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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §5.104.1

Melian Hopes for Divine Favor and Spartan Aid

Passage 604 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The Melians acknowledge the difficulty of fighting against unequal odds, but express their confidence that they will receive divine favor as righteous men, and that the Lacedaemonians will be compelled by kinship and shame to assist them.

§5.104.1ΜΗΛ. χαλεπὸν μὲν καὶ ἡμεῖς (εὖ ἴστε) νομίζομεν πρὸς δύναμίν τε τὴν ὑμετέραν καὶ τὴν τύχην, εἰ μὴ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἴσου ἔσται, ἀγωνίζεσθαι·
MEL. We too, you may be sure, regard it as difficult to contend against your power and against fortune, if it is not to be on equal terms.
ὅμως δὲ πιστεύομεν τῇ μὲν τύχῃ ἐκ τοῦ θείου μὴ ἐλασσώσεσθαι, ὅτι ὅσιοι πρὸς οὐ δικαίους ἱστάμεθα, τῆς δὲ δυνάμεως τῷ ἐλλείποντι τὴν Λακεδαιμονίων ἡμῖν ξυμμαχίαν προσέσεσθαι, ἀνάγκην ἔχουσαν, καὶ εἰ μή του ἄλλου, τῆς γε ξυγγενείας ἕνεκα καὶ αἰσχύνῃ βοηθεῖν.
Nevertheless, we trust that, in respect of fortune which comes from the divine, we shall not be at a disadvantage, because we stand as righteous men against those who are unjust; and that as for what is lacking in our power, the alliance of the Lacedaemonians will be added to us, since they are bound, if for no other reason, yet at least for the sake of kinship and from a sense of shame, to bring us aid.
καὶ οὐ παντάπασιν οὕτως ἀλόγως θρασυνόμεθα.
And so we are not so utterly irrational in our confidence.

Notes

  1. 5.104.1τῆς δὲ δυνάμεως τῷ ἐλλείποντι — The genitive noun δυνάμεως depends on the neuter substantivized participle τῷ ἐλλείποντι (dative). The entire phrase means 'to that which is lacking in our power' and functions as a dative of addition or reference with the infinitive προσέσεσθαι.
  2. 5.104.1ἀνάγκην ἔχουσαν — A accusative participle phrase modifying τὴν Λακεδαιμονίων ... ξυμμαχίαν (the Lacedaemonian alliance, feminine singular accusative), which is the subject of the infinitive προσέσεσθαι. It governs the complementary infinitive βοηθεῖν, meaning 'an alliance which is bound (has a necessity) to bring aid'.
  3. 5.104.1καὶ εἰ μή του ἄλλου — The word του is the genitive of the indefinite pronoun τις (neuter singular). The preposition ἕνεκα is omitted by ellipsis, making the phrase an idiomatic expression meaning 'even if for no other reason'.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §5.104.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.104.1

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