§376συνεύξασθαι μὲν, ὦ Ἀθηναῖοι, τῇ πόλει καὶ ταῦτα καὶ πόλλʼ ἕτερα ἐμοί τε ἥδιστον πάντων καὶ ὑμῖν οἶδʼ ὅτι πᾶσι πρόχειρον.
To join in praying for the state, O Athenians, both for these things and for many others, is indeed of all things most pleasant for me, and I know that for all of you it is ready at hand.
ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ ὅτε πρῶτον περὶ τῶν Σικελικῶν τούτων ἐσκοπεῖσθε, βουλῆς ἀγαθῆς ᾤμην δεῖν καὶ νῦν ἔτι πλέονος· μιᾷ γὰρ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ αὐτῇ περί τε ἀρχῆς προσθήκης βουλευόμεθα καὶ περὶ σωτηρίας ἡμῶν αὐτῶν.
But I, even when you first were deliberating about these Sicilian affairs, thought there was need of good counsel, and now still more of it; for on one and the same day we are deliberating both about the addition of dominion and about our own preservation.
καὶ τοὺς μὲν λόγους οὓς ἥδιστʼ ἂν ἀκούσαιτʼ οὐκ ἀγνοῶ, τὰ δὲ πράγματα ἐν τούτῳ καθέστηκεν ὥστε μηδὲ βουλομένῳ τὴν χρείαν εἶναι παρελθεῖν.
And while I am not ignorant of the speeches you would most gladly hear, the circumstances have come to such a pass that even for one who does not wish to, it is impossible to bypass the necessity of the situation.
πολὺ γὰρ βέλτιον αὐτὸν ὑμῖν, ἂν ἄρα συμβῇ, προσκροῦσαι πείθοντα καὶ διδάσκοντα ἢ περιιδεῖν ἡμᾶς περιπεσόντας ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς.
For it is much better for you that I myself should run counter to you while persuading and instructing, if indeed that should happen, than that I should look on while we fall into ruin of our own making.
παρασκευῆς μὲν οὖν οὕτως ἔχω καὶ γνώμης, ἀξιῶ δὲ γενέσθαι μοι μετὰ παρρησίας εἰπεῖν.
Such then is my preparation and my purpose, and I ask that it be granted to me to speak with freedom of speech.
εἰ μὲν γὰρ εὐθὺς ἀκούσαντας ἔδει παρὰ γνώμην τι πράττειν, καλῶς εἶχεν ἴσως φυλάττεσθαι· ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐφʼ ὑμῖν ἐστι σκεψαμένους ἑλέσθαι τῶν λεχθέντων ὁπότερʼ ἂν βούλησθε, οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἔχει φεύγειν τὴν αἵρεσιν, ἀλλὰ θέντας ἄμφω παρʼ ἄλληλα γενέσθαι τοῦ κρείττονος.
For if it were necessary immediately upon hearing to do something against one's judgment, it would perhaps be well to be on one's guard; but since it is in your power, after considering, to choose whichever of the alternatives spoken you may wish, it is not right to avoid the choice, but rather, by placing both side by side, to align yourselves with the better.
χωρὶς δὲ τούτων εἰ μὲν ἦν ταῖς τῶν λόγων ἡδοναῖς προσάγειν τὰ πράγματα, δυστυχία μὴ τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον αἱρεῖσθαι δημηγορεῖν· ἐπεὶ δʼ οὐχ ὅπως ἂν σχήματος οἱ λόγοι σχῶσι, τοιαῦτα ἀποβαίνει τὰ πράγματα, ἀλλʼ ὅπως ἂν ἐκεῖνα τύχῃ τέλους, οὕτως οἱ ῥηθέντες ἐν ἀρχῇ περὶ αὐτῶν ἔδοξαν ἔχειν λόγοι, δεῖ δέχεσθαι τοὺς ἐπʼ εὐνοίᾳ καὶ μὴ μικροῦ μέρους ἡμέρας τὸ μέλλον ἅπαν προΐεσθαι.
