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Polybius · The Histories §38.3.1-38.3.13

The Restoration of Thebes and Two Kinds of Misfortune

Passage 1284 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

Relates the recovery of the Thebans after Alexander's destruction and the reversal brought by external sympathy. It then defines the strict distinction between being "unfortunate" (ἀκληρεῖν) and "suffering misfortune" (ἀτυχεῖν) due to one's own folly, analyzing the decline of the Greek states during this period.

§38.3.1Ἀλεξάνδρου. τοιγαροῦν βραχεῖ χρόνῳ τυχόντες ἐπικουρίας τινὸς αὖθις ᾤκουν τὴν πατρίδα μετʼ ἀσφαλείας.
[of Alexander.] Therefore, having obtained some assistance in a short time, they dwelt in their fatherland again with safety.
§38.3.2ὁ γὰρ παρὰ τῶν ἐκτὸς ἔλεος οὐ μικρὸν ἐπίχειρόν ἐστι τοῖς ἀδίκως ἀκληροῦσιν, εἴ γε πολλάκις ἰδεῖν ἔστιν ἅμα ταῖς τῶν πολλῶν ὁρμαῖς καὶ τὴν τύχην μεταβαλλομένην καὶ τοὺς κρατοῦντας αὐτοὺς μεταμελομένους καὶ διορθουμένους τὰς τῶν παραλόγως ἠτυχηκότων περιπετείας.
For pity from outsiders is no small reward for those who are unjustly unfortunate, since indeed one can often see fortune changing simultaneously with the impulses of the multitude, and the rulers themselves repenting and correcting the reverses of those who have suffered misfortune contrary to expectation.
§38.3.3πάλιν ἐπείθοντο κατά τινας καιροὺς Χαλκιδεῖς καὶ Κορίνθιοι καί τινες ἕτεραι πόλεις διὰ τὴν τῶν τόπων εὐφυΐαν τοῖς ἐν Μακεδονίᾳ βασιλεῦσι καὶ φρουρὰς εἶχον· §38.3.4ἀλλὰ τοὺς μὲν δουλεύοντας πάντες ἐσπούδαζον κατὰ δύναμιν ἐλευθεροῦν, τοὺς δὲ καταδουλωσαμένους ἐμίσουν καὶ πολεμίους ἡγοῦντο διὰ τέλους.
Again, at certain times, the Chalcidians and Corinthians and some other cities were subject to the kings in Macedonia because of the favorable nature of their locations, and they had garrisons; but everyone was eager to liberate those who were enslaved according to their power, and they hated those who had enslaved them and regarded them as enemies to the end.
§38.3.5καθόλου δὲ κατὰ πόλεις ἔπταιον καὶ κατὰ πόλιν ἐσφάλλοντο τὸν πρὸ τοῦ χρόνον ὡς ἐπίπαν, οἱ μὲν ὑπὲρ ἡγεμονίας καὶ πραγμάτων ἀμφισβητοῦντες, οἱ δʼ ὑπὸ μονάρχων καὶ βασιλέων παρασπονδούμενοι· §38.3.6διὸ καὶ σπανίους ἂν εὕροις οἷς ὄνειδος ἠκολούθει τῶν ἀκληρούντων ἢ καὶ τὸ τῆς ἀτυχίας ὄνομα διέμενεν· §38.3.7ἀκληρεῖν μὲν γὰρ ἅπαντας ἡγητέον καὶ κοινῇ καὶ κατʼ ἰδίαν τοὺς παραλόγοις συμφοραῖς περιπίπτοντας, ἀτυχεῖν δὲ μόνους τούτους οἷς διὰ τὴν ἰδίαν ἀβουλίαν ὄνειδος αἱ πράξεις ἐπιφέρουσι.
In general, in the preceding time, they stumbled by cities and failed as a rule city by city, some disputing for hegemony and public affairs, others being betrayed in treaties by monarchs and kings; therefore, you would find few among those who were unfortunate upon whom reproach followed, or for whom the name of misfortune remained; for we must consider all those who fall into unexpected calamities, both publicly and privately, as being unfortunate, but as suffering misfortune only those whose actions bring reproach upon them through their own folly.
§38.3.8κατὰ δὲ τοὺς ὑποκειμένους καιροὺς ἠτύχησαν ἅμα Πελοποννήσιοι, Βοιωτοί, Φωκεῖς, εῖς, Λοκροί, τινὲς τῶν τὸν Ἰόνιον κατοικούντων κόλπον, μετὰ δὲ τούτους ἔτι Μακεδόνες· §38.3.9μὴ μόνον κατὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν πρότερον, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ ἐπίπαν οὐκ ἠκλήρησαν, ἀλλʼ ἠτύχησαν ἀτυχίαν αἰσχρὰν ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα καὶ ἐπονείδιστον· §38.3.10ἅμα μὲν γὰρ ἀπιστίαν, ἅμα δʼ ἀνανδρίαν ἔδειξαν, καὶ πράξεις αὐτοῖς ἐπήνεγκαν διὰ τὴν ἀτ. §38.3.11ἅμα.
But in the times under consideration, the Peloponnesians, Boeotians, Phocians, [...]ians, Locrians, some of those dwelling along the Ionian gulf, and after these, furthermore, the Macedonians suffered misfortune at the same time; [...] not only in the number [...] of those who went before, but also in [...] as a whole, they did not merely suffer ill fortune, but they suffered a misfortune as shameful and reproachful as possible; for they showed at once faithlessness and cowardice, and their actions brought upon them through their [...] [...] at the same time.
τοιγαροῦν στερηθέντες πάντων τῶν καλῶν οἱ μὲν ὑπὸ στέ, ἔνιοι δὲ καὶ δ ντες εἰς τὰς πόλεις τότε παρεδέξαντο ῥάβδους καὶ πελέκεις ἐθελο· §38.3.12ἐν μεγάλῳ γὰρ φόβῳ διὰ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῶν ἰδίων ἁμαρτημάτων ἦσαν, εἰ χρ §38.3.13ὴ λέγειν ἰδίων· ἐγὼ γὰρ ἠγνοηκέναι μὲν φαίην ἂν τοὺς πολλοὺς καὶ παραπεπαικέναι τοῦ καθήκοντος, ἡμαρτηκέναι δὲ τοὺς αἰτίους γεγονότας τῆς ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἀγνοίας.
Therefore, deprived of all honorable things, some under [...], and others also [...], they then voluntarily welcomed the rods and axes into their cities; for they were in great fear because of the excess of their own transgressions, if it is [...] to say "their own"; for I would say that the majority were ignorant and had strayed from duty, but that those who were the causes of such great ignorance had transgressed.

