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Plutarch · Life of Cimon §19.1-19.4

Death of Cimon and the Aftermath for Greece

Passage 19 of 19 · Greek

Summary

This chunk describes the death of Cimon (either by disease or wound) and the safe retreat of the Greek army under the secrecy of his death, followed by the decline of Greek power against Persia due to internal conflicts, and the monuments and honors dedicated to him in Attica and Citium.

§19.1ἀπέθανε δὲ πολιορκῶν Κίτιον, ὡς οἱ πλεῖστοι λέγουσι, νοσήσας· ἔνιοι δέ φασιν ἐκ τραύματος, ὃ πρὸς τοὺς βαρβάρους ἀγωνιζόμενος ἔσχε.
Cimon died, as most writers say, of a disease while besieging Citium; but some say it was from a wound which he received while fighting against the barbarians.
τελευτῶν δὲ τοὺς περὶ αὐτὸν ἐκέλευσεν εὐθὺς ἀποπλεῖν ἀποκρυψαμένους τὸν θάνατον αὐτοῦ· καὶ συνέβη μήτε τῶν πολεμίων μήτε τῶν συμμάχων αἰσθομένων ἀσφαλῶς αὐτοὺς ἀνακομισθῆναι στρατηγουμένους ὑπὸ Κίμωνος, ὥς φησι Φανόδημος, τεθνηκότος ἐφʼ ἡμέρας τριάκοντα.
As he was dying, he ordered those around him to sail away immediately, concealing his death; and it happened that, without either the enemy or the allies perceiving it, they were brought back safely, commanded, as Phanodemus says, by Cimon who had been dead for thirty days.
§19.2μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἐκείνου τελευτὴν πρὸς μὲν τοὺς βαρβάρους οὐδὲν ἔτι λαμπρὸν ὑπʼ οὐδενὸς ἐπράχθη στρατηγοῦ τῶν Ἑλλήνων, ἀλλὰ τραπέντες ὑπὸ δημαγωγῶν καὶ πολεμοποιῶν ἐπʼ ἀλλήλους, οὐδενὸς τὰς χεῖρας ἐν μέσῳ διασχόντος, συνερράγησαν εἰς τὸν πόλεμον, ἀναπνοὴ μὲν τοῖς βασιλέως πράγμασι γενόμενοι, φθόρον δʼ ἀμύθητον τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς δυνάμεως ἀπεργασάμενοι.
After his death, no further brilliant deed was performed against the barbarians by any general of the Greeks; but having been turned against one another by demagogues and warmongers, with no one holding his hands between them to separate them, they clashed in war, giving a breathing space to the king's affairs, and bringing unspeakable ruin upon the Greek power.
§19.3ὀψὲ δʼ οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἀγησίλαον εἰς τὴν Ἀσίαν ἐξενεγκάμενοι τὰ ὅπλα βραχέος ἥψαντο πολέμου πρὸς τοὺς ἐπὶ θαλάσσῃ βασιλέως στρατηγούς· καὶ λαμπρὸν οὐδὲν οὐδὲ μέγα δράσαντες, αὖθις δὲ ταῖς Ἑλληνικαῖς στάσεσι καὶ ταραχαῖς ἀφʼ ἑτέρας ἀρχῆς ὑπενεχθέντες, ᾤχοντο τοὺς Περσῶν φορολόγους ἐν μέσαις ταῖς συμμάχοις καὶ φίλαις πόλεσιν ἀπολιπόντες, ὧν οὐδὲ γραμματοφόρος κατέβαινεν οὐδʼ ἵππος πρὸς θαλάσσῃ τετρακοσίων σταδίων ἐντὸς ὤφθη στρατηγοῦντος Κίμωνος.
In later times, Agesilaus and his followers, carrying their arms into Asia, waged a brief war against the king's generals near the sea; and having done nothing brilliant or great, and being again swept away by Greek factions and disturbances arising from another source, they departed, leaving the Persian tax-collectors in the midst of the allied and friendly cities, of whom not even a letter-carrier used to come down, nor was a horse seen within four hundred stades of the sea when Cimon was general.
§19.4ὅτι μὲν οὖν εἰς τὴν Ἀττικὴν ἀπεκομίσθη τὰ λείψανα αὐτοῦ, μαρτυρεῖ τῶν μνημάτων τὰ μέχρι νῦν Κιμώνεια προσαγορευόμενα· τιμῶσι δὲ καὶ Κιτιεῖς τάφον τινὰ Κίμωνος, ὡς Ναυσικράτης ὁ ῥήτωρ φησίν, ἐν λοιμῷ καὶ γῆς ἀφορίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ προστάξαντος αὐτοῖς μὴ ἀμελεῖν Κίμωνος, ἀλλʼ ὡς κρείττονα σέβεσθαι καὶ γεραίρειν.
That his remains, therefore, were brought back to Attica, is testified by the tombs which to this day are called Cimonian; and the Citians also honor a certain tomb of Cimon, as Nausicrates the rhetorician says, because in a time of pestilence and famine, the god ordered them not to neglect Cimon, but to revere and honor him as a superior being.
τοιοῦτος μὲν ὁ Ἑλληνικὸς ἡγεμών.
Such, then, was the Greek leader.

Notes

  1. §19.1ἀποκρυψαμένους — Aorist middle participle, masculine plural accusative, agreeing with τοὺς περὶ αὐτόν, which is the accusative subject of the infinitive ἀποπλεῖν dependent on ἐκέλευσεν. The middle voice signifies concealing for one's own benefit.
  2. §19.1αἰσθομένων — Genitive absolute participle, whose subject is the noun phrase μήτε τῶν πολεμίων μήτε τῶν συμμάχων. It expresses a temporal or circumstantial background, meaning 'without either the enemy or the allies perceiving it.'
  3. §19.2διασχόντος — Genitive absolute, with the indefinite pronoun οὐδενός as its subject. It indicates a negative attendant circumstance: 'with no one holding his hands between them (to separate or mediate).'
  4. §19.3ὧν — Relative pronoun in the genitive plural, referring back to τοὺς Περσῶν φορολόγους or Persians in general. It functions as a partitive genitive, modifying the following subjects: 'of whom not even a letter-carrier... nor a horse...'
  5. §19.4ὡς κρείττονα — The comparative adjective κρείττονα (accusative singular of κρείττων) introduced by ὡς. It indicates the capacity or status under which he was to be worshiped: 'as a superior being' (i.e., a hero or demigod transcending mere mortals).

Cite this passage

Plutarch, Life of Cimon §19.1-19.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg035.humanitext-grc2:19.1-19.4

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