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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §1.68.1-1.68.4

The Corinthian Speech Criticizing Spartan Inactivity

Passage 68 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The Corinthians criticize the Lacedaemonians for allowing their domestic trustfulness to lead to ignorance in foreign affairs, and urge them to recognize the concrete reality of Athenian expansion.

§1.68.1‘τὸ πιστὸν ὑμᾶς, ὦ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, τῆς καθ’ ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς πολιτείας καὶ ὁμιλίας ἀπιστοτέρους ἐς τοὺς ἄλλους ἤν τι λέγωμεν καθίστησιν· καὶ ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ σωφροσύνην μὲν ἔχετε, ἀμαθίᾳ δὲ πλέονι πρὸς τὰ ἔξω πράγματα χρῆσθε.
'The trust inspired by your own constitution and social relations, Lacedaemonians, makes you more distrustful of others if we say anything; and from this you possess moderation, but you display greater ignorance in foreign affairs.
§1.68.2πολλάκις γὰρ προαγορευόντων ἡμῶν ἃ ἐμέλλομεν ὑπὸ Ἀθηναίων βλάπτεσθαι, οὐ περὶ ὧν ἐδιδάσκομεν ἑκάστοτε τὴν μάθησιν ἐποιεῖσθε, ἀλλὰ τῶν λεγόντων μᾶλλον ὑπενοεῖτε ὡς ἕνεκα τῶν αὑτοῖς ἰδίᾳ διαφόρων λέγουσιν·
For although we often forewarned you of the injuries we were about to suffer from the Athenians, you did not try to learn about the matters on which we were each time instructing you, but rather suspected the speakers of speaking for the sake of their own private differences.
καὶ δι’ αὐτὸ οὐ πρὶν πάσχειν, ἀλλ’ ἐπειδὴ ἐν τῷ ἔργῳ ἐσμέν, τοὺς ξυμμάχους τούσδε παρεκαλέσατε, ἐν οἷς προσήκει ἡμᾶς οὐχ ἥκιστα εἰπεῖν, ὅσῳ καὶ μέγιστα ἐγκλήματα ἔχομεν ὑπὸ μὲν Ἀθηναίων ὑβριζόμενοι, ὑπὸ δὲ ὑμῶν ἀμελούμενοι.
And for this reason, not before we suffered, but only when we are in the midst of the action, have you summoned these allies, among whom it is especially fitting for us to speak, inasmuch as we have the greatest complaints, being insulted by the Athenians and neglected by you.
§1.68.3‘καὶ εἰ μὲν ἀφανεῖς που ὄντες ἠδίκουν τὴν Ἑλλάδα, διδασκαλίας ἂν ὡς οὐκ εἰδόσι προσέδει· νῦν δὲ τί δεῖ μακρηγορεῖν, ὧν τοὺς μὲν δεδουλωμένους ὁρᾶτε, τοῖς δὲ ἐπιβουλεύοντας αὐτούς, καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα τοῖς ἡμετέροις ξυμμάχοις, καὶ ἐκ πολλοῦ προπαρεσκευασμένους, εἴ ποτε ἄρα πολεμήσονται;
'And if they were doing injustice to Greece in some obscure corner, you would have needed instruction as those who did not know; but as it is, what need is there to speak at length, when you see that some of them have already been enslaved, and that they are plotting against others, especially against our allies, and have long since prepared themselves in case they should ever have to go to war?
§1.68.4οὐ γὰρ ἂν Κέρκυράν τε ὑπολαβόντες βίᾳ ἡμῶν εἶχον καὶ Ποτείδαιαν ἐπολιόρκουν, ὧν τὸ μὲν ἐπικαιρότατον χωρίον πρὸς τὰ ἐπὶ Θρᾴκης ἀποχρῆσθαι, ἡ δὲ ναυτικὸν ἂν μέγιστον παρέσχε Πελοποννησίοις.
Otherwise they would not have seized Corcyra and held it in spite of us, nor would they be besieging Potidaea; of which places the one is most opportunely situated for exploiting the region of Thrace, while the other would have furnished the largest navy to the Peloponnesians.'

Notes

  1. 1.68.1τὸ πιστὸν ὑμᾶς, ὦ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, τῆς καθ’ ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς πολιτείας καὶ ὁμιλίας ἀπιστοτέρους ἐς τοὺς ἄλλους ἤν τι λέγωμεν καθίστησιν — The subject is the nominalized neuter adjective τὸ πιστόν (trustworthiness, honesty), qualified by the genitive τῆς ... πολιτείας καὶ ὁμιλίας (of your own constitution and social relations). The verb καθίστησιν takes the accusative ὑμᾶς as direct object and the comparative adjective ἀπιστοτέρους as object complement, forming a causative construction with an inanimate subject.
  2. 1.68.2τῶν λεγόντων μᾶλλον ὑπενοεῖτε ὡς ἕνεκα τῶν αὑτοῖς ἰδίᾳ διαφόρων λέγουσιν — The verb ὑπενοεῖτε (suspect) takes the genitive τῶν λεγόντων (the speakers) as its object of suspicion. The ὡς clause (ὡς ... λέγουσιν) functions as a noun clause expressing the subjective content of the suspicion ('that they speak for the sake of...'). The phrase τῶν αὑτοῖς ἰδίᾳ διαφόρων refers to 'their own private differences or interests'.
  3. 1.68.3ὧν τοὺς μὲν δεδουλωμένους ὁρᾶτε, τοῖς δὲ ἐπιβουλεύοντας αὐτούς — The genitive relative pronoun ὧn refers to the Athenians, serving as a transitional link ('as concerning whom'). The verb of perception ὁρᾶτε (you see) governs two participial constructions: first, τοὺς μὲν δεδουλωμένους (some already enslaved [by them]); second, τοῖς δὲ ἐπιβουλεύοντας αὐτούς (that they themselves [αὐτούς, accusative subject] are plotting against others). τοῖς δὲ is the dative object required by the verb ἐπιβουλεύω.
  4. 1.68.4ὧν τὸ μὲν ἐπικαιρότατον χωρίον πρὸς τὰ ἐπὶ Θρᾴκης ἀποχρῆσθαι, ἡ δὲ ναυτικὸν ἂν μέγιστον παρέσχε Πελοποννησίοις — The antecedent of the relative pronoun ὧν is Corcyra and Potidaea. In the subsequent contrast, the genders of the demonstratives shift: the neuter τὸ μὲν refers to Potidaea (historically feminine, but here attracted to the gender of the predicate noun χωρίον), while the feminine ἡ δὲ refers to Corcyra. In the second clause, παρέσχε ἂν is a past unreal apodosis ('would have furnished [had it not been seized]'). ἀποχρῆσθαι is an infinitive of purpose.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §1.68.1-1.68.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.68.1-1.68.4

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