Some links:

Mary Beard on Thucydides
Greek Grammar
Hornblower on the Mytilenian Debate
Kagan and Diodoros on the Mytilenian revolt
CGCG
AWG
OrMD
macleod
Aristotle:Justice as Reciprocity
This is a good essay that provides better understanding for the translation of ἐπιείκεια: 3.40.3, which play a critical role in Cleon's speech to the Athenians about how not to treat allies in order to preserve Empire

wordandconceptthucydidesallison



Mary Beard:

Thucydides wrote his History of the Peloponnesian War in almost impossibly difficult Greek. Maybe the contorted language has something to do with the novelty of his enterprise. Writing at the end of the fifth century BC, he was attempting something never done before: an aggressively rational, apparently impersonal analysis of the history of his own times, utterly free from religious modes of explanation. In Thucydides’ view, the Peloponnesian War, fought on and off for thirty years between the two leading Greek cities of Sparta and Athens, had to be understood with respect to human politics and power struggles, not—as Homer had earlier seen the Trojan War, or as Herodotus had explained the Greek wars against the Persians—by referring to quarrels among the gods on Mount Olympus. This was revolutionary But however we choose to excuse Thucydides, the fact remains that his History is sometimes made almost incomprehensible by neologisms, awkward abstractions, and linguistic idiosyncrasies of all kinds. These are not only a problem for the modern reader. They infuriated some ancient readers too. In the first century BC, in a long essay devoted to Thucydides’ work, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, a literary critic and historian himself, complained—with ample supporting quotations—of the “forced expressions,” “non sequiturs,” “artificialities,” and “riddling obscurity.” “If people actually spoke like this,” he wrote, “not even their mothers or their fathers would be able to tolerate the unpleasantness of it; in fact they would need translators, as if they were listening to a foreign language.” In his Thucydides: The Reinvention of History, Donald Kagan is kinder, but even he concedes that “his style is often very compressed and difficult to understand, so that any translation is necessarily an interpretation.” There are big implications here for our modern admiration of Thucydides as a historian. First, the “good” translations of his History (those that are fluent and easy to read) give a very bad idea of the linguistic character of the original Greek. The “better” they are, the less likely they are to reflect the flavor of what Thucydides wrote—rather like Finnegans Wake rewritten in the clear idiom of Jane Austen. Second, many of our favorite “quotations” from Thucydides, those slogans that are taken to reveal his distinctive approach to history, bear a tenuous relationship to his original text. As a general rule, the catchier the slogans sound, the more likely they are to be largely the product of the translator rather than of Thucydides himself. He simply did not write many of the bons mots attributed to him.

[3.1]
τοῦ δ’ ἐπιγιγνομένου θέρους Πελοποννήσιοι καὶ οἱ ξύμμαχοι ἅμα τῷ σίτῳ ἀκμάζοντι ἐστράτευσαν ἐς τὴν Ἀττικήν· ἡγεῖτο δὲ αὐτῶν Ἀρχίδαμος ὁ Ζευξιδάμου Λακεδαιμονίων βασιλεύς. καὶ ἐγκαθεζόμενοι ἐδῄουν τὴν γῆν· καὶ προσβολαί, ὥσπερ εἰώθεσαν, ἐγίγνοντο τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἱππέων ὅπῃ παρείκοι, καὶ τὸν πλεῖστον ὅμιλον τῶν ψιλῶν εἶργον τὸ μὴ προεξιόντας τῶν ὅπλων τὰ ἐγγὺς τῆς πόλεως κακουργεῖν. ἐμμείναντες δὲ χρόνον οὗ εἶχον τὰ σιτία ἀνεχώρησαν καὶ διελύθησαν κατὰ πόλεις.

The following summer, when the corn was ripening, the Peloponnesians and their allies marched into Attika. They were led by Archidamos, the Lacedaemon king, the son of Zeuksidamos. After they set up camp, they began to ravage the land. And as it were their custom, so to speak, the Athenian cavalary made attacks wherever it was possible, and they prevented the largest body of lightly armed troops from advancing out of their camp and destroying targets close to the city. The invaders, after staying for as long as they had provisioned supplies, withdrew and dispersed to their cities.

θέρος , εος, τό: summer
σῖτος , ὁ: grain, corn or food made from grain
ἅμα at once, at the same time (22.80)
ἀκμ-άζω: full bloom (acme in English)
ἐγκαθέζομαι to sit, to establish (their camp)
δηιόω: to cut down, to waste, ravage: 3rd pl imperf ind act attic epic contraction
προσβολή , ἡ: attack, assault
παρείκοι: to permit, allowed, praction ὅπῃ παρείκοι: indefinite clause with an undefined antecedent governs a subjunctive or optative: wherever it was permitted/possible
ἔργω to prevent, hinder
προέξ-ειμι: sally forth: part pl pres act masc acc: modifies πλεῖστον ὅμιλον τῶν ψιλῶν
σιτίον σῖτος mostly in pl. σιτία: food made from grain
ὥσπερ just as if, even as, as it were
εἴωθα to be accustomed (2.30)
ὅμιλος any assembled crowd, a throng of people (1.02)
ψιλός bare, stripped; (soldier) without heavy armor, light troops
πλεῖστος most, largest (9.32)
ὅπῃ where (1.21)
παρείκω to give way (0.13)
ἔργω: to hinder, prevent: (του μὴ + infinitive: clause of prevention) κακουργέω to do evil, work wickedness, deal basely, to ravage: basically to do κακα things, in its traditional military sense, not in its moral sense. (0.64)
ἐμμένω to abide, remain
διαλύω to loose one from another, to part asunder,
ἀναχωρέω to go back

Grammatical Commentary

"τὸν πλεῖστον ὅμιλον τῶν ψιλῶν εἶργον τὸ μὴ προεξιόντας τῶν ὅπλων τὰ ἐγγὺς τῆς πόλεως κακουργεῖν."
This is a clause of hindering ( τὸ μὴ plus infinitive). Typically one would expect the infinitive to be in the genitive (του ... κακουργεῖν) but ἔργω can govern two accusatives. Therefore the infinitive here is in the accusative.
Also note that "προεξιόντας" is referring to the "τὸν πλεῖστον ὅμιλον τῶν ψιλῶν", although there is a number change here.

ἐδῄουν τὴν γῆν: the verb provide a somewhat archaic sense.

[3.2]
μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἐσβολὴν τῶν Πελοποννησίων εὐθὺς Λέσβος πλὴν Μηθύμνης ἀπέστη ἀπ’ Ἀθηναίων, βουληθέντες μὲν καὶ πρὸ τοῦ πολέμου, ἀλλ’ οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι οὐ προσεδέξαντο, ἀναγκασθέντες δὲ καὶ ταύτην τὴν ἀπόστασιν πρότερον ἢ διενοοῦντο ποιήσασθαι. τῶν τε γὰρ λιμένων τὴν χῶσιν καὶ τειχῶν οἰκοδόμησιν καὶ νεῶν ποίησιν ἐπέμενον τελεσθῆναι, καὶ ὅσα ἐκ τοῦ Πόντου ἔδει ἀφικέσθαι, τοξότας τε καὶ σῖτον, καὶ ἃ μεταπεμπόμενοι ἦσαν. Τενέδιοι γὰρ ὄντες αὐτοῖς διάφοροι καὶ Μηθυμναῖοι καὶ αὐτῶν Μυτιληναίων ἰδίᾳ ἄνδρες κατὰ στάσιν, πρόξενοι Ἀθηναίων, μηνυταὶ γίγνονται τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις ὅτι ξυνοικίζουσί τε τὴν Λέσβον ἐς τὴν Μυτιλήνην βίᾳ καὶ τὴν παρασκευὴν ἅπασαν μετὰ Λακεδαιμονίων καὶ Βοιωτῶν ξυγγενῶν ὄντων ἐπὶ ἀποστάσει ἐπείγονται· καὶ εἰ μή τις προκαταλήψεται ἤδη, στερήσεσθαι αὐτοὺς Λέσβου.

Immediately after the Peloponnesian invasion, Lesbos except for the town of Methymna revolted from Athens. Although they had even wished to do this before the war, but the Lacedaemonians did not approve, nevertheless they were still forced into this revolt earlier than they were intending. They were awaiting the protection of the harbor, the building of the walls and the construction of ships to be completed, as well as for those required provisions to arrive from the Black Sea, namely archers and food, and other supplies that they were requesting. The Tenedians, rivals of Lesbos, and the Methymnians and men from Mytilene, who were privately against this faction in Mytilene, and Proxeni of the Athenians, inform the Athenians that the Mytilenians are aiming to force Lesbos into a synoecism under the control of Mytilene; that they, along with the Boeotians their kinsmen and the Lacedaemonians, are urging on everything to be prepared for the revolt; and unless someone heads this off straightaway, Athens will be deprived of Lesbos.

πλήν except (4.53)
προσδέχομαι to receive favourably, accept, approve
διανοέομαι to be minded, intend,
πρότερος before, earlier, sooner
ἀπόστασις (f) a standing away from, revolt
χῶσις a heaping up, piling up (ie to build a mole to protect the harbour)
οἰκοδόμησις the act of building
ποίησις a making, fabrication, creation, production
τῶν λιμένων τὴν χῶσιν καὶ τειχῶν οἰκοδόμησιν καὶ νεῶν ποίησιν: [ note the repeat of τῶν ... τὴν]
διάφορος different, unlike, rivals
ἴδιος in private, not public: private interest vs public interest: ἰδίᾳ vs κοινῇ
στάσις a standing, the posture of standing, faction, party
κατὰ στάσιν: against the faction in Mytilene who were attempting to build an alliance with Lesbos
μηνυτής bringing to light; Subst., one who brings information; informer
ἐπείγω to press down, weigh down; mid. hasten,urging on
προκαταλαμβάνω to seize beforehand, preoccupy; prevent, anticipate, frustrate
στερέω to deprive, bereave, rob of


μηνυταὶ γίγνονται τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις ὅτι ξυνοικίζουσί ... note the first problem with this sentence is determining who is actually the subject of 'ξυνοικίζουσί'. This is not so easy initially since the actual subject is buried in the previous clauses. The real problem is to keep straight who are the actors in this revolt. Lesbos, an island in the North East of the Aegean, was in an alliance with Athens. Mytilene was the largest and most powerful city on Lesbos. It appears that a faction (στάσις) in Mytilene had extravagant plans to unite Lesbos' various towns under its control, the result of which would be intolerable to Athens because she would not only lose the ships contributed to her but it would be almost certainly welcomed by Athens' enemies the Lacedaemonians. Although not necessarily germane, since I think ancient historians make too much of it, most of the towns on Lesbos including Mytilene were oligarchic, whilst Methymna was democratic. This might suggest which side the various parties were drawn: oligarchies wishing to revolt, democracies wishing to keep to their Athenian alliance. But the fact is that Mytilene was an oligarchy when it joined the Athenian alliance. That all, said my read of this sentence is that it is the faction in Mytilene qua Mytilenians who are the subject of 'ξυνοικίζουσί'.

Note also small grammatical issue. We have reported speech governed by "μηνυταὶ γίγνονται ... ὅτι " (become informers) that later becomes an accusative infinitive construction.

Smyth 2628 deals with this: Indirect discourse may be introduced by ὅτι (ὡς) and then pass into the infinitive as if the introductory verb had required the infinitive. ἡ δὲ ἀπεκρίνατο ὅτι βούλοιτο μὲν ἅπαντα τῷ πατρὶ χαρίζεσθαι, ἄκοντα μέντοι τὸν παῖδα χαλεπὸν εἶναι νομίζειν ( = νομίζοι) καταλιπεῖν she answered that she wished to do everything to oblige her father, but that she considered it unkind to leave the child behind against his inclination

And finally καὶ εἰ μή τις προκαταλήψεται ἤδη, στερήσεσθαι αὐτοὺς Λέσβου is a future most vivid conditional. Translate the verb in the protasis "προκαταλήψεται" (3rd sg fut ind mid) as a present tense.

[3.3]
οἱ δ᾽ Ἀθηναῖοι （ἦσαν γὰρ τεταλαιπωρημένοι ὑπό τε τῆς νόσου καὶ τοῦ πολέμου ἄρτι καθισταμένου καὶ ἀκμάζοντος） μέγα μὲν ἔργον ἡγοῦντο εἶναι Λέσβον προσπολεμώσασθαι ναυτικὸν ἔχουσαν καὶ δύναμιν ἀκέραιον, καὶ οὐκ ἀπεδέχοντο τὸ πρῶτον τὰς κατηγορίας, μεῖζον μέρος νέμοντες τῷ μὴ βούλεσθαι ἀληθῆ εἶναι: ἐπειδὴ μέντοι καὶ πέμψαντες πρέσβεις οὐκ ἔπειθον τοὺς Μυτιληναίους τήν τε ξυνοίκισιν καὶ τὴν παρασκευὴν διαλύειν, δείσαντες προκαταλαβεῖν ἐβούλοντο. [2] καὶ πέμπουσιν ἐξαπιναίως τεσσαράκοντα ναῦς αἳ ἔτυχον περὶ Πελοπόννησον παρεσκευασμέναι πλεῖν: Κλεϊππίδης δὲ ὁ Δεινίου τρίτος αὐτὸς ἐστρατήγει. [3] ἐσηγγέλθη γὰρ αὐτοῖς ὡς εἴη Ἀπόλλωνος Μαλόεντος ἔξω τῆς πόλεως ἑορτή, ἐν ᾗ πανδημεὶ Μυτιληναῖοι ἑορτάζουσι, καὶ ἐλπίδα εἶναι ἐπειχθέντας ἐπιπεσεῖν ἄφνω, καὶ ἢν μὲν ξυμβῇ ἡ πεῖρα: εἰ δὲ μή, Μυτιληναίοις εἰπεῖν ναῦς τε παραδοῦναι καὶ τείχη καθελεῖν, μὴ πειθομένων δὲ πολεμεῖν. [4] καὶ αἱ μὲν νῆες ᾤχοντο: τὰς δὲ τῶν Μυτιληναίων δέκα τριήρεις, αἳ ἔτυχον βοηθοὶ παρὰ σφᾶς κατὰ τὸ ξυμμαχικὸν παροῦσαι, κατέσχον οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι καὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐς φυλακὴν ἐποιήσαντο. [5] τοῖς δὲ Μυτιληναίοις ἀνὴρ ἐκ τῶν Ἀθηνῶν διαβὰς ἐς Εὔβοιαν καὶ πεζῇ ἐπὶ Γεραιστὸν ἐλθών, ὁλκάδος ἀναγομένης ἐπιτυχών, πλῷ χρησάμενος καὶ τριταῖος ἐκ τῶν Ἀθηνῶν ἐς Μυτιλήνην ἀφικόμενος ἀγγέλλει τὸν ἐπίπλουν. οἱ δὲ οὔτε ἐς τὸν Μαλόεντα ἐξῆλθον, τά τε ἄλλα τῶν τειχῶν καὶ λιμένων περὶ τὰ ἡμιτέλεστα φαρξάμενοι ἐφύλασσον.

The Athenians, for they were hard pressed by both the plague and the war just now taking hold and reaching its height, thought it was a serious matter to make Lesbos an enemy, since Lesbos had a navy and undiminished resources, and so they did not at first believe the accusations, placing a greater emphasis on them wanting it not to be true. However, after the ambassadors they sent did not persuade the Mytilenians to abandon the plan for unification nor their preparations, the Athenians became fearful and decided to act first. They immediately dispatched forty triremes which happened to be readied to sail around the Peloponnese. They appointed Cleippides, son of Deinias, as the third general. It was explained to them that there was a festival outside of the city for Malean Apollo , in which all the Mytilenians celebrated, and there was the hope that might achieve a suprise attack, if they hurried. And if this attempt succeeded, [then all would be good]. But if it did not succeed, to tell the Mytilinians to hand over their ships and to tear down their walls; and if the Mytilenians are not persuaded, to declare war. And then the ships set off. Meanwhile the ten ships of the Mytilenians, which happened to be at Athens for the Mytilenian aid/contribution to the alliance, the Athenians siezed, and they put under guard the men who were onboard. Meanwhile, a man travelling from Athens to Euboea, then on foot to Geraestus, where he lit upon a freighter about to depart and making use of a sea voyage, arriving at Mytilene from Athens on third day, tells the Mytilenians about the Athenian expedition. The Mytilenians did not leave their city for the Malean festival but they set up guard fencing in the half built remaining parts of the walls and the harbours.

ταλαιπωρέω: to go through hard labour, to suffer hardship, to be worn out
καθίστημι to set down, place, to come into a certain state; come into a certain state, become, and in pf. and plpf., to have become, be: καθισταμένου part sg pres mp masc gen
προσπολεμόομαι: to make one one's enemy
ἀκέραιος: unmixed; unharmed; pure; complete; perfect; undamaged
ἀποδέχομαι: to accept from
κατηγορία: an accusation, charge
προκαταλαμβάνω to seize beforehand, preoccupy, anticipate
νέμω to deal out, distribute (food), dispense, allot;
μέρος a part, share
προκαταλαμβάνω to seize beforehand, preoccupy
ἄφνω: of a sudden
ἐπειχθέντας part pl aor pass masc acc of ἐπείγω to press down, weigh down; mid. hasten,urging on
συμβαίνω meet, agree, happen: 3rd sg aor subj act
καθαιρέω to take down aor inf act attic
οἴχομαι to be gone, to have gone, to go
βοηθός assisting, auxiliary
ὁλκάς , άδος, ἡ,: merchant ship
ἀναγομένης: part sg pres mp fem gen: ἀνάγω: in middle: put out to sea, set sail
φράσσω to fence in, hedge round
φυλάσσω to keep watch and ward, keep guard
ἡμιτέλ-εστος , ον, (τελέω): half-completed
φράσσω: fence in, hedge round



[ 3.4 ] καὶ οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι οὐ πολλῷ ὕστερον καταπλεύσαντες ὡς ἑώρων, ἀπήγγειλαν μὲν οἱ στρατηγοὶ τὰ ἐπεσταλμένα, οὐκ ἐσακουόντων δὲ τῶν Μυτιληναίων ἐς πόλεμον καθίσταντο. [2] ἀπαράσκευοι δὲ οἱ Μυτιληναῖοι καὶ ἐξαίφνης ἀναγκασθέντες πολεμεῖν ἔκπλουν μέν τινα ἐποιήσαντο τῶν νεῶν ὡς ἐπὶ ναυμαχίαν ὀλίγον πρὸ τοῦ λιμένος, ἔπειτα καταδιωχθέντες ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀττικῶν νεῶν λόγους ἤδη προσέφερον τοῖς στρατηγοῖς, βουλόμενοι τὰς ναῦς τὸ παραυτίκα, εἰ δύναιντο, ὁμολογίᾳ τινὶ ἐπιεικεῖ ἀποπέμψασθαι. [3] καὶ οἱ στρατηγοὶ τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἀπεδέξαντο καὶ αὐτοὶ φοβούμενοι μὴ οὐχ ἱκανοὶ ὦσι Λέσβῳ πάσῃ πολεμεῖν. [4] καὶ ἀνοκωχὴν ποιησάμενοι πέμπουσιν ἐς τὰς Ἀθήνας οἱ Μυτιληναῖοι τῶν τε διαβαλλόντων ἕνα, ᾧ μετέμελεν ἤδη, καὶ ἄλλους, εἴ πως πείσειαν τὰς ναῦς ἀπελθεῖν ὡς σφῶν οὐδὲν νεωτεριούντων. [5] ἐν τούτῳ δὲ ἀποστέλλουσι καὶ ἐς τὴν Λακεδαίμονα πρέσβεις τριήρει, λαθόντες τὸ τῶν Ἀθηναίων ναυτικόν, οἳ ὥρμουν ἐν τῇ Μαλέᾳ πρὸς βορέαν τῆς πόλεως: οὐ γὰρ ἐπίστευον τοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν Ἀθηναίων προχωρήσειν. [6] καὶ οἱ μὲν ἐς τὴν Λακεδαίμονα ταλαιπώρως διὰ τοῦ πελάγους κομισθέντες αὐτοῖς ἔπρασσον ὅπως τις βοήθεια ἥξει:

And when the Athenians sailing in a short time later saw [this], the generals made known their orders but when the Mytilenians paid them no heed, they declared a state of war. The Mytilenians were unprepared and were right away forced into war. They positioned a fleet of ships a little in front of the harbor with the intent to enage in a sea battle. Thereupon they were chased back by the Athenian ships and the Mytilenians immediately sent words to the generals, wishing, if possible, to get the ships sent away for the present time upon a reasonable agreement. And the generals accepted the terms because they themselves were afraid that they did not have sufficient men to wage war against the whole island of Lesbos. After reaching a truce, the Mytilenians sent to Athens one of the men who had betrayed the Athenians, and who was already regretting it, and others, if somehow they might persuade Athens to withdraw the ships on the grounds that they will not engage in hostilities. At that time, they also dispatch envoys on a trireme to the Spartans, which escaped the detection of the Athenenian fleet, anchored at Malea north of the city: for they did not believe that negotiations would turn out well under the Athenians. And although the envoys experienced a difficult journey on the high sea to Sparta they brought about that some help will come.

