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Plutarch · Life of Cimon §15.1-15.3

Ephialtes Strips the Areopagus and Cimon's Reaction

Passage 15 of 19 · Greek

Summary

After Cimon is acquitted, he restrains the democratic faction while in Athens; however, during his expedition, Ephialtes and others strip the Council of Areopagus of its powers, plunging the city into radical democracy. Upon his return, Cimon attempts to restore the older constitution but faces attacks from his opponents regarding his pro-Spartan views and private life.

§15.1ἐκείνην μὲν οὖν ἀπέφυγε τὴν δίκην·
Thus he was acquitted in that trial.
ἐν δὲ τῇ λοιπῇ πολιτείᾳ παρὼν μὲν ἐκράτει καὶ συνέστελλε τὸν δῆμον ἐπιβαίνοντα τοῖς ἀρίστοις καὶ περισπῶντα τὴν πᾶσαν εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἀρχὴν καὶ δύναμιν·
But in the remaining period of his political life, when he was present, he would control and restrain the people who were encroaching upon the nobles and drawing all the rule and power to themselves.
ὡς δὲ πάλιν ἐπὶ στρατείαν ἐξέπλευσε, τελέως ἀνεθέντες οἱ πολλοὶ καὶ συγχέαντες τὸν καθεστῶτα τῆς πολιτείας κόσμον τά τε πάτρια νόμιμα, οἷς ἐχρῶντο πρότερον,
When, however, he sailed out again on a military expedition, the multitude, completely set free, threw into confusion the established order of the constitution and the ancestral customs which they had previously observed.
§15.2Ἐφιάλτου προεστῶτος ἀφείλοντο τῆς ἐξ Ἀρείου πάγου βουλῆς τὰς κρίσεις πλὴν ὀλίγων ἁπάσας, καὶ τῶν δικαστηρίων κυρίους ἑαυτοὺς ποιήσαντες εἰς ἄκρατον δημοκρατίαν ἐνέβαλον τὴν πόλιν, ἤδη καὶ Περικλέους δυναμένου καὶ τὰ τῶν πολλῶν φρονοῦντος.
With Ephialtes as their leader, they deprived the Council of the Areopagus of all but a few of its judicial powers, and making themselves masters of the courts, they plunged the city into unmixed democracy, as Pericles was already powerful and sided with the multitude.
διὸ καὶ τοῦ Κίμωνος, ὡς ἐπανῆλθεν, ἀγανακτοῦντος ἐπὶ τῷ προπηλακίζεσθαι τὸ ἀξίωμα τοῦ συνεδρίου, καὶ πειρωμένου πάλιν ἄνω τὰς δίκας ἀνακαλεῖσθαι καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ Κλεισθένους ἐγείρειν ἀριστοκρατίαν, κατεβόων συνιστάμενοι καὶ τὸν δῆμον ἐξηρέθιζον, §15.3ἐκεῖνά τε τὰ πρὸς τὴν ἀδελφὴν ἀνανεούμενοι καὶ Λακωνισμὸν ἐπικαλοῦντες.
Therefore, when Cimon returned, being indignant that the dignity of the council was being trampled upon, and attempting to recall the trials back up to it and to revive the aristocracy of Clisthenes' time, they formed a conspiracy, cried out against him, and incited the people, reviving those old charges regarding his sister and accusing him of Laconism.
εἰς ἃ καὶ τὰ Εὐπόλιδος διατεθρύληται περὶ Κίμωνος, ὅτι " κακὸς μὲν οὐκ ἦν, φιλοπότης δὲ κἀμελής· κἀνίοτʼ ἂν ἀπεκοιμᾶτʼ ἂν ἐν Λακεδαίμονι, κἂν Ἐλπινίκην τήνδε καταλιπὼν μόνην.
Concerning these things, the verses of Eupolis about Cimon are widely circulated, that: "He was not a bad man, but a wine-lover and careless; and sometimes he would sleep in Lacedaemon, leaving this Elpinice here all alone.
" εἰ δʼ ἀμελῶν καὶ μεθυσκόμενος τοσαύτας πόλεις εἷλε καὶ τοσαύτας νίκας ἐνίκησε, δῆλον ὅτι νήφοντος αὐτοῦ καὶ προσέχοντος οὐδεὶς ἂν οὔτε τῶν πρότερον οὔτε τῶν ὕστερον Ἑλλήνωνπαρῆλθε τὰς πράξεις.
"But if, while being careless and drunk, he captured so many cities and won so many victories, it is clear that if he had been sober and attentive, no one, either of the earlier or the later Greeks, would have surpassed his deeds.

Notes

  1. §15.1παρὼν — Nominative masculine singular present participle. It has a temporal force, meaning 'while he was present' (in Athens), standing in direct contrast with the subsequent clause 'when he sailed out again on a military expedition'.
  2. §15.2ἤδη καὶ Περικλέους δυναμένου καὶ τὰ τῶν πολλῶν φρονοῦντος — A genitive absolute construction. The logical subject of the participles δυναμένου and φρονοῦντος is Περικλέους. It explains the background or cause of the political shift: 'since Pericles was already powerful and minded the interests of the multitude'.
  3. §15.3κἀνίοτʼ ἂν ἀπεκοιμᾶτʼ ἂν — Repetition of the particle ἂν (in κἀνίοτʼ ἂν and ἀπεκοιμᾶτʼ ἂν) used with the imperfect indicative (ἀπεκοιμᾶτο) to express and emphasize a habitual or repeated action in the past ('he would sometimes sleep').
  4. §15.3εἰ δʼ ἀμελῶν καὶ μεθυσκόμενος ... οὐδεὶς ἂν ... παρῆλθε — A mixed conditional sentence. The protasis (εἰ... εἷλε καὶ... ἐνίκησε) introduces a past actual fact as a premise ('if, indeed, while being careless and drunk, he captured...'), whereas the apodosis (οὐδεὶς ἂν... παρῆλθε) employs ἄν with the aorist indicative to express a past contrary-to-fact potentiality ('no one would have surpassed...').

Cite this passage

Plutarch, Life of Cimon §15.1-15.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg035.humanitext-grc2:15.1-15.3

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