Humanitext Reader

Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §2.41.1-2.41.5

Athens as the School of Greece and Its Power

Passage 187 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Pericles declares that Athens is the school of Greece and its citizens possess unmatched versatility and grace, praising the city's power and lasting achievements which justify the noble sacrifice of the fallen and demand the dedication of the living.

§2.41.1‘ξυνελών τε λέγω τήν τε πᾶσαν πόλιν τῆς Ἑλλάδος παίδευσιν εἶναι καὶ καθ’ ἕκαστον δοκεῖν ἄν μοι τὸν αὐτὸν ἄνδρα παρ’ ἡμῶν ἐπὶ πλεῖστ᾽ ἂν εἴδη καὶ μετὰ χαρίτων μάλιστ’ ἂν εὐτραπέλως τὸ σῶμα αὔταρκες παρέχεσθαι.
‘To sum up, I say both that our city as a whole is an education to Greece, and that, individually, the same man among us seems to me to present his own person self-sufficient for the most varied forms of activity and with the greatest grace and versatility.
§2.41.2καὶ ὡς οὐ λόγων ἐν τῷ παρόντι κόμπος τάδε μᾶλλον ἢ ἔργων ἐστὶν ἀλήθεια, αὐτὴ ἡ δύναμις τῆς πόλεως, ἣν ἀπὸ τῶνδε τῶν τρόπων ἐκτησάμεθα, σημαίνει.
And that these words are not a boast for the present occasion, but rather the reality of facts, the very power of the city, which we have acquired from these character traits, demonstrates.
§2.41.3μόνη γὰρ τῶν νῦν ἀκοῆς κρείσσων ἐς πεῖραν ἔρχεται, καὶ μόνη οὔτε τῷ πολεμίῳ ἐπελθόντι ἀγανάκτησιν ἔχει ὑφ’ οἵων κακοπαθεῖ οὔτε τῷ ὑπηκόῳ κατάμεμψιν ὡς οὐχ ὑπ’ ἀξίων ἄρχεται.
For she alone among the cities of today comes to the test superior to her reputation, and she alone causes neither indignation in the invading enemy at the kind of men by whom he suffers, nor reproach in the subject that he is ruled by those who are unworthy.
§2.41.4μετὰ μεγάλων δὲ σημείων καὶ οὐ δή τοι ἀμάρτυρόν γε τὴν δύναμιν παρασχόμενοι τοῖς τε νῦν καὶ τοῖς ἔπειτα θαυμασθησόμεθα, καὶ οὐδὲν προσδεόμενοι οὔτε Ὁμήρου ἐπαινέτου οὔτε ὅστις ἔπεσι μὲν τὸ αὐτίκα τέρψει, τῶν δ’ ἔργων τὴν ὑπόνοιαν ἡ ἀλήθεια βλάψει, ἀλλὰ πᾶσαν μὲν θάλασσαν καὶ γῆν ἐσβατὸν τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ τόλμῃ καταναγκάσαντες γενέσθαι, πανταχοῦ δὲ μνημεῖα κακῶν τε κἀγαθῶν ἀίδια ξυγκατοικίσαντες.
Having shown our power with great proofs and by no means without witness, we shall be admired both by those of the present and by those of the future, needing not at all either Homer as a praiser, or anyone else who will delight for the moment with his verses, while the truth will damage the conception of the deeds, but because we have forced every sea and land to be accessible to our daring, and have everywhere established everlasting monuments of both evils and goods.
§2.41.5περὶ τοιαύτης οὖν πόλεως οἵδε τε γενναίως δικαιοῦντες μὴ ἀφαιρεθῆναι αὐτὴν μαχόμενοι ἐτελεύτησαν, καὶ τῶν λειπομένων πάντα τινὰ εἰκὸς ἐθέλειν ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς κάμνειν.
For such a city, then, these men, nobly deeming it right not to be deprived of her, fought and died, and it is natural that every one of us who survive should be willing to toil on her behalf.’

Notes

  1. 2.41.1δοκεῖν ἄν μοι ... πλεῖστ᾽ ἂν ... μάλιστ’ ἂν — The particle ἄν appears multiple times in a single sentence. The first ἄν goes with the infinitive δοκεῖν, while the second and third ἄν belong to the final infinitive παρέχεσθαι (forming a potential construction). Such repetition of ἄν for emphasis or clarity of long-structured sentences is a common feature in classical Greek prose.
  2. 2.41.3ὑφ’ οἵων κακοπαθεῖ — The genitive of the relative pronoun οἷος. This is a condensed expression with the omission of the antecedent (equivalent to ὑπὸ τοιούτων οἵων...), meaning 'by what kind of (superior) men he suffers (i.e., is defeated)'. The entire relative clause functions as a modifier explaining the cause of indignation.
  3. 2.41.4τῶν δ’ ἔργων τὴν ὑπόνοιαν ἡ ἀλήθεια βλάψει — A contrastive structure where the 'conception/imagination' (ὑπόνοια) raised in people's minds by poetic verses will be 'damaged/invalidated' (βλάψει) by the actual 'truth/reality of facts' (ἀλήθεια). It implies that the grand reality of Athenian deeds will so far surpass any poetic exaggerations as to make them seem lesser or obsolete.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §2.41.1-2.41.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.41.1-2.41.5

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