εἰσ-ακούω: listen to
παραυτίκα: adv present
ἐπιεικ-ής , ές: fitting, meet, suitable
ἀνοκωχὴν: truce, a stay
διαβαλλόντων: to deceive by false accounts, impose upon, to give hostile information
μετέμελεν: to regret
νεωτεριούντων: make changes, use forcible measures: part pl fut act masc gen attic
λαθόντες: to escape notice (λανθάνω)
βορέαν: north
ἀποστέλλουσι: send off, dispatch
ἔπρασσον effect, bring about
κομισθέντες: to provide for; carry, convey, Pass., to be conveyed, journey, travel, by land or sea
ἥκω:ἥξει future ind:to have come, be present, be here
προχωρέω: go;too go or come forward, advance:προχωρήσειν:fut inf act
προχωρεῖ μοι: it turns out well for me


ὡς ἐπὶ ναυμαχίᾳ: with a view to a seafight Placed before the prep., ὡς implies the ‘purpose’ of the subject.

οὐ γὰρ ἐπίστευον τοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν Ἀθηναίων προχωρήσειν: brutal sentence! The general sense is clear though: the Mytilenians were not holding out hope that negotiations with the Athenians would be successful. Question is what is going on grammatically here? προχωρήσειν used impersonally means "προχωρεῖ μοι it turns out well for me". So is "τοῖς" as a dative neuter plural governed by "προχωρήσειν" or is it "dative masculine plural" governed by "ἐπίστευον"? If the former, then we have "the Mytilenians were not putting hope in negotiations turning out well at the hands of the Athenians", that is, the Athenians will not negotiate at all, if the latter "the Mytilenians were not putting hope in their envoys producing a favourable outcome from the Athenians", that is, the Athenians will negotiate but the outcome will be unfavourable.



[3.5] οἱ δ᾽ ἐκ τῶν Ἀθηνῶν πρέσβεις ὡς οὐδὲν ἦλθον πράξαντες, ἐς πόλεμον καθίσταντο οἱ Μυτιληναῖοι καὶ ἡ ἄλλη Λέσβος πλὴν Μηθύμνης: οὗτοι δὲ τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις ἐβεβοηθήκεσαν, καὶ Ἴμβριοι καὶ Λήμνιοι καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὀλίγοι τινὲς ξυμμάχων. [2] καὶ ἔξοδον μέν τινα πανδημεὶ ἐποιήσαντο οἱ Μυτιληναῖοι ἐπὶ τὸ τῶν Ἀθηναίων στρατόπεδον, καὶ μάχη ἐγένετο, ἐν ᾗ οὐκ ἔλασσον ἔχοντες οἱ Μυτιληναῖοι οὔτε ἐπηυλίσαντο οὔτε ἐπίστευσαν σφίσιν αὐτοῖς, ἀλλ᾽ ἀνεχώρησαν: ἔπειτα οἱ μὲν ἡσύχαζον, ἐκ Πελοποννήσου καὶ μετ᾽ ἄλλης παρασκευῆς βουλόμενοι εἰ προσγένοιτό τι κινδυνεύειν: καὶ γὰρ αὐτοῖς Μελέας Λάκων ἀφικνεῖται καὶ Ἑρμαιώνδας Θηβαῖος, οἳ προαπεστάλησαν μὲν τῆς ἀποστάσεως, φθάσαι δὲ οὐ δυνάμενοι τὸν τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἐπίπλουν κρύφα μετὰ τὴν μάχην ὕστερον ἐσπλέουσι τριήρει, καὶ παρῄνουν πέμπειν τριήρη ἄλλην καὶ πρέσβεις μεθ᾽ ἑαυτῶν: καὶ ἐκπέμπουσιν.

When the envoys returned from Athens, having accomplished nothing, the Mytilenians declared war, along with the rest of Lesbos except for the town of Methymna: they aided Athens along with with the Imbrians and Lemnians and some few other allies. The Mytilenians made a full attack upon the Athenian camp, and a battle took place, in which the Mytilenians did not fare badly but they did not remain on the field nor did they trust their own forces' strength, so they retreated. Thereupon they remained quite, wishing to run risk, if they should get reinforcements from the Peloponnesians along with other help. For Meleas a Laconian and Hermiondas a Theban arrive, who, having been sent out before the revolt but unable to arrive before the coming of the Athenian fleet, secretly after the end of the battle entered on a trireme and urged them to send another trireme out with additional envoys to Sparta: the Mytilenians sent them out

ἔξοδος : going out, marching out, military expedition
στρατόπεδον: camp
ἔλασσον: less, inferior to
ἐπηυλίσαντο: encamp in a field, bivouac
ἡσύχαζον: keep quiet, be at rest
προσγένοιτό:attach oneself to another, esp. as an ally, to be reinforced
τοῖς προσγιγνομένοις by the reinforcements
προαπεστάλησαν: send away, dispatch beforehand 3rd pl aor ind pass
ἀποστάσεως:causing to revolt
φθάνω: φθάσαι: to come;come or act first
κρύφα: without the knowledge of
παραινέω: exhort, recommend, advise


[ 3.6] οἱ δὲ Ἀθηναῖοι πολὺ ἐπιρρωσθέντες διὰ τὴν τῶν Μυτιληναίων ἡσυχίαν ξυμμάχους τε προσεκάλουν, οἳ πολὺ θᾶσσον παρῆσαν ὁρῶντες οὐδὲν ἰσχυρὸν ἀπὸ τῶν Λεσβίων, καὶ περιορμισάμενοι τὸ πρὸς νότον τῆς πόλεως ἐτείχισαν στρατόπεδα δύο ἑκατέρωθεν τῆς πόλεως, καὶ τοὺς ἐφόρμους ἐπ᾽ ἀμφοτέροις τοῖς λιμέσιν ἐποιοῦντο. [2] καὶ τῆς μὲν θαλάσσης εἶργον μὴ χρῆσθαι τοὺς Μυτιληναίους, τῆς δὲ γῆς τῆς μὲν ἄλλης ἐκράτουν οἱ Μυτιληναῖοι καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι Λέσβιοι προσβεβοηθηκότες ἤδη, τὸ δὲ περὶ τὰ στρατόπεδα οὐ πολὺ κατεῖχον οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι, ναύσταθμον δὲ μᾶλλον ἦν αὐτοῖς πλοίων καὶ ἀγορὰ ἡ Μαλέα. καὶ τὰ μὲν περὶ Μυτιλήνην οὕτως ἐπολεμεῖτο.

The Athenians were greatly emboldened by the lack of activity of the Mytilenians and they summoned their allies, who came much faster seeing no resistance from the Lesbians. They brought their ships around to the south of the city and moored them in front of both harbours and built two camps on each side of the city. They prevented the Mytilenians from accessing the sea, but the Mytilenians controlled the rest of the land, along with their allies who had already come to help. The Athenians did not hold much land around the camps, rather they made use of Malea as a launching location for their vessels and as an agora. With things arranged around Mytilene, the war began.

ἐπιρρωσθέντες: recover strength, pluck up courage
ἰσχυρὸν: strong
προσεκάλουν: call on, summon
θᾶσσον: quicker, swifter
πάρειμι: παρῆσαν: to be present so as to help, stand by: verb 3rd pl imperf ind act
περιορμίζω: bring round [a ship] to anchor
νότον: south, south wind
τοὺς ἐφόρμους: at anchor
ἐτείχισαν: build a wall
κρατέω: conquer, prevail, get the upper hand; to be strong rule, hold sway
ναύσταθμον: harbour, anchorage, roadstead


[ 3.7] κατὰ δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον τοῦ θέρους τούτου Ἀθηναῖοι καὶ περὶ Πελοπόννησον ναῦς ἀπέστειλαν τριάκοντα καὶ Ἀσώπιον τὸν Φορμίωνος στρατηγόν, κελευσάντων Ἀκαρνάνων τῶν Φορμίωνός τινα σφίσι πέμψαι ἢ υἱὸν ἢ ξυγγενῆ ἄρχοντα. [2] καὶ παραπλέουσαι αἱ νῆες τῆς Λακωνικῆς τὰ ἐπιθαλάσσια χωρία ἐπόρθησαν. [3] ἔπειτα τὰς μὲν πλείους ἀποπέμπει τῶν νεῶν πάλιν ἐπ᾽ οἴκου ὁ Ἀσώπιος, αὐτὸς δ᾽ ἔχων δώδεκα ἀφικνεῖται ἐς Ναύπακτον, καὶ ὕστερον Ἀκαρνᾶνας ἀναστήσας πανδημεὶ στρατεύει ἐπ᾽ Οἰνιάδας, καὶ ταῖς τε ναυσὶ κατὰ τὸν Ἀχελῷον ἔπλευσε καὶ ὁ κατὰ γῆν στρατὸς ἐδῄου τὴν χώραν. [4] ὡς δ᾽ οὐ προσεχώρουν, τὸν μὲν πεζὸν ἀφίησιν, αὐτὸς δὲ πλεύσας ἐς Λευκάδα καὶ ἀπόβασιν ἐς Νήρικον ποιησάμενος ἀναχωρῶν διαφθείρεται αὐτός τε καὶ τῆς στρατιᾶς τι μέρος ὑπὸ τῶν αὐτόθεν τε ξυμβοηθησάντων καὶ φρουρῶν τινῶν ὀλίγων. [5] καὶ ὕστερον ὑποσπόνδους τοὺς νεκροὺς ἀποπλεύσαντες οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι παρὰ τῶν Λευκαδίων ἐκομίσαντο.

During the same time in this summer, the Athenians sent off thirty ships around the Peloponnese and assigned Asopios, the son of Phormios, as general, because the Arcanians urged the Athenians to send them someone either the son of Phormios or a relative as the leader. And as the ships sailed by they destroyed the seaboard of Laconia. Then Asopios sent most of the ships home again, while retaining twelve, he himself arrived at Naupactus. Later after raising the whole of Acarnanian he advanced upon Oeniadae; he sailed with his ships to the mouth of the river Achelous and the army (marching) up on the land destroyed the territory. When the Oeniadae did not engage, Asopios dismissed his foot soldiers, and he sailed to Leucas and after disembarking (ἀπόβασιν ... ποιησάμενος), while withdrawing he and a part of his army were destroyed by those who had come to help the Oeniadae there along with some from a garrison. Later, the Athenians after they sailed away, arranged a truce for retrieving the dead.

ἀπέστειλαν: ἀποστέλλω send off
πορθέω: to ravage, destroy
στρατεύει: advance with an army or fleet, wage war, or rulers, officers, or men
στρατὸς: army
προσεχώρουν: go, come (as help),approach, i.e. agree with, be like
ἀφίημι: 3rd sg pres ind act: send forth, discharge
ἀναχωρῶν: retire, go back, withdraw from battle
διαφθείρω: destroy completely
ὑπόσπονδος: ὑποσπόνδους acc plural: under a truce
φρουρός: watcher, guards gen plural: φρουροὺς ἐγκατέλιπον left a garrison in a place
κομίζωtake care of, provide for;to carry away so as to preserve, carry home, carry safe away; τοὺς νεκροὺς ὑποσπόνδους κομίσασθαι, ἀνελέσθαι, etc., to demand a truce for so doing, which was an acknowledgement of defeat




[3.8] οἱ δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς πρώτης νεὼς ἐκπεμφθέντες Μυτιληναίων πρέσβεις, ὡς αὐτοῖς οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι εἶπον Ὀλυμπίαζε παρεῖναι, ὅπως καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι ξύμμαχοι ἀκούσαντες βουλεύσωνται, ἀφικνοῦνται ἐς τὴν Ὀλυμπίαν· ἦν δὲ Ὀλυμπιὰς ᾗ Δωριεὺς Ῥόδιος τὸ δεύτερον ἐνίκα. καὶ ἐπειδὴ μετὰ τὴν ἑορτὴν κατέστησαν ἐς λόγους, εἶπον τοιάδε.

The Mytilenian envoys, who were sent away upon the first ship, came to Olympus, because the Spartans said to them to come to Olympus so that also their other allies could hear (their words). This was the Olympiad in which Dorios of Rhodes won a second time. And after the festival the envoys prepared their speech, and said the following:

[3.9] τὸ μὲν καθεστὸς τοῖς Ἕλλησι νόμιμον, ὦ Λακεδαιμόνιοι καὶ ξύμμαχοι, ἴσμεν: τοὺς γὰρ ἀφισταμένους ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις καὶ ξυμμαχίαν τὴν πρὶν ἀπολείποντας οἱ δεξάμενοι, καθ᾽ ὅσον μὲν ὠφελοῦνται, ἐν ἡδονῇ ἔχουσι, νομίζοντες δὲ εἶναι προδότας τῶν πρὸ τοῦ φίλων χείρους ἡγοῦνται. [2] καὶ οὐκ ἄδικος αὕτη ἡ ἀξίωσίς ἐστιν, εἰ τύχοιεν πρὸς ἀλλήλους οἵ τε ἀφιστάμενοι καὶ ἀφ᾽ ὧν διακρίνοιντο ἴσοι μὲν τῇ γνώμῃ ὄντες καὶ εὐνοίᾳ, ἀντίπαλοι δὲ τῇ παρασκευῇ καὶ δυνάμει, πρόφασίς τε ἐπιεικὴς μηδεμία ὑπάρχοι τῆς ἀποστάσεως: ὃ ἡμῖν καὶ Ἀθηναίοις οὐκ ἦν. [3] μηδέ τῳ χείρους δόξωμεν εἶναι εἰ ἐν τῇ εἰρήνῃ τιμώμενοι ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν ἐν τοῖς δεινοῖς ἀφιστάμεθα.

Lakedaimonians and allies, we know the established custom of the Hellenes: they are glad to welcome those who in time of war secede and break their former alliance in so far as they are of use to them but in reality they think them worse, considering them traitors to their old friends. Indeed this claim is not unjust, if both those who seceded as well as those whom they separated from happen to be equal to each other in thought [policy, outlook] and disposition, balanced in terms of resource and power, and also if there is no fitting reason to undertake the revolt: this was not the case for us and the Athenians. Let us not be thought as worse if in times of peace we were honored by them but in times of danger we revolted.

Editorial: The Mytilenians are making a difficult argument here to the Spartan alliance. They fully recognize that they stand the risk of being seen as untrustworthy, while noting that even so they could be useful. But the claim to being useful is not sufficient in their minds and they want to qualify the received custom by arguing that it only applies to those who are otherwise militarily speaking equal or from a policy perspective of the same mind set. They suggest that their old alliance with the Athenians was not established on these grounds. They critically also add that it must be shown that the reason for abandoning their former alliance must be reasonable. It is the latter condition that becomes the lynch pin of their subsequent justication of their revolt from the Athenians.




νόμιμος: conformable to custom, usage,custom
ἀφισταμένους: desert, away from
ἀπολείποντας: to leave
δέχομαι: take care of persons as the object, receive, welcome
ὠφελέω: help; Pass., receive help or succour, derive profit or advantage, πρός τινος from a person or thing
ἡδονή: enjoyment
προδότης: betrayer
χείρωv: comparative of κακός -ή -όν: inferior, worse
ἀντίπαλος: wrestling against; of things, like ἰσόπαλος, nearly balanced, id=Thuc.; ἀντ. τριήρης equally large, id=Thuc.; ἀντ. δέος fear equal on both sides, mutual fear, id=Thuc.; ἤθεα ἀντίπαλα [τῆι πόλει] habits corresponding to the constitution, id=Thuc.:— τὸ ἀντίπαλον τῆς ναυμαχίας the equal balance, undecided state of the action,


Notes:
τὸ μὲν καθεστὸς [arguably should be καθεστώς: classical form]
οἱ δεξάμενοι ... ἐν ἡδονῇ ἔχουσι: periphrasis: to gladly receive ie. welcome



[ 3.10] περὶ γὰρ τοῦ δικαίου καὶ ἀρετῆς πρῶτον, ἄλλως τε καὶ ξυμμαχίας δεόμενοι, τοὺς λόγους ποιησόμεθα, εἰδότες οὔτε φιλίαν ἰδιώταις βέβαιον γιγνομένην οὔτε κοινωνίαν πόλεσιν ἐς οὐδέν, εἰ μὴ μετ᾽ ἀρετῆς δοκούσης ἐς ἀλλήλους γίγνοιντο καὶ τἆλλα ὁμοιότροποι εἶεν: ἐν γὰρ τῷ διαλλάσσοντι τῆς γνώμης καὶ αἱ διαφοραὶ τῶν ἔργων καθίστανται. ἡμῖν δὲ καὶ Ἀθηναίοις ξυμμαχία ἐγένετο πρῶτον ἀπολιπόντων μὲν ὑμῶν ἐκ τοῦ Μηδικοῦ πολέμου, παραμεινάντων δὲ ἐκείνων πρὸς τὰ ὑπόλοιπα τῶν ἔργων. ξύμμαχοι μέντοι ἐγενόμεθα οὐκ ἐπὶ καταδουλώσει τῶν Ἑλλήνων Ἀθηναίοις, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἐλευθερώσει ἀπὸ τοῦ Μήδου τοῖς Ἕλλησιν. καὶ μέχρι μὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἴσου ἡγοῦντο, προθύμως εἱπόμεθα: ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἑωρῶμεν αὐτοὺς τὴν μὲν τοῦ Μήδου ἔχθραν ἀνιέντας, τὴν δὲ τῶν ξυμμάχων δούλωσιν ἐπαγομένους [ἐπειγομένους instead?], οὐκ ἀδεεῖς ἔτι ἦμεν. ἀδύνατοι δὲ ὄντες καθ᾽ ἓν γενόμενοι διὰ πολυψηφίαν ἀμύνασθαι οἱ ξύμμαχοι ἐδουλώθησαν πλὴν ἡμῶν καὶ Χίων: ἡμεῖς δὲ αὐτόνομοι δὴ ὄντες καὶ ἐλεύθεροι τῷ ὀνόματι ξυνεστρατεύσαμεν. καὶ πιστοὺς οὐκέτι εἴχομεν ἡγεμόνας Ἀθηναίους, παραδείγμασι τοῖς προγιγνομένοις χρώμενοι: οὐ γὰρ εἰκὸς ἦν αὐτοὺς οὓς μὲν μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν ἐνσπόνδους ἐποιήσαντο καταστρέψασθαι, τοὺς δὲ ὑπολοίπους, εἴ ποτε ἄρα ἐδυνήθησαν, μὴ δρᾶσαι τοῦτο.

We shall first make a speech about justice and arete (virtue), since above all we are in need of an alliance. We know that in no respect does either friendship between individuals or relationships between cities become strong, unless those individuals and those cities come together on their understanding of arete (virtue) and are like mannered in other areas: for when there is the difference of outlook/thought/policy, disagreements concerning actions also arise. The alliance between us and the Athenians first came to be, after you left the Median war, but they remained for the completion of the tasks. However we were allies not for the enslavement of the Hellenes by the Athenians, but for the freeing of the Hellenes from the Mede. And as long as they led fairly, we followed enthusiastically: when we saw that they were relaxing their hatred toward the Mede but bringing on their enslavement of their allies, we were no longer not unafraid. Since the allies were not able to ward off the danger by coming together as one because of the diversity of their voting, they were enslaved accept for us and the Chians: we campaigned as if autonomous and free in name only. And we no longer held that the Athenians were trustworthy as leaders, making use of previous events as examples: for it was not likely that they whom they had made into allies and had been subdued along with our help, that they would not have done the same thing to those who remained, if they had ever become strong enough.

