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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §4.64.1-4.64.5

Hermocrates' Offer of Concession and Call for Unity

Passage 429 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Hermocrates concludes his speech by showing his willingness to make voluntary concessions despite representing the greatest city, arguing that one cannot master fortune, and urges other Sicilian cities to unite against foreign invaders and resolve their differences among themselves.

§4.64.1‘καὶ ἐγὼ μέν, ἅπερ καὶ ἀρχόμενος εἶπον, πόλιν τε μεγίστην παρεχόμενος καὶ ἐπιών τῳ μᾶλλον ἢ ἀμυνούμενος ἀξιῶ προιδόμενος αὐτῶν ξυγχωρεῖν, καὶ μὴ τοὺς ἐναντίους οὕτω κακῶς δρᾶν ὥστε αὐτὸς τὰ πλείω βλάπτεσθαι, μηδὲ μωρίᾳ φιλονικῶν ἡγεῖσθαι τῆς τε οἰκείας γνώμης ὁμοίως αὐτοκράτωρ εἶναι καὶ ἧς οὐκ ἄρχω τύχης, ἀλλ’ ὅσον εἰκὸς ἡσσᾶσθαι.
"And I for my part, as indeed I said at the beginning, presenting as I do the greatest city and being one who attacks rather than defends himself against another, think it right to make concessions, looking forward to these things, and not to do harm to my enemies in such a way that I myself suffer greater damage, nor, through foolish rivalry, to suppose that I am as much master of fortune, which I do not rule, as I am of my own purpose, but rather to yield as far as is reasonable.
§4.64.2καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους δικαιῶ ταὐτό μοι ποιῆσαι, ὑφ’ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν καὶ μὴ ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων τοῦτο παθεῖν.
And I require the others to do the same as I do, to experience this at your own hands and not at those of the enemy.
§4.64.3οὐδὲν γὰρ αἰσχρὸν οἰκείους οἰκείων ἡσσᾶσθαι, ἢ Δωριᾶ τινὰ Δωριῶς ἢ Χαλκιδέα τῶν ξυγγενῶν, τὸ δὲ ξύμπαν γείτονας ὄντας καὶ ξυνοίκους μιᾶς χώρας καὶ περιρρύτου καὶ ὄνομα ἓν κεκλημένους Σικελιώτας·
For there is nothing disgraceful in relatives yielding to relatives, whether a Dorian to a Dorian, or a Chalcidian to his kinsmen, and, in a word, since we are neighbors and co-inhabitants of a single land surrounded by the sea, and are called by one name, Siceliots.
οἳ πολεμήσομέν τε, οἶμαι, ὅταν ξυμβῇ, καὶ ξυγχωρησόμεθά γε πάλιν καθ’ ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς λόγοις κοινοῖς χρώμενοι· §4.64.4τοὺς δὲ ἀλλοφύλους ἐπελθόντας ἁθρόοι αἰεί, ἢν σωφρονῶμεν, ἀμυνούμεθα, εἴπερ καὶ καθ᾽ ἑκάστους βλαπτόμενοι ξύμπαντες κινδυνεύομεν· ξυμμάχους δὲ οὐδέποτε τὸ λοιπὸν ἐπαξόμεθα οὐδὲ διαλλακτάς.
We shall both, I suppose, go to war when it so happens, and again come to terms among ourselves, using common discussions; but against foreigners who attack us we shall, if we are wise, always defend ourselves in a body, since, if we are injured individually, we are all endangered as a whole; and we shall never in the future bring in allies or arbitrators.
§4.64.5τάδε γὰρ ποιοῦντες ἔν τε τῷ παρόντι δυοῖν ἀγαθοῖν οὐ στερήσομεν τὴν Σικελίαν, Ἀθηναίων τε ἀπαλλαγῆναι καὶ οἰκείου πολέμου, καὶ ἐς τὸ ἔπειτα καθ’ ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς ἐλευθέραν νεμούμεθα καὶ ὑπὸ ἄλλων ἧσσον ἐπιβουλευομένην. ’
For by doing these things, we shall not deprive Sicily of two benefits at the present time—deliverance from the Athenians and from domestic war—and for the future we shall inhabit it in freedom by ourselves, and less plotted against by others."

Notes

  1. 4.64.1προιδόμενος αὐτῶν — The middle participle προιδόμενος (aorist of προοράω) governs the genitive and means "having foreseen in advance." The genitive pronoun αὐτῶν (neuter plural) refers to the circumstances mentioned in the preceding section (4.63), such as the uncertainty of the future and the Athenian threat.
  2. 4.64.1ἧς οὐκ ἄρχω τύχης — An instance of the incorporation of the antecedent inside the relative clause (instead of τῆς τύχης ἧς οὐκ ἄρχω). The genitive case of the relative pronoun ἧς is governed by the verb ἄρχω ("to rule"). The entire phrase stands parallel to the preceding τῆς οἰκείας γνώμης, both depending on the adjective/noun αὐτοκράτωρ ("master of").
  3. 4.64.2ὑφ’ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν καὶ μὴ ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων τοῦτο παθεῖν — An accusative-with-infinitive phrase. Here, τοῦτο παθεῖν ("to suffer/experience this") refers to the preceding ταὐτό μοι ποιῆσαι ("to do the same as I do," i.e., to make concessions). The contrast emphasizes that they should accept making concessions by their own free will (ὑφ’ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν) rather than being forced to do so by the enemy (ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων).
  4. 4.64.5δυοῖν ἀγαθοῖν οὐ στερήσομεν τὴν Σικελίαν — The verb στερέω here takes an accusative of the entity deprived (τὴν Σικελίαν) and a genitive of the thing taken away (δυοῖν ἀγαθοῖν). Combined with the negative οὐ, it yields a double negative sense: "we shall not deprive Sicily of two benefits," meaning "we will secure these two benefits for Sicily."

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §4.64.1-4.64.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.64.1-4.64.5

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