C.E. Graves, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 5

καὶ περὶ σωτηρίας—‘particula καί ita collocata est, ut si in altero membro καὶ τὸν λόγον...ἐχέτω γιγνόμενον vel similia quaedam essent secutura’ (Poppo): so iii 67, 6, ἀμύνατε οὖν καὶ τῷ νόμῳ.. καὶ ἡμῖν ἀνταπόδοτε χάριν δικαίαν. ἥδε πάρεστι— ‘is here present’. The Athenians deprecate appeals to abstract justice and the like, and call on the Melians to take a practical view of the actual facts.

οὔτε αὐτοί ..οὔθ̓ ὑμᾶς—‘well then, we make no pretence of fine words, and we beg you will not’. The ὀνόματα καλά are appeals to justice and the like, contrasted with τὰ δυνατά. Similar language is attributed to the Athenian envoy Euphemus at Camarina, vi. 83, 2, οὐ καλλιεπούμεθα, ὡς ἢ τὸν βάρβαρον μόνοι καθελόντες εἰκότως ἄρχομεν κ.τ.λ. See also the whole of the Athenian speech at Sparta before the war, i. 73—78. ὀνόματα = nomina, names of things; cf. iii. 82, 4, τὴν εἰωθυῖαν ἀξίωσιν τῶν ὀνομάτων ἀντήλλαξαν

ἀδικούμενοι—note the use of the present. ἐπεξερχόμεθα—‘are seeking redress, exacting vengeance’; iii. 38, 1, ὁ παθὼν ἐπεξέρχεται: vi. 38, 2, ἡμεῖς κακοὶ ἐπεξελθεῖν.

οὔθ̓ ὑμᾶς ἀξιοῦμεν—οὐκ ἀξιῶ = ‘I request you not’; ch. 26, 9: i. 136, 3, οὐκ ἀξιοῖ φεύγοντα τιμωρεῖσθαι. ἣ ὅτι... ἢ ὡς—dependent on λέγοντας. Αακεδαιμονίων .ξυνεστρατεύσατε—in sentences like this the verb states a fact of which the participle gives the reason; cf. line 2: iv. 27, 2, ἔχοντάς τι ίσχυρὸν αὐτοὺς ἐνόμιζον οὐκέτι ἐπικηρυκεύεσθαι, ‘thought they must have some strong ground to rely on as they made no more overtures’. Here we must supply with ξυν εστρατεύσατε either (1) αὐτοῖς, ‘though Lacedaemonian colonists you did not serve with them against us’. or (2) ἡμῖν, ‘you did not join us because you were Lacedaemonian colonists’. Either rendering gives good sense. In favour of (1), it is easier to supply αὐτοῖς from Λακεδαιμονίων than to understand ἡμῖν, and we also get a sharper antithesis to the following ἡμᾶς.

τὰ δυνατὰ...διαπράσσεσθαι—still dependent on ἀξιοῦμεν, ὑμᾶς being the subject. Classen holds that the subject is now not merely ὑμᾶς but ἐκάτεροι, ἀξιοῦμεν being taken in a somewhat altered sense ‘we think it right (for both of us) to endeavour to effect etc.’ But this view weakens the force of the sentence, in which, from οὔθ̓ ὑμᾶς, the Athenians are dictating to the Melians the line which they expect them to take. The middle form διαπράσσεσθαι implies mutual arrangement. 8 ἐπισταμένους πρὸς εἰδότας—‘since you know as well as we do’. πρὁς may be taken either with διαπράσσεσθαι, or generally in the sense of ‘dealing with, having to do with’.

ἐν τῷ ἀνθρωπείῳ λόγῳ—‘in the language (or reasoning) of (practical) men’, as opposed to the theories of philosophers and the dreams of fanatics: cf. ch. 111, 6, ἄνθρωποι: ch. 103, 9, ἀνθρωπείως: i. 76, 2, ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀνθρωπείου τρόπου: iii. 40, 1, ἁμαρτεῖν ἀνθρωπίνως.

