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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §3.57.1-3.57.4

Appeal to Spartan Reputation and Plea for Mercy

Passage 306 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The Plataeans warn the Lacedaemonians of the Greek public's condemnation if an unjust verdict is passed, and plead for mercy by contrasting their past achievements with their current desperate plight.

§3.57.1‘προσκέψασθέ τε ὅτι νῦν μὲν παράδειγμα τοῖς πολλοῖς τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἀνδραγαθίας νομίζεσθε· εἰ δὲ περὶ ἡμῶν γνώσεσθε μὴ τὰ εἰκότα (οὐ γὰρ ἀφανῆ κρινεῖτε τὴν δίκην τήνδε, ἐπαινούμενοι δὲ περὶ οὐδ’ ἡμῶν μεμπτῶν), ὁρᾶτε ὅπως μὴ οὐκ ἀποδέξωνται ἀνδρῶν ἀγαθῶν πέρι αὐτοὺς ἀμείνους ὄντας ἀπρεπές τι ἐπιγνῶναι, οὐδὲ πρὸς ἱεροῖς τοῖς κοινοῖς σκῦλα ἀπὸ ἡμῶν τῶν εὐεργετῶν τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἀνατεθῆναι.
‘And consider that now indeed you are regarded by the generality of the Greeks as a pattern of noble conduct; but if you should decide about us what is not fitting (for you will not judge this trial in obscurity, you who are praised deciding about us who are also not blameworthy), see to it lest they should disapprove of you, who are good men, pronouncing an unseemly judgment upon us who are also good, nor that spoils taken from us, the benefactors of Greece, should be dedicated in the common temples.
§3.57.2δεινὸν δὲ δόξει εἶναι Πλάταιαν Λακεδαιμονίους πορθῆσαι, καὶ τοὺς μὲν πατέρας ἀναγράψαι ἐς τὸν τρίποδα τὸν ἐν Δελφοῖς δι’ ἀρετὴν τὴν πόλιν, ὑμᾶς δὲ καὶ ἐκ παντὸς τοῦ Ἑλληνικοῦ πανοικεσίᾳ διὰ Θηβαίους ἐξαλεῖψαι.
And it will seem a terrible thing that Lacedaemonians should destroy Plataea, and that while your fathers inscribed the city on the tripod at Delphi because of its virtue, you, for the sake of the Thebans, should erase it root and branch from the whole Greek nation.
§3.57.3ἐς τοῦτο γὰρ δὴ ξυμφορᾶς προκεχωρήκαμεν, οἵτινες Μήδων τε κρατησάντων ἀπωλλύμεθα καὶ νῦν ἐν ὑμῖν τοῖς πρὶν φιλτάτοις Θηβαίων ἡσσώμεθα καὶ δύο ἀγῶνας τοὺς μεγίστους ὑπέστημεν, τότε μέν, τὴν πόλιν εἰ μὴ παρέδομεν, λιμῷ διαφθαρῆναι, νῦν δὲ θανάτου δίκῃ κρίνεσθαι.
For we have indeed come to this pass of misfortune, we who, when the Medes conquered, were on the point of destruction, and now, before you who were once our dearest friends, are worsted by the Thebans, and have undergone two of the greatest trials: then, the danger of being destroyed by famine if we did not surrender our city, and now, of being tried on a capital charge.
§3.57.4καὶ περιεώσμεθα ἐκ πάντων Πλαταιῆς οἱ παρὰ δύναμιν πρόθυμοι ἐς τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐρῆμοι καὶ ἀτιμώρητοι· καὶ οὔτε τῶν τότε ξυμμάχων ὠφελεῖ οὐδείς, ὑμεῖς τε, ὦ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, ἡ μόνη ἐλπίς, δέδιμεν μὴ οὐ βέβαιοι ἦτε.
And we, the Plataeans, who were zealous for the Greeks beyond our strength, are cast off by all, desolate and unassisted; and of those who were then our allies not one helps us, and we fear lest you, Lacedaemonians, our only hope, may not be steadfast.’

Notes

  1. §3.57.1ὁρᾶτε ὅπως μὴ οὐκ ἀποδέξωνται — The expression ὁρᾶτε ὅπως μὴ οὐ conveys apprehension or warning ("see to it lest... not"). The verb ἀποδέξωνται (with the general Greek public as the implied subject) takes two accusative-with-infinitive constructions as its object: αὐτοὺς ... ἐπιγνῶναι ("that you yourselves should pass an unseemly judgment") and ἀνατεθῆναι ("that spoils should be dedicated"). Here, αὐτοὺς refers to the Lacedaemonians, agreed with ἀμείνους ὄντας ("being superior"), while ἀνδρῶν ἀγαθῶν πέρι ("concerning good men") refers to the Plataeans.
  2. §3.57.2καὶ τοὺς μὲν πατέρας ἀναγράψαι ... ὑμᾶς δὲ ... ἐξαλεῖψαι — An accusative-with-infinitive construction dependent on the impersonal phrase δεινὸν δὲ δόξει εἶναι ("it will seem a terrible thing that..."). The subjects τοὺς μὲν πατέρας and ὑμᾶς δέ are contrasted to highlight the sharp opposition between the ancestral honor (ἀναγράψαι) and the current generation's destruction (ἐξαλεῖψαι).
  3. §3.57.3οἵτινες Μήδων τε κρατησάντων ἀπωλλύμεθα — The relative pronoun οἵτινες introduces a causal or characterizing clause modifying the subject "we" ("we who..."). The imperfect ἀπωλλύμεθα expresses a past action that was on the verge of completion ("were on the brink of being destroyed"), contrasting with the present tense of ἡσσώμεθα ("are being worsted").
  4. §3.57.4δέδιμεν μὴ οὐ βέβαιοι ἦτε — A subordinate clause dependent on the verb of fearing δέδιμεν ("we fear"). The particles μὴ οὐ followed by the subjunctive mean "lest... not" or "fear that... is not," expressing apprehension that the Lacedaemonians may not prove to be steadfast.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §3.57.1-3.57.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.57.1-3.57.4

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