Apart from these things, if indeed it were possible to direct affairs by the pleasures of speeches, it would be a misfortune not to choose to address the public in this manner; but since affairs do not turn out according as the speeches may have outward form, but rather the speeches spoken about them at the beginning seem to have been of such a character as those affairs happen to reach their end, we must receive those spoken in goodwill and not throw away the whole future for a small part of a day.
ὅπου γὰρ οὐδὲ ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς πράγμασιν εὖ φρονούντων ἐστὶ τὰ μείζω τῶν ἐλαττόνων ἀποδίδοσθαι, ἦ που λόγου γε χάρις πρόσκαιρος οὐκ ἀντάξιον τῆς εἰς ὕστερον ἀσφαλείας τῶν ὅλων.
For where even in actual matters it is not the part of the wise to surrender the greater for the sake of the less, surely a temporary gratification of speech is not worth the subsequent safety of the whole.
πρῶτον μὲν οὖν πρὸς τὰ τελευταῖα τῶν εἰρημένων ἀποκρινοῦμαι· ἔπειτα καὶ τὴν τῶν ἄλλων ἐξέτασιν, ὡς ἂν οἷός τε ὦ, ποιήσασθαι πειράσομαι.
First, then, I shall reply to the last of the things said; thereafter, I will try to make an examination of the other matters as far as I am able.
φημὶ γὰρ ἀμφοτέρους ὀρθῶς γιγνώσκειν, ὦ Ἀθηναῖοι, ὅσοι τε ἐξ ἀρχῆς ταύτην ἔχοντες τὴν §377γνώμην ὡς οὐ χρὴ πλεῖν εἰς Σικελίαν τῶν αὐτῶν ἔχονται λόγων, ὅσοι τε σύμψηφοι τοῖς πολλοῖς ὄντες τότε νῦν τὴν ἑτέραν φέρουσιν.
For I assert, O Athenians, that both classes of men judge correctly: those who from the beginning, holding this opinion that they should not sail to Sicily, still cling to the same arguments, and those who, though they were then voting with the majority, now bring forward the opposite opinion.
οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐξ ἀρχῆς τὰ δέοντα ἐλογίζοντο, οἱ δὲ ἔργῳ δεικνύουσι προνοητικῶς ἔχοντες.
For the former calculated from the beginning what was necessary, while the latter show in practice that they possess foresight.
ὅτε μὲν γὰρ ἐξῆν ἐφιέναι ταῖς ἐλπίσι, μεθʼ ὑμῶν ἦσαν, ὅτε δʼ ἡ πεῖρα τἀληθὲς εὑρίσκει, πρὸς τὸ φαινόμενον τίθενται ἦν δʼ οἶμαι φιλονεικούντων μὲν οἷς ἐξ ἀρχῆς προείλοντο ἐθέλειν ἐμμένειν, νοῦν δὲ ἐχόντων καὶ βουλομένων σώζεσθαι τὴν πόλιν μετὰ τῶν πραγμάτων γίγνεσθαι.
For when it was permitted to indulge in hopes, they were with you; but when experience finds out the truth, they align themselves with what appears to be the case. And it was, I think, characteristic of contentious men to wish to persist in what they had chosen from the beginning, but of those who have sense and wish the state to be saved to side with the facts.
οὐ γὰρ τὰ ψηφίσματα τὰς ἐν τοῖς ὅπλοις πράξεις κατορθοῖ, ἀλλʼ ὅπως ἂν ἔχῃ τὰ τῶν πολέμων πράγματα, τοιαῦτα δεῖ περὶ αὐτῶν γίγνεσθαι τὰ ψηφίσματα.
For it is not decrees that direct aright actions in arms, but rather decrees about them must become such as the circumstances of war may turn out to be.
οὗτοι μὲν οὖν οὐδὲν ἄλλο λέγουσιν ἢ ὡς ἐπειδήπερ τὸ κατʼ ἀρχὰς προήχθημεν, διὰ τοῦτο καὶ νῦν ἐπεξαμαρτητέον, τὸ κακὸν τοῦ κακοῦ φάρμακον ποιουμένους.
