§1εἰ μὲν ἡγούμην οἷόν τε εἶναι, ὦ παρόντες ἐπὶ τῷδε τῷ τάφῳ, λόγῳ δηλῶσαι τὴν τῶν ἐνθάδε κειμένων ἀνδρῶν ἀρετήν, ἐμεμψάμην ἂν τοῖς ἐπαγγείλασιν ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς ἐξ ὀλίγων ἡμερῶν λέγειν·
If I believed it possible, gentlemen assembled at this tomb, to manifest in speech the virtue of the men who lie here, I should have censured those who commanded me to speak upon them at only a few days' notice.
ἐπειδὴ δὲ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ὁ πᾶς χρόνος οὐχ ἱκανὸς λόγον ἴσον παρασκευάσαι τοῖς τούτων ἔργοις, διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἡ πόλις μοι δοκεῖ, προνοουμένη τῶν ἐνθάδε λεγόντων, ἐξ ὀλίγου τὴν πρόσταξιν ποιεῖσθαι, ἡγουμένη οὕτως ἂν μάλιστα συγγνώμης αὐτοὺς παρὰ τῶν ἀκουσάντων τυγχάνειν.
But since all time is not sufficient for all mankind to prepare a speech equal to the deeds of these men, for this reason the city also, in my opinion, foreseeing the difficulty for those who speak here, gives the order at short notice, believing that in this way they would best obtain indulgence from their hearers.
§2ὅμως δὲ ὁ μὲν λόγος μοι περὶ τούτων, ὁ δʼ ἀγὼν οὐ πρὸς τὰ τούτων ἔργα ἀλλὰ πρὸς τοὺς πρότερον ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς εἰρηκότας.
Nevertheless, though my speech is about them, my contest is not against their deeds, but against those who have previously spoken upon them.
τοσαύτην γὰρ ἀφθονίαν παρεσκεύασεν ἡ τούτων ἀρετὴ καὶ τοῖς ποιεῖν δυναμένοις καὶ τοῖς εἰπεῖν βουληθεῖσιν, ὥστε καλὰ μὲν πολλὰ τοῖς προτέροις περὶ αὐτῶν εἰρῆσθαι, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ ἐκείνοις παραλελεῖφθαι, ἱκανὰ δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἐπιγιγνομένοις ἐξεῖναι εἰπεῖν·
For their virtue has provided such abundance both to those who are able to compose poetry and to those who wish to speak, that while many beautiful things have been said by our predecessors about them, many things have also been left aside by them, and enough remains for those who come after to be able to speak.
οὔτε γὰρ γῆς ἄπειροι οὔτε θαλάττης οὐδεμιᾶς, πανταχῇ δὲ καὶ παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις οἱ τὰ αὑτῶν πενθοῦντες κακὰ τὰς τούτων ἀρετὰς ὑμνοῦσι.
For they are strangers to no land and to no sea, but everywhere and among all people, those who mourn their own misfortunes hymn the virtues of these men.
§3πρῶτον μὲν οὖν τοὺς παλαιοὺς κινδύνους τῶν προγόνων δίειμι, μνήμην παρὰ τῆς φήμης λαβών· ἄξιον γὰρ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις κἀκείνων μεμνῆσθαι, ὑμνοῦντας μὲν ἐν ταῖς ᾠδαῖς, λέγοντας δʼ ἐν ταῖς τῶν ἀγαθῶν γνώμαις, τιμῶντας δʼ ἐν τοῖς καιροῖς τοῖς τοιούτοις, παιδεύοντας δʼ ἐν τοῖς τῶν τεθνεώτων ἔργοις τοὺς ζῶντας.
First, then, I shall recount the ancient dangers of our ancestors, receiving the memory from tradition; for it is worthy for all men to remember them also, praising them in songs, speaking of them in the counsels of the good, honoring them on occasions such as this, and instructing the living by the deeds of the dead.
§4Ἀμαζόνες γὰρ Ἄρεως μὲν τὸ παλαιὸν ἦσαν θυγατέρες, οἰκοῦσαι παρὰ τὸν Θερμώδοντα ποταμόν, μόναι μὲν ὡπλισμέναι σιδήρῳ τῶν περὶ αὐτάς, πρῶται δὲ τῶν πάντων ἐφʼ ἵππους ἀναβᾶσαι, οἷς ἀνελπίστως διʼ ἀπειρίαν τῶν ἐναντίων ᾕρουν μὲν τοὺς φεύγοντας, ἀπέλειπον δὲ διώκοντας·
For the Amazons of old were daughters of Ares, dwelling by the river Thermodon, who alone of those around them were armed with iron, and were the first of all to mount horses, by which, thanks to the inexperience of their adversaries, they unexpectedly overtook those who fled and left behind those who pursued.
ἐνομίζοντο δὲ διὰ τὴν εὐψυχίαν μᾶλλον ἄνδρες ἢ διὰ τὴν φύσιν γυναῖκες· πλέον γὰρ ἐδόκουν τῶν ἀνδρῶν ταῖς ψυχαῖς διαφέρειν ἢ ταῖς ἰδέαις ἐλλείπειν.
