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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §6.57.1-6.57.4

Assassination of Hipparchus and Fate of the Conspirators

Passage 673 of 917 · Greek

Summary

On the day of the Panathenaia, Harmodius and Aristogeiton, fearing they had been betrayed, rushed their plan and assassinated Hipparchus inside the city; Harmodius was killed on the spot, and Aristogeiton was later captured.

§6.57.1καὶ ὡς ἐπῆλθεν ἡ ἑορτή, Ἱππίας μὲν ἔξω ἐν τῷ Κεραμεικῷ καλουμένῳ μετὰ τῶν δορυφόρων διεκόσμει ὡς ἕκαστα ἐχρῆν τῆς πομπῆς προϊέναι, ὁ δὲ Ἁρμόδιος καὶ ὁ Ἀριστογείτων ἔχοντες ἤδη τὰ ἐγχειρίδια ἐς τὸ ἔργον προῇσαν. §6.57.2καὶ ὡς εἶδόν τινα τῶν ξυνωμοτῶν σφίσι διαλεγόμενον οἰκείως τῷ Ἱππίᾳ (ἦν δὲ πᾶσιν εὐπρόσοδος ὁ Ἱππίας), ἔδεισαν καὶ ἐνόμισαν μεμηνῦσθαί τε καὶ ὅσον οὐκ ἤδη ξυλληφθήσεσθαι. §6.57.3τὸν λυπήσαντα οὖν σφᾶς καὶ δι’ ὅνπερ πάντα ἐκινδύνευον ἐβούλοντο πρότερον, εἰ δύναιντο, προτιμωρήσασθαι, καὶ ὥσπερ εἶχον ὥρμησαν ἔσω τῶν πυλῶν, καὶ περιέτυχον τῷ Ἱππάρχῳ παρὰ τὸ Λεωκόρειον καλούμενον, καὶ εὐθὺς ἀπερισκέπτως προσπεσόντες καὶ ὡς ἂν μάλιστα δι’ ὀργῆς ὁ μὲν ἐρωτικῆς, ὁ δὲ ὑβρισμένος, ἔτυπτον καὶ ἀποκτείνουσιν αὐτόν. §6.57.4καὶ ὁ μὲν τοὺς δορυφόρους τὸ αὐτίκα διαφεύγει ὁ Ἀριστογείτων, ξυνδραμόντος τοῦ ὄχλου, καὶ ὕστερον ληφθεὶς οὐ ῥᾳδίως διετέθη· Ἁρμόδιος δὲ αὐτοῦ παραχρῆμα ἀπόλλυται.
And when the festival arrived, Hippias, outside in the so-called Kerameikos, was arranging with his bodyguards how each part of the procession ought to proceed, while Harmodius and Aristogeiton, already holding their daggers, were advancing to the deed. And when they saw one of their fellow conspirators conversing intimately with Hippias (for Hippias was easy of access to everyone), they were terrified and believed that they had been betrayed and were all but on the point of being arrested immediately. Therefore, wishing first, if they could, to take vengeance on the one who had grieved them and because of whom they were risking everything, they rushed just as they were inside the gates, and fell in with Hipparchus near the so-called Leokoreion; and immediately falling upon him recklessly and in the greatest possible rage—the one from passion, the other because of being insulted—they struck him repeatedly and killed him. And Aristogeiton indeed escaped the bodyguards for the moment, as the crowd rushed together, but was later captured and treated with no leniency; while Harmodius was killed on the spot immediately.

Notes

  1. §6.57.2ὅσον οὐκ ἤδη — An idiomatic phrase meaning 'all but now' or 'almost already.' Here it modifies the future passive infinitive ξυλληφθήσεσθαι governed by ἐνόμισαν, indicating that their arrest was imminent.
  2. §6.57.3ὡς ἂν μάλιστα — An idiomatic ellipsis of a potential optative with ἄν, expressing the highest possible degree ('as much as possible,' 'in the greatest possible way'). Here it modifies the prepositional phrase δι’ ὀργῆς (in rage).
  3. §6.57.3ὁ μὲν ἐρωτικῆς, ὁ δὲ ὑβρισμένος — A nominative apposition of the part to the whole (whole-part apposition) specifying the subjects of the plural verbs ἔτυπτον and ἀποκτείνουσιν (Harmodius and Aristogeiton). After ἐρωτικῆς, the noun ὀργῆς is understood from the preceding δι’ ὀργῆς, and ὑβρισμένος is a nominative participle meaning 'having been insulted.'

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §6.57.1-6.57.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.57.1-6.57.4

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