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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §6.53.1-6.53.3

Arrival of the Salaminia and Recall of Alcibiades

Passage 669 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The state ship Salaminia arrives at Catana to recall Alcibiades and others for trial. Out of fear of past tyranny, the Athenian public falls into extreme suspicion and arrests prominent citizens without scrutinizing the informers.

§6.53.1καὶ καταλαμβάνουσι τὴν Σαλαμινίαν ναῦν ἐκ τῶν Ἀθηνῶν ἥκουσαν ἐπί τε Ἀλκιβιάδην ὡς κελεύσοντας ἀποπλεῖν ἐς ἀπολογίαν ὧν ἡ πόλις ἐνεκάλει, καὶ ἐπ’ ἄλλους τινὰς τῶν στρατιωτῶν τῶν μετ’ αὐτοῦ μεμηνυμένων περὶ τῶν μυστηρίων ὡς ἀσεβούντων, τῶν δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν Ἑρμῶν.
And they found the State ship Salaminia arrived from Athens, sent both for Alcibiades, with orders for him to sail back to make his defence against the charges which the state brought against him, and for certain others of the soldiers with him who had been informed against regarding the mysteries as being impious, and some also regarding the Hermae.
§6.53.2οἱ γὰρ Ἀθηναῖοι, ἐπειδὴ ἡ στρατιὰ ἀπέπλευσεν, οὐδὲν ἧσσον ζήτησιν ἐποιοῦντο τῶν περὶ τὰ μυστήρια καὶ τῶν περὶ τοὺς Ἑρμᾶς δρασθέντων, καὶ οὐ δοκιμάζοντες τοὺς μηνυτάς, ἀλλὰ πάντα ὑπόπτως ἀποδεχόμενοι, διὰ πονηρῶν ἀνθρώπων πίστιν πάνυ χρηστοὺς τῶν πολιτῶν ξυλλαμβάνοντες κατέδουν, χρησιμώτερον ἡγούμενοι εἶναι βασανίσαι τὸ πρᾶγμα καὶ εὑρεῖν ἢ διὰ μηνυτοῦ πονηρίαν τινὰ καὶ χρηστὸν δοκοῦντα εἶναι αἰτιαθέντα ἀνέλεγκτον διαφυγεῖν.
For the Athenians, after the army had sailed, none the less conducted an inquiry into what had been done concerning both the mysteries and the Hermae; and far from testing the informers, but accepting everything suspiciously, they arrested and imprisoned some of the very best citizens on the credit of worthless men, thinking it more advantageous to sift the matter to the bottom and find the truth, than that anyone who was deemed a good citizen, when once accused owing to the villainy of an informer, should escape unquestioned.
§6.53.3ἐπιστάμενος γὰρ ὁ δῆμος ἀκοῇ τὴν Πεισιστράτου καὶ τῶν παίδων τυραννίδα χαλεπὴν τελευτῶσαν γενομένην καὶ προσέτι οὐδ’ ὑφ’ ἑαυτῶν καὶ Ἁρμοδίου καταλυθεῖσαν, ἀλλ’ ὑπὸ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων, ἐφοβεῖτο αἰεὶ καὶ πάντα ὑπόπτως ἐλάμβανεν.
For the commons, knowing by report that the tyranny of Pisistratus and his sons had in the end become severe, and moreover that it had not been overthrown by themselves and Harmodius, but by the Lacedaemonians, were always afraid and took everything suspiciously.

Notes

  1. §6.53.1ὡς κελεύσοντας — Future participle active, nominative plural, with the conjunction ὡς, expressing purpose. The subject of the participle refers to the crew or messengers on board the Salaminia.
  2. §6.53.2διὰ πονηρῶν ἀνθρώπων πίστιν — The preposition διὰ with the accusative noun πίστιν ('trust' or 'credit'). Here it means 'relying on the credit of worthless men' or 'because of the trust placed in wicked men.'
  3. §6.53.2χρησιμώτερον ἡγούμενοι εἶναι... ἢ... — A comparative construction with the neuter singular nominative comparative adjective χρησιμώτερον. The comparative conjunction ἢ links the first infinitive phrase (βασανίσαι... καὶ εὑρεῖν) and the second accusative with infinitive phrase (τινὰ... αἰτιαθέντα ἀνέλεγκτον διαφυγεῖν) as the subject of εἶναι.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §6.53.1-6.53.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.53.1-6.53.3

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