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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §3.9.1-3.9.3

Mytilenaean Envoys Justify Their Revolt from Athens

Passage 258 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The Mytilenaean ambassadors begin their speech before the allies gathered at Olympia, arguing that while defectors are generally viewed as base, the conditions of equality and lack of justification did not apply to their relationship with Athens.

§3.9.1‘τὸ μὲν καθεστὸς τοῖς Ἕλλησι νόμιμον, ὦ Λακεδαιμόνιοι καὶ ξύμμαχοι, ἴσμεν· τοὺς γὰρ ἀφισταμένους ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις καὶ ξυμμαχίαν τὴν πρὶν ἀπολείποντας οἱ δεξάμενοι, καθ’ ὅσον μὲν ὠφελοῦνται, ἐν ἡδονῇ ἔχουσι, νομίζοντες δὲ εἶναι προδότας τῶν πρὸ τοῦ φίλων χείρους ἡγοῦνται.
'We know, O Lacedaemonians and allies, the established custom among the Greeks; for those who receive those who revolt in wars and abandon their former alliance, so far as they profit by them, look upon them with pleasure, but, considering them to be traitors to their former friends, they deem them worse.
§3.9.2καὶ οὐκ ἄδικος αὕτη ἡ ἀξίωσίς ἐστιν, εἰ τύχοιεν πρὸς ἀλλήλους οἵ τε ἀφιστάμενοι καὶ ἀφ’ ὧν διακρίνοιντο ἴσοι μὲν τῇ γνώμῃ ὄντες καὶ εὐνοίᾳ, ἀντίπαλοι δὲ τῇ παρασκευῇ καὶ δυνάμει, πρόφασίς τε ἐπιεικὴς μηδεμία ὑπάρχοι τῆς ἀποστάσεως· ὃ ἡμῖν καὶ Ἀθηναίοις οὐκ ἦν.
And this estimation is not unjust, if it should happen that those who revolt and those from whom they separate are equal to each other in spirit and goodwill, and well-matched in preparation and power, and if no reasonable pretext for the revolt exists; which was not the case between us and the Athenians.
§3.9.3μηδέ τῳ χείρους δόξωμεν εἶναι εἰ ἐν τῇ εἰρήνῃ τιμώμενοι ὑπ’ αὐτῶν ἐν τοῖς δεινοῖς ἀφιστάμεθα.
And let us not appear worse to anyone if, while being honored by them in peace, we revolt in times of danger.

Notes

  1. 3.9.1τοὺς γὰρ ἀφισταμένους — The relationship between subject and object. The subsequent participle `οἱ δεξάμενοι` (those who receive) is the subject of the main clauses, while `τοὺς ἀφισταμένους...` (those who revolt) is the object, governed by `δεξάμενοι` and serving as the common object of both `ἔχουσι` (in the phrase `ἐν ἡδονῇ ἔχουσι`, "welcome") and `ἡγοῦνται` ("deem").
  2. 3.9.2εἰ τύχοιεν — The construction of `τυγχάνω` with a participle (here `ὄντες`), meaning "happen to be". The optative `τύχοιεν` is used in a conditional clause to represent a hypothetical case ("if they should happen to be"). The other optative verb `ὑπάρχοι` is coordinated within this same conditional framework.
  3. 3.9.2ὃ ἡμῖν καὶ Ἀθηναίοις οὐκ ἦν — The antecedent of the relative pronoun `ὃ` is the entire situation described in the preceding `εἰ` clause—namely, the condition where both parties are equal in spirit and power, and no reasonable pretext for revolt exists.
  4. 3.9.3μηδέ τῳ — `τῳ` is the Attic contracted form of `τινί`, the dative of the indefinite pronoun `τις`. It means "to anyone" and functions as a dative of judgment modifying `δόξωμεν` ("let us [not] seem").

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §3.9.1-3.9.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.9.1-3.9.3

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