Humanitext Reader

Polybius · The Histories §13.2.1-13.2.5

The Greed and Fall of the Aetolian General Scopas in Alexandria

Passage 787 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

This passage describes how Scopas, the Aetolian general, went to Alexandria and, despite receiving a generous allowance, could not satisfy his greed and ultimately met his ruin, using the metaphor of a dropsical patient.

§13.2.1ὅτι Σκόπας Αἰτωλῶν στρατηγὸς ἀποτυχὼν τῆς ἀρχῆς, ἧς χάριν ἐτόλμα γράφειν τοὺς νόμους, μετέωρος ἦν εἰς τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν, ταῖς ἐκεῖθεν ἐλπίσι πεπεισμένος ἀναπληρώσειν τὰ λείποντα τοῦ βίου καὶ τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς πρὸς τὸ πλεῖον ἐπιθυμίαν, οὐκ εἰδὼς ὅτι, §13.2.2καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῶν ὑδρωπικῶν οὐδέποτε ποιεῖ παῦλαν οὐδὲ κόρον τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἡ τῶν ἔξωθεν ὑγρῶν παράθεσις, ἐὰν μὴ τὴν ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ σώματι διάθεσιν ὑγιάσῃ τις, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον οὐδὲ τὴν πρὸς τὸ πλεῖον ἐπιθυμίαν οἷόν τε κορέσαι μὴ οὐ τὴν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ κακίαν λόγῳ τινὶ διορθωσάμενον.
That Scopas, the general of the Aetolians, having failed to obtain the office for the sake of which he had dared to draft the laws, was eager to depart for Alexandria, persuaded by the hopes from that quarter that he would supply the deficiencies of his life and satisfy the desire of his soul for more, not knowing that, just as in the case of dropsical patients, the supply of external liquids never brings a cessation or satisfaction of their desire, unless one cures the condition in the body itself, in the same way, it is impossible to satisfy the desire for more without first correcting the vice in the soul by some reason.
ἐμφανέστατον δὲ τοῦτο συνέβη γενέσθαι περὶ τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦτον, ὑπὲρ οὗ νῦν ὁ λόγος.
And this turned out to be most manifest in the case of this man of whom we are now speaking.
§13.2.3τούτῳ γὰρ εἰς Ἀλεξάνδρειαν ἀφικομένῳ πρὸς ταῖς ἐκ τῶν ὑπαίθρων ὠφελείαις, ὧν ἦν αὐτὸς κύριος διὰ τὸ πιστεύεσθαι περὶ τῶν ὅλων, καὶ τῆς ἡμέρας ἑκάστης ὀψώνιον ἐξέθηκεν ὁ βασιλεὺς αὐτῷ μὲν δεκαμναιαῖον, τοῖς δʼ ἐπί τινος ἡγεμονίας μετʼ αὐτὸν τεταγμένοις μναιαῖον.
For when he arrived in Alexandria, in addition to the profits from the open-air operations which he himself controlled owing to his being entrusted with the general administration, the king assigned him a daily allowance of ten minae for himself, and one mina for those who were appointed to commands under him.
§13.2.4ἀλλʼ ὅμως οὐκ ἠρκεῖτο τούτοις, ὃς τὸ πρότερον προσκαρτερῶν τῷ πλείονι διετέλεσε, §13.2.5μέχρι διὰ τὴν ἀπληστίαν καὶ παρʼ αὐτοῖς τοῖς διδοῦσι φθονηθεὶς τὸ πνεῦμα προσέθηκε τῷ χρυσίῳ. —
But nevertheless he was not satisfied with these, he who previously had continually devoted himself to more, until, envied because of his greed even by those very persons who gave them, he added his breath to his gold. —

Notes

  1. §13.2.1μετέωρος ἦν — The adjective μετέωρος (suspended in the air) here describes a state of being in suspense or having one's hopes and attention excitedly directed toward a future prospect.
  2. §13.2.2μὴ οὐ ... διορθωσάμενον — The combination μὴ οὐ with a participle, following a negative main clause, expresses a negative condition ("unless..."). The participle διορθωσάμενον is in the accusative because it agrees with the implied subject of the infinitive phrase οἷόν τε κορέσαι.
  3. §13.2.5τὸ πνεῦμα προσέθηκε τῷ χρυσίῳ — Literally "he added his breath (life) to the gold," a highly ironical and idiomatic expression used by Polybius to denote that the character lost his life as a consequence of his greed.

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §13.2.1-13.2.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:13.2.1-13.2.5

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.