ἀπό—‘from the standpoint of’; i. 21, 2, ἀπ̓ αὐτῶν τῶν ἔργων σκοποῦσι: or perhaps ‘starting from’, ‘backed by’; i. 91, 4, ἀπὸ ἀντιπάλου παρασκευῆς: cf. ch. 103, 2. ἀνάγκης—probably active = ‘power to compel’; i. 99, 1, προσάγοντες τὰς ἀνάγκας: but possibly ‘cum sunt ἐν ἴσῃ ἀνἁγκᾐ’. Questions of justice may be argued, when both parties are equal in strength, but now it is not a question of abstract justice, but of practical possibilities.

δυνατά—what can be practically realized; ‘but that is possible which the strong effect and the weak acquiesce in’: or possibly πράσσουσι may mean ‘exact’. For πράσσουσι the scholiast gives προστάσσουσι, which Dobree and Cobet would adopt; πράσσομεν however is similarly used in ch. 105, 4. The neuter plural is the object of ξυγχωροῦσιν, as in ch. 41, 12. CHAPTER XC

The Melians urge that, even setting aside abstract considerations of justice, they may hope for fair treatment on the ground of general expediency.

ᾗ μὲν δή—‘as we think, at any rate, it is ad vantageous’. Some editors have <*>με̂ς δή, or ἡμεῖς μὲν δή, making χρήσιμον depend on νομίζομεν.

ἀνάγκη γάρ—‘we must needs take the ground of expediency’. παρὰ τὸ δίκαιον—‘setting aside, passing by the question of justice’. ὑπέθεσθε—‘lay down the principle’, ‘make expediency the basis of discussion’.

τὸ κοινὸν ἀγαθόν—explained by what follows. It is the principle of equity, and reasonable consideration.

εἶναι τὰ εἰκότα καὶ δίκαια—‘that for him who from time to time is in danger (1) what is reasonable should be also considered just’; or (2) ‘he should have all that is reasonable and just’. (1) is supported by the absence of καί from the best manuscripts; while the scholiast's explanation, τὰ προσήκοντα καὶ τὰ δίκαια νέμεσθαι, is in favour of (2), which also gives a more emphatic force to εἶναι. Dobree is in favour of taking τὰ εἰκότα κ.τ.λ. as dependent, like τι καὶ ἐντός, on πείσαντα, ‘men in danger should be allowed, if they can plead what is reasonable and just, nay something even short of strict justice, to get the benefit thereof’. For this force of εἶναι cf. iii. 39, 9, ὅταν ἢ κατορθώσαντι ἐλευθέρωσις ᾖ, ἢ σφαλἐντι μηδὲν ἀνήκεστον παθεῖν. Krüger and Stahl would omit δίκαια.

καί τι καὶ ἐντός—‘something which even falls short of the strict letter’: Cic. Ep. Fam. ix. 26, 9, non modo non contra legem sed intra legem: so cis, citra; Tac. Ann. xi. 30, veniam petens quod ei cis Plautios cis Vettios dissimulavisset, ‘begging pardon for having hidden what he knew, so long as matters did not go beyond a Plautius and a Vettius’: ib. xii. 22, ira Agrippinae citra ultima stetit, ‘stopped short of extremities’.

τοῦ ἀκριβοῦς—‘strict justice’; iv. 47, 1, ὥστε ἀκριβῆ τὴν πρόφασιν γενέσθαι.

πείσαντα—nearly all manuscripts have πείσοντα, which some editors retain as = μέλλοντα πείσειν, ‘if he has the prospect of getting accepted’; ‘although he may be destined to fail in making out a strict case’ (Jowett). But the slight alteration to the aorist is preferable, ‘quum utilitas perfecta demum persuasione effici possit’ (Poppo). With πείσαντα is connected the neuter accusative τι (iv. 17, 1, ὅ τι ἂν πείθωμεν), and also, if Dobree's view be adopted, τινα as accusative of the object. Otherwise τινα is the subject of ὠφεληθῆναι. For the use of ὠφελεῖσθαι, cf. iii. 53, 3, ἐπεισενεγκάμενοι μαρτύρια ὠφελούμεθ̓ ἄν.

