§50Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ τῶν μὲν ἀπόντων, τῶν δʼ ἐγγὺς ὄντων, οὐδένα ἐτόλμησαν μεταπέμψασθαι· ταῖς δʼ αὑτῶν ψυχαῖς πιστεύσαντες καὶ τῶν ἐπιόντων καταφρονήσαντες οἱ γεραίτεροι καὶ οἱ τῆς ἡλικίας ἐντὸς γεγονότες ἠξίουν αὐτοὶ μόνοι τὸν κίνδυνον ποιήσασθαι, οἱ μὲν ἐμπειρία τὴν ἀρετήν, §51οἱ δὲ φύσει κεκτημένοι·
The Athenians did not venture to recall any of those who were away or those who were near; but trusting in their own souls and despising their invaders, the older men and those who were under the military age deemed it right to face the danger by themselves alone, the former possessing virtue by experience,\n the latter by nature.
καὶ οἱ μὲν αὐτοὶ πολλαχοῦ ἀγαθοὶ γεγενημένοι, οἱ δʼ ἐκείνους μιμούμενοι, τῶν μὲν πρεσβυτέρων ἄρχειν ἐπισταμένων, τῶν δὲ νεωτέρων τὸ ἐπιταττόμενον ποιεῖν δυναμένων, §52Μυρωνίδου στρατηγοῦντος ἀπαντήσαντες αὐτοὶ εἰς τὴν Μεγαρικὴν ἐνίκων μαχόμενοι ἅπασαν τὴν δύναμιν τὴν ἐκείνων τοῖς ἤδη ἀπειρηκόσι καὶ τοῖς οὔπω δυναμένοις, τοὺς εἰς τὴν σφετέραν ἐμβαλεῖν ἀξιώσαντας, εἰς τὴν ἀλλοτρίαν ἀπαντήσαντες, §53τρόπαιον δὲ στήσαντες καλλίστου μὲν αὐτοῖς ἔργου, αἰσχίστου δὲ τοῖς πολεμίοις, οἱ μὲν οὐκέτι τοῖς σώμασιν, οἱ δʼ οὔπω δυνάμενοι, ταῖς δὲ ψυχαῖς ἀμφότεροι κρείττους γενόμενοι, μετὰ καλλίστης δόξης εἰς τὴν αὑτῶν ἀπελθόντες οἱ μὲν πάλιν ἐπαιδεύοντο, οἱ δὲ περὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἐβουλεύοντο. §54καθʼ ἕκαστον μὲν οὖν οὐ ῥᾴδιον τὰ ὑπὸ πολλῶν κινδυνευθέντα ὑφʼ ἑνὸς ῥηθῆναι, οὐδὲ τὰ ἐν ἅπαντι τῷ χρόνῳ πραχθέντα ἐν μιᾷ ἡμέρᾳ δηλωθῆναι.
And while some had themselves been brave in many places, others imitated them, the elders knowing how to rule, and the younger being capable of doing what was commanded.\n Under the command of Myronides, they went out themselves to Megaris and conquered in battle the entire force of the enemy, with those who were already retired and those who were not yet capable. Against those who had deemed it right to invade their own territory, they went out and met them in a foreign land;\n and having erected a trophy of a deed most glorious for themselves but most shameful for their enemies, the ones being no longer capable in body, the others not yet so, but both having proved superior in their souls, they returned to their own land with the finest glory, and the younger returned to their education, while the older deliberated on the remaining matters.\n Therefore, it is not easy for a single person to relate the dangers faced by many, nor to make clear in a single day the deeds achieved in all time.
τίς γὰρ ἂν ἢ λόγος ἢ χρόνος ἢ ῥήτωρ ἱκανὸς γένοιτο μηνῦσαι τὴν τῶν ἐνθάδε κειμένων ἀνδρῶν ἀρετήν; §55μετὰ πλείστων γὰρ πόνων καὶ φανερωτάτων ἀγώνων καὶ καλλίστων κινδύνων ἐλευθέραν μὲν ἐποίησαν τὴν Ἑλλάδα, μεγίστην δʼ ἀπέδειξαν τὴν ἑαυτῶν πατρίδα, ἑβδομήκοντα μὲν ἔτη τῆς θαλάττης ἄρξαντες, ἀστασιάστους δὲ παρασχόντες τοὺς συμμάχους, §56οὐ τοῖς ὀλίγοις τοὺς πολλοὺς δουλεύειν ἀξιώσαντες, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἴσον ἔχειν ἅπαντας ἀναγκάσαντες, οὐδὲ τοὺς συμμάχους ἀσθενεῖς ποιοῦντες, ἀλλὰ κἀκείνους ἰσχυροὺς καθιστάντες, καὶ τὴν αὑτῶν δύναμιν τοσαύτην ἐπιδείξαντες, ὥσθʼ ὁ μέγας βασιλεὺς οὐκέτι τῶν ἀλλοτρίων ἐπεθύμει, ἀλλʼ ἐδίδου τῶν ἑαυτοῦ καὶ περὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἐφοβεῖτο, §57καὶ οὔτε τριήρεις ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ χρόνῳ ἐκ τῆς Ἀσίας ἔπλευσαν, οὔτε τύραννος ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησι κατέστη, οὔτε Ἑλληνὶς πόλις ὑπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων ἠνδραποδίσθη· τοσαύτην σωφροσύνην καὶ δέος ἡ τούτων ἀρετὴ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις παρεῖχεν.
