Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §5.86.1

Melian Concerns of Facing War or Enslavement

Passage 586 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The Melian commissioners, while acknowledging the fairness of dialogue, point out that the immediate threat of war contradicts it, fearing that the outcome will only be war or slavery.

§5.86.1οἱ δὲ τῶν Μηλίων ξύνεδροι ἀπεκρίναντο ‘ἡ μὲν ἐπιείκεια τοῦ διδάσκειν καθ’ ἡσυχίαν ἀλλήλους οὐ ψέγεται, τὰ δὲ τοῦ πολέμου παρόντα ἤδη καὶ οὐ μέλλοντα διαφέροντα αὐτοῦ φαίνεται.

The commissioners of the Melians replied: 'The fairness of instructing each other in peace is not to be found fault with, but the present facts of war, which are already here and not merely prospective, appear to be at variance with it.

ὁρῶμεν γὰρ αὐτούς τε κριτὰς ἥκοντας ὑμᾶς τῶν λεχθησομένων καὶ τὴν τελευτὴν ἐξ αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς περιγενομένοις μὲν τῷ δικαίῳ καὶ δι’ αὐτὸ μὴ ἐνδοῦσι πόλεμον ἡμῖν φέρουσαν, πεισθεῖσι δὲ δουλείαν. ’

For we see that you have come to be yourselves the judges of what is to be said, and that the conclusion of it, in all probability, brings us war if we prove to have the right and therefore do not yield, but slavery if we are persuaded.'

Notes

5.86.1διαφέροντα αὐτοῦ φαίνεται — The participle διαφέροντα acts as a predicative participle with φαίνεται, indicating an actual, clear fact ('clearly differs' or 'manifestly is at variance'). The genitive pronoun αὐτοῦ refers back to the previously mentioned fairness of mutual instruction (ἡ ἐπιείκεια τοῦ διδάσκειν).
5.86.1ὁρῶμεν γὰρ αὐτούς τε κριτὰς ἥκοντας ὑμᾶς τῶν λεχθησομένων καὶ τὴν τελευτὴν ἐξ αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς περιγενομένοις μὲν τῷ δικαίῳ καὶ δι’ αὐτὸ μὴ ἐνδοῦσι πόλεμον ἡμῖν φέρουσαν, πεισθεῖσι δὲ δουλείαν — A double 'accusative + participle' construction governed by ὁρῶμεν. The first is [αὐτούς τε κριτὰς ἥκοντας ὑμᾶς] ('that you have come as judges yourselves'), and the second is [τὴν τελευτὴν ... φέρουσαν] ('that the conclusion brings...'). In the latter, the dative participles περιγενομένοις and πεισθεῖσι agree with the indirect object ἡμῖν ('to us'), conveying conditional force ('if we prevail and do not yield' vs. 'if we are persuaded').

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §5.86.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.86.1

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