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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §13.103.1-13.103.5

Athenian Regret and the Escape of Kallixenos

Passage 282 of 723 · Greek

Summary

The Athenians regret executing the generals and accuse the agitator Kallixenos, who escapes from prison. The text also records the completion of Philistos's history and the deaths of Sophocles and Euripides in the same year.

§13.103.1ταχὺ δὲ καὶ τοῖς πείσασι καὶ τοῖς πεισθεῖσι μετεμέλησεν, οἱονεὶ νεμεσήσαντος τοῦ δαιμονίου· οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐξαπατηθέντες ἐπίχειρα τῆς ἀγνοίας ἔλαβον μετʼ οὐ πολὺν χρόνον καταπολεμηθέντες οὐχ ὑφʼ ἑνὸς δεσπότου μόνον, ἀλλὰ τριάκοντα·
But quickly both those who persuaded and those who were persuaded repented, as if the divinity had shown indignation; for those who were deceived received the penalty of their ignorance after no long time, being subdued in war under the rule not of one master only, but of thirty.
§13.103.2ὁ δʼ ἐξαπατήσας καὶ τὴν γνώμην εἰπὼν Καλλίξενος εὐθὺ τοῦ πλήθους μεταμεληθέντος εἰς αἰτίαν ἦλθεν ὡς τὸν δῆμον ἐξηπατηκώς· οὐκ ἀξιωθεὶς δʼ ἀπολογίας ἐδέθη, καὶ καταβληθεὶς εἰς τὴν δημοσίαν φυλακὴν ἔλαθε μετά τινων διορύξας τὸ δεσμωτήριον καὶ διαδρὰς πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους εἰς Δεκέλειαν, ὅπως διαφυγὼν τὸν θάνατον μὴ μόνον Ἀθήνησιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις Ἕλλησι δακτυλοδεικτουμένην ἔχῃ τὴν πονηρίαν παρʼ ὅλον τὸν βίον.
And Kallixenos, who had deceived them and proposed the motion, came under accusation immediately when the multitude repented, on the ground that he had deceived the people; and having not been deemed worthy of a defense, he was bound, and having been thrown into the public prison, he secretly dug through the prison with some others and escaped to the enemy at Dekeleia, so that, though he escaped death, he had his wickedness pointed at with the finger not only in Athens but also among the other Greeks for his whole life.
§13.103.3τὰ μὲν οὖν κατὰ τοῦτον τὸν ἐνιαυτὸν πραχθέντα σχεδὸν ταῦτʼ ἐστίν.
These, then, are pretty much the events that took place in this year.
τῶν δὲ συγγραφέων Φίλιστος τὴν πρώτην σύνταξιν τῶν Σικελικῶν εἰς τοῦτον τὸν ἐνιαυτὸν κατέστροφεν, εἰς τὴν Ἀκράγαντος ἅλωσιν, ἐν βύβλοις ἑπτὰ διελθὼν χρόνον ἐτῶν πλείω τῶν ὀκτακοσίων, τῆς δὲ δευτέρας συντάξεως τὴν μὲν ἀρχὴν ἀπὸ τῆς τῆς προτέρας τελευτῆς πεποίηται, γέγραφε δὲ βύβλους τέσσαρας.
Among the historians, Philistos concluded his first history of Sicilian affairs at this year, at the capture of Akragas, having covered a period of more than eight hundred years in seven books; and of his second history, he made the beginning from the end of the former one, and wrote four books.
§13.103.4περὶ δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον ἐτελεύτησε Σοφοκλῆς ὁ Σοφίλου, ποιητὴς τραγῳδιῶν, ἔτη βιώσας ἐνενήκοντα, νίκας δʼ ἔχων ὀκτωκαίδεκα.
About the same time died Sophocles the son of Sophilus, the tragic poet, having lived ninety years, and having won eighteen victories.
φασὶ δὲ τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦτον τὴν ἐσχάτην τραγῳδίαν εἰσαγαγόντα καὶ νικήσαντα χαρᾷ περιπεσεῖν ἀνυπερβλήτῳ, διʼ ἣν καὶ τελευτῆσαι.
And they say that this man, having introduced his last tragedy and won, fell into an insurmountable joy, because of which he also died.
§13.103.5Ἀπολλόδωρος δʼ ὁ τὴν χρονικὴν σύνταξιν πραγματευσάμενός φησι καὶ τὸν Εὐριπίδην κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν ἐνιαυτὸν τελευτῆσαι· τινὲς δὲ λέγουσι παρʼ Ἀρχελάῳ τῷ βασιλεῖ Μακεδόνων κατὰ τὴν χώραν ἐξελθόντα κυσὶ περιπεσεῖν καὶ διασπασθῆναι μικρῷ πρόσθεν τούτων τῶν χρόνων.
And Apollodorus, who compiled the chronological history, says that Euripides also died during the same year; but some say that while staying with Archelaus, the king of the Macedonians, having gone out into the countryside, he fell in with dogs and was torn to pieces a little before these times.

Notes

  1. 13.103.1μετεμέλησεν — Third-person singular aorist indicative of the impersonal verb `μεταμέλει` (to repent, regret), which takes a dative of the person who repents (`τοῖς πείσασι καὶ τοῖς πεισθεῖσι`, "those who persuaded and those who were persuaded").
  2. 13.103.2ἔλαθε ... διορύξας — The aorist `ἔλαθε` (from `λανθάνω`, to escape notice) is used with the aorist participles `διορύξας` (having dug through) and `διαδρὰς` (having escaped) to express the adverbial meaning "secretly dug through and escaped."
  3. 13.103.4διʼ ἣν καὶ τελευτῆσαι — The indirect discourse introduced by the main verb `φασί` (they say) extends into the relative clause introduced by the relative pronoun `ἣν` (referring to the joy), causing the verb within the relative clause to appear as an infinitive `τελευτῆσαι` instead of a finite verb.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §13.103.1-13.103.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:13.103.1-13.103.5

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