For what speech, what time, or what orator could be sufficient to manifest the virtue of the men who lie here?\n For with the greatest labors, the most manifest struggles, and the finest dangers, they made Greece free and demonstrated their own fatherland to be the greatest, having ruled the sea for seventy years, and having kept their allies free from faction,\n not deeming it right for the many to be enslaved to the few, but forcing all to have equality, nor making their allies weak, but establishing them too as strong, and demonstrating their own power to be so great that the Great King no longer desired foreign lands, but gave up some of his own and feared for the rest.\n And during that time, neither did triremes sail from Asia, nor was any tyrant established among the Greeks, nor was any Greek city enslaved by the barbarians; so much self-control and fear did the virtue of these men inspire in all mankind.
ὧν ἕνεκα δεῖ μόνους καὶ προστάτας τῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶ ἡγεμόνας τῶν πόλεων γίγνεσθαι. §58ἐπέδειξαν δὲ καὶ ἐν ταῖς δυστυχίαις τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἀρετήν.
For these reasons, they alone ought to become both the protectors of the Greeks and the leaders of the cities.\n And they demonstrated their own virtue also in times of misfortune.
ἀπολομένων γὰρ τῶν νεῶν ἐν Ἑλλησπόντῳ εἴτε ἡγεμόνος κακίᾳ εἴτε θεῶν διανοίᾳ, καὶ συμφορᾶς ἐκείνης μεγίστης γενομένης καὶ ἡμῖν τοῖς δυστυχήσασι καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις Ἕλλησιν, ἐδήλωσεν οὐ πολλῷ χρόνῳ ὕστερον ὅτι ἡ τῆς πόλεως δύναμις τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἦν σωτηρία. §59ἑτέρων γὰρ ἡγεμόνων γενομένων ἐνίκησαν μὲν ναυμαχοῦντες τοὺς Ἕλληνας οἱ πρότερον εἰς τὴν θάλατταν οὐκ ἐμβαίνοντες, ἔπλευσαν δʼ εἰς τὴν Εὐρώπην, δουλεύουσι δὲ πόλεις τῶν Ἑλλήνων, τύραννοι δʼ ἐγκαθεστᾶσιν, οἱ μὲν μετὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν συμφοράν, οἱ δὲ μετὰ τὴν νίκην τῶν βαρβάρων. §60ὥστʼ ἄξιον ἦν ἐπὶ τῷδε τῷ τάφῳ τότε κείρασθαι τῇ Ἑλλάδι καὶ πενθῆσαι τοὺς ἐνθάδε κειμένους, ὡς συγκαταθαπτομένης τῆς αὑτῶν ἐλευθερίας τῇ τούτων ἀρετῇ· ὡς δυστυχὴς μὲν ἡ Ἑλλὰς τοιούτων ἀνδρῶν ὀρφανὴ γενομένη, εὐτυχὴς δʼ ὁ τῆς Ἀσίας βασιλεὺς ἑτέρων ἡγεμόνων λαβόμενος·
For when the ships were lost in the Hellespont, whether through the incompetence of the commander or by the design of the gods, and when that greatest disaster befell both us who met with misfortune and the other Greeks, it demonstrated not long afterwards that the power of this city was the salvation of Greece.\n For when others became leaders, those who previously did not even embark upon the sea conquered the Greeks in sea-fights, and sailed to Europe, and the cities of the Greeks are enslaved, and tyrants are established, some after our misfortune, others after the victory of the barbarians.\n So that it was fitting for Greece then to shear her hair at this tomb and to mourn those who lie here, as their own freedom was buried together with the virtue of these men; how unfortunate was Greece, being left desolate of such men, and how fortunate was the King of Asia, having obtained other leaders.
τῇ μὲν γὰρ τούτων στερηθείσῃ δουλεία περιέστηκε, τῷ δʼ ἄλλων ἀρξάντων ζῆλος ἐγγίγνεται τῆς τῶν προγόνων διανοίας. §61ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἐξήχθην ὑπὲρ πάσης ὀλοφύρασθαι τῆς Ἑλλάδος·
For on the one side, deprived of these men, slavery is imminent, while on the other, when others rule, a zeal for the designs of their ancestors arises.\n But I have been led away to lament for the whole of Greece.
ἐκείνων δὲ τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἄξιον καὶ ἰδίᾳ καὶ δημοσίᾳ μεμνῆσθαι, οἳ φεύγοντες τὴν δουλείαν καὶ περὶ τοῦ δικαίου μαχόμενοι καὶ ὑπὲρ τῆς δημοκρατίας στασιάσαντες πάντας πολεμίους κεκτημένοι εἰς τὸν Πειραιᾶ κατῆλθον, οὐχ ὑπὸ νόμου ἀναγκασθέντες, ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ τῆς φύσεως πεισθέντες, καινοῖς κινδύνοις τὴν παλαιὰν ἀρετὴν τῶν προγόνων μιμησάμενοι,
It is fitting to remember, both privately and publicly, those men who, fleeing slavery, fighting for justice, and rising up for democracy, made all men their enemies and returned to the Peiraeus, not forced by law, but persuaded by nature, imitating the ancient virtue of their ancestors with new dangers,