E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 3

δεινότερον . . δέος—‘a terror more terrible’; cf. VII 68 ἐχθροὶ καὶ ἔχθιστοι.

ἢ τόδε γε—‘else this,’ with emphasis on the second alternative (Neil on Aristoph. Eq. 413). Notice τόδε after τούτου, not very rare; e.g. Soph. Ant. 296.

ἡ μὲν πενία—to πενία is opposed the power—ἐξουσία —that results from wealth. A poor man is emboldened by necessity, as a rich man is made covetous by insolence and pride.

αἱ δ᾽ ἄλλαι ξυντυχίαι . . κινδύνους—‘the other condi tions of life,’ as they arise—temporary rather than permanent: these fill men with a sudden passion (ὀργῇ), ‘as each (ξυντυχία) is overpowered by some irrepressible power’—such e.g. as an overwhelming desire for independence. ὀργῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων coriesponds to τὴν τόλμαν παρέχουσα and τὴν πλεονεξίαν π. of the other clauses, while ἀνήκεστόν τι corresponds to ἀνάγκη and ὕβρις καὶ φρόνημα. Of the many alterations proposed, only τὸν ἄνθρωπον for τῶν ἀνθρώπων needs notice. It is not an improvement; for there is a point in τῶν ἀ., ‘passion in those men’ whom they befall, always there, like πλεονεξία and τόλμα, and ready to be called out by a favourable ξυντυχία. (Not ‘mankind,’ which would here be άνθρώπων, as ὀργῇ is without article. It has been proposed to refer έκάστη τις to ὀργῆ̣, but this would leave ξυντυχίαι too vague, and there would be little point in ἑκάστη τις.)