Humanitext Reader

Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §8.54.1-8.54.4

Athenian Consent to Oligarchy and Peisander's Mission

Passage 862 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The Athenian assembly, persuaded by Peisander, reluctantly consents to oligarchy and sends Peisander with ten commissioners to negotiate with Tissaphernes and Alcibiades. Peisander also secures the removal of his opponent Phrynichus, mobilizes local political clubs to overthrow the democracy, and sets sail.

§8.54.1ὁ δὲ δῆμος τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἀκούων χαλεπῶς ἔφερε τὸ περὶ τῆς ὀλιγαρχίας· σαφῶς δὲ διδασκόμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ Πεισάνδρου μὴ εἶναι ἄλλην σωτηρίαν, δείσας καὶ ἅμα ἐπελπίζων ὡς καὶ μεταβαλεῖται, ἐνέδωκεν.
The people at first were displeased to hear the proposal about the oligarchy; but being clearly taught by Peisander that there was no other safety, and being afraid while at the same time hoping that it would also be changed later, they gave in.
§8.54.2καὶ ἐψηφίσαντο πλεύσαντα τὸν Πείσανδρον καὶ δέκα ἄνδρας μετ’ αὐτοῦ πράσσειν ὅπῃ [ἂν] αὐτοῖς δοκοίη ἄριστα ἕξειν τά τε πρὸς τὸν Τισσαφέρνην καὶ τὸν Ἀλκιβιάδην.
And they voted that Peisander and ten men with him should sail and manage matters in whatever way seemed best to them with Tissaphernes and Alcibiades.
§8.54.3ἅμα τε διαβαλόντος καὶ Φρύνιχον τοῦ Πεισάνδρου παρέλυσεν ὁ δῆμος τῆς ἀρχῆς καὶ τὸν ξυνάρχοντα Σκιρωνίδην, ἀντέπεμψαν δὲ στρατηγοὺς ἐπὶ τὰς ναῦς Διομέδοντα καὶ Λέοντα.
At the same time, as Peisander also slandered Phrynichus, the people deposed him from his office along with his colleague Scironides, and sent back Diomedon and Leon as generals to the fleet.
τὸν δὲ Φρύνιχον ὁ Πείσανδρος φάσκων Ἴασον προδοῦναι καὶ Ἀμόργην διέβαλεν, οὐ νομίζων ἐπιτήδειον εἶναι τοῖς πρὸς τὸν Ἀλκιβιάδην πρασσομένοις.
Peisander slandered Phrynichus, alleging that he had betrayed Iasus and Amorges, because he did not think him suitable for the negotiations with Alcibiades.
§8.54.4καὶ ὁ μὲν Πείσανδρος τάς τε ξυνωμοσίας, αἵπερ ἐτύγχανον πρότερον ἐν τῇ πόλει οὖσαι ἐπὶ δίκαις καὶ ἀρχαῖς, ἁπάσας ἐπελθὼν καὶ παρακελευσάμενος ὅπως ξυστραφέντες καὶ κοινῇ βουλευσάμενοι καταλύσουσι τὸν δῆμον, καὶ τἆλλα παρασκευάσας ἐπὶ τοῖς παροῦσιν ὥστε μηκέτι διαμέλλεσθαι, αὐτὸς μετὰ τῶν δέκα ἀνδρῶν τὸν πλοῦν ὡς τὸν Τισσαφέρνην ποιεῖται.
And Peisander, visiting all the conspiracies which happened to exist previously in the city for lawsuits and offices, and encouraging them to unite and deliberate in common to overthrow the democracy, and having made other preparations for the present circumstances so that there would be no further delay, himself with the ten men made the voyage to Tissaphernes.

Notes

  1. 8.54.1ὡς καὶ μεταβαλεῖται — The ὡς clause functions as a noun clause expressing the object of expectation after the participle ἐπελπίζων ("hoping"), and μεταβαλεῖται is a future middle verb used intransitively to mean "it will be changed" or "things will change." This refers to the people's hope that they could later revert the constitution, as suggested by Peisander in 8.53.3.
  2. 8.54.2πράσσειν ὅπῃ [ἂν] αὐτοῖς δοκοίη ἄριστα ἕξειν — An accusative with infinitive construction acting as the object of ἐψηφίσαντο (with τὸν Πείσανδρον καὶ δέκα ἄνδρας as its subject). ὅπῃ [ἂν] αὐτοῖς δοκοίη is a relative/indirect interrogative clause with the optative of indirect discourse (after the past main verb ἐψηφίσαντο), meaning "in whatever way should seem best to them." ἄριστα ἕξειν is the future infinitive of the impersonal expression ἄριστα ἔχει ("it is best"), serving as the complement of δοκοίη.
  3. 8.54.4τάς τε ξυνωμοσίας ... ἐπελθὼν — τάς ... ξυνωμοσίας (referring to political clubs or conspiracies, *hetaireiai*) is the direct object of the participle ἐπελθὼν ("having gone to/visited"), positioned at the beginning of the sentence for emphasis. αἵπερ ἐτύγχανον ... οὖσαι employs the construction of τυγχάνω with a participle, meaning "which happened to exist" or "which actually existed," indicating that these clubs were already established in Athens at the time.
  4. 8.54.4ὅπως ... καταλύσουσι — The construction of ὅπως followed by the future indicative καταλύσουσι functions as an object clause of effort/purpose (meaning "that they should overthrow") depending on the participle παρακελευσάμενος ("encouraging, urging").

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §8.54.1-8.54.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.54.1-8.54.4

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.