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Plutarch · Comparison of Demetrius and Antony §5.1-5.2

Comparison of Regard for Kin, Treachery, and Military Leadership

Passage 5 of 6 · Greek

Summary

A comparison is made between Demetrius and Antony regarding their attitudes toward parents and relatives, the excuses for their betrayals of treaties, and whether their military successes were achieved by themselves or through their generals.

§5.1πρὸς μέντοι γονεῖς ἄμεμπτον ἑαυτὸν εἰς ἅπαντα παρέσχεν ὁ Δημήτριος· Ἀντώνιος δὲ τὸν ἀδελφὸν τῆς μητρὸς ἐξέδωκεν ἐπὶ τῷ Κικέρωνα ἀποκτεῖναι, πρᾶγμα καὶ καθʼ ἑαυτὸ μιαρὸν καὶ ὠμόν, ὡς μόλις ἂν Ἀντώνιον ἐπʼ αὐτῷ συγγνώμης τυχεῖν, εἰ σωτηρίας τοῦ θείου μισθὸς ἦν ὁ Κικέρωνος θάνατος. §5.2ἃ τοίνυν ἐπιώρκησαν ἀμφότεροι καὶ παρεσπόνδησαν, ὁ μὲν Ἀρτάβαζον συλλαβών, ὁ δὲ Ἀλέξανδρον ἀποκτείνας, Ἀντωνίῳ μὲν ἔχει τὴν πρόφασιν ὁμολογουμένην· ἀπελείφθη γὰρ ἐν Μήδοις ὑπὸ Ἀρταβάζου καὶ προεδόθη· Δημήτριον δὲ πολλοὶ λέγουσι ψευδεῖς αἰτίας, ἐφʼ οἷς ἔδρασε, πλασάμενον κατηγορεῖν ἀδικηθέντα, οὐκ ἀδικήσαντα ἀμύνασθαι.
Demetrius, however, showed himself blameless in all respects toward his parents; whereas Antony surrendered his mother's brother on condition of killing Cicero—a deed which was in itself abominable and cruel, so that Antony would hardly have obtained pardon for it, even if the death of Cicero had been the price for saving his uncle. Now as for the oaths they broke and the treaties they violated, the one by arresting Artavasdes, the other by killing Alexander, for Antony there is a universally acknowledged excuse, for he had been abandoned and betrayed in Media by Artavasdes; but of Demetrius many say that he invented false charges concerning his actions to accuse his victim, and retaliated on the ground of having been wronged, not having done wrong.
πάλιν δὲ τῶν μὲν κατορθωμάτων αὐτουργὸς ὁ Δημήτριος γέγονε· καὶ τοὐναντίον ὁ Ἀντώνιος, ἐν οἷς οὐ παρῆν, καλλίστας καὶ μεγίστας διὰ τῶν στρατηγῶν ἀνῃρεῖτο νίκας.
Furthermore, Demetrius was the personal author of his own successes; whereas Antony, on the contrary, won his most beautiful and greatest victories through his generals in places where he himself was not present.

Notes

  1. 5.1ἐπὶ τῷ Κικέρωνα ἀποκτεῖναι — The preposition ἐπί with the dative articular infinitive (accompanied by the subject accusative Κικέρωνα) expresses the condition or price of the action ('on condition of / in exchange for killing Cicero').
  2. 5.1ὡς μόλις ἂν Ἀντώνιον ἐπʼ αὐτῷ συγγνώμης τυχεῖν — The construction of ὡς + ἄν + infinitive (τυχεῖν, with the subject accusative Ἀντώνιον) forms a consecutive clause with a counterfactual or potential nuance, meaning 'so that Antony would hardly have obtained pardon for it (even if...)'.
  3. 5.2ἃ τοίνυν ἐπιώρκησαν ἀμφότεροι καὶ παρεσπόνδησαν — The relative pronoun ἃ is an accusative of respect/topic placed at the beginning of the sentence ('as for the oaths they broke and the treaties they violated'). The subsequent participle clauses (ὁ μὲν... ὁ δὲ...) stand in apposition to detail the actions of both men (the arrest of Artavasdes and the murder of Alexander).
  4. 5.2Ἀντωνίῳ μὲν ἔχει τὴν πρόφασιν ὁμολογουμένην — The subject of the verb ἔχει is either the neuter plural ἃ from the beginning of the sentence (acting as a collective singular), or it is used impersonally ('the matter has...'). Ἀντωνίῳ functions as a dative of interest or possession ('for Antony / Antony has').

Cite this passage

Plutarch, Comparison of Demetrius and Antony §5.1-5.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg059.humanitext-grc2:5.1-5.2

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