These men, then, say nothing other than that, since we were led on at the beginning, we must therefore even now commit further errors, making evil the remedy for evil.
ἐγὼ δὲ ἐξ ὧν μεθʼ ὑμῶν ἀκούων εὑρίσκω, τοὐναντίον ἡγοῦμαι βέλτιον ἂν ἡμῖν ἔχειν, ἐξ ἀρχῆς εἰ ταῦτʼ ἀπεψήφισθε.
But from what I find as I listen along with you, I believe on the contrary that it would have been better for us if you had voted against these things from the beginning.
καὶ μὴν ἄριστον μὲν ἅπασιν ἀνθρώποις λογισμῷ τὸ μέλλον καταλαμβάνειν· δυοῖν γάρ ἐστι τοῖν καλλίστοιν σύμβολον, εὐτυχίας τε καὶ τοῦ καλῶς βουλεύεσθαι·
Indeed, it is best for all men to grasp the future by reasoning; for it is a token of two of the fairest things: good fortune and wise counsel.
εἰ δὲ τοῖς τοῦ βελτίστου διαμαρτοῦσι μὴ ἐξέσται τὰ δεύτερα ἐκ τῶν παρόντων μεταθέσθαι, ὃ πλεῖστόν ἐστι τῶν ἀνθρωπείων, τοῦτο ἀναιρήσεται, τὸ παιδεύεσθαι παρὰ τῶν πραγμάτων, ὥστʼ ἀπέραντον ἀνάγκη τὴν κακοπραγίαν εἶναι.
But if those who fail to attain the best are not to be allowed to alter their course to the next best in light of present circumstances, that which is the greatest part of human affairs will be abolished—namely, being instructed by experience—so that misfortune must of necessity be endless.
καὶ μὴν εἴ τις ἔροιθʼ ὑμᾶς τίνι τῷ μεγίστῳ νόμον ἢ ψήφισμα εἶναι διαφέρει, τοῦτʼ ἂν εὕροιτε, ὅτι οἱ μὲν νόμοι τὸ δίκαιον εἰσάπαξ εὑρόντες κοινὸν ἔταξαν κατὰ παντὸς τοῦ χρόνου, τὰ δὲ ψηφίσματα ταῖς χρείαις ἀκολουθεῖ·
And indeed, if anyone were to ask you in what greatest respect a law differs from a decree, you would find this: that laws, having once for all discovered what is just, ordain it in common for all time, whereas decrees follow immediate needs.
καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ὅνπερ αἱ πράξεις ἄλλοτʼ ἄλλως ἐπὶ τῶν καιρῶν ἀπαντῶσιν, οὕτω τὰ ψηφίσματα καὶ τὰς γνώμας οἱ καιροὶ καὶ ποιοῦσι καὶ λύουσιν· εἰκότως.
And in the very same manner as actions meet with different occasions at different times, so the occasions both make and unmake decrees and opinions; and naturally so.
ἐν ἐκείνῳ μὲν γὰρ τῷ τρόπῳ τοῖς πολίταις διαλεγόμεθα, ὥστʼ ἀρκεῖ φθέγγεσθαι ταυτὸν διὰ τέλους, ταῦτα δὲ πρὸς τοὺς ἔξω καὶ πρὸς τὰς τοῦ πολέμου τύχας ἀνεύρηται.
For in the former way we converse with citizens, so that it is sufficient to utter the same thing throughout, but these latter have been devised with reference to those outside and to the fortunes of war.
οὐδὲν οὖν αὐτῶν ἐστι βέβαιον οὐδʼ ἀκίνητον, οὐδʼ οἷον μὴ λῦσαί γε δεῖν ποτε.
Nothing in them, therefore, is secure or unalterable, nor of such a nature as never to require being repealed.
ἀλλὰ μὴν ὅπου καὶ τοὺς
Nevertheless, where even...