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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §6.56.1-6.56.3

Conspiracy of Harmodius and Aristogeiton for the Panathenaea

Passage 672 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Insulted by Hipparchus through his sister, Harmodius plans an armed uprising at the Great Panathenaic festival with Aristogeiton. They kept the conspiracy small for safety, hoping other armed citizens would spontaneously join them.

§6.56.1τὸν δ’ οὖν Ἁρμόδιον ἀπαρνηθέντα τὴν πείρασιν, ὥσπερ διενοεῖτο, προυπηλάκισεν·
So then, when Harmodius rejected his advances, [Hipparchus] insulted him just as he had intended.
ἀδελφὴν γὰρ αὐτοῦ κόρην ἐπαγγείλαντες ἥκειν κανοῦν οἴσουσαν ἐν πομπῇ τινί, ἀπήλασαν λέγοντες οὐδὲ ἐπαγγεῖλαι τὴν ἀρχὴν διὰ τὸ μὴ ἀξίαν εἶναι. §6.56.2χαλεπῶς δὲ ἐνεγκόντος τοῦ Ἁρμοδίου πολλῷ δὴ μᾶλλον δι’ ἐκεῖνον καὶ ὁ Ἀριστογείτων παρωξύνετο.
For, after they had invited a young sister of his to come and carry a basket in a certain procession, they drove her away, saying that they had not even invited her in the first place because she was not worthy. And when Harmodius took this hard, Aristogeiton was also aroused to anger much more on his account.
καὶ αὐτοῖς τὰ μὲν ἄλλα πρὸς τοὺς ξυνεπιθησομένους τῷ ἔργῳ ἐπέπρακτο, περιέμενον δὲ Παναθήναια τὰ μεγάλα, ἐν ᾗ μόνον ἡμέρᾳ οὐχ ὕποπτον ἐγίγνετο ἐν ὅπλοις τῶν πολιτῶν τοὺς τὴν πομπὴν πέμψοντας ἁθρόους γενέσθαι· καὶ ἔδει ἄρξαι μὲν αὐτούς, ξυνεπαμύνειν δὲ εὐθὺς τὰ πρὸς τοὺς δορυφόρους ἐκείνους. §6.56.3ἦσαν δὲ οὐ πολλοὶ οἱ ξυνομωμοκότες ἀσφαλείας ἕνεκα· ἤλπιζον γὰρ καὶ τοὺς μὴ προειδότας, εἰ καὶ ὁποσοιοῦν τολμήσειαν, ἐκ τοῦ παραχρῆμα ἔχοντάς γε ὅπλα ἐθελήσειν σφᾶς αὐτοὺς ξυνελευθεροῦν.
And by them all other arrangements had been made with those who were to join in the deed, and they were waiting for the Great Panathenaia, on which day alone it did not cause suspicion for those of the citizens who were to join the procession to assemble in arms in a body; and it was necessary that they themselves should begin, and that the others should immediately join in defending them against those bodyguards. And those who had joined the conspiracy were not many, for the sake of safety; for they hoped that even those who had no prior knowledge, if indeed any number at all should make a bold move, would immediately, since they had arms at hand, be willing to join in liberating themselves.

Notes

  1. §6.56.1τὴν ἀρχήν — Not the accusative of the noun meaning 'rule,' but an adverbial accusative used with the negative οὐδέ to mean 'at all' or 'in the first place.' Here it means 'not even to have invited her in the first place.'
  2. §6.56.2ἐν ᾗ μόνον ἡμέρᾳ — A relative structure where the noun ἡμέρᾳ is attracted into the relative clause of ᾗ (assimilation of the antecedent). It means 'on which day alone (the festival is held).'
  3. §6.56.3σφᾶς αὐτούς — The object of the infinitive ξυνελευθεροῦν, acting as a reflexive pronoun referring to its logical subject 'the citizens who had no prior knowledge' (τοὺς μὴ προειδότας). It means 'to join in liberating themselves.'

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §6.56.1-6.56.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.56.1-6.56.3

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