They were thought of as men because of their high spirit rather than as women because of their nature; for they seemed to surpass men in their souls more than they fell short in their form.
§5ἄρχουσαι δὲ πολλῶν ἐθνῶν, καὶ ἔργῳ μὲν τοὺς περὶ αὐτὰς καταδεδουλωμέναι, λόγῳ δὲ περὶ τῆσδε τῆς χώρας ἀκούουσαι κλέος μέγα, πολλῆς δόξης καὶ μεγάλης ἐλπίδος χάριν παραλαβοῦσαι τὰ μαχιμώτατα τῶν ἐθνῶν ἐστράτευσαν ἐπὶ τήνδε τὴν πόλιν.
Ruling over many nations, having enslaved those around them in deed, and hearing by report great fame concerning this land, they took with them the most warlike of nations for the sake of great glory and high hope, and marched against this city.
τυχοῦσαι δʼ ἀγαθῶν ἀνδρῶν ὁμοίας ἐκτήσαντο τὰς ψυχὰς τῇ φύσει, καὶ ἐναντίαν τὴν δόξαν τῆς προτέρας λαβοῦσαι μᾶλλον ἐκ τῶν κινδύνων ἢ ἐκ τῶν σωμάτων ἔδοξαν εἶναι γυναῖκες.
But meeting with brave men, they acquired souls like their nature, and obtaining a reputation contrary to the former one, they seemed to be women rather from their dangers than from their bodies.
§6μόναις δʼ αὐταῖς οὐκ ἐξεγένετο ἐκ τῶν ἡμαρτημένων μαθούσαις περὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἄμεινον βουλεύσασθαι, οὐδʼ οἴκαδε ἀπελθούσαις ἀπαγγεῖλαι τήν τε σφετέραν αὐτῶν δυστυχίαν καὶ τὴν τῶν ἡμετέρων προγόνων ἀρετήν·
To them alone was it not permitted to learn from their errors and deliberate better for the future, nor to return home and report both their own misfortune and the virtue of our ancestors.
αὐτοῦ γὰρ ἀποθανοῦσαι, καὶ δοῦσαι δίκην τῆς ἀνοίας, τῆσδε μὲν τῆς πόλεως διὰ τὴν ἀρετὴν ἀθάνατον τὴν μνήμην ἐποίησαν, τὴν δὲ ἑαυτῶν πατρίδα διὰ τὴν ἐνθάδε συμφορὰν ἀνώνυμον κατέστησαν.
For dying there, and paying the penalty for their folly, they made the memory of this city deathless because of its virtue, and rendered their own fatherland nameless because of their disaster here.
ἐκεῖναι μὲν οὖν τῆς ἀλλοτρίας ἀδίκως ἐπιθυμήσασαι τὴν ἑαυτῶν δικαίως ἀπώλεσαν.
Thus, having unjustly coveted the land of others, they justly lost their own.
§7Ἀδράστου δὲ καὶ Πολυνείκους ἐπὶ Θήβας στρατευσάντων καὶ ἡττηθέντων μάχῃ, οὐκ ἐώντων Καδμείων θάπτειν τοὺς νεκρούς, Ἀθηναῖοι ἡγησάμενοι ἐκείνους μέν, εἴ τι ἠδίκουν, ἀποθανόντας δίκην ἔχειν τὴν μεγίστην, τοὺς δὲ κάτω τὰ αὑτῶν οὐ κομίζεσθαι, ἱερῶν δὲ μιαινομένων τοὺς ἄνω θεοὺς ἀσεβεῖσθαι, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον πέμψαντες κήρυκας ἐδέοντο αὐτῶν δοῦναι τῶν νεκρῶν ἀναίρεσιν, §8νομίζοντες ἀνδρῶν μὲν ἀγαθῶν εἶναι ζῶντας τοὺς ἐχθροὺς τιμωρήσασθαι, ἀπιστούντων δὲ σφίσιν αὐτοῖς ἐν τοῖς τῶν τεθνεώτων σώμασι τὴν εὐψυχίαν ἐπιδείκνυσθαι·
When Adrastus and Polyneices had marched against Thebes and were defeated in battle, and the Cadmeans would not allow the dead to be buried, the Athenians, believing that those men, if they had done any wrong, had already paid the greatest penalty by dying, while the gods below were not receiving their own, and the gods above were being impiously treated by the defilement of the sanctuaries, first of all sent heralds and requested them to grant the recovery of the dead, believing that it is the part of brave men to punish enemies while they live, but that it is the mark of those who distrust themselves to display their courage upon the bodies of the dead.
οὐ δυνάμενοι δὲ τούτων τυχεῖν ἐστράτευσαν ἐπʼ αὐτούς, οὐδεμιᾶς διαφορᾶς πρότερον πρὸς Καδμείους ὑπαρχούσης, οὐδὲ τοῖς ζῶσιν Ἀργείων χαριζόμενοι,
Not being able to obtain this, they marched against them, although no prior enmity existed between them and the Cadmeans, nor did they seek to curry favor with the living Argives;