Humanitext Reader

Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §3.84.1-3.84.3

The Destruction of Law and Rampant Human Nature

Passage 333 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Reflecting on the atrocities of the Corcyraean sedition, the author criticizes human nature that runs rampant in defiance of the law, and the folly of destroying the universal laws that might otherwise save oneself in the future.

§3.84.1[ἐν δ’ οὖν τῇ Κερκύρᾳ τὰ πολλὰ αὐτῶν προυτολμήθη, καὶ ὁπόσα ὕβρει μὲν ἀρχόμενοι τὸ πλέον ἢ σωφροσύνῃ ὑπὸ τῶν τὴν τιμωρίαν παρασχόντων οἱ ἀνταμυνόμενοι δράσειαν, πενίας δὲ τῆς εἰωθυίας ἀπαλλαξείοντές τινες, μάλιστα δ’ ἂν διὰ πάθους, ἐπιθυμοῦντες τὰ τῶν πέλας ἔχειν, παρὰ δίκην γιγνώσκοιεν, οἵ τε μὴ ἐπὶ πλεονεξίᾳ, ἀπὸ ἴσου δὲ μάλιστα ἐπιόντες ἀπαιδευσίᾳ ὀργῆς πλεῖστον ἐκφερόμενοι ὠμῶς καὶ ἀπαραιτήτως ἐπέλθοιεν.
[In Corcyra, then, most of these deeds were first dared, both all those things which men who were ruled with insolence rather than moderation might do in retaliation against those who provided the occasion for their punishment, and those which some, wishing to be rid of their accustomed poverty, and especially under the influence of passion, desiring to possess their neighbors' goods, might decide contrary to justice, and those which men, attacking not for the sake of greed but chiefly on equal terms, being carried away most of all by unbridled anger, might brutally and relentlessly assault.
§3.84.2ξυνταραχθέντος τε τοῦ βίου ἐς τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον τῇ πόλει καὶ τῶν νόμων κρατήσασα ἡ ἀνθρωπεία φύσις, εἰωθυῖα καὶ παρὰ τοὺς νόμους ἀδικεῖν, ἀσμένη ἐδήλωσεν ἀκρατὴς μὲν ὀργῆς οὖσα, κρείσσων δὲ τοῦ δικαίου, πολεμία δὲ τοῦ προύχοντος· οὐ γὰρ ἂν τοῦ τε ὁσίου τὸ τιμωρεῖσθαι προυτίθεσαν τοῦ τε μὴ ἀδικεῖν τὸ κερδαίνειν, ἐν ᾧ μὴ βλάπτουσαν ἰσχὺν εἶχε τὸ φθονεῖν.
And when life in the city was thrown into utter confusion at this critical time, human nature, having triumphed over the laws—accustomed as it was to do wrong even in violation of the laws—gladly showed itself to be ungovernable in anger, superior to justice, and hostile to anyone of higher status; for they would not have preferred revenge to piety, nor gain to abstaining from injustice, unless envy had possessed a power to do harm.
§3.84.3ἀξιοῦσί τε τοὺς κοινοὺς περὶ τῶν τοιούτων οἱ ἄνθρωποι νόμους, ἀφ’ ὧν ἅπασιν ἐλπὶς ὑπόκειται σφαλεῖσι κἂν αὐτοὺς διασῴζεσθαι, ἐν ἄλλων τιμωρίαις προκαταλύειν καὶ μὴ ὑπολείπεσθαι, εἴ ποτε ἄρα τις κινδυνεύσας τινὸς δεήσεται αὐτῶν. ]
And men assume the right, in the punishment of others, to annul beforehand those common laws concerning such matters, from which all have a hope of being saved themselves if they should fall, and not to leave them remaining, in case they themselves should ever be in danger and have need of them.]

Notes

  1. 3.84.1ὑπὸ τῶν τὴν τιμωρίαν παρασχόντων — This prepositional phrase (ὑπό with the genitive) modifies the preceding passive participle ἀρχόμενοι ("being ruled") rather than the active verb δράσειαν ("might do"). Thus, the syntactical relationship is "those who were ruled [by those who provided the occasion for punishment]," while the active subject of δράσειαν remains οἱ ἀνταμυνόμενοι ("those who retaliate").
  2. 3.84.2ἐν ᾧ μὴ βλάπτουσαν ἰσχὺν εἶχε τὸ φθονεῖν — The relative phrase ἐν ᾧ, combined with the negative particle μή, functions as an unreal conditional clause ("unless" or "if not in a situation where"). Consequently, the main clause (οὐ γὰρ ἂν ... προυτίθεσαν) is constructed as an unreal apodosis using ἄν with the imperfect indicative, yielding the sense: "for they would not have preferred... unless envy had possessed a power to do harm."
  3. 3.84.3κἂν αὐτοὺς διασῴζεσθαι — κἂν is a crasis of καὶ ἂν. The particle ἄν here goes with the present middle-passive infinitive διασῴζεσθαι, forming an accusative-with-infinitive construction that expresses potentiality ("that they themselves might be saved"). The accusative pronoun αὐτούς serves as the subject of the infinitive.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §3.84.1-3.84.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.84.1-3.84.3

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.