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Theophrastus · Fragments §133.1

Anecdote of General Dinon of Tarentum and His Hand

Passage 138 of 196 · Greek

Summary

An anecdote of Dinon, the general of Tarentum, who, when his proposal was voted down by the citizens, raised his right hand against the winning decision and declared, "This one is stronger."

§133.1Fr. 133 Δίνων ὁ Ταραντῖνος στρατηγῶν, ἀνὴρ δʼ ὢν ἀγαθὸς ἐν τοῖς πολεμικοῖς, ἀποχειροτονησάντων αὐτοῦ τινὰ γνώμην τῶν πολιτῶν, ὡς ὁ κῆρυξ ἀνεῖπε τὴν νικῶσαν, αὐτὸς ἀνατείνας τὴν δεξιὰν, ἅδε, εἶπε, κρείσσων.
Fr. 133 Dinon the Tarentine, while serving as general—being a man brave in warfare—when the citizens had voted down a certain proposal of his, as the herald announced the winning one, himself raising his right hand, said, "This one is stronger."

Notes

  1. §133.1στρατηγῶν — Present participle of the verb στρατηγέω, expressing time ("while serving as general") or circumstantial background.
  2. §133.1ἀποχειροτονησάντων αὐτοῦ τινὰ γνώμην τῶν πολιτῶν — Genitive absolute construction, where τῶν πολιτῶν is the logical subject, ἀποχειροτονησάντων the verb, and αὐτοῦ τινὰ γνώμην the object: "when the citizens had voted down a certain proposal of his."
  3. §133.1τὴν νικῶσαν — Present participle feminine singular accusative of the verb νικάω. The noun γνώμην is omitted, meaning "the winning proposal" (i.e., the proposal that was passed).
  4. §133.1ἅδε ... κρείσσων — The demonstrative pronoun ἅδε is the Doric dialect form (the dialect spoken in Tarentum) of ἥδε, referring back to τὴν δεξιάν (the right hand). Combined with κρείσσων, it means "this one (the hand, implying physical power) is stronger," indicating opposition to the democratic vote.

Cite this passage

Theophrastus, Fragments §133.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0093.tlg010x09.humanitext-grc1:133.1

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