κολάζειν, νῦν παρ’ ὑμῶν τὸ αὐτὸ ἀξιοῦμεν κομίζεσθαι, καὶ μὴ τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ ψήφῳ ὠφεληθέντας τῇ ὑμετέρᾳ ἡμᾶς βλάψαι.
'And we, having fallen into the very position which we ourselves declared at Lacedaemon—that each one should punish his own allies—now demand to receive the same from you, and that you should not, after having been benefited by our vote, harm us by yours.
§1.43.2τὸ δὲ ἴσον ἀνταπόδοτε, γνόντες τοῦτον ἐκεῖνον εἶναι τὸν καιρὸν ἐν ᾧ ὅ τε ὑπουργῶν φίλος μάλιστα καὶ ὁ ἀντιστὰς ἐχθρός.
Render us then an equal return, recognizing that this is that very crisis in which he who helps is the greatest friend, and he who opposes is an enemy.
§1.43.3καὶ Κερκυραίους τούσδε μήτε ξυμμάχους δέχεσθε βίᾳ ἡμῶν μήτε ἀμύνετε αὐτοῖς ἀδικοῦσιν.
And do not receive these Corcyraeans as allies against our will, nor assist them in their wrongdoing.
§1.43.4καὶ τάδε ποιοῦντες τὰ προσήκοντά τε δράσετε καὶ τὰ ἄριστα βουλεύσεσθε ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς. ’
By doing this, you will both do what is fitting and make the best decision for yourselves.'

Notes

  1. 1.43.1οἷς — Relative pronoun attraction (attraction of case) where ἃ (accusative) is attracted to the dative of the omitted antecedent τούτοις.
  2. 1.43.1αὐτόν τινα κολάζειν — The infinitive κολάζειν has the accusative αὐτόν τινα ("each one himself") as its subject, and τοὺς σφετέρους ξυμμάχους as its object. This infinitive clause explains the content of προείπομεν ("we declared").
  3. 1.43.1τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ ... τῇ ὑμετέρᾳ — Feminine dative singular possessive adjectives, where the noun ψήφῳ ("vote", "decision") is omitted from the context. It refers to the previous vote/decision by Corinth in favor of Athens' right to punish her own allies (referring to Samos).
  4. 1.43.2τοῦτον ἐκεῖνον εἶναι τὸν καιρόν — The demonstrative pronoun τοῦτον ("this") is the subject of the infinitive εἶναι, and ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρόν ("that critical moment") is the predicate. Object clause after the participle γνόντες ("recognizing that...").
  5. 1.43.3βίᾳ ἡμῶν — The dative of βία with the genitive ἡμῶν functions as an adverbial phrase meaning "against our will" or "in defiance of us."

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §1.43.1-1.43.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.43.1-1.43.4

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