Demosthenes · Letters §6.1-6.2

Dispatch of a Messenger on the War to Athens

Passage 14 of 14 · Greek

Summary

Demosthenes writes to the Athenian council and people, informing them that he is sending an eyewitness messenger from the battlefield so that they may hear the details of the campaign and find reassurance.

§6.1Δημοσθένης τῇ βουλῇ καὶ τῷ δημῷ χαίρειν.

Demosthenes to the council and the people, greetings.

ἦλθεν ἐπιστολὴ παρʼ Ἀντιφίλου πρὸς τοὺς τῶν συμμάχων συνέδρους, τοῖς μὲν βουλομένοις ἀγαθὰ προσδοκᾶν ἱκανῶς γεγραμμένη, τοῖς δʼ ὑπηρετοῦσιν Ἀντιπάτρῳ πολλοὺς καὶ δυσχερεῖς ἀπολείπουσα λόγους, οἳ παραλαβόντες τὰ παρʼ Ἀντιπάτρου γράμματα πρὸς Δείναρχον εἰς Κόρινθον ἐλθόντα, ἁπάσας τὰς ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ πόλεις τοιούτων λόγων ἔπλησαν οἵων εἰς κεφαλὴν αὐτοῖς τρέψειαν οἱ θεοί.

A letter came from Antiphilus to the councilors of the allies, on the one hand written adequately for those who wish to expect good things, but on the other hand leaving many difficult arguments for those who serve Antipater. These men, having received the letter from Antipater that had gone to Dinarchus in Corinth, filled all the cities in the Peloponnese with such talk as may the gods turn upon their own heads.

§6.2ἀφικομένου δὲ τοῦ νῦν ἥκοντος μετὰ τοῦ παρʼ ἐμοῦ φέροντος γράμματα παρὰ Πολεμαίστου πρὸς τὸν ἀδελφὸν Ἐπίνικον, ἄνδρʼ ὑμῖν εὔνουν καὶ ἐμοὶ φίλον, κἀκείνου πρὸς ἔμʼ ἀγαγόντος, ἀκούσαντί μοι ἃ ἔλεγεν ἐδόκει πρὸς ὑμᾶς αὐτὸν ἀποστεῖλαι, ὅπως πάντα σαφῶς ἀκούσαντες τὰ ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ γεγονότα τοῦ περὶ τὴν μάχην παραγεγενημένου τό τʼ εἰς τὸ παρὸν θαρρῆτε, καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τῶν θεῶν θελόντων ὡς βούλεσθʼ ἕξειν ὑπολαμβάνητε.

And when the man who has now arrived came with a letter from Polemaestus to his brother Epinicus—a man well-disposed to you and a friend to me—accompanied by the one carrying the letter from me, and when that brother brought him to me, on my hearing what he said, it seemed best to me to send him to you, so that, having heard clearly all that happened in the camp from the very man who was present at the battle, you may both be of good courage for the present and assume that for the future, if the gods will, things will be as you wish.

εὐτυχεῖτε.

Farewell.

Notes

6.1οἵων εἰς κεφαλὴν αὐτοῖς τρέψειαν οἱ θεοί — The relative pronoun οἵων has been attracted to the genitive case of its antecedent τοιούτων λόγων. The verb τρέψειαν is an optative of wish, expressing the writer's desire: 'such words as may the gods turn back upon their own heads.'
6.2ἀφικομένου δὲ τοῦ νῦν ἥκοντος ... κἀκείνου πρὸς ἔμʼ ἀγαγόντος — Two separate genitive absolute constructions are coordinate here. The subject of the first is the participle phrase τοῦ νῦν ἥκοντος ('the one who has now arrived'), and the subject of the second is κἀκείνου (= καὶ ἐκείνου, referring to the brother Epinicus). They set up the temporal and logical background.
6.2ἀκούσαντί μοι ... ἐδόκει — The logical subject of the impersonal verb ἐδόκει ('it seemed best') is expressed in the dative μοι with its agreeing participle ἀκούσαντι ('to me on hearing'). It expresses the decision: 'on hearing [it], it seemed best to me [to send him].'
6.2τοῦ περὶ τὴν μάχην παραγεγενημένου — This genitive phrase syntactically depends on the participle ἀκούσαντες ('having heard'), indicating the source of information: 'having heard... from the one who was present at the battle.'

Cite this passage

Demosthenes, Letters §6.1-6.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0014.tlg063.humanitext-grc2:6.1-6.2

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