Notes

  1. 38.3.1Ἀλεξάνδρου — A genitive continuing from the end of the previous chunk ("no one justified this action", διεδικαίου δὲ τὴν πρᾶξιν ταύτην οὐδεῖς). It functions as the object of the verb διεδικαίου, meaning "[the action] of Alexander."
  2. 38.3.2ἅμα ταῖς τῶν πολλῶν ὁρμαῖς — The preposition ἅμα takes the dative (ταῖς... ὁρμαῖς), forming an adverbial phrase "simultaneously with the impulses of the multitude." The subsequent accusative and participle constructions starting with καὶ τὴν τύχην μεταβαλλομένην function as the objects of the infinitive ἰδεῖν, which is the subject of the impersonal verb ἔστιν.
  3. 38.3.7ἀκληρεῖν μὲν γὰρ... ἀτυχεῖν δὲ — The author strictly distinguishes between "to be unfortunate" (ἀκληρεῖν) and "to suffer misfortune" (ἀτυχεῖν). The former refers to unexpected calamities beyond human control (external ill fortune), while the latter refers to culpable failures or shameful mistakes caused by one's own folly (ἀβουλία).
  4. 38.3.13ὴ λέγειν ἰδίων — Combined with εἰ χρ[ή...] at the end of §38.3.12, it forms the conditional clause "εἰ χρὴ λέγειν ἰδίων" (if one ought to say 'their own'). Although divided across sections due to the fragmented nature of the manuscript, they grammatically constitute a single clause.

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §38.3.1-38.3.13. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:38.3.1-38.3.13

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