Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §5.112.1-5.112.3

The Melian Final Reply: Preserving Liberty and Proposing Neutrality

Passage 612 of 917 · Greek

Summary

After the Athenians withdrew, the Melians deliberated among themselves and delivered their final response, declaring that they would preserve their liberty as before, and proposing that they become neutral friends while requesting the Athenians to withdraw.

§5.112.1καὶ οἱ μὲν Ἀθηναῖοι μετεχώρησαν ἐκ τῶν λόγων· οἱ δὲ Μήλιοι κατὰ σφᾶς αὐτοὺς γενόμενοι, ὡς ἔδοξεν αὐτοῖς παραπλήσια καὶ ἀντέλεγον, ἀπεκρίναντο τάδε. §5.112.2‘οὔτε ἄλλα δοκεῖ ἡμῖν ἢ ἅπερ καὶ τὸ πρῶτον, ὦ Ἀθηναῖοι, οὔτ’ ἐν ὀλίγῳ χρόνῳ πόλεως ἑπτακόσια ἔτη ἤδη οἰκουμένης τὴν ἐλευθερίαν ἀφαιρησόμεθα, ἀλλὰ τῇ τε μέχρι τοῦδε σῳζούσῃ τύχῃ ἐκ τοῦ θείου αὐτὴν καὶ τῇ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ Λακεδαιμονίων τιμωρίᾳ πιστεύοντες πειρασόμεθα σῴζεσθαι.

And the Athenians withdrew from the conference; but the Melians, being left to themselves, since their decision was close to what they had already been maintaining in opposition, answered as follows: 'Our opinion, Athenians, is no other than what it was at first, nor shall we in a short time deprive of its liberty a city that has now been inhabited for seven hundred years; but trusting both in the fortune from the divine which has preserved it up to now, and in the help from men and from the Lacedaemonians, we will try to save ourselves.

§5.112.3προκαλούμεθα δὲ ὑμᾶς φίλοι μὲν εἶναι, πολέμιοι δὲ μηδετέροις, καὶ ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἡμῶν ἀναχωρῆσαι σπονδὰς ποιησαμένους αἵτινες δοκοῦσιν ἐπιτήδειοι εἶναι ἀμφοτέροις. ’

And we propose to you that we should be friends, but enemies to neither side, and that you should withdraw from our land after making a treaty which seems suitable to both parties.'

Notes

5.112.1ὡς ἔδοξεν αὐτοῖς παραπλήσια καὶ ἀντέλεγον — The conjunction ὡς introduces a causal clause ('since/as') with ἔδοξεν ('it seemed good to them / they resolved'). παραπλήσια is used adverbially or as a neuter plural accusative representing the content of their resolution. καί means 'also' and modifies the imperfect ἀντέλεγον ('they were arguing in opposition'). The whole phrase means 'since they resolved on things very similar to what they had also been maintaining in their opposition.'
5.112.2πόλεως ... οἰκουμένης ... τὴν ἐλευθερίαν ἀφαιρησόμεθα — The verb ἀφαιρέομαι ('deprive/rob') takes a genitive of the person/entity deprived (here, πόλεως... οἰκουμένης, 'from a city') and an accusative of the thing taken (тὴν ἐλευθερίαν, 'liberty'). Interpreting the genitive as a genitive absolute ('while the city has been inhabited') is incorrect given the syntax of the verb.
5.112.2τῇ τε μέχρι τοῦδε σῳζούσῃ τύχῃ ἐκ τοῦ θείου αὐτὴν — The accusative pronoun αὐτήν ('it', feminine singular) is the direct object of the active participle σῳζούσῃ, referring back to the feminine noun πόλεως ('city'). This entire participle phrase [μέχρι τοῦδε σῳζούσῃ ἐκ τοῦ θείου αὐτήν] is embedded attributively between the article τῇ and the noun τύχῃ ('by the fortune which... has preserved it').
5.112.3φίλοι μὲν εἶναι, πολέμιοι δὲ μηδετέροις, καὶ ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἡμῶν ἀναχωρῆσαι σπονδὰς ποιησαμένους — The subject changes between the two infinitives εἶναι and ἀναχωρῆσαι. In the first part, the subject of εἶναι is the Melians themselves, so the predicative adjectives φίλοι and πολέμιοι are in the nominative plural, agreeing with the subject of the main verb (προκαλούμεθα). In the second part, the subject of ἀναχωρῆσαι is the Athenians (the object of the main verb, ὑμᾶς), so the modifying participle ποιησαμένους is in the accusative plural to agree with ὑμᾶς.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §5.112.1-5.112.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.112.1-5.112.3

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