ἄλλως τε καί . . both otherwise and . . , i.e. especially, above all
δεόμενοι:to be in want or need, require plus gen
βέβαιος: strong sturdy
ἐς οὐδέν: in any respect
κοινωνία: association
ὁμοιότροπος , ον: of like manners and life
διαλλάσσοντι:simply, change, alter, interchange
διαφοραὶ variance, disagreement
ὑπόλοιπος: ὑπόλοιπα adj pl neut acc: left behind, remaining
μέχρι: as far as. so far as
ἀνιέντας: let go for any purpose, to allow
ἐπάγω: bring on
ἐπείγω: hasten
ἔτι: yet; with a neg., no longer, “οὐδὲ . . ἔ. παρέμειναν”
ἀμύνω: ἀμύνασθαι: verb aor inf mid; Med., keep or ward off from oneself, guard or defend oneself against, freq. with collat. notion of requital, revenge:
ἑωρῶμεν verb 1st pl imperf ind act ὁράω
ἕπομαι: follow
ἀδεεῖς adj pl masc nom attic epic contr: ἀδε-ής (B), ές, (δέομαι): not in want, τινός or without fear, not clear
πολυψηφία: number or diversity of votes
χράομαι Dep.from the sense of consulting or using an oracle (v. χράω3 ) comes the common sense to use
καταστρέψασθαι: Med., subject to oneself, subdue, “πολέμῳ” ; τοὺς μὲν κατεστρέψατο ἐς φόρου ἀπαγωγήν subdued and made them tributary


Commetary:

"μετ᾽ ἀρετῆς δοκούσης ἐς ἀλλήλους γίγνοιντο" note here that "ἀρετῆς δοκούσης" refers more to an accepted and common understanding of "ἀρετῆς", not the "appearance of ἀρετῆς". The idea is not that they come together with an untutored opinion of virtue but rather the same opinion of virtue. Also note that "τροπος" in "ὁμοιότροποι" carries a moral idea as in "like cultured": "τροπος: of persons, a way of life, habit, custom, a man's character, temper, τρόπου ἡσυχίου of a quiet temper".


"οὐ γὰρ εἰκὸς ἦν αὐτοὺς οὓς μὲν μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν ἐνσπόνδους ἐποιήσαντο καταστρέψασθαι, τοὺς δὲ ὑπολοίπους, εἴ ποτε ἄρα ἐδυνήθησαν, μὴ δρᾶσαι τοῦτο."

Somewhat complex sentence, syntactically speaking. The general idea can be expressed as follows: "it was not likely that the Athenians who had already subdued their allies, with our help, would not also have then subdued those who were still allies, if they ever they had become strong enough to do so".

Grammatically, we have an unreal condition (contrary to fact: if they had done this, we would have done that) in a paratactic sentence such that the elements within the sentence are set down successively without an initial indication of their relationship. The first part of the sentence is actually subordinate to the second, meaning that it only resolves once it is read and the order of the element are re-assigned; this is what we might simply call parsing. So let us look at it using Goodwin first:

[415] A peculiar form of potential indicative without ἄν consists of an infinitive depending on the imperfect of a verb of obligation, propriety, or possibility, like ἔδει, χρῆν or ἐχρῆν, εἰκὸς ἦν ...

This means then, if we drop out out "οὐ γὰρ εἰκὸς ἦν αὐτοὺς", the "ἄν" returns in the apodosis along with a third person plural indicative aorist instead of an infinitive, and μὴ becomes οὐκ:

οὓς μὲν μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν ἐνσπόνδους ἐποιήσαντο καταστρέψαντο, τοὺς δὲ ὑπολοίπους, εἴ ποτε ἄρα ἐδυνήθησαν, οὐκ ἄν ἔδρᾶσαv τοῦτο.

The conditional on its own itself translates as:

if ever then they had been strong enough, they would have done the same thing (omitting the negative to capture the sense without the additional negative supplied by "οὐ γὰρ εἰκὸς ἦν" ).

Once the "οὐ γὰρ εἰκὸς ἦν" is introduced, the "ἄν" drops out of the apodosis and the verb is converted to an aorist infinitive, and "οὐκ" becomes "μὴ".

So distilled we have:

οὐ γὰρ εἰκὸς ἦν αὐτοὺς ..., εἴ ποτε ἄρα ἐδυνήθησαν, μὴ δρᾶσαι τοῦτο

For it was not likely that they, the Athenians ... if ever they had become strong enough, would not have have done this.

The question then is: what is the "this" in the "would not have done this"?

The answer lies in the two relative clauses governed by μὲν and δὲ

οὓς μὲν μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν ἐνσπόνδους ἐποιήσαντο καταστρέψασθαι, τοὺς δὲ ὑπολοίπους, ...

Note first that καταστρέψαντο has become καταστρέψασθαι because "οὐ γὰρ εἰκὸς ἦν αὐτοὺς" governs the syntax of clause and the aorist indicative is therefore converted to an aorist infinitive.

So we end up in this admittedly forced translation:

For it was not likely that the Athenians, after they had subdued those with whom they had made into allies including us, but to those remaining, if at any point they had been strong enough, they would have done the same thing.

Good sentence but better in the actual Greek than in the translation.

"ἀδύνατοι δὲ ὄντες καθ᾽ ἓν γενόμενοι διὰ πολυψηφίαν ἀμύνασθαι οἱ ξύμμαχοι ἐδουλώθησαν πλὴν ἡμῶν καὶ Χίων ..."

"Because the Athenian allies were not able to unite due to the disagreements in the number of votes [διὰ πολυψηφίαν], they were enslaved except for us and the Chians".

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"πολυψηφίαν" is such a rare word that this seems to be the only example of it in use, not just by Thucydides but in the whole Greek corpus. Therefore its dictionary definition depends on this passage alone. It literally means 'many-voting'. Thucydides builds it out to mean that, since so many could vote in the alliance, this would inevitably lead to a diversity of opinions about what should be done, all with the result that no consensus was possible. Understood as such it echoes Perikles' discussion of voting behaviour in the Spartan alliance [1.141.6] (see below for the passage), where he uses the word 'ἰσόψηφοι' to designate "having an equal vote (with others)". In the speech itself Perikles points out that 'ἰσόψηφοι' in the Spartan alliance, when it is combined with "οὐχ ὁμόφυλοι", leads to each person furthering their own interest with the end result that nothing is accomplished.

[1.141]
[6] μάχῃ μὲν γὰρ μιᾷ πρὸς ἅπαντας Ἕλληνας δυνατοὶ Πελοποννήσιοι καὶ οἱ ξύμμαχοι ἀντισχεῖν, πολεμεῖν δὲ μὴ πρὸς ὁμοίαν ἀντιπαρασκευὴν ἀδύνατοι, ὅταν μήτε βουλευτηρίῳ ἑνὶ χρώμενοι παραχρῆμά τι ὀξέως ἐπιτελῶσι πάντες τε ἰσόψηφοι ὄντες καὶ οὐχ ὁμόφυλοι τὸ ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτὸν ἕκαστος σπεύδῃ: ἐξ ὧν φιλεῖ μηδὲν ἐπιτελὲς γίγνεσθαι.


In a single battle against all of the Hellenes, the Peloponnesians and their allies are strong enough to hold their own, but in a long term war against forces that are not like theirs they are not capable. As long as they lack a single governing body, they do not accomplish anything quickly or in short order. The reason is that they all have equal votes and come from different tribes/races, so each man strives for that which is a goal for himself: Because of this, it is predictable that nothing is accomplished.

ἀντέχω: hold against, withstand, endure
ὁμοίαν: same, equal οὐδὲν ὁμοῖον ἦν μοι πρὸς τοῦτον I had nothing in common with him
ἀντιπαρασκευή , ἡ: hostile preparation,
ὁμοίαν ἀντιπαρασκευὴν: same military preparedness
παραχρῆμα adv on the spot, forthwith
ὀξύς akin to ὠκύς: adv sharp, keen, quickly regul. adv. ὀξέως, quickly, soon
ἐπιτελέω: complete, finish, accomplish
σπεύδω: urge, hasten
φιλεῖ: Thuc.; πάντα ἀνθρώποισι φιλέει γίγνεσθαι everything comes to man by experience, Hdt.; and without γίγνεσθαι, οἷα δὴ φιλεῖ as is wont, Plat.; also impers., ὡς δὴ φιλεῖ as it is usual, Lat. ut solet, Plut.

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[ 3.11 ] καὶ εἰ μὲν αὐτόνομοι ἔτι ἦμεν ἅπαντες, βεβαιότεροι ἂν ἡμῖν ἦσαν μηδὲν νεωτεριεῖν: ὑποχειρίους δὲ ἔχοντες τοὺς πλείους, ἡμῖν δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἴσου ὁμιλοῦντες, χαλεπώτερον εἰκότως ἔμελλον οἴσειν καὶ πρὸς τὸ πλέον ἤδη εἶκον τοῦ ἡμετέρου ἔτι μόνου ἀντισουμένου, ἄλλως τε καὶ ὅσῳ δυνατώτεροι αὐτοὶ αὑτῶν ἐγίγνοντο καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐρημότεροι. [2] τὸ δὲ ἀντίπαλον δέος μόνον πιστὸν ἐς ξυμμαχίαν: ὁ γὰρ παραβαίνειν τι βουλόμενος τῷ μὴ προύχων ἂν ἐπελθεῖν ἀποτρέπεται. [3] αὐτόνομοί τε ἐλείφθημεν οὐ δι᾽ ἄλλο τι ἢ ὅσον αὐτοῖς ἐς τὴν ἀρχὴν, εὐπρεπείᾳ τε λόγου καὶ γνώμης μᾶλλον ἐφόδῳ ἢ ἰσχύος, τὰ πράγματα ἐφαίνετο καταληπτά. [4] ἅμα μὲν γὰρ μαρτυρίῳ ἐχρῶντο μὴ ἂν τούς γε ἰσοψήφους ἄκοντας, εἰ μή τι ἠδίκουν οἷς ἐπῇσαν, ξυστρατεύειν: ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ δὲ καὶ τὰ κράτιστα ἐπί τε τοὺς ὑποδεεστέρους πρώτους ξυνεπῆγον καὶ τὰ τελευταῖα λιπόντες τοῦ ἄλλου περιῃρημένου ἀσθενέστερα ἔμελλον ἕξειν. [5] εἰ δὲ ἀφ᾽ ἡμῶν ἤρξαντο, ἐχόντων ἔτι τῶν πάντων αὐτῶν τε ἰσχὺν καὶ πρὸς ὅτι χρὴ στῆναι, οὐκ ἂν ὁμοίως ἐχειρώσαντο. [6] τό τε ναυτικὸν ἡμῶν παρεῖχέ τινα φόβον μή ποτε καθ᾽ ἓν γενόμενον ἢ ὑμῖν ἢ ἄλλῳ τῳ προσθέμενον κίνδυνον σφίσι παράσχῃ. [7] τὰ δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ θεραπείας τοῦ τε κοινοῦ αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν αἰεὶ προεστώτων περιεγιγνόμεθα. [8] οὐ μέντοι ἐπὶ πολύ γ᾽ ἂν ἐδοκοῦμεν δυνηθῆναι, εἰ μὴ ὁ πόλεμος ὅδε κατέστη, παραδείγμασι χρώμενοι τοῖς ἐς τοὺς ἄλλους.

And if we were all still autonomous, there would be more assuredness on our part that they would not make changes [ that they would not make changes would have made us more confident]. Although they had more men under their control, yet still treated us as equals, they would, and reasonably so, have developed more resentment thinking about the greater part they already had under their control versus our solitary part that was still standing in opposition to them; especially because in as much they were becoming stronger we were becoming weaker. Only mutual fear creates trust in an alliance: for he wishing to overstep is deterred by knowing before hand that he would not prevail. We remained autonomous for no other reason that as long as the Athenians plans for ruling was clearly more achievable by plausible speeches, and by a course of policy rather than force. At the same time, they used as evidence that at least those who had equal votes with them, would not be willing to share in an expedition unless it was against those who were acting unjustly (unless they were unjust whom they were attacking). At the same time they sent their strongest forces first against the inferior members (of the alliance) and they left us to the last intending after the rest were neutralized to keep us weaker . If they began with us, when the other members still possessed power and had a point around which it was possible to rally , they could not similarly subdue us. Our navy furnished a certain amount of fear lest it ever came together as a single force and by joining with you or with some other party it might create danger for them. We also gained advantage by courting the Athenian people and those currently in charge. However, we believed that we would not have been able to much longer, unless this war had broken out, based on the use of those examples towards the rest.

βέβαιος: of persons, steadfast, steady sure, constant
νεωτερίζω: to attempt anything new, make a violent change
εἰκότως: adv fairly, reasonably
ὑποχείριος , ον: mostly of persons, under any one's hand or control, under command, subject,
ὁμιλέω: keep company with
ἔμελλον: to think of doing, intend to do, to be about to do, with inf., mostly inf. fut
ἡμέτερος: our
ἀντισόομαι oppose on equal terms,
ἐρῆμος: desolate, lonely, solitary,
ἀντίπαλος: wrestling against; of things, like ἰσόπαλος, nearly balanced, id=Thuc.; ἀντ. τριήρης equally large; ἀντ. δέος fear equal on both sides, mutual fear,
παραβαίνειν: overstep, transgress
ἐπέρχομαι: ἐπελθεῖν: freq. in hostile sense, go or come against, attack
ἀποτρέπεται: only, turn away or back; deter or dissuade from
προύχων: to be possessed or informed of a thing beforehand; freq. in hostile sense, go or come against, attack
λείπω: ἐλείφθημεν: 1st pl aor ind pass: leave, quit
εὐπρεπείᾳ: speciousness, plausibility: something is plausible not true: “ἔχει . . εὐπρέπειαν μᾶλλον ἢ ἀλήθειαν”
καταληπτός , ή, όν, to be achieved
ἔφοδος , ἡ: attack, onslaught
συστρατεύω , more freq. in Med. συστρατ-εύομαι :— join or share in an expedition
περιῃρημένου: when the rest has been taken away
ἕξειν: fut infinitive:ἔχω
στῆναι: ἵστασθαι as ‘rally’ with πρός cf. IV. 56 πρὸς τὴν ἐκείνων γνώμην ἕστασαν.
χρή with inf. is a common periphrasis for the delib. subj. in dependent clauses.
τελευταῖος: last
τῷ: adv: therefore, in this wise, then
χειρόω: worst, master, subdue
θεραπείας:service done to gain favour, paying court
παρεῖχέ:παρέχω:παράσχῃ to hold beside, hold in readiness, to furnish, provide, supply
προεστώτων: to set before or in front
προσθέμενον: associate with oneself, i.e. take to one as a friend, ally, or helper, win over
τοῦ κοινοῦ: the State, the commons of the State, demos
θεραπείας:service done to gain favour, paying court
περιεγιγνόμεθα: of things, ἤν τι περιγίγνηται αὐτοῖς τοῦ πολέμου if they gain any advantage in the war


Notes:

"καὶ εἰ μὲν αὐτόνομοι ἔτι ἦμεν ἅπαντες, βεβαιότεροι ἂν ἡμῖν ἦσαν μηδὲν νεωτεριεῖν": personal/impersonal construction. The point being that the subject of the verb is contained in "βεβαιότεροι". It is not for example: "if we were still autonomous, we would have been less likely to undertake revolutionary changes" but rather "there would be more assuredness for us that they (the Athenians) not undertake revolutionary changes". e.g. δίκαιοι ἦσαν τοῦτο ποιεῖν: it is right that just men do this. Here is Goodwin's discussion of the relevant grammatical rule in his Greek Mood and Tenses: section 761 and 762:

[*] 761. Certain impersonal verbs (like ἔνεστι, πρέπει, προσήκει), which regularly take an infinitive as their subject (745), are used in the participle in a personal sense with the infinitive, the participle having the force of one of the adjectives of 758. Thus τὰ ἐνόντα εἰπεῖν is equivalent to ἃ ἔνεστι εἰπεῖν, what it is permitted to say; τὰ προσήκοντα ῥηθῆναι is equivalent to ἃ προσήκει ῥηθῆναι, what is proper to be said, as if it represented a personal construction like ταῦτα προσήκει ῥηθῆναι, these things are becoming to be said. E.g. Κατιδὼν τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἐνόντων εἰπεῖν, “seeing the number of things that may be said.” ISOC. v. 110. Τὸν θεὸν καλεῖ οὐδὲν προσήκοντ᾽ ἐν γόοις παραστατεῖν, “she is calling on the God who ought not to be present at lamentations.” AESCH. Ag. 1079. (Προσήκοντα is used like adjectives meaning fit, proper.) Φράζ, ἐπεὶ πρέπων ἔφυς πρὸ τῶνδε φωνεῖν. SOPH. O.T. 9.So τὰ ἡμῖν παραγγελθέντα διεξελθεῖν (= ἃ παρηγγέλθη ἡμῖν διεξελθεῖν). PLAT. Tim. 90 E.

[*] 762. In the same way (761) certain adjectives, like δίκαιος, ἐπικαίριος, ἐπιτήδειος, ἐπίδοξος, may be used personally with the infinitive; as δίκαιός ἐστι τοῦτο ποιεῖν, it is right for him to do this (equivalent to δίκαιόν ἐστιν αὐτὸν τοῦτο ποιεῖν). E.g. Φημὶ πολλῷ μειζόνων ἔτι τούτων δωρεῶν δίκαιος εἶναι τυγχάνειν, “I say that I have a right to receive even far greater rewards than these.” DEM. xviii. 53. Ἐδόκουν ἐπιτήδειοι εἶναι ὑπεξαιρεθῆναι, “they seemed to be convenient persons to be disposed of.” THUC. viii. 70. Θεραπεύεσθαι ἐπικαίριοι, “important persons to be taken care of.” XEN. Cyr. viii. 2, 25. Τάδε τοι ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐπίδοξα γενέσθαι, “it is to be expected that this will result from it.” HDT. i. 89. Πολλοὶ ἐπίδοξοι τωὐτὸ τοῦτο πείσεσθαί εἰσι, “it is to be expected that many will suffer this same thing.” Id. vi. 12 (for the future infinitive see 113).

δυνατώτεροι αὐτοὶ αὑτῶν: more powerful than they were before. The comp. with gen. of reflex. pron. measures progress by change in the subj. itself.

[ 3.12 ] τίς οὖν αὕτη ἢ φιλία ἐγίγνετο ἢ ἐλευθερία πιστή, ἐν ᾗ παρὰ γνώμην ἀλλήλους ὑπεδεχόμεθα, καὶ οἱ μὲν ἡμᾶς ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ δεδιότες ἐθεράπευον, ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐκείνους ἐν τῇ ἡσυχίᾳ τὸ αὐτὸ ἐποιοῦμεν: ὅ τε τοῖς ἄλλοις μάλιστα εὔνοια πίστιν βεβαιοῖ, ἡμῖν τοῦτο ὁ φόβος ἐχυρὸν παρεῖχε, δέει τε τὸ πλέον ἢ φιλίᾳ κατεχόμενοι ξύμμαχοι ἦμεν: καὶ ὁποτέροις θᾶσσον παράσχοι ἀσφάλεια θάρσος,οὗτοι πρότεροί τι καὶ παραβήσεσθαι ἔμελλον. [2] ὥστε εἴ τῳ δοκοῦμεν ἀδικεῖν προαποστάντες διὰ τὴν ἐκείνων μέλλησιν τῶν ἐς ἡμᾶς δεινῶν, αὐτοὶ οὐκ ἀνταναμείναντες σαφῶς εἰδέναι εἴ τι αὐτῶν [ sc.τῶν δεινῶν] ἔσται, οὐκ ὀρθῶς σκοπεῖ. [3] εἰ γὰρ δυνατοὶ ἦμεν ἐκ τοῦ ἴσου καὶ ἀντεπιβουλεῦσαι καὶ ἀντιμελλῆσαι, τί ἔδει ἡμᾶς ἐκ τοῦ ὁμοίου ἐπ᾽ ἐκείνοις εἶναι; ἐπ᾽ ἐκείνοις δὲ ὄντος αἰεὶ τοῦ ἐπιχειρεῖν καὶ ἐφ᾽ ἡμῖν εἶναι δεῖ τὸ προαμύνασθαι.

What then is this trust that friendship or freedom has produced, a trust in which contrary to our own judgement we were conciled to each other? It was out of fear they courted us in times of war, we did the same to them in times of peace. That which good will above all establishes for others, namely trust, fear furnished this surety for us; we were allies held in place for the most part by fear rather than by friendship. And for which ever of the two parties security could more quickly embolden confidence, they were first to break the agreement. If as a result we therefore seem be to acting unjustly by revolting first on account of their delaying the danger directed at us, and because we were not waiting to clearly see what kind of hostile acts will come about, this is not correct. For if we were also able to hatch counter plans and to wait and watch on the grounds that we are equals, why should we be under their control with equal advantages? For they are always in an attacking posture and for us protection is necessary.

ὑποδέχομαι: receive into one's house, welcome
δεδιότες: δείδω: to fear
ἐχυρός: strong, secure
θάσσων: quicker, faster
θάρσος , εος, τό : courage, confidence
δέος: fear, alarm, affright dative
ἀσφάλεια, gen. ας, ἡ : security against stumbling or falling; assurance from danger, personal safety
πρότερος: before, in front
παραβαίνω: go by the side of;to pass beside or beyond, to overstep, transgress
ὁπότερος: which of two
κατέχω: hold fast,to prevail
βεβαιόω: confirm, establish, make good
τῷ: adv therefore, in this wise, then
μέλλησις: being about to do, threatening to do
ἀνταναμένω to wait instead
προαμύνομαι to defend oneself
δεινός: danger, terrible
αὐτῶν: sc. τῶν δεινῶν.
σαφής clear, plain, distinct, manifest
σκοπέω to look at, to see
ἀντεπιβουλεύω to form counter-designs
ἀντιμέλλω to wait and watch against
ὅμοιος like, resembling
ἐπ̓ ἐκείνοις: in their power


τίς οὖν αὕτη ἢ φιλία ἐγίγνετο ἢ ἐλευθερία πιστή: Goodwin: 1602: An interrogative sometimes stands as a predicate with a demonstrative; as τί τοῦτο ἔλεξας; what is this that you said? (= ἔλεξας τοῦτο, τί ον; lit. you said this, being what?); τίνας τούσδ᾽ εἰσορῶ; who are these that I see?
ὥστε εἴ τῳ . . . δεινῶν: so that if, on account of their postponement of the evils intended for us, we seem to anyone to do wrong in revolting beforehand. μέλλησις seems not to occur elsewhere in trans. significa tion. τῶν δεινῶν, violent measures, as in ii. 77. 3; iv. 98. 1. For the position of μέλλησιν between the subj. and obj. gen., see on i. 25. 21.—10.
αὐτοὶ οὐκ ἀνταναμείναντες: without ourselves having waited in turn. ἀνταναμένειν, which seems to be found only here, takes a limiting inf., as ἀναμένειν, iv. 120. 19; 135. 8. Cf. also ἐπιμένειν, c. 2. 7; 26. 13; περιμένειν, vii. 20. 16. —11.
αὐτῶν: sc. τῶν δεινῶν.
εἰ γὰρ δυνατοὶ . . . ἰέναι: so Cl. reads, putting, with Heilmann, ἀντεπιβουλεῦσαι, καὶ ἀντιμελλῆσαί τι ἔδει ἡμᾶς for ἀντεπιβουλεῦσαι καὶ ἀντιμελλῆσαι, τί ἔδει ἡμᾶς, and, with Kr., ἐπ̓ ἐκείνους ἰέναι for ἐπ̓ ἐκείνοις εἶναι, “were we able equally with them to counterplot, so ought we then also in like manner to have delayed to proceed against them.” The proleptic καί inserted in the prot., as often in rel. clauses, and repeated in the apodosis. See on i. 83. 7. ἀντιμελλῆσαι (so Bk., with the Schol. and T; most Mss. ἀντεπιμελλῆσαι) is chosen with reference to the boasted μέλλησις of the Athenians. Cf. ἀνταναμείναντες above. The sense of the vulg., which all the English commentators retain, is probably: “if we were able on equal terms with them to counterplot and counter-delay, what need was there for us, being on equal terms, to be at their beck and call?” Cf. Schol. εἰ γὰρ ἴσοι αὐτοῖς ὑπήρχομεν . . . τί ἔδει ἡμᾶς ἐπ̓ ἐκείνοις ταχθῆναι ἢ ὑπακοίειν αὐτοῖς. See App.—14.
ἐπ̓ ἐκείνοις: in their power. Cf. ii. 84. 11; iv. 29. 18.

εἰ γὰρ δυνατοί.—with the text before us, which (except for ἀντιμελλῆσαι) follows the MSS., we must render, ‘had we been in a position both to intrigue like them and to delay like them (i.e. to put off our attack, but at the same time to have our plan of attack ready), what need was there for us to remain, nevertheless, at their mercy?’ The M. might of course defer the attack, but if they waited for the Athenians to attack they were lost. This is fairly satisfactory, the only difficulty being that ἐκ τοῦ ἴσου and ἐκ τοῦ ὁμοίου (‘just as we were,’ aeque atque fuimus) have no correspondence. It is in connexion with the next sentence that doubts arise. (1) ἐπιχειρεῖν clearly corresponds to ἀντεπιβουλεῦσαι, and προαμύνασθαι to ἀντιμελλῆσαι (or ἀντεπιμελλῆσαι); (2) the statement ‘we need not have remained in their power’ is hardly equivalent to ‘we need not have revolted because we should have retained our independence’; (3) ἐπ᾽ ἐκείνοις εἶναι looks suspicious before έπ᾽ ἐκείνοις ὄντας. A great many changes have been proposed, and those of Heilmann and Kruger indicated in the crit. note and adopted by Classen give a much better correspondence and an improved sense. Yet I do not feel that the objections to the MS. reading are decisive. The general sense is: we cannot be blamed for taking the first move merely because they delayed to take action against us.

[3.13] τοιαύτας ἔχοντες προφάσεις καὶ αἰτίας, ὦ Λακεδαιμόνιοι καὶ ξύμμαχοι, ἀπέστημεν, σαφεῖς μὲν τοῖς ἀκούουσι γνῶναι ὡς εἰκότως ἐδράσαμεν, ἱκανὰς δὲ ἡμᾶς ἐκφοβῆσαι καὶ πρὸς ἀσφάλειάν τινα τρέψαι, βουλομένους μὲν καὶ πάλαι, ὅτε ἔτι ἐν τῇ εἰρήνῃ ἐπέμψαμεν ὡς ὑμᾶς περὶ ἀποστάσεως, ὑμῶν δὲ οὐ προσδεξαμένων κωλυθέντας: νῦν δὲ ἐπειδὴ Βοιωτοὶ προυκαλέσαντο εὐθὺς ὑπηκούσαμεν, καὶ ἐνομίζομεν ἀποστήσεσθαι διπλῆν ἀπόστασιν, ἀπό τε τῶν Ἑλλήνων μὴ ξὺν κακῶς ποιεῖν αὐτοὺς μετ᾽ Ἀθηναίων ἀλλὰ ξυνελευθεροῦν, ἀπό τε Ἀθηναίων μὴ αὐτοὶ διαφθαρῆναι ὑπ᾽ ἐκείνων ἐν ὑστέρῳ ἀλλὰ προποιῆσαι. [2] ἡ μέντοι ἀπόστασις ἡμῶν θᾶσσον γεγένηται καὶ ἀπαράσκευος: ᾗ καὶ μᾶλλον χρὴ ξυμμάχους δεξαμένους ἡμᾶς διὰ ταχέων βοήθειαν ἀποστέλλειν, ἵνα φαίνησθε ἀμύνοντές τε οἷς δεῖ καὶ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ τοὺς πολεμίους βλάπτοντες.

καιρὸς δὲ ὡς οὔπω πρότερον. νόσῳ τε γὰρ ἐφθάραται Ἀθηναῖοι καὶ χρημάτων δαπάνῃ, νῆές τε αὐτοῖς αἱ μὲν περὶ τὴν ὑμετέραν εἰσίν, αἱ δ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ἡμῖν τετάχαται. [4] ὥστε οὐκ εἰκὸς αὐτοὺς περιουσίαν νεῶν ἔχειν, ἢν ὑμεῖς ἐν τῷ θέρει τῷδε ναυσί τε καὶ πεζῷ ἅμα ἐπεσβάλητε τὸ δεύτερον, ἀλλ᾽ ἢ ὑμᾶς οὐκ ἀμυνοῦνται ἐπιπλέοντας ἢ ἀπ᾽ ἀμφοτέρων ἀποχωρήσονται. [5] νομίσῃ τε μηδεὶς ἀλλοτρίας γῆς πέρι οἰκεῖον κίνδυνον ἕξειν. ᾧ γὰρ δοκεῖ μακρὰν ἀπεῖναι ἡ Λέσβος, τὴν ὠφελίαν αὐτῷ ἐγγύθεν παρέξει. οὐ γὰρ ἐν τῇ Ἀττικῇ ἔσται ὁ πόλεμος, ὥς τις οἴεται, ἀλλὰ δι᾽ ἣν ἡ Ἀττικὴ ὠφελεῖται. [6] ἔστι δὲ τῶν χρημάτων ἀπὸ τῶν ξυμμάχων ἡ πρόσοδος, καὶ ἔτι μείζων ἔσται, εἰ ἡμᾶς καταστρέψονται: οὔτε γὰρ ἀποστήσεται ἄλλος τά τε ἡμέτερα προσγενήσεται, πάθοιμέν τ᾽ ἂν δεινότερα ἢ οἱ πρὶν δουλεύοντες. [7] βοηθησάντων δὲ ὑμῶν προθύμως πόλιν τε προσλήψεσθε ναυτικὸν ἔχουσαν μέγα, οὗπερ ὑμῖν μάλιστα προσδεῖ, καὶ Ἀθηναίους ῥᾷον καθαιρήσετε ὑφαιροῦντες αὐτῶν τοὺς ξυμμάχους （θρασύτερον γὰρ πᾶς τις προσχωρήσεται）, τήν τε αἰτίαν ἀποφεύξεσθε ἣν εἴχετε μὴ βοηθεῖν τοῖς ἀφισταμένοις. ἢν δ᾽ ἐλευθεροῦντες φαίνησθε, τὸ κράτος τοῦ πολέμου βεβαιότερον ἕξετε.

ὦ Λακεδαιμόνιοι καὶ ξύμμαχοι, we revolted holding that such are the causes and grievances, which are clear for those hearing to know that we acted reasonably, and sufficient for us to be in a state of fear and to turn for some type of safety, and wanting this for some time, because when still at peace we asked you about secession but we were prevented because you did not accept. Now when the Boeotians summoned us, we immediately listened, and we considered that we will undertake a withdrawal, a two fold revolt, one from the Greeks, so we do not inflict harm upon them with help of the Athenians but free the Greeks, and one from the Athenians, so we are not ourselves destroyed by them later but instead act first. However, our secession came too soon and was unprepared: wherefore it is all the more (ᾗ καὶ μᾶλλον) necessary that you receive us as allies and dispatch help as quickly as possible so that you are clearly seen as protecting those for whom it is needed and damaging your enemies at the same time.

This is a critical juncture that did not exist earlier. The Athenians have been beaten down by the plague and by the expenditure of monies. And as to the ships they own, some are next to your territory, others have been deployed against us. As a result it is not likely that they have a surplus of ships, so if you in the summer, this summer, reinvade a second time by both sea and land, either the Athenians will not ward you off when you sail against them or they will withdraw from both our locations. Let no one think that there will be risk to their own territory for the sake of someone elses land: For him that Lesbos seems to be far away, she will provide help that has more immediacy for him. For the war will not be in Attika, as some think, but targeted at where Attika makes profit. The Athenian derive financial profit from their allies, and there will still be yet more, if they destroy us. If others do not revolt, our resources will go over to them, and we would experience greater terrible things than those who were enslaved previously. If you willingly come to our aid, you will gain a city state that has a great navy, which you most of all need, and you will destroy more easily the Athenians by filching away from them their allies (because all others being bolder will come over to you), and you will be acquitted of the charge that you do not help those revolting. If you are clearly seen as liberators, you will gain firmer power in this war.

προκαλέω to call forth
ὑπακούω to listen, hearken, give ear
ἀφίστημι: 1. to put away, to remove, stand away, to give up, to withdraw from 2 to revolt: ἀποστήσεσθαι: fut inf mid
διπλόος twofold, double
ἀφεστήξω shall be absent, away from, desert
συνελευθερόω:join in freeing from; ξυνελευθεροῦν verb pres inf act
διαφθείρω destroy utterly
ὕστερος: latter, last
προποιέω do before
ἀπαράσκευος:without preparation, unprepared
ἀποστέλλω: send off, to dispatch
φθείρω: destroy
τάσσω: draw up in order of battle, form, array, marshal
δαπάνη: cost, expenditure, money spent
περιουσί-α , ἡ: that which is over and above, surplus, abundance
ἐπεισβάλλω: throw into besides, invade again
ἀμυνοῦνται : ward off, protect: 3rd pl fut ind mid
ἀποχωρέω: go from or away from, depart, withdraw, esp. after a defeat, retire, retreat
οἰκέω: inhabit, settle i.e. colonize
ὠφέλεια , ἡ: help, profit, advantage, gain made in war, spoil, booty, interest
πρόσοδος , ἡ: going or coming to, approach;returns, profits;public revenue
προσγίγνομαι:attach oneself to;attach oneself to another, esp. as an ally; τοῖς προσγιγνομένοις by the reinforcements
δεινός: fearful, terrible
βοηθέω: come to aid, succour, assist, aid
προσλαμβάνω:take or receive besides or in addition, get over and above; gain
προσδέω: bind on or to;προσδεῖ there is still need of
καθαιρέω: take down;put down, reduce
ὑφαιρέω: take away underhand, filch away
θρασύς:bold
προσχωρέω: to come or go over to, come in, join



[ 3.14]
αἰσχυνθέντες οὖν τάς τε τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἐς ὑμᾶς ἐλπίδας καὶ Δία τὸν Ὀλύμπιον, ἐν οὗ τῷ ἱερῷ ἴσα καὶ ἱκέται ἐσμέν, ἐπαμύνατε Μυτιληναίοις ξύμμαχοι γενόμενοι, καὶ μὴ προῆσθε ἡμᾶς ἴδιον μὲν τὸν κίνδυνον τῶν σωμάτων παραβαλλομένους, κοινὴν δὲ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ κατορθῶσαι ὠφελίαν ἅπασι δώσοντας, ἔτι δὲ κοινοτέραν τὴν βλάβην, εἰ μὴ πεισθέντων ὑμῶν σφαλησόμεθα. [2] γίγνεσθε δὲ ἄνδρες οἵουσπερ ὑμᾶς οἵ τε Ἕλληνες ἀξιοῦσι καὶ τὸ ἡμέτερον δέος βούλεται.’

Show reverence then for the hopes of the Greeks aimed in your direction and for Olympian Zeus, in whose holy precinct we come as like suppliants: send help to us Mytilenians by becoming allies and do not betray us, us individually who are risking harm to our lives, and us promising you the setting up of a common benefit for all; But there will be more shared harm, because if you are not persuaded, we shall all be overthrown. Become the sort of men which the Greeks can honour and our collective fear desires/wishes.

ἐπαμύνω: come to aid, succour
προίημι:to send away, dismiss, let go;to give up, deliver over, betray one to his enemy
παραβάλλω:freq. in Med., expose oneself or what is one's own to hazard or danger
κατορθόω: set upright, erect
δώσοντας: δώσων fut part: always going to give, always promising
βλάβη: harm, damage
σφάλλω: make to fall, overthrow;cause to fall, overthrow
...
...
...

[3.37] Cleon's speech

‘πολλάκις μὲν ἤδη ἔγωγε καὶ ἄλλοτε ἔγνων δημοκρατίαν ὅτι ἀδύνατόν ἐστιν ἑτέρων ἄρχειν, μάλιστα δ᾽ ἐν τῇ νῦν ὑμετέρᾳ περὶ Μυτιληναίων μεταμελείᾳ. [2] διὰ γὰρ τὸ καθ᾽ ἡμέραν ἀδεὲς καὶ ἀνεπιβούλευτον πρὸς ἀλλήλους καὶ ἐς τοὺς ξυμμάχους τὸ αὐτὸ ἔχετε, καὶ ὅτι ἂν ἢ λόγῳ πεισθέντες ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν ἁμάρτητε ἢ οἴκτῳ ἐνδῶτε, οὐκ ἐπικινδύνως ἡγεῖσθε ἐς ὑμᾶς καὶ οὐκ ἐς τὴν τῶν ξυμμάχων χάριν μαλακίζεσθαι, οὐ σκοποῦντες ὅτι τυραννίδα ἔχετε τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ πρὸς ἐπιβουλεύοντας αὐτοὺς καὶ ἄκοντας ἀρχομένους, οἳ οὐκ ἐξ ὧν ἂν χαρίζησθε βλαπτόμενοι αὐτοὶ ἀκροῶνται ὑμῶν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐξ ὧν ἂν ἰσχύι μᾶλλον ἢ τῇ ἐκείνων εὐνοίᾳ περιγένησθε. [3] πάντων δὲ δεινότατον εἰ βέβαιον ἡμῖν μηδὲν καθεστήξει ὧν ἂν δόξῃ πέρι, μηδὲ γνωσόμεθα ὅτι χείροσι νόμοις ἀκινήτοις χρωμένη πόλις κρείσσων ἐστὶν ἢ καλῶς ἔχουσιν ἀκύροις, ἀμαθία τε μετὰ σωφροσύνης ὠφελιμώτερον ἢ δεξιότης μετὰ ἀκολασίας, οἵ τε φαυλότεροι τῶν ἀνθρώπων πρὸς τοὺς ξυνετωτέρους ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πλέον ἄμεινον οἰκοῦσι τὰς πόλεις. [4] οἱ μὲν γὰρ τῶν τε νόμων σοφώτεροι βούλονται φαίνεσθαι τῶν τε αἰεὶ λεγομένων ἐς τὸ κοινὸν περιγίγνεσθαι, ὡς ἐν ἄλλοις μείζοσιν οὐκ ἂν δηλώσαντες τὴν γνώμην, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ τοιούτου τὰ πολλὰ σφάλλουσι τὰς πόλεις: οἱ δ᾽ ἀπιστοῦντες τῇ ἐξ αὑτῶν ξυνέσει ἀμαθέστεροι μὲν τῶν νόμων ἀξιοῦσιν εἶναι, ἀδυνατώτεροι δὲ τοῦ καλῶς εἰπόντος μέμψασθαι λόγον, κριταὶ δὲ ὄντες ἀπὸ τοῦ ἴσου μᾶλλον ἢ ἀγωνισταὶ ὀρθοῦνται τὰ πλείω. [5] ὣς οὖν χρὴ καὶ ἡμᾶς ποιοῦντας μὴ δεινότητι καὶ ξυνέσεως ἀγῶνι ἐπαιρομένους παρὰ δόξαν τῷ ὑμετέρῳ πλήθει παραινεῖν.

ἄλλοτε: at another time
μεταμελείᾳ: sg fem dat: change of purpose, regret, repentance [ translating as change of heart to emphasize that for Cleon this change of direction is not informed on rational grounds]
γιγνώσκω :1st sg aor ind act: form a judgement, think
ἀνεπιβούλευτον: without plots, and so not plotting, e.g. the absence of intrigue
ἀδεής: ἀδεές adj sg neut acc: without fear, fearless

3.37.2 is a difficult sentence that echoes Perikles' words from 2.63, also a difficult sentence, particularly because of his specific use of ... ἀπραγμοσύνῃ ἀνδραγαθίζεται and then τὸ γὰρ ἄπραγμον. Both words require more than a cursory commentary to justify how I have translated them but it is clear that both are open to interpretation. However, I am not fully persuaded by much of the scholarship that seeks to find a so-called 'peace party' referenced in the speech. I think the use of "ἄπραγμον" captures a thematic disgruntlement in the then current historical situation where Athens is threatened by plague and the Spartans are 'ravaging' the land, unchecked.

2.63. τῆς τε πόλεως ὑμᾶς εἰκὸς τῷ τιμωμένῳ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄρχειν, ᾧπερ ἅπαντες ἀγάλλεσθε, βοηθεῖν, καὶ μὴ φεύγειν τοὺς πόνους ἢ μηδὲ τὰς τιμὰς διώκειν: μηδὲ νομίσαι περὶ ἑνὸς μόνου, δουλείας ἀντ᾽ ἐλευθερίας, ἀγωνίζεσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀρχῆς στερήσεως καὶ κινδύνου ὧν ἐν τῇ ἀρχῇ ἀπήχθεσθε. [2] ἧς οὐδ᾽ ἐκστῆναι ἔτι ὑμῖν ἔστιν, εἴ τις καὶ τόδε ἐν τῷ παρόντι δεδιὼς ἀπραγμοσύνῃ ἀνδραγαθίζεται: ὡς τυραννίδα γὰρ ἤδη ἔχετε αὐτήν, ἣν λαβεῖν μὲν ἄδικον δοκεῖ εἶναι, ἀφεῖναι δὲ ἐπικίνδυνον. [3] τάχιστ᾽ ἄν τε πόλιν οἱ τοιοῦτοι ἑτέρους τε πείσαντες ἀπολέσειαν καὶ εἴ που ἐπὶ σφῶν αὐτῶν αὐτόνομοι οἰκήσειαν: τὸ γὰρ ἄπραγμον οὐ σῴζεται μὴ μετὰ τοῦ δραστηρίου τεταγμένον, οὐδὲ ἐν ἀρχούσῃ πόλει ξυμφέρει, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν ὑπηκόῳ, ἀσφαλῶς δουλεύειν.

βοηθέω: c. dat: come to aid, succour, assist, aid, support
ἀγάλλω: passive: honour, do honour to, exalt in
ἢ: connecting two alternative clauses or phrases (or, or else); ἀμαθής τις εἶ θεός ἢ δίκαιος οὐκ ἔφυς. (Eur. Her. 347): You are an unwise god, or else you are not just.
διώκω: pursue an object, seek after
ἀγωνίζομαι: struggle στέρησις: sg fem gen: deprivation, loss
ἀπεχθάνομαι: to be hated, incur hatred
ἐξίστημι: ἐκστῆναι aor inf act: displace, retire from, give up possession of
ἔστι impers., c. inf., it is possible
ἀπραγμοσύνη: dat. of manner: freedom from politics, love of a quiet life
ἀνδραγαθίζομαι: to be an agathos man: plays at being an agathos man while at rest
τόδε ... ἀνδραγαθίζεται: 'offers this fine gesture', internal accusative
ὡς τυραννίδα ... ἐπικίνδυνον: Note that Perikles is not saying that the empire is outrightly a tyranny nor is he claiming that it was clearly unjust to have acquired it. Both ideas are qualified: ὡς and δοκεῖ εἶναι. As Marchant writes, and echoed by Hornblower: "Pericles does not himself assert that the empire is a despotism, or that it was unjustly acquired: he alludes to an opinion then especially prevalent". The obvious spokesman at least for the claim that it is a tyranny is Cleon.
ἀφίημι: send forth, discharge;give up or hand over to
τε ... καὶ: the elements joined by τε . . καὶ . . are joined in order to be compared or contrasted rather than simply joined: either ... or: LSJ


It is fitting for you to uphold the city's honour that has arisen from our empire, an empire in which you all take pride, and not to shirk from its burdens or else to not pursue those honours. Do not think this stuggle is only about one thing, slavery instead of freedom, it is also about the loss of our empire and the danger from that hatred you have incurred in its rule. It is not possible for you to give it up, even if someone because of the current situation is fearful and acts as an inactive brave man for this result. Already you control this empire like a tyranny, an empire which it seems unjust to have acquired, but dangerous to let go. Such men would quicky destroy a city, if either they were to persuade others or if somehow they lived independently on their own: for keeping out of foreign politics does not provide safety unless it is accompanied with activity, it carries no advantage for a ruling city, but for a subject city, a protection in its slavery.

ἁμαρτάνω: ἁμάρτητε: 2nd pl aor subj act: go wrong, make a mistake
ἐνδίδωμι: ἐνδῶτε: 2nd pl aor subj act: give in to,to allow, grant, concede
οἶκτος: pity, compassion
καὶ ὅτι ἂν ἢ ... ἁμάρτητε ἢ ...ἐνδῶτε: indefinite relative clause: ἂν + subjunctive
περιγίγνομαι: to be superior to
ἀκροάομαι: ἀκροῶνται: 3rd pl pres ind mid contr: hearken, listen to, obey
ἰσχύς: ἰσχύι: sg fem dat: strength
ἄκυρος: without authority
ἔχουσιν: dative plural: ἔχω + an adverb means ‘to be in a certain way or state’, basically like ‘to be + adj.’ So we have here 'laws which are good'.
ἀκίνητος: unmoved, unaltered, inviolate
ὠφέλιμος: helping, aiding, useful, serviceable, beneficial
ἀκολασία: licentiousness, intemperance
Antiope fr. 200: γνώμαις γὰρ ἀνδρὸς εὖ μὲν οἰκοῦνται πόλεις, / εὖ δ᾿ οἶκος, εἴς τ᾿ αὖ πόλεμον ἰσχύει μέγα· / σοφὸν γὰρ ἓν βούλευμα τὰς πολλὰς χέρας / νικᾷ, σὺν ὄχλῳ δ᾿ ἀμαθία πλεῖστον κακόν Cities are well run by a man’s judgements, and his house well, and it is also a great resource in war: for one wise counsel defeats many hands, but crassness partnered with a mob is the greatest evil.
μέμφομαι: blame, censure, find fault with
ἀπὸ τοῦ ἴσου: usually means and does so in Thucydides 'on the basis of equality’; see I 77.3–4, 99.2, 136.4, 140.5; III 10.4, 11.1, 42.5, 84.1; IV 19.2 and V 101.1. Older commentators take it to mean 'impartially'. I think 'impartially' is not correct here and has crept in because of the traditional argument that Thucydides' method is a commitment to 'objectivity', however defined, as if 'objectivity' means 'unbiased'.
ἐπαιρομένους: stir up, excite [passive here]
παραινέω: exhort, recommend, advise
δεινότης: cleverness
ὀρθόω , aor. ὤρθωσε, pass. aor. part. ὀρθωθείς: make straight, be correct, be true
ποιέω: make or do (much like πράσσω)
παρὰ δόξαν: although much has been made about this line, I do not agree with the generally accepted translation 'contrary to our belief' or various versions therein:

Hammond: That should be the model for us: we should not let the exhilaration of a sophisticated contest of wits lead us to offer you, the Athenian people, advice which belies our true beliefs.

Crawley: These we ought to imitate, instead of being led on by cleverness and intellectual rivalry to advise your people against our real opinions.

Mynott: We should therefore act likewise and not be so carried away by cleverness and contests of wit that we offer you, the public, perverse advice.

But surely the point of this chapter from "πάντων δὲ δεινότατον εἰ βέβαιον ἡμῖν μηδὲν καθεστήξει ὧν ἂν δόξῃ πέρι" to "παρὰ δόξαν τῷ ὑμετέρῳ πλήθει παραινεῖν" is the discussion of the decree, first in the particular then to its more generalized form , regardless of whether a decree is in the same category as law (which it was before 402 BC), all within the context of what happens if such decisions are treated as maleable, and the suse resulting political instability.

So in short I prefer Shepherd's translation: contrary to a decree once ratified, any decree.

3.37 I have often thought on previous occasions that democracy is incapable of ruling others, never more than now with your change of heart about the Mytilenaeans. Because your daily interactions are not defined in fear nor by intrique, you hold your allies to the same standard. And in whatever way you make a mistake, when you have been persuaded by them in a speech, or whenever you lapse into pity, you do not consider that to act weakly brings danger to you but does not foster gratitude from your allies. You do not consider that the rule you possess is a tyranny, set up over those who conspire against you and those who are unwillingly ruled; your allies do not obey you because of whatever favours you bestow upon them, although to your own detriment, they obey you because of whatever superiority in strength you possess, not because of their goodwill. Out of all of this, the greatest fear is that nothing we decree shall stand firm and that if we do not recognize that a city-state making use of inferior but inviolable laws is stronger than a city-state making use of good but powerless laws; that a lack of learning combined with moderation is more beneficial to the state than intemperant cleverness; that the ordinary folk instead of the more intelligent manage the city-state for the most part better. For the latter want to appear to be wiser than the laws and also to win out in each public debate about the common good, as if in no greater way could they demonstrate their intellect. And because of this they often ruin city-states. On the other hand, the ordinary people, having no confidence in their own intelligence, consider themselves more ignorant than the laws and less capable of finding fault with the reasoning of a well constructed argument, yet as fair judges rather than as contestants they make the correct decision most of the time. We ought to do likewise and not be caught up in cleverness and in a contest of quick wits and offer advice to you, the masses, against what is decreed [para doxan].

38. ‘ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν ὁ αὐτός εἰμι τῇ γνώμῃ καὶ θαυμάζω μὲν τῶν προθέντων αὖθις περὶ Μυτιληναίων λέγειν καὶ χρόνου διατριβὴν ἐμποιησάντων, ὅ ἐστι πρὸς τῶν ἠδικηκότων μᾶλλον (ὁ γὰρ παθὼν τῷ δράσαντι ἀμβλυτέρᾳ τῇ ὀργῇ ἐπεξέρχεται, ἀμύνεσθαι δὲ τῷ παθεῖν ὅτι ἐγγυτάτω κείμενον ἀντίπαλον ὂν μάλιστα τὴν τιμωρίαν ἀναλαμβάνει), θαυμάζω δὲ καὶ ὅστις ἔσται ὁ ἀντερῶν καὶ ἀξιώσων ἀποφαίνειν τὰς μὲν Μυτιληναίων ἀδικίας ἡμῖν ὠφελίμους οὔσας, τὰς δ᾽ ἡμετέρας ξυμφορὰς τοῖς ξυμμάχοις βλάβας καθισταμένας. [2] καὶ δῆλον ὅτι ἢ τῷ λέγειν πιστεύσας τὸ πάνυ δοκοῦν ἀνταποφῆναι ὡς οὐκ ἔγνωσται ἀγωνίσαιτ᾽ ἄν, ἢ κέρδει ἐπαιρόμενος τὸ εὐπρεπὲς τοῦ λόγου ἐκπονήσας παράγειν πειράσεται. [3] ἡ δὲ πόλις ἐκ τῶν τοιῶνδε ἀγώνων τὰ μὲν ἆθλα ἑτέροις δίδωσιν, αὐτὴ δὲ τοὺς κινδύνους ἀναφέρει. [4] αἴτιοι δ᾽ ὑμεῖς κακῶς ἀγωνοθετοῦντες, οἵτινες εἰώθατε θεαταὶ μὲν τῶν λόγων γίγνεσθαι, ἀκροαταὶ δὲ τῶν ἔργων, τὰ μὲν μέλλοντα ἔργα ἀπὸ τῶν εὖ εἰπόντων σκοποῦντες ὡς δυνατὰ γίγνεσθαι, τὰ δὲ πεπραγμένα ἤδη, οὐ τὸ δρασθὲν πιστότερον ὄψει λαβόντες ἢ τὸ ἀκουσθέν, ἀπὸ τῶν λόγῳ καλῶς ἐπιτιμησάντων: [5] καὶ μετὰ καινότητος μὲν λόγου ἀπατᾶσθαι ἄριστοι, μετὰ δεδοκιμασμένου δὲ μὴ ξυνέπεσθαι ἐθέλειν, δοῦλοι ὄντες τῶν αἰεὶ ἀτόπων, ὑπερόπται δὲ τῶν εἰωθότων, [6] καὶ μάλιστα μὲν αὐτὸς εἰπεῖν ἕκαστος βουλόμενος δύνασθαι, εἰ δὲ μή, ἀνταγωνιζόμενοι τοῖς τοιαῦτα λέγουσι μὴ ὕστεροι ἀκολουθῆσαι δοκεῖν τῇ γνώμῃ, ὀξέως δέ τι λέγοντος προεπαινέσαι, καὶ προαισθέσθαι τε πρόθυμοι εἶναι τὰ λεγόμενα καὶ προνοῆσαι βραδεῖς τὰ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀποβησόμενα, [7] ζητοῦντές τε ἄλλο τι ὡς εἰπεῖν ἢ ἐν οἷς ζῶμεν, φρονοῦντες δὲ οὐδὲ περὶ τῶν παρόντων ἱκανῶς: ἁπλῶς τε ἀκοῆς ἡδονῇ ἡσσώμενοι καὶ σοφιστῶν θεαταῖς ἐοικότες καθημένοις μᾶλλον ἢ περὶ πόλεως βουλευομένοις.

προθέντων: propose, bring forward a thing to be examined and debated
διατριβὴν: waste of time, loss of time, delay, with or without χρόνου
πρὸς: here means 'on one's side, in one's favour': LSJ
ἀμβλύς: dim, faint, making dull or sluggish
δράω: do, accomplish, esp. do, accomplish, esp. do some great thing, good or bad
τιμωρία: retribution, vengeance
ἀμύνεσθαι: pres inf mp: Med., keep or ward off from oneself, guard or defend oneself against, freq. with collat. notion of requital, revenge; defend oneself, act in self-defence
ὁ γὰρ παθὼν τῷ δράσαντι: see below for comments
ἐπεξέρχομαι: march out, make a sally; to prosecute, develop an argument
ἀντεράω: ἀντερῶν part sg fut act masc nom: speak against
ἀξιόω: ἀξιώσων: part sg fut act masc nom:think, deem worthy
βλάβας: hurt, harm, damage, opp. to wilful wrong (ἀδίκημα)
ὠφέλιμος: helping, aiding, useful, serviceable, beneficial

ὁ γὰρ παθὼν τῷ δράσαντι ἀμβλυτέρᾳ τῇ ὀργῇ ἐπεξέρχεται, ἀμύνεσθαι δὲ τῷ παθεῖν ὅτι ἐγγυτάτω κείμενον ἀντίπαλον ὂν μάλιστα τὴν τιμωρίαν ἀναλαμβάνει

A difficult line grammatically speaking that invokes the concept of mythologically grounded wrathful retribution but within the veneer of legal language.

ὁ γὰρ παθὼν τῷ δράσαντι: A restating of "δράσαντι παθεῖν": "for the doer to suffer" or "the doer should suffer". The point being that as a common gnomic expression it is a lynch pin of retaliatory justice be it tragic or as detailed by Plato in his Laws at 827d-872e: if ever a man has slain his father, he must endure to suffer the same violent fate at his own children's hands in days to come.

Plato Laws 827d-872e
ὁ γὰρ δὴ μῦθος ἢ λόγος, ἢ ὅτι χρὴ προσαγορεύειν αὐτόν, ἐκ παλαιῶν ἱερέων εἴρηται σαφῶς, ὡς ἡ τῶν συγγενῶν αἱμάτων τιμωρὸς δίκη ἐπίσκοπος ... ἔταξεν ἄρα δράσαντί τι τοιοῦτον παθεῖν ταὐτὰ ἀναγκαίως ἅπερ ἔδρασεν ...
For the myth or the story ... has been clearly stated from the ancient priests that Justice as the avenger of kindred blood, its guardian ... has ordained that for the doer of such suffering must of necessity suffer the same thing which he did ... [if ever a man has slain his father, he must endure to suffer the same violent fate at his own children's hands in days to come]

Aeschylus, Libation Bearers:306-314
ἀλλ᾽ ὦ μεγάλαι Μοῖραι, Διόθεν τῇδε τελευτᾶν, τὸ δίκαιον μεταβαίνει. ἀντὶ μὲν ἐχθρᾶς γλώσσης ἐχθρὰ γλῶσσα τελείσθω: τοὐφειλόμενον πράσσουσα Δίκη μέγ᾽ ἀυτεῖ:ἀντὶ δὲ πληγῆς φονίας φονίαν πληγὴν τινέτω. δράσαντι παθεῖν, τριγέρων μῦθος τάδε φωνεῖ.

Mighty Fates, may the conclusion from Zeus favour the side on which Justice is entering the contest. ‘For hostile speech let hostile speech be returned’, shouts Justice aloud, exacting what is owed, ‘and for bloody stroke let bloody stroke be the payment’. ‘For the doer to suffer’, a thrice-old adage proclaims

Grammatically speaking the difficulty is with "ἀμύνεσθαι δὲ τῷ παθεῖν ὅτι ἐγγυτάτω κείμενον ἀντίπαλον ὂν μάλιστα τὴν τιμωρίαν ἀναλαμβάνει". This line has been much discussed, with various ammendments offered. The general outline is that "ἀμύνεσθαι" is an articular infinitive that has lost its nominative article and acts as the subject of "μάλιστα τὴν τιμωρίαν ἀναλαμβάνει" e.g. taking counter measures ... exacts the best retribution. Things get more complicated from there. "τῷ παθεῖν ὅτι ἐγγυτάτω κείμενον" modifies "ἀμύνεσθαι" e.g. when it is located as close as possible to the harm inflicted. As Smith puts it: ἐγγυτάτω κείμενον, the partic. being pf. pass. of τιθέναι. Schol. εἰ τὸ ἀμύνεσθαι τῷ παθεῖν ἐγγὺς τεθείη.

This then leaves us with "ἀντίπαλον ὂν", which seems to modify "ἀμύνεσθαι". So schematically we have "Taking counter measures which are as close as possible to the harm inflicted, since it is commensurate/balanced, exacts the best retribution". Or put into better but arguably less accurate English: With the passage of time the victim’s anger in pursuit of the offender loses its edge, whereas the punishment which best fits the crime is that exacted closest to the event.

ἀνταποφαίνω: show on the other hand
κερδαίνω: κέρδει 3rd sg imperf ind act: gain, derive profit
ἐπαιρομένος: stir up, excite [passive here]
εὐπρεπής: plausible, seemly
ἐκπονέω: work out, finish off
πειράω: πειράσεται: 3rd sg fut ind: mid attempt, endeavour, try
ἀγωνίζομαι: contend for a prize,struggle, exert oneself
καινότης: newness, fresh, novelty
ἀπατάω: cheat, deceive, trick, outwit, beguile
ἄριστοι: best, i.e. easiest, to cheat: Equivalent in meaning to ἐπιτήδειοι: made for an end or purpose, fit or adapted for it, suitable, convenient
δοκιμάζω: δεδοκιμασμένου: part sg perf mp masc gen:assay, test,approve, sanction
συνέπομαι: follow along with, accompany,comply or be in accordance with
μὴ ... ἐθέλειν: negative of an epexegetical infinitive
ὑπερόπτης: ὑπερόπται: noun pl masc nom: contemner, disdainer [ ὑπεροράω: look over, look down upon, despise, disdain]
ἄτοπος: out of place, out of the way; in a strange or odd place
ἀνταγωνίζομαι: struggle against, prove a match for, vie with:
ἀκολουθέω: follow; to follow the thread of a discourse, Plato;follow one, go after or with him
Phaedo: 107B: ἀκολουθήσετε τῷ λόγῳ, καθ᾽ ὅσον δυνατὸν μάλιστ᾽ ἀνθρώπῳ ἐπακολουθῆσαι: you will follow the argument, as much as it is possible for a man to understand it.
ὀξέως, adv: quickly, soon, sharply, cleverly
προεπαινέω: praise beforehand or probably more accurately 'first to praise'; only use of this verb in the corpus
προαισθάνομαι: to perceive or observe beforehand
βραδύς: βραδεῖς: adj pl masc nom: slow, sluggish
ἀποβαίνω: to disembark; of events, issue, result from; to issue or result from
φρονέω: to think, to have understanding, to be sage, wise, prudent
ἁπλῶς: singly, in one sense, imply, plainly, openly, frankly
ἡδονή: ἡδονῇ: noun sg fem dative: enjoyment, pleasure
ἡσσάομαι: to be less; to be overcome by

I myself am of this thought and I am amazed that we have proposed again to speak about the Mytilenaeans and to affect a waste of time, a delay which is of a greater advantage to those who have acted unjustly -- he then having suffered injury undertakes the case against the wrong doer with blunted anger, but he who takes up retribution that lies as close as possible to when it was suffered, since this is balanced, exacts the best kind of revenge. I also wonder who there will be who will deny this and who will deem it worthwhile to show that the injustices of the Mytilenaeans are advantageous for us, that our misfortunes bring harm to our allies. And it is clear that either [someone] placing trust in [his] speaking would contend to counter that the collective agreement had not be determined or instead enticed by profit he will attempt to mislead you by constructing a fine sounding speech. In these contests the city awards prizes to others but she bears the risks. You are culpable for how these harmful contests are instituted, you who are used to being spectators of speeches, hearers of actions; you examine future actions whether they are possible from people speaking well, you do not place more trust in you seeing the events that have already happened than in what you have heard from those evaluating them in a fine speech. You are the best at being tricked by a novel speech, reluctant to go along with the tried and tested, slaves to the ever atypical, despisers of the customary. Above all else, you each want to be able to speak, but if not, you vie with those speaking about such matters lest you seem to be lagging in following the argument's thoughts, you want to be the first to praise when someone makes a clever point, to be eager to perceive in advance what is being said slow to foresee its ramifications. You seek, so to speak, something other than the circumstances in which we live, you do not have sufficient understanding of our current situation: succintly put you are overcome by the pleasure of listening and you are more likened to those sitting as spectators of the sophists than those deliberating about the city-state.

3.39
ὧν ἐγὼ πειρώμενος ἀποτρέπειν ὑμᾶς ἀποφαίνω Μυτιληναίους μάλιστα δὴ μίαν πόλιν ἠδικηκότας ὑμᾶς. [2] ἐγὼ γάρ, οἵτινες μὲν μὴ δυνατοὶ φέρειν τὴν ὑμετέραν ἀρχὴν ἢ οἵτινες ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων ἀναγκασθέντες ἀπέστησαν, ξυγγνώμην ἔχω: νῆσον δὲ οἵτινες ἔχοντες μετὰ τειχῶν καὶ κατὰ θάλασσαν μόνον φοβούμενοι τοὺς ἡμετέρους πολεμίους, ἐν ᾧ καὶ αὐτοὶ τριήρων παρασκευῇ οὐκ ἄφαρκτοι ἦσαν πρὸς αὐτούς, αὐτόνομοί τε οἰκοῦντες καὶ τιμώμενοι ἐς τὰ πρῶτα ὑπὸ ἡμῶν τοιαῦτα εἰργάσαντο, τί ἄλλο οὗτοι ἢ ἐπεβούλευσάν τε καὶ ἐπανέστησαν μᾶλλον ἢ ἀπέστησαν （ἀπόστασις μέν γε τῶν βίαιόν τι πασχόντων ἐστίν）, ἐζήτησάν τε μετὰ τῶν πολεμιωτάτων ἡμᾶς στάντες διαφθεῖραι; καίτοι δεινότερόν ἐστιν ἢ εἰ καθ᾽ αὑτοὺς δύναμιν κτώμενοι ἀντεπολέμησαν. [3] παράδειγμα δὲ αὐτοῖς οὔτε αἱ τῶν πέλας ξυμφοραὶ ἐγένοντο, ὅσοι ἀποστάντες ἤδη ἡμῶν ἐχειρώθησαν, οὔτε ἡ παροῦσα εὐδαιμονία παρέσχεν ὄκνον μὴ ἐλθεῖν ἐς τὰ δεινά: γενόμενοι δὲ πρὸς τὸ μέλλον θρασεῖς καὶ ἐλπίσαντες μακρότερα μὲν τῆς δυνάμεως, ἐλάσσω δὲ τῆς βουλήσεως, πόλεμον ἤραντο, ἰσχὺν ἀξιώσαντες τοῦ δικαίου προθεῖναι: ἐν ᾧ γὰρ ᾠήθησαν περιέσεσθαι, ἐπέθεντο ἡμῖν οὐκ ἀδικούμενοι. [4] εἴωθε δὲ τῶν πόλεων αἷς ἂν μάλιστα καὶ δι᾽ ἐλαχίστου ἀπροσδόκητος εὐπραγία ἔλθῃ, ἐς ὕβριν τρέπειν: τὰ δὲ πολλὰ κατὰ λόγον τοῖς ἀνθρώποις εὐτυχοῦντα ἀσφαλέστερα ἢ παρὰ δόξαν, καὶ κακοπραγίαν ὡς εἰπεῖν ῥᾷον ἀπωθοῦνται ἢ εὐδαιμονίαν διασῴζονται. [5] χρῆν δὲ Μυτιληναίους καὶ πάλαι μηδὲν διαφερόντως τῶν ἄλλων ὑφ᾽ ἡμῶν τετιμῆσθαι, καὶ οὐκ ἂν ἐς τόδε ἐξύβρισαν: πέφυκε γὰρ καὶ ἄλλως ἄνθρωπος τὸ μὲν θεραπεῦον ὑπερφρονεῖν, τὸ δὲ μὴ ὑπεῖκον θαυμάζειν. [6] κολασθέντων δὲ καὶ νῦν ἀξίως τῆς ἀδικίας, καὶ μὴ τοῖς μὲν ὀλίγοις ἡ αἰτία προστεθῇ, τὸν δὲ δῆμον ἀπολύσητε. πάντες γὰρ ὑμῖν γε ὁμοίως ἐπέθεντο, οἷς γ᾽ ἐξῆν ὡς ἡμᾶς τραπομένοις νῦν πάλιν ἐν τῇ πόλει εἶναι: ἀλλὰ τὸν μετὰ τῶν ὀλίγων κίνδυνον ἡγησάμενοι βεβαιότερον ξυναπέστησαν. [7] τῶν τε ξυμμάχων σκέψασθε εἰ τοῖς τε ἀναγκασθεῖσιν ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων καὶ τοῖς ἑκοῦσιν ἀποστᾶσι τὰς αὐτὰς ζημίας προσθήσετε, τίνα οἴεσθε ὅντινα οὐ βραχείᾳ προφάσει ἀποστήσεσθαι, ὅταν ἢ κατορθώσαντι ἐλευθέρωσις ᾖ ἢ σφαλέντι μηδὲν παθεῖν ἀνήκεστον; [8] ἡμῖν δὲ πρὸς ἑκάστην πόλιν ἀποκεκινδυνεύσεται τά τε χρήματα καὶ αἱ ψυχαί, καὶ τυχόντες μὲν πόλιν ἐφθαρμένην παραλαβόντες τῆς ἔπειτα προσόδου, δι᾽ ἣν ἰσχύομεν, τὸ λοιπὸν στερήσεσθε, σφαλέντες δὲ πολεμίους πρὸς τοῖς ὑπάρχουσιν ἕξομεν, καὶ ὃν χρόνον τοῖς νῦν καθεστηκόσι δεῖ ἐχθροῖς ἀνθίστασθαι, τοῖς οἰκείοις ξυμμάχοις πολεμήσομεν.

ἀποφαίνω: show forth, display; declare
συγγνώμη: fellow-feeling, forbearance, lenient judgement, allowance
Note here: The first two οἵτινες, one with + μὴ, and then the third οἵτινες with + οὐκ: the first two introduce indefinite relative clauses, the third does not, it is more specific, and refers to the Mytilenaeans. So we have "whosoever" vs "but these men, the Mytilenaeans, ..."
ἄφρακτος: unfenced, unfortified, unguarded
ἐπανίστημι: rise in insurrection against but see inline note on this below
ἐπιβουλεύω: plot, contrive against
πάσχω: have

εὐπραγία: success
εὐτυχέω: to be prosperous, fortunate, turn out well
κακοπραγία: misadventure, failure
εὐδαιμονία: prosperity, good fortune, opulence

ἀπροσδόκητος: unexpected, unlooked for
χειρόω:ἐχειρώθησαν: 3rd pl aor ind pass: worst, master, subdue
ὄκνος: shrinking, hesitation; fear, alarm;
περίειμι: περιέσεσθαι: fut inf mid: to be superior to another, surpass, excel
ἀσφαλής: not liable to fall, immovable, steadfast
δόξα: expectation, notion, opinion, judgement,mere opinion, conjecture
ἀπωθέω: thrust away, push back; repel, drive back, in Med
διασῴζω: maintain, preserve, retain
διαφερόντως: differently from
ἐξυβρίζω: break out into insolence
ὑπερφρονέω: to be over-proud, have high thoughts; look down upon, despise
θεραπεύω: to be an attendant, do service
ὑπείκω: retire, withdraw, depart
θαυμάζω: to wonder, to marvel at
χρῆν δὲ Μυτιληναίους ... A peculiar form of potential indicative without ἄν consists of an infinitive depending on the imperfect of a verb of obligation, propriety, or possibility, like ἔδει, χρῆν or ἐχρῆν, εἰκὸς ἦν, or προσῆκεν. This expression refers to past or present time, and generally implies a denial of the action of the infinitive. Thus ἔδει τοῦτον ἀποθανεῖν in this idiomatic use means he ought to have perished (but did not); ἔδει ἡμᾶς τοῦτο ποιεῖν means we ought to be doing this (but we are not) or we ought to have done this (but we did not do it). [ GMT 415 ]
κολάζω: κολασθέντων: 3rd person plural imperative: check, chastise
προστίθημι: προστεθῇ 3rd sg aor subj pass: impose upon, to attribute to
ἀπολύω:ἀπολύσητε: 2nd pl aor subj act: to dismiss a charge
NB: In the second or third person, the subjunctive (normally aorist) with μή may express a prohibition: that is, a negative command.
σκέπτομαι: σκέψασθε: 2nd pl aor imperative:view, examine, consider, to look upon
προστίθημι: προσθήσετε: 2nd pl fut ind act: attribute or impute to; impose upon, deliver to
ἑκών: willingly
ζημία: loss, damage; penalty
κατορθόω: set upright, erect; accomplish successfully, bring to a successful issue
σφάλλω: make to fall, overthrow; Pass. to be overthrown, to fall, fail, be undone, become helpless
ἀνήκεστος: incurable, desperate, fatal
ἀποκινδυνεύω: 3rd sg fut perf ind mp: to put into a parlous state
τυγχάνω: to meet with, hit, reach, gain, get, obtain a thing; gain one's end or purpose, succeed
φθείρω: ἐφθαρμένην: part sg perf mp fem acc: to destroy, ruin, spoil
παραλαμβάνω: receive from
πρόσοδος: going or coming to, approach; income, rent; revenue
τὸ λοιπόν: of time, henceforward, hereafter
στερέω: deprive, rob
σφάλλω: make to fall, overthrow; passive: to be overthrown, to fall, fail, be undone, become helpless
ὑπάρχω: begin, take the initiative; simply sometimes = to be
καθίστημι: set down; to be established or instituted, to prevail, exist
ἀνθίστημι: set against


In my attempt to turn you away from these views, I declare that the Mytilenaeans as a single city have in truth done you the most harm. Whoever is incable of bearing your rule or whoever is forced by their enemies to revolt, I forgive. But these men, the Mytilenaeans, inhabit an island, they have walls, and they only fear our enemies from the sea, in which case reinforced by ships they were not defenseless against them. They lived autonomously and, although honoured by us from the very beginning, they have acted in this way: what else is this other than they have conspired against us, and [domestically] rebelled rather than revolted (a revolt is for those who have experienced violent force). They have sought to destroy us by standing with our greatest enemy. That is even more dangerous than if they had made war acquiring power of their own.

[ Andrews (HCT Volume 5 page 45) writes "It is a widespread opinion (Steup, Busolt iii/i. 553 n. 2) that 'ἐπανάστασις, ἐπανίστασθαι' in Thucydides always refer to a rising against an existing government ... The sense of 'ἐπανάστασις' etc. is clear at i. 115. 5 (the internal aspect of the Samian revolt of 440) and at ii. 27. 2, iv. 56. 2, v. 23. 3 (helot revolt against Sparta). At iii. 39. 2 Kleon’s distinction about the Mytileneans " ἐπανέστησαν μᾶλλον ἢ ἀπέστησαν (ἀπόστασις μέν γε τῶν βίαιόν τι πασχόντων ἐστίν)", is highly artificial (‘a somewhat frigid conceit’: Gomme), but the point is probably that the revolt of Mytilene, which kept its autonomy and was highly honoured by Athens, is more like a domestic revolution than the revolt of a subject previously held down by force". Nevertheless, why does Cleon want to make this distinction? Hornblower suggests that it invokes a sense of underhandeness. He offers the admittedly inaccurate paraphrase "they have not revolted ... but betrayed us" to capture the mood. I think this is probably correct, given the secretive planning undertaken by the Mytilenaeans in preparation for their "revolt", particularly in their preparations and reaching out to the Black Sea for weapons (3.3.2). But it is worth noting that Thucydides himself calls it a revolt as do the Mytilenaeans. ]

The model for them were not the misfortunes of their neighbours, who had already revolted from us and been destroyed, nor did their current favourable situation preclude them from undertaking dangerous actions: they were emboldened about their future, they hoped for results that were greater than their power allowed, but less than what they desired.

They declared war placing strength before justice: And at the moment when they thought that they would prevail, and although they had not been treated unjustly, they attacked us.

It is typical for city-states to turn to hubris, when in short order unexpected but great success arrives: in most things success is more assured for people when based on reasoning rather than contrary to expectation. It is almost easier to thwart adversity than to continually preserve prosperity.

The Mytilenaeans long ago should not have even been honoured by us differently than others, they would not be acting so hubristically to this extent: mankind by nature disdains that which caters to them, but admires that which does not yield.

[ The first question is how to parse the present general condition "αἷς ἂν μάλιστα καὶ δι᾽ ἐλαχίστου ἀπροσδόκητος εὐπραγία ἔλθῃ": although commentators want to build the neat antithesis "most suddenly and in the shortest time", it is not clear to me that "μάλιστα" is actually modifying "ἀπροσδόκητος". Moreover, this lean towards an antithesis that is a bit too forced for my liking. I prefer to take "μάλιστα" modifying "εὐπραγία". I could even be persuaded that "μάλιστα" is actually an adverb: "It is typical for cities most all to ...". The second question is how to deal with "τὰ δὲ πολλὰ κατὰ λόγον τοῖς ἀνθρώποις εὐτυχοῦντα ἀσφαλέστερα ἢ παρὰ δόξαν, καὶ κακοπραγίαν ὡς εἰπεῖν ῥᾷον ἀπωθοῦνται ἢ εὐδαιμονίαν διασῴζονται". Here it is clear that "κατὰ λόγον" and "παρὰ δόξαν" are fully juxtaposed. "διασῴζονται" translated with "continually" to bring out the force of "δια": to preserve through and through, again and again. ]

[ Here is Gomme's somewhat dismissive comment on 3.39.4:

"εἴωθε δὲ ... Doubtless true, but not strictly relevant here; for the only thing unexpected about Mytilene’s good fortune was the ill-fortune of Athens (the pestilence). It is another case of love of generalization making its way into a speech. Arnold quotes ‘beggars mounted run their horses to death’. The further explanation of this wisdom, τὰ δὲ πολλὰ κατὰ λόγον, does not improve it. However, Philistos thought it worth while to imitate it (F 67)".

But surely the rejoinder is whether Thucydides is actually refering to just Mytilene here, if indeed at all. Marchant writes: "ἀπροσδόκητος εὐπραξία refers to the difficulties in which Athens was. (The objection to δι᾽ ἐλαχίστου that the change of fortune on the part of the Mytilenaeans was not sudden, but was gradually brought about by the events of the war, rests on a confusion of facts and the rhetorical presentment of them.)". Macloed in "Reason and Necessity: Thucydides III 9-14, 37-48" offers "39.3-4 also recalls the Mytileneans' speech, in particular the phrase "τῶν πόλεων αἷς ἂν μάλιστα καὶ δι᾽ ἐλαχίστου ἀπροσδόκητος εὐπραγία ἔλθῃ", which alludes to the advantages that first the war in general, and then the situation of 428 B.C., produced for them. They made both points themselves, in 12.1 and 13.3. Again, Cleon's words show up an error of how they underrated the Athenians resilience." ]

Let us now punish them fittlingly for their wrong doing, and let the blame not be attributed to the few, let us not acquit the demos. They all like attacked you, and it was possible for the demos to now be again in charge of their city-state, if they had turned to us. But, because they believed that the venture of the few was less risky, they joined in with the revolt.

Consider your allies: if you impose the same penalties upon both those who were forced by enemies to revolt and those who willingly engaged, which of them do you suppose would not revolt on the slightest pretext, when if they succeed there is freedom or if they fail they suffer nothing fatal? City by city our money and our lives shall be put at risk, and if we succeed, we shall gain a ruined city and be deprived of future revenues, revenues which are the basis of our strength, and, if we fail, we shall acquire enemies in addition to those that currently exist, and during the time it is necessary to counter our existing enemies, we shall be waging war with established allies.

40. ‘οὔκουν δεῖ προθεῖναι ἐλπίδα οὔτε λόγῳ πιστὴν οὔτε χρήμασιν ὠνητήν, ὡς ξυγγνώμην ἁμαρτεῖν ἀνθρωπίνως λήψονται. ἄκοντες μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ἔβλαψαν, εἰδότες δὲ ἐπεβούλευσαν: ξύγγνωμον δ᾽ ἐστὶ τὸ ἀκούσιον. [2] ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν καὶ τότε πρῶτον καὶ νῦν διαμάχομαι μὴ μεταγνῶναι ὑμᾶς τὰ προδεδογμένα, μηδὲ τρισὶ τοῖς ἀξυμφορωτάτοις τῇ ἀρχῇ, οἴκτῳ καὶ ἡδονῇ λόγων καὶ ἐπιεικείᾳ, ἁμαρτάνειν. [3] ἔλεός τε γὰρ πρὸς τοὺς ὁμοίους δίκαιος ἀντιδίδοσθαι, καὶ μὴ πρὸς τοὺς οὔτ᾽ ἀντοικτιοῦντας ἐξ ἀνάγκης τε καθεστῶτας αἰεὶ πολεμίους: οἵ τε τέρποντες λόγῳ ῥήτορες ἕξουσι καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις ἐλάσσοσιν ἀγῶνα, καὶ μὴ ἐν ᾧ ἡ μὲν πόλις βραχέα ἡσθεῖσα μεγάλα ζημιώσεται, αὐτοὶ δὲ ἐκ τοῦ εὖ εἰπεῖν τὸ παθεῖν εὖ ἀντιλήψονται: καὶ ἡ ἐπιείκεια πρὸς τοὺς μέλλοντας ἐπιτηδείους καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν ἔσεσθαι μᾶλλον δίδοται ἢ πρὸς τοὺς ὁμοίους τε καὶ οὐδὲν ἧσσον πολεμίους ὑπολειπομένους. [4] ἕν τε ξυνελὼν λέγω: πειθόμενοι μὲν ἐμοὶ τά τε δίκαια ἐς Μυτιληναίους καὶ τὰ ξύμφορα ἅμα ποιήσετε, ἄλλως δὲ γνόντες τοῖς μὲν οὐ χαριεῖσθε, ὑμᾶς δὲ αὐτοὺς μᾶλλον δικαιώσεσθε. εἰ γὰρ οὗτοι ὀρθῶς ἀπέστησαν, ὑμεῖς ἂν οὐ χρεὼν ἄρχοιτε. εἰ δὲ δὴ καὶ οὐ προσῆκον ὅμως ἀξιοῦτε τοῦτο δρᾶν, παρὰ τὸ εἰκός τοι καὶ τούσδε ξυμφόρως δεῖ κολάζεσθαι, ἢ παύεσθαι τῆς ἀρχῆς καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ἀκινδύνου ἀνδραγαθίζεσθαι. [5] τῇ τε αὐτῇ ζημίᾳ ἀξιώσατε ἀμύνασθαι καὶ μὴ ἀναλγητότεροι οἱ διαφεύγοντες τῶν ἐπιβουλευσάντων φανῆναι, ἐνθυμηθέντες ἃ εἰκὸς ἦν αὐτοὺς ποιῆσαι κρατήσαντας ὑμῶν, ἄλλως τε καὶ προϋπάρξαντας ἀδικίας. [6] μάλιστα δὲ οἱ μὴ ξὺν προφάσει τινὰ κακῶς ποιοῦντες ἐπεξέρχονται καὶ διολλύναι, τὸν κίνδυνον ὑφορώμενοι τοῦ ὑπολειπομένου ἐχθροῦ: ὁ γὰρ μὴ ξὺν ἀνάγκῃ τι παθὼν χαλεπώτερος διαφυγὼν τοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς ἴσης ἐχθροῦ. [7]‘μὴ οὖν προδόται γένησθε ὑμῶν αὐτῶν, γενόμενοι δ᾽ ὅτι ἐγγύτατα τῇ γνώμῃ τοῦ πάσχειν καὶ ὡς πρὸ παντὸς ἂν ἐτιμήσασθε αὐτοὺς χειρώσασθαι, νῦν ἀνταπόδοτε μὴ μαλακισθέντες πρὸς τὸ παρὸν αὐτίκα μηδὲ τοῦ ἐπικρεμασθέντος ποτὲ δεινοῦ ἀμνημονοῦντες. κολάσατε δὲ ἀξίως τούτους τε καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ξυμμάχοις παράδειγμα σαφὲς καταστήσατε, ὃς ἂν ἀφιστῆται, θανάτῳ ζημιωσόμενον. τόδε γὰρ ἢν γνῶσιν, ἧσσον τῶν πολεμίων ἀμελήσαντες τοῖς ὑμετέροις αὐτῶν μαχεῖσθε ξυμμάχοις.’

πιστός: ἐλπὶς πιστὴ λόγῳ warranted by reason
ὠνητός: ὠνητήν: adj sg fem acc: to be bought, that may be bought
συγγνώμων: adj: agreeing with; pardoned, deserving pardon or indulgence
ἀεκούσιος: ἀκούσιον: against the will, constrained

[ A tricky sentence semantically speaking. The critical question, after clarifying the bundle of appositional adjectives modifying "ἐλπίδα", namely "οὔτε λόγῳ πιστὴν οὔτε χρήμασιν ὠνητήν", is how to take "ἁμαρτεῖν ἀνθρωπίνως". Some scholars want to read "ἁμαρτεῖν" as " τοῦ ἁμαρτεῖν" ie a genitive of charge/acquittal. I do not know the answer here to be honest but the sense is clear: We should not give them hope that they will receive forgiveness for making a human mistake ]

διαμάχομαι: fight, contend + indirect command: "not to do something" uses μή
μεταγιγνώσκω: change one's mind
προδοκέω: seem good, be resolved beforehand
ἀσύμφορος: inconvenient, inexpedient for (with dative):ἀξυμφορωτάτοις: superlative
ἐπιείκεια: reasonableness, fairness, equity, Thuc., Plat., etc.: clemency, goodness, Dem; ‘generosity,’ ‘consideration for others. reasonableness, fairness'; "Mutual Forbearance?" [see comments below]

Notes (Charles F. Smith, 1894) : ἐπιεικείᾳ: fairness (Matthew Arnold's ‘sweet reasonableness’), esp. the benevolent treatment by the ἄρχουσα πόλις of her allies, which does not allow her superiority to be felt. Cf. l.14; 48.2; also i.76.20, τὸ ἐπιεικές and its result.

Smith's explanation is excellent because it brings to the fore what I think Thucydides is getting at.

See Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics, book 5.10 (or 1137b), which provides a fascinating discusson of ἐπιείκεια's meaning within the larger topic of justice, which holds that the nature of the equitable is that it be directive where law and its relationship to justice falls short. That is, that the law cannot be framed to meet some rare particular incidents and therefore must allow for pliancy to fulfill its claims to justice:

τί μὲν οὖν ἐστὶ τὸ ἐπιεικές, καὶ ὅτι δίκαιον καὶ τινὸς βέλτιον δικαίου, δῆλον. φανερὸν δ᾽ ἐκ τούτου καὶ ὁ ἐπιεικὴς τίς ἐστιν: ὁ γὰρ τῶν τοιούτων προαιρετικὸς καὶ πρακτικός, καὶ ὁ μὴ ἀκριβοδίκαιος ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον ἀλλ᾽ ἐλαττωτικός, καίπερ ἔχων τὸν νόμον βοηθόν, ἐπιεικής ἐστι, καὶ ἡ ἕξις αὕτη ἐπιείκεια, δικαιοσύνη τις οὖσα καὶ οὐχ ἑτέρα τις ἕξις.

It is clear, then, what the equitable is and that it is just and that it is better than a certain kind of justice. It is evident from this also who the equitable man is: a man who chooses and engages in such acts, and is not a stickler about his rights in a bad sense and does not insist on it, although the law is on his side, is an equitable man and this way of being is equity, which is a form of justice and not a different way of being.



προαιρετικός: deliberately choosing
πρακτικός: fit for or concerned with action, practical
ἀκριβοδίκαιος: precise as to one's rights
ἐλαττωτικός: reducing, diminishing: not insisting on his full rights
χείρων: inferior
βοηθός: assisting, auxiliary
ἕξις: a habit of body, esp. a good habit

Other translators or commentators translate 'ἐπιείκεια' as:
Mynott and Hammond: fairness
Bruzzone: generosity, decency
Hobbes: lenity
Perseus: indulgence

However, MacLoad in his "Reason and Necessity: Thucydides III 9-14, 37-48" states:

In 40.2—3 Cleon produces one of his most striking tours de force, the account of the three motives which might lead Athens to let off the Mytileneans and which he roundly condemns as harmful to an empire. This is a form of amplification ... consists in dividing a phenomenon into parts, so as to lend it greater rhetorical weight. Cleon’s application of this figure is contrived in that the distinction between pity (οἴκτῳ) and clemency (ἐπιεικείᾳ) is thin; he ingeniously covers his hair-splitting by having a clearly distinct notion, ἡδονῇ λόγων, separate the two related terms. The effect of this is that a particular emphasis falls on pity and clemency; and that has a historical point. Partly it reveals again how undemocratic the demagogue Cleon is; for pity and clemency are among the leading ideals of Athenian democracy, obliquely reflected in the Funeral Speech (ii 40.4), and the contemptuous ‘pleasure in words’ recalls his un-Athenian dislike of speech and reasoning. But his treatment of‘pity’ and ‘clemency’ are also revealing about the Athenian empire. Both notions occur in the context of a plea for total punishment: we should not show pity πρὸς τοὺς οὔτ᾽ ἀντοικτιοῦντας ἐξ ἀνάγκης τε καθεστῶτας αἰεὶ πολεμίους or clemency πρὸς τοὺς ὁμοίους τε καὶ οὐδὲν ἧσσον πολεμίους ὑπολειπομένους. What emerges from the quoted phrases—and the more forcefully because of their verbal and conceptual similarity—is, yet again, that the allies cannot but be enemies of Athens, indeed, not merely her enemies but positively at war with her (πολεμίους).

It seems to me that MacLoad is under emphasizing the distinction between pity and ἐπιείκεια because he is not allowing for the latter's built in notion of "expected" reciprocity that pity lacks. Sheppard and Evan's comment on this idea in their book "Notes on Thucydides", page 313:

οἴκτῳ ... ἐπιεικείᾳ. Arn. explains the former as the feeling of compassion; the latter as the habit of mind - ' general mildness of temper.' ἐπιείκεια ... is the habit of equity or fairness, in contradistinction to strict justice (Arist. Ethic.Nicom. v.10). This perhaps therefore ...affords some ground for Mr. Grote's remark (vi 345) that 'ἐπιείκεια here rather means the disposition to stop short of your full rights, a spirit of fairness and adjustment, an abatement on your part to likely to be requited by abatement on the part of your adversary.' Cf. Thucyd. i.76, iv.19, v.36, viii.93.

This bring us full circle back to Smith's quite excellent but now modified comment above:

ἐπιεικείᾳ: fairness ... esp. the benevolent treatment by the ἄρχουσα πόλις of her allies, where her superiority is not necessarily extended to the full but also where there is the expectation of similar compromise from her allies.

But how to capture this in English is difficult to see the least. Perhaps forbearance?

ἀντιδίδωμι: give in return, repay
ἀντοικτίζω: ἀντοικτιοῦντας : part pl fut act masc acc: pity in return ἔλεός: pity, mercy, compassion
τέρπω: delight, gladden, cheer
ἥδομαι: ἡσθεῖσα: part sg aor pass fem nom: enjoy oneself, take one's pleasure
μεγάλα ζημιώσεται:passive: will suffer great losses
εὖ πάσχω: enjoy success, to receive benefits, to be well off, in good case, c. gen
ἀντιλαμβάνω: to receive in turn or as a return
ἐπιτήδειος: suitable, advantageous, for the purpose, suitable, convenient; persons, serviceable, friendly;

Therefore, we must not provide hope, neither hope secured in speech nor hope purchased by monies [bribes], that they will receive a pardon to err in a human way. They did not harm us unwillingly, they knowingly plotted against us: forgiveness is for the unwilling .

I therefore contend now, as I contended at the first, that you not change your mind about what was resolved previously, and not to make an error in those three most harmful components for rule: pity, the pleasure of speeches (or pleasure derived from speeches, e.g. sentiment) and forbearance (to allies).

Pity is right to repay to those who are like minded, and not to those who will not be offering pity in return and who out of necessity are always enemies.

Those rhetors, who please us in speech, will also have their contests in less important matters but not in this one where on the one hand the city, although pleased briefly, will suffer great loses, while they will receive good benefits from their speaking well.

Forbearance should be given to those who being like-minded intend to be allies and will be so in the future, it should not be given to those who remain as those who are nothing less than enemies.

ἕν τε ξυνελὼν λέγω: πειθόμενοι μὲν ἐμοὶ τά τε δίκαια ἐς Μυτιληναίους καὶ τὰ ξύμφορα ἅμα ποιήσετε, ἄλλως δὲ γνόντες τοῖς μὲν οὐ χαριεῖσθε, ὑμᾶς δὲ αὐτοὺς μᾶλλον δικαιώσεσθε. εἰ γὰρ οὗτοι ὀρθῶς ἀπέστησαν, ὑμεῖς ἂν οὐ χρεὼν ἄρχοιτε. εἰ δὲ δὴ καὶ οὐ προσῆκον ὅμως ἀξιοῦτε τοῦτο δρᾶν, παρὰ τὸ εἰκός τοι καὶ τούσδε ξυμφόρως δεῖ κολάζεσθαι, ἢ παύεσθαι τῆς ἀρχῆς καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ἀκινδύνου ἀνδραγαθίζεσθαι. τῇ τε αὐτῇ ζημίᾳ ἀξιώσατε ἀμύνασθαι καὶ μὴ ἀναλγητότεροι οἱ διαφεύγοντες τῶν ἐπιβουλευσάντων φανῆναι, ἐνθυμηθέντες ἃ εἰκὸς ἦν αὐτοὺς ποιῆσαι κρατήσαντας ὑμῶν, ἄλλως τε καὶ προϋπάρξαντας ἀδικίας. μάλιστα δὲ οἱ μὴ ξὺν προφάσει τινὰ κακῶς ποιοῦντες ἐπεξέρχονται καὶ διολλύναι, τὸν κίνδυνον ὑφορώμενοι τοῦ ὑπολειπομένου ἐχθροῦ: ὁ γὰρ μὴ ξὺν ἀνάγκῃ τι παθὼν χαλεπώτερος διαφυγὼν τοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς ἴσης ἐχθροῦ.

συναιρέω:ξυνελών:part sg aor act masc nom: to bring together, bring into small compass; in speaking, ξυνελὼν λέγω briefly, in a word
χαρίζομαι:χαριεῖσθε: 2nd pl fut ind mp:to say or do something agreeable to a person, shew him favour or kindness, to oblige, gratify, favour, humour
δικαιόω: δικαιώσεσθε: 2nd pl fut ind mid:do a man right or justice: hence, chastise, punish
ὑμᾶς δὲ αὐτοὺς: reflexive second person pronoun plural: you yourselves
οὐ χρεὼν: circumstantial accusative absolute: accusative and not genitive because it is an impersonal verb (see GMT 815): absol., οὐ χρεὼν ἄρχετε: you rule unrightfully. Here it is "οὐ χρεὼ ὄν": οὐ χρεὼν = that which is expedient or right: So we have "you would rule unrightfully"
ἀξιόω:ἀξιώσατε: 2nd pl aor imperat act: think fit, expect, consent, resolve, etc; deem it worthy
οὐ προσῆκον: accusative absolute (like a genitive absolute but verb is impersonal): though or since it is not fitting
ἀνάλγητος: without pain; unfeeling, hard-hearted, ruthless; to feel less resentment: tricky and rare word in this context
φαίνω:aor inf pass: to appear
ἐνθυμέομαι: lay to heart, ponder
ἄλλως τε καὶ: especially
προυπάρχω: to be beforehand in a thing, to make a beginning of
ἐπεξέρχομαι: 3rd pl pres ind: march out, make a sally; to carry out, accomplish, execute
διόλλυμι: διολλύναι: pres inf act: to utterly destroy
ποιέω: make; dupl. acc., do something to another, κακά or ἀγαθὰ ποιεῖν τινα
ὑφοράω: look at from below, eye stealthily, view with suspicion

In a word, I say one thing: if you are persuaded by me, you will bring about what is just against against the Mytilenians and at the same time expedient for us; if you decide otherwise, you will not oblige them but you will rather punish yourselves. For if they revolted legitimately, you would be ruling unrightfully. Even if, although it is not fitting, you nevertheless deem it worthy to do this (ie. to rule), contrary to what is fair you must expediently punish these men, or give up your rule and play the virtuous man out of harm's way.

** See the discussion of 'ἐπιείκεια' above and 'ἀνδραγαθίζεσθαι' previously**

Resolve to defend yourselves by means of the same penalty and not to show yourselves, men who are escaping this plot, as more tolerant than those who hatched it; consider what these men would have done in response, if they had prevailed, especially since they initiated this wrong doing. In particular, those men who render someone harmed as if without a pretext, bring it about to destroy, so be watchful for the danger of leaving behind an enemy: for an enemy escaping and not suffering what was required is harsher than an enemy who is on equal footing.

42. ‘οὔτε τοὺς προθέντας τὴν διαγνώμην αὖθις περὶ Μυτιληναίων αἰτιῶμαι, οὔτε τοὺς μεμφομένους μὴ πολλάκις περὶ τῶν μεγίστων βουλεύεσθαι ἐπαινῶ, νομίζω δὲ δύο τὰ ἐναντιώτατα εὐβουλίᾳ εἶναι, τάχος τε καὶ ὀργήν, ὧν τὸ μὲν μετὰ ἀνοίας φιλεῖ γίγνεσθαι, τὸ δὲ μετὰ ἀπαιδευσίας καὶ βραχύτητος γνώμης. [2] τούς τε λόγους ὅστις διαμάχεται μὴ διδασκάλους τῶν πραγμάτων γίγνεσθαι, ἢ ἀξύνετός ἐστιν ἢ ἰδίᾳ τι αὐτῷ διαφέρει: ἀξύνετος μέν, εἰ ἄλλῳ τινὶ ἡγεῖται περὶ τοῦ μέλλοντος δυνατὸν εἶναι καὶ μὴ ἐμφανοῦς φράσαι, διαφέρει δ᾽ αὐτῷ, εἰ βουλόμενός τι αἰσχρὸν πεῖσαι εὖ μὲν εἰπεῖν οὐκ ἂν ἡγεῖται περὶ τοῦ μὴ καλοῦ δύνασθαι, εὖ δὲ διαβαλὼν ἐκπλῆξαι ἂν τούς τε ἀντεροῦντας καὶ τοὺς ἀκουσομένους. [3] χαλεπώτατοι δὲ καὶ οἱ ἐπὶ χρήμασι προσκατηγοροῦντες ἐπίδειξίν τινα. εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἀμαθίαν κατῃτιῶντο, ὁ μὴ πείσας ἀξυνετώτερος ἂν δόξας εἶναι ἢ ἀδικώτερος ἀπεχώρει: ἀδικίας δ᾽ ἐπιφερομένης πείσας τε ὕποπτος γίγνεται καὶ μὴ τυχὼν μετὰ ἀξυνεσίας καὶ ἄδικος. [4] ἥ τε πόλις οὐκ ὠφελεῖται ἐν τῷ τοιῷδε: φόβῳ γὰρ ἀποστερεῖται τῶν ξυμβούλων. καὶ πλεῖστ᾽ ἂν ὀρθοῖτο ἀδυνάτους λέγειν ἔχουσα τοὺς τοιούτους τῶν πολιτῶν: ἐλάχιστα γὰρ ἂν πεισθεῖεν ἁμαρτάνειν. [5] χρὴ δὲ τὸν μὲν ἀγαθὸν πολίτην μὴ ἐκφοβοῦντα τοὺς ἀντεροῦντας, ἀλλ᾽ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἴσου φαίνεσθαι ἄμεινον λέγοντα, τὴν δὲ σώφρονα πόλιν τῷ τε πλεῖστα εὖ βουλεύοντι μὴ προστιθέναι τιμήν, ἀλλὰ μηδ᾽ ἐλασσοῦν τῆς ὑπαρχούσης, καὶ τὸν μὴ τυχόντα γνώμης οὐχ ὅπως ζημιοῦν ἀλλὰ μηδ᾽ ἀτιμάζειν. [6] οὕτω γὰρ ὅ τε κατορθῶν ἥκιστα ἂν ἐπὶ τῷ ἔτι μειζόνων ἀξιοῦσθαι παρὰ γνώμην τι καὶ πρὸς χάριν λέγοι, ὅ τε μὴ ἐπιτυχὼν ὀρέγοιτο τῷ αὐτῷ χαριζόμενός τι καὶ αὐτὸς προσάγεσθαι τὸ πλῆθος.


προτίθημι to place before, to propose, to prefer
διαγνώμη a decree, resolution
αἰτιάομαι to charge, accuse, censure, blame
μέμφομαι to blame, censure, find fault with; object that one ought not + infinitive
ἐναντίος opposite
ἄνοια want of understanding, folly
βραχύτης: βραχύτητος noun sg fem gen (Lat. brevis) shortness
φιλέω to love, regard with affection; c. inf., love to do, be fond of doing, and so to be wont or used to do
διαμάχομαι to fight; to contend with; to contend or maintain that
ἀσύνετος: void of understanding, witless
διαφέρω to carry through; be different from, excel; Plat.;—c. dat. pers., διαφέρει μοι it makes a difference to me, id=Plat.; αὐτῷ ἰδίᾳ τι δ. he has some private interest at stake, Thuc.
φράζω: point out, show, to provide guidance
ἐμφανής visible to the eye, manifest
πείθω persuade πεῖσαι:verb aor inf act
ἐκπλήσσω (to knock out); to astound, shock, amaze;drive out of one's senses by a sudden shock, amaze, astound
διαβάλλω to throw over; attack a man's character, calumniate; misrepresent
ἀντερῶ: ἀντεροῦντας part pl fut act masc acc: speak against, gainsay
προσκατηγορέω: to accuse besides
κατηγορέω: speak against,accuse
ἐπίδειξις a shewing forth, making known; exhibition, display, demonstration
A sort of rhetorical display to get money: οἱ ἐπὶ χρήμασι προσκατηγοροῦντες ἐπίδειξίν τινα.
The emphasis is on ἐπὶ χρήμασι, which accordingly is in an unusual order: it belongs to ἐπίδειξιν. The point of τινα is that an ἐπίδειξις proper was not delivered in the Ecclesia.
καταιτιάομαι: κατῃτιῶντο:3rd pl imperf ind mp: accuse,impute
ἀμαθίαν κατῃτιῶντο: if they were to make a baseless/dumb/stupid/foolish accusation ... ?
ἀποχωρέω:ἀπεχώρει: 3rd sg imperf ind act:to retire, retreat, go from
ἐπιφέρω: ἐπιφερομένης: part sg pres mp fem gen: bring as a charge against
nb: Σοφώτερος ἢ ἀνδρειότερος: More wise than brave
ὕποπτος: viewed with suspicion






















ὁ the
καί and, also
μή not
τε and
δέ but
τις any one, any thing, some one, some thing;
μέν on the one hand, on the other hand
ἄν modal particle
αὐτός unemph.
γάρ for
εἰμί to be
λέγω to pick; to say
ὅς who, that, which: relative pronoun
πείθω to prevail upon, win over, persuade
περί around, round about with gen., dat., and acc.
τῷ therefore, in this wise, thereupon
ἀσύνετος void of understanding, stupid
γίγνομαι become, be born
γνώμη a means of knowing, a mark, token
εἰ conj. if, whether; part. w/wishes, adv. w/imperatives
εὖ well
μετά (w gen) with, among; (w acc) after
οὐ not
ἄδικος wrong-doing, unrighteous, unjust
ἀλλά otherwise, but
ἀντερῶ to speak against, gainsay
ἀντιλέγω to speak against, gainsay, contradict
βουλεύω to take counsel, deliberate, concert measures
διαφέρω to carry through; be different from, excel
ἐπί on, upon with gen., dat., and acc.
ἡγέομαι to lead; to consider, believe
μέγας big, great
οὔτε neither / nor
πόλις a city
πολίτης (fellow) citizen
τίη why? wherefore?
τυγχάνω (with gen.) to hit the mark, to get; (with pple) to happen to, to actually
ἀγαθός good
ἀδικία injustice
ἀδύνατος unable, impossible
αἰσχρός causing shame, abusive
αἰτιάομαι to charge, accuse, censure, blame
ἀκούω to hear
ἄλλος other, another
ἀμαθία ignorance
ἁμαρτάνω to miss, miss the mark
ἀμείνων better, abler, stronger, braver
ἀνά up, upon
ἄνοια want of understanding, folly
ἀξιόω to think worthy of; to expect
ἀπαιδευσία want of education
ἀπό from, away from. c. gen.
ἀποστερέω to rob, despoil, bereave
ἀποχωρέω to go from
ἀσυνεσία want of understanding, stupidity
ἀτιμάζω to hold in no honour, to esteem lightly, dishonour, slight
αὖθις back, back again
βούλομαι to will, wish, be willing
βραχύτης shortness
γε at least, at any rate
διαβάλλω to throw over
διαγνώμη a decree, resolution
διαμάχομαι to fight
διδάσκαλος a teacher, master
δοκέω seem, impers. it seems best..
δύναμαι to be able, capable, strong enough
δυνατός strong, mighty, able
εἶπον to speak, say
ἐκπλήσσω (to knock out); to astound, shock, amaze
ἐκφοβέω to frighten away, affright
ἐλασσόω to make less
ἐλάχιστος the smallest, least
ἐμφανής obvious
ἐν in, among. c. dat.
ἐναντίος opposite
ἐπαινέω to approve, applaud, commend
ἐπίδειξις a shewing forth, making known
ἐπιτυγχάνω to hit the mark
ἐπιφέρω to bring, put
ἔτι yet, as yet, still, besides
εὐβουλία good counsel, prudence
ἔχω to have
ζημιόω to cause loss
ἤ either..or; than
ἥκιστος least
ἴδιος one's own, pertaining to oneself
ἴσος equal to, the same as; adv. perhaps
καλέω to call, summon
καταιτιάομαι to accuse, arraign, reproach
κατορθόω to set upright, erect
λόγος the word
μέλλω to think of doing, intend to do, to be about to do
μέμφομαι to blame, censure, find fault with
νομίζω to have as a custom; to believe
ὅπως how, that, in order that, as
ὀργή natural impulse
ὀρέγω to reach, stretch, stretch out
ὀρθόω to set straight
ὅς
ὅστις indef. relative or indirect interrogative
οὕτως so, in this manner
παρά from the side of, c. gen., beside, alongside of, c. dat., to the side of, motion alongside of, c. acc.
πεῖσα obedience
πλεῖστος most, largest
πλῆθος a great number, a throng, crowd, multitude
πολλάκις many times, often, oft
πρᾶγμα that which has been done, a deed, act
πρός (w. gen.) from; (w. dat.) at, near, in addition to; (w. acc.) to, toward, regarding
προσάγω to bring to
προσκατηγορέω to accuse besides
προστίθημι to add, to apply, to close (a door); mid. to join (a group), take as an ally
προτίθημι to place before, to propose, to prefer
σύμβουλος an adviser, counsellor
σώφρων of sound mind
τάχος swiftness, speed, fleetness, velocity
τιμή that which is paid in token of worth
τοιόσδε such a
τοιοῦτος such as this
ὑπάρχω to begin; to exist
ὕποπτος viewed with suspicion or jealousy; suspecting
φαίνω to bring to light, make to appear
φιλέω to love, regard with affection
φόβος fear, panic, flight
φράζω to point out, shew, indicate
χαλεπός hard to bear, painful; difficult
χαρίζω to do a favor, to oblige, to please
χάρις gratitude, favor, grace, charm
χρή it is fated, necessary
χρῆμα thing, (pl.) goods, property, money
ὠφελέω to help, aid, assist, to be of use
Μυτιληναῖος of Mytilene


‘ὧν ἡμεῖς τἀναντία δρῶμεν, καὶ προσέτι ἤν τις καὶ ὑποπτεύηται κέρδους μὲν ἕνεκα τὰ βέλτιστα δὲ ὅμως λέγειν, φθονήσαντες τῆς οὐ βεβαίου δοκήσεως τῶν κερδῶν τὴν φανερὰν ὠφελίαν τῆς πόλεως ἀφαιρούμεθα. [2] καθέστηκε δὲ τἀγαθὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ εὐθέος λεγόμενα μηδὲν ἀνυποπτότερα εἶναι τῶν κακῶν, ὥστε δεῖν ὁμοίως τόν τε τὰ δεινότατα βουλόμενον πεῖσαι ἀπάτῃ προσάγεσθαι τὸ πλῆθος καὶ τὸν τὰ ἀμείνω λέγοντα ψευσάμενον πιστὸν γενέσθαι. [3] μόνην τε πόλιν διὰ τὰς περινοίας εὖ ποιῆσαι ἐκ τοῦ προφανοῦς μὴ ἐξαπατήσαντα ἀδύνατον: ὁ γὰρ διδοὺς φανερῶς τι ἀγαθὸν ἀνθυποπτεύεται ἀφανῶς πῃ πλέον ἕξειν. [4] χρὴ δὲ πρὸς τὰ μέγιστα καὶ ἐν τῷ τοιῷδε ἀξιοῦν τι ἡμᾶς περαιτέρω προνοοῦντας λέγειν ὑμῶν τῶν δι᾽ ὀλίγου σκοπούντων, ἄλλως τε καὶ ὑπεύθυνον τὴν παραίνεσιν ἔχοντας πρὸς ἀνεύθυνον τὴν ὑμετέραν ἀκρόασιν. [5] εἰ γὰρ ὅ τε πείσας καὶ ὁ ἐπισπόμενος ὁμοίως ἐβλάπτοντο, σωφρονέστερον ἂν ἐκρίνετε: νῦν δὲ πρὸς ὀργὴν ἥντινα τύχητε ἔστιν ὅτε σφαλέντες τὴν τοῦ πείσαντος μίαν γνώμην ζημιοῦτε καὶ οὐ τὰς ὑμετέρας αὐτῶν, εἰ πολλαὶ οὖσαι ξυνεξήμαρτον.

‘ἐγὼ δὲ παρῆλθον οὔτε ἀντερῶν περὶ Μυτιληναίων οὔτε κατηγορήσων. οὐ γὰρ περὶ τῆς ἐκείνων ἀδικίας ἡμῖν ὁ ἀγών, εἰ σωφρονοῦμεν, ἀλλὰ περὶ τῆς ἡμετέρας εὐβουλίας. [2] ἤν τε γὰρ ἀποφήνω πάνυ ἀδικοῦντας αὐτούς, οὐ διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἀποκτεῖναι κελεύσω, εἰ μὴ ξυμφέρον, ἤν τε καὶ ἔχοντάς τι ξυγγνώμης † εἶεν †, εἰ τῇ πόλει μὴ ἀγαθὸν φαίνοιτο. [3] νομίζω δὲ περὶ τοῦ μέλλοντος ἡμᾶς μᾶλλον βουλεύεσθαι ἢ τοῦ παρόντος. καὶ τοῦτο ὃ μάλιστα Κλέων ἰσχυρίζεται, ἐς τὸ λοιπὸν ξυμφέρον ἔσεσθαι πρὸς τὸ ἧσσον ἀφίστασθαι θάνατον ζημίαν προθεῖσι, καὶ αὐτὸς περὶ τοῦ ἐς τὸ μέλλον καλῶς ἔχοντος ἀντισχυριζόμενος τἀναντία γιγνώσκω. [4] καὶ οὐκ ἀξιῶ ὑμᾶς τῷ εὐπρεπεῖ τοῦ ἐκείνου λόγου τὸ χρήσιμον τοῦ ἐμοῦ ἀπώσασθαι. δικαιότερος γὰρ ὢν αὐτοῦ ὁ λόγος πρὸς τὴν νῦν ὑμετέραν ὀργὴν ἐς Μυτιληναίους τάχ᾽ ἂν ἐπισπάσαιτο: ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐ δικαζόμεθα πρὸς αὐτούς, ὥστε τῶν δικαίων δεῖν, ἀλλὰ βουλευόμεθα περὶ αὐτῶν, ὅπως χρησίμως ἕξουσιν.
BR> ‘ἐν οὖν ταῖς πόλεσι πολλῶν θανάτου ζημίαι πρόκεινται, καὶ οὐκ ἴσων τῷδε, ἀλλ᾽ ἐλασσόνων ἁμαρτημάτων: ὅμως δὲ τῇ ἐλπίδι ἐπαιρόμενοι κινδυνεύουσι, καὶ οὐδείς πω καταγνοὺς ἑαυτοῦ μὴ περιέσεσθαι τῷ ἐπιβουλεύματι ἦλθεν ἐς τὸ δεινόν. [2] πόλις τε ἀφισταμένη τίς πω ἥσσω τῇ δοκήσει ἔχουσα τὴν παρασκευὴν ἢ οἰκείαν ἢ ἄλλων ξυμμαχίᾳ τούτῳ ἐπεχείρησεν; [3] πεφύκασί τε ἅπαντες καὶ ἰδίᾳ καὶ δημοσίᾳ ἁμαρτάνειν, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι νόμος ὅστις ἀπείρξει τούτου, ἐπεὶ διεξεληλύθασί γε διὰ πασῶν τῶν ζημιῶν οἱ ἄνθρωποι προστιθέντες, εἴ πως ἧσσον ἀδικοῖντο ὑπὸ τῶν κακούργων. καὶ εἰκὸς τὸ πάλαι τῶν μεγίστων ἀδικημάτων μαλακωτέρας κεῖσθαι αὐτάς, παραβαινομένων δὲ τῷ χρόνῳ ἐς τὸν θάνατον αἱ πολλαὶ ἀνήκουσιν: καὶ τοῦτο ὅμως παραβαίνεται. [4] ἢ τοίνυν δεινότερόν τι τούτου δέος εὑρετέον ἐστὶν ἢ τόδε γε οὐδὲν ἐπίσχει, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ μὲν πενία ἀνάγκῃ τὴν τόλμαν παρέχουσα, ἡ δ᾽ ἐξουσία ὕβρει τὴν πλεονεξίαν καὶ φρονήματι, αἱ δ᾽ ἄλλαι ξυντυχίαι ὀργῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὡς ἑκάστη τις κατέχεται ὑπ᾽ ἀνηκέστου τινὸς κρείσσονος ἐξάγουσιν ἐς τοὺς κινδύνους. [5] ἥ τε ἐλπὶς καὶ ὁ ἔρως ἐπὶ παντί, ὁ μὲν ἡγούμενος, ἡ δ᾽ ἐφεπομένη, καὶ ὁ μὲν τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν ἐκφροντίζων, ἡ δὲ τὴν εὐπορίαν τῆς τύχης ὑποτιθεῖσα, πλεῖστα βλάπτουσι, καὶ ὄντα ἀφανῆ κρείσσω ἐστὶ τῶν ὁρωμένων δεινῶν. [6] καὶ ἡ τύχη ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῖς οὐδὲν ἔλασσον ξυμβάλλεται ἐς τὸ ἐπαίρειν: ἀδοκήτως γὰρ ἔστιν ὅτε παρισταμένη καὶ ἐκ τῶν ὑποδεεστέρων κινδυνεύειν τινὰ προάγει, καὶ οὐχ ἧσσον τὰς πόλεις, ὅσῳ περὶ τῶν μεγίστων τε, ἐλευθερίας ἢ ἄλλων ἀρχῆς, καὶ μετὰ πάντων ἕκαστος ἀλογίστως ἐπὶ πλέον τι αὑτὸν ἐδόξασεν. [7] ἁπλῶς τε ἀδύνατον καὶ πολλῆς εὐηθείας,ὅστις οἴεται τῆς ἀνθρωπείας φύσεως ὁρμωμένης προθύμως τι πρᾶξαι ἀποτροπήν τινα ἔχειν ἢ νόμων ἰσχύι ἢ ἄλλῳ τῳ δεινῷ.

‘οὔκουν χρὴ οὔτε τοῦ θανάτου τῇ ζημίᾳ ὡς ἐχεγγύῳ πιστεύσαντας χεῖρον βουλεύσασθαι οὔτε ἀνέλπιστον καταστῆσαι τοῖς ἀποστᾶσιν ὡς οὐκ ἔσται μεταγνῶναι καὶ ὅτι ἐν βραχυτάτῳ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν καταλῦσαι. [2] σκέψασθε γὰρ ὅτι νῦν μέν, ἤν τις καὶ ἀποστᾶσα πόλις γνῷ μὴ περιεσομένη, ἔλθοι ἂν ἐς ξύμβασιν δυνατὴ οὖσα ἔτι τὴν δαπάνην ἀποδοῦναι καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν ὑποτελεῖν: ἐκείνως δὲ τίνα οἴεσθε ἥντινα οὐκ ἄμεινον μὲν ἢ νῦν παρασκευάσεσθαι, πολιορκίᾳ δὲ παρατενεῖσθαι ἐς τοὔσχατον, εἰ τὸ αὐτὸ δύναται σχολῇ καὶ ταχὺ ξυμβῆναι; [3] ἡμῖν τε πῶς οὐ βλάβη δαπανᾶν καθημένοις διὰ τὸ ἀξύμβατον καί, ἢν ἕλωμεν, πόλιν ἐφθαρμένην παραλαβεῖν καὶ τῆς προσόδου τὸ λοιπὸν ἀπ᾽ αὐτῆς στέρεσθαι; ἰσχύομεν δὲ πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους τῷδε. [4] ὥστε οὐ δικαστὰς ὄντας δεῖ ἡμᾶς μᾶλλον τῶν ἐξαμαρτανόντων ἀκριβεῖς βλάπτεσθαι ἢ ὁρᾶν ὅπως ἐς τὸν ἔπειτα χρόνον μετρίως κολάζοντες ταῖς πόλεσιν ἕξομεν ἐς χρημάτων λόγον ἰσχυούσαις χρῆσθαι, καὶ τὴν φυλακὴν μὴ ἀπὸ τῶν νόμων τῆς δεινότητος ἀξιοῦν ποιεῖσθαι, ἀλλ᾽ ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων τῆς ἐπιμελείας. [5] οὗ νῦν τοὐναντίον δρῶντες, ἤν τινα ἐλεύθερον καὶ βίᾳ ἀρχόμενον εἰκότως πρὸς αὐτονομίαν ἀποστάντα χειρωσώμεθα, χαλεπῶς οἰόμεθα χρῆναι τιμωρεῖσθαι. [6] χρὴ δὲ τοὺς ἐλευθέρους οὐκ ἀφισταμένους σφόδρα κολάζειν, ἀλλὰ πρὶν ἀποστῆναι σφόδρα φυλάσσειν καὶ προκαταλαμβάνειν ὅπως μηδ᾽ ἐς ἐπίνοιαν τούτου ἴωσι, κρατήσαντάς τε ὅτι ἐπ᾽ ἐλάχιστον τὴν αἰτίαν ἐπιφέρειν.

‘ὑμεῖς δὲ σκέψασθε ὅσον ἂν καὶ τοῦτο ἁμαρτάνοιτε Κλέωνι πειθόμενοι. [2] νῦν μὲν γὰρ ὑμῖν ὁ δῆμος ἐν πάσαις ταῖς πόλεσιν εὔνους ἐστί, καὶ ἢ οὐ ξυναφίσταται τοῖς ὀλίγοις ἤ, ἐὰν βιασθῇ, ὑπάρχει τοῖς ἀποστήσασι πολέμιος εὐθύς, καὶ τῆς ἀντικαθισταμένης πόλεως τὸ πλῆθος ξύμμαχον ἔχοντες ἐς πόλεμον ἐπέρχεσθε. [3] εἰ δὲ διαφθερεῖτε τὸν δῆμον τὸν Μυτιληναίων, ὃς οὔτε μετέσχε τῆς ἀποστάσεως, ἐπειδή τε ὅπλων ἐκράτησεν, ἑκὼν παρέδωκε τὴν πόλιν, πρῶτον μὲν ἀδικήσετε τοὺς εὐεργέτας κτείνοντες, ἔπειτα καταστήσετε τοῖς δυνατοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὃ βούλονται μάλιστα: ἀφιστάντες γὰρ τὰς πόλεις τὸν δῆμον εὐθὺς ξύμμαχον ἕξουσι, προδειξάντων ὑμῶν τὴν αὐτὴν ζημίαν τοῖς τε ἀδικοῦσιν ὁμοίως κεῖσθαι καὶ τοῖς μή. [4] δεῖ δέ, καὶ εἰ ἠδίκησαν, μὴ προσποιεῖσθαι, ὅπως ὃ μόνον ἡμῖν ἔτι ξύμμαχόν ἐστι μὴ πολέμιον γένηται. [5] καὶ τοῦτο πολλῷ ξυμφορώτερον ἡγοῦμαι ἐς τὴν κάθεξιν τῆς ἀρχῆς, ἑκόντας ἡμᾶς ἀδικηθῆναι ἢ δικαίως οὓς μὴ δεῖ διαφθεῖραι: καὶ τὸ Κλέωνος τὸ αὐτὸ δίκαιον καὶ ξύμφορον τῆς τιμωρίας οὐχ εὑρίσκεται ἐν αὐτῷ δυνατὸν ὂν ἅμα γίγνεσθαι.

‘ὑμεῖς δὲ γνόντες ἀμείνω τάδε εἶναι καὶ μήτε οἴκτῳ πλέον νείμαντες μήτ᾽ ἐπιεικείᾳ, οἷς οὐδὲ ἐγὼ ἐῶ προσάγεσθαι, ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν δὲ τῶν παραινουμένων πείθεσθέ μοι Μυτιληναίων οὓς μὲν Πάχης ἀπέπεμψεν ὡς ἀδικοῦντας κρῖναι καθ᾽ ἡσυχίαν, τοὺς δ᾽ ἄλλους ἐᾶν οἰκεῖν. [2] τάδε γὰρ ἔς τε τὸ μέλλον ἀγαθὰ καὶ τοῖς πολεμίοις ἤδη φοβερά: ὅστις γὰρ εὖ βουλεύεται πρὸς τοὺς ἐναντίους κρείσσων ἐστὶν ἢ μετ᾽ ἔργων ἰσχύος ἀνοίᾳ ἐπιών.’