πρὸς ὑμῶν—‘for your advantage’, ‘in your interest’; iv. 17, 2, τὰ πλείω ὁρῶ πρὸς ἡμῶν ὄντα. οὐχ ἧσσον—litotes. The following ὅσῳ is connected with the comparative. ἐπὶ μεγίστῃ τιμωρίᾳ—ἐπί seems here connected with σφαλέντες, to denote the conditions under which the Athenians would be defeated if such an event should take place: ‘having the heaviest vengeance to look for in case you should be overthrown’. So we say ‘standing to lose’ so much on a future event. Krüger and Classen connect the words with παράδειγμα ἂν γένοισθε, taking ἐπί to denote the accompanying circumstances and conditions; ‘you would, by the heavy vengeance which you would incur, become an example to others’. Others render ‘an example for inflicting vengeance’, meaning that the Athenians are setting a precedent which may be used against them if they fall. But the idea is rather that if punishment should hereafter fall on Athens it would be so heavy as to be a warning to all other nations against lawless ambition. For παρά. δειγμα in the sense of a warning example, which certainly seems the meaning here, cf. iii. 39, 3. CHAPTER XCI

The Athenians set aside general considerations. They are competent to look after their own interests. Now they are come with a definite purpose; and they urge that it is better for both sides that the Melians should submit to their power.

τὴν τελευτήν—an unusual accusative. It is explained by Classen as an extension of the adverbial construction, like ἀποροῦντες ταῦτα ch. 40, 16. There however ταῦτα = ταύτας τὰς ἀπορίας, and the accusative is cognate and ‘internal’; which is not the case with τελευτήν here. Poppo says ‘compara cum τρέμειν τί, φρίσσειν τι, φοβεῖσθαί τι, ἐκπλήσσεσθαι τι, Latinis tremere aliquid, horrere aliquid, similibus’. Elsewhere ἀθυμεῖν is connected with the dative; as in vii. 60, 5, τῷ κρατηθῆναι ἀθυμοῦντας. Here the dative would give a wrong sense, ‘we are cast down by’, and would imply that the τελευτή was a fact already reached, not merely a future possibility. Herodotus has ἀπορέοντι τὴν ἔλασιν (iii. 4), and ἀπορέοντι τὴν ἐξαγωγήν (iv. 179).

ὥσπερ καί—ch. 44, 10: ch. 92, 2. οὗτοι—so iv. 44, 3, τοῖς δ̓ <*>μίσεσι τῶν Κορινθίων. τούτοις οὐ κατάδηλος ἡ μάχη ἦν. It has been suggested to read οὕτω, as in ch. 59, 20.

ἔστι δέ—parenthetical; οὐ γὰρ οὗτοι δεινοί being answeied by ἀλλ̓ ἤν, sc. οὗτοι δεινοί or τοῦτο δεινόν. Some editors put a stop before ἔστι, making the opposition between οὐ πρός., and ἀλλ̓ ἤν. The sense is against this, as it would imply that the Melians were already ὐπἡκοοι and the Athenians ἄρξαντες, which was not the case. The insertion of a parenthetical clause is also thoroughly Thucydidean.

ὁ ἀγών = we are not now contending with Sparta: for a similar use of the article cf ch. 101, 2: ch. 110, 3.

αὐτοὶ ἐπιθέμενοι—cf. Cleon's arguments for punishing the Mytileneans, iii. 39 and 40. He especially insists on the danger arising from the unprovoked character of their insurrection; ἐπέθεντο ἡμῖν οὐκ ὰδικούμενοι—προυπάρξαντες ἁδικίας, etc.

ἀφείσθω—‘let it be left to us’. κινδυνεύεσθαι—impersonal passive, as in i. 73, 2, ἐπὶ ὠφελίᾳ ἐκινδυνεύετο: so iv. 19, 1, διακινδυνεύεσθαι.

ἐπ᾽ ὠφελίᾳ—the order is emphatic, ‘that it is with a view to advantage we are here, the advantage that is of our empire’, etc.

ἀπόνως—without the trouble of war. ἄρξαι—‘to become your lords’; so δουλεῦσαι ‘to submit to your yoke’, in the next chapter, ὑπακοῦσαι; ch. 93, etc. χρησίμως—with ἀμφοτέροις. CHAPTER XCII

χρήσιμον—note the adjective with ξυμβαίη: vi. 34, 9, χρησιμώτατον ἂν ξυμβῆναι: so especially τοιοῦτος, i. 74, 1, τοιούτου ξύμβαντος τούτου: vii. 30 fin. etc. Here, ξυμβαίνειν may have the idea of coinciding interests.

ὥσπερ καί—so ch. 91, 3: cf. ch. 13, 8 note. CHAPTER XCIII

The Athenians hint significantly enough that resistance is hopeless, and will involve terrible calamities. γένοιτο—γίγνεσθαι here = contingere, licere. Krüger compares Xen. Anab. i. 9, 13, ἐγένετο καὶ Ἕλληνι καὶ βαρβάρῳ ἀδεῶς πορεύεσθαι: id. Cyr. vi. 3, 11, ὦ Ζεῦ μέγιστε, λαβεῖν μοι γένοιτο αὐτόν. CHAPTER XCIV

The Melians suggest the possibility of a strict neutrality on their part being acceptable.

ὥστε δέ—‘but on condition that...would you not accept us?’ or ‘would you not accept such terms?’ For ὥστε of conditions cf. ch. 17, 14: and for δέχομαι ch. 32, 24. ὥστε δέ is the reading of some manuscripts but not of the majority. It is probably right, as δέ is used in a similar way in the beginning of cc. 96 and 98. If ὥστε only be read, it goes with οὐκ ἂν δέξαισθε, on which the infinitive construction φίλους εἷναι then depends: cf. i. 143, 2, οὐδεὶς ἂν δέξαιτο τὴν αὑτοῦ φεύγειν. The sentence is thus a timid suggestion on the part of the Melians, ‘so that...you would not agree to our being neutral’, or ‘would you not agree?’

δέξαισθε—so most editors for δέξοισθε, which has the best manuscript authority, and is retained by Classen. This would be a strange use of the future optative = οὐκ ἂν μέλλοιτε δέξεσθαι; ‘would you not be likely to accept us?’ No similar instance is quoted; indeed the future optative with ἄν is unknown. For its legitimate use see Goodwin § 128—134. CHAPTER XCV

The Athenians reply that to accept such an offer would be a manifest proof of weakness.

οὐ γάρ—=‘no, for’ etc. ὅσον ἡ φιλία—in this extraordinary sentence φιλία does double duty, first as the subject of the verb and then in apposition, while τὸ μῖσος corresponds appositionally to ἡ ἔχθρα, the order of φιλία and ἔχθρα being reversed. ‘Verba sic resolvenda sunt, ὅσον ἡ φιλία, ἡ μὲν ἀσθενείας παράδειγμα οὖσα, τὸ δὲ μῖσος .δηλούμενον’ (Poppo). Possibly ἡ φιλία, ἡ μέν should actually be read for ἡ φιλία μέν: but more likely the sentence grew up in some such way as this— (1) οὐ τοσοῦτον βλάπτει ἡ ἔχθρα ὑμῶν ὅσον ἡ φιλία: (2) ὅσον ἡ φιλία, ἀσθενείας παράδειγμα οὖσα: (3) ὅσον ἡ φιλία μὲν...τὸ δὲ μῖσος, ‘your enmