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Polybius · The Histories §23.11.1-23.11.8

Philip Admonishes His Sons to Avoid Fraternal Discord

Passage 1042 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

King Philip admonishes his sons to learn from history and drama that discord brings ruin while harmony leads to prosperity, citing Sparta and the Attalids, and rebukes their mutual hostility.

§23.11.1ὅτι "δεῖ μὴ μόνον ἀναγινώσκειν τὰς τραγῳδίας καὶ τοὺς μύθους καὶ τὰς ἱστορίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ γινώσκειν καὶ συνεφιστάνειν ἐπὶ τοῦτο τὸ μέρος.
That "one must not only read tragedies, myths, and histories, but also understand them and direct one's attention to this part.
§23.11.2ἐν οἷς ἅπασιν ἔστιν ὁρᾶν, ὅσοι μὲν τῶν ἀδελφῶν εἰς τὴν πρὸς ἀλλήλους ὀργὴν καὶ φιλονικίαν ἐμπεσόντες ἐπὶ πολὺ προύβησαν, ἅπαντας τοὺς τοιούτους οὐ μόνον σφᾶς ἀπολωλεκότας, ἀλλὰ καὶ βίον καὶ τέκνα καὶ πόλεις ἄρδην κατεστραφότας, §23.11.3ὅσοι δὲ μετρίως ἐζήλωσαν τὸ στέργειν αὑτοὺς καὶ φέρειν τὰς ἀλλήλων ἀγνοίας, τούτους ἅπαντας σωτῆρας γεγονότας ὧν ἀρτίως εἶπον καὶ μετὰ τῆς καλλίστης φήμης καὶ δόξης βεβιωκότας.
In all of which it is possible to see that all those brothers who, having fallen into anger and rivalry against one another, went to great lengths, not only destroyed themselves, but also utterly ruined their lives, their children, and their cities; and that all those who moderately aspired to love one another and to bear one another's ignorance, became the saviors of what I have just mentioned and lived their lives with the fairest reputation and glory.
§23.11.4καὶ μὴν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐν τῇ Λακεδαίμονι βασιλεῖς πολλάκις ὑμᾶς ἐπέστησα, λέγων ὅτι τοσοῦτον χρόνον διετήρησαν σφῶν τῇ πατρίδι τὴν τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἡγεμονίαν ὅσον πειθαρχοῦντες ὥσπερ γονεῦσι τοῖς ἐφόροις ἠνείχοντο συμβασιλεύοντες ἀλλήλοις· §23.11.5ὅτε δὲ διαφωνήσαντες εἰς μοναρχίαν τὰ πράγματα μετέστησαν, τότε πάντων ἅμα τῶν κακῶν πεῖραν ἐποίησαν λαβεῖν τὴν Σπάρτην· §23.11.6τὸ δὲ τελευταῖον ὡσανεὶ κατʼ ἔνδειξιν ὑμῖν λέγων καὶ τιθεὶς ἐναργῶς ὑπὸ τὴν ὄψιν διετέλουν τούτους τοὺς περὶ τὸν Εὐμένη καὶ τὸν Ἄτταλον, §23.11.7ὅτι παραλαβόντες οὗτοι μικρὰν ἀρχὴν καὶ τὴν τυχοῦσαν ηὐξήκασι ταύτην, ὥστε μηδεμιᾶς εἶναι καταδεεστέραν, διʼ οὐθὲν ἕτερον ἢ διὰ τὴν πρὸς αὑτοὺς ὁμόνοιαν καὶ συμφωνίαν καὶ τὸ δύνασθαι καταξίωσιν ἀλλήλοις διαφυλάττειν· ὧν ὑμεῖς ἀκούοντες οὐχ οἷον εἰς νοῦν ἐλαμβάνετε, §23.11.8τὸ δʼ ἐναντίον ἠκονᾶτʼ, ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, τοὺς κατʼ ἀλλήλων θυμούς. "
And indeed, I often directed your attention to the kings in Lacedaemon, saying that they preserved the hegemony over the Greeks for their fatherland for as long a time as, obeying the ephors as if they were parents, they endured reigning together with one another; but when, having disagreed, they changed the state of affairs into a monarchy, they then caused Sparta to experience all evils at once; and finally, as if by way of illustration, speaking to you and placing them vividly before your eyes, I kept bringing up Eumenes and Attalus and their house, namely, that having received a small and ordinary dominion, they increased it so that it was inferior to none, through nothing other than their mutual harmony and agreement, and their ability to preserve respect for one another; which things you, though hearing them, did not take to heart, but on the contrary, it seems to me, you were sharpening your anger against each other."

Notes

  1. §23.11.2ἔστιν ὁρᾶν... ἀπολωλεκότας... κατεστραφότας — The impersonal verb ἔστιν (indicating possibility) is followed by the infinitive ὁρᾶν, which takes the accusative participles ἀπολωλεκότας and κατεστραφότας as object complements in a 'noun/pronoun + participle' construction, meaning 'it is possible to see that they have destroyed...'. The participles γεγονότας and βεβιωκότας in §23.11.3 are also dependent on this same ἔστιν ὁρᾶν.
  2. §23.11.4ἠνείχοντο συμβασιλεύοντες — The verb ἀνέχομαι (to endure, bear) is constructed with the supplementary participle συμβασιλεύοντες, meaning 'they endured reigning together.'
  3. §23.11.5πεῖραν ἐποίησαν λαβεῖν τὴν Σπάρτην — The verb ἐποίησαν, having causative force, takes an accusative and infinitive construction (with τὴν Σπάρτην as the subject accusative and λαβεῖν as the infinitive), meaning 'they caused Sparta to experience.' The object of the infinitive is the genitive πάντων τῶν κακῶν, governed by the phrase πεῖραν λαβεῖν (to experience, make trial of).
  4. §23.11.7οὐχ οἷον — The phrase οὐχ οἷον (or οὐχ οἷον ὅτι) is an idiomatic expression meaning 'not only not' or 'far from doing something' (usually followed by something like τὸ δʼ ἐναντίον). Here it means 'far from taking them to heart (on the contrary, you were sharpening your anger).'

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §23.11.1-23.11.8. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:23.11.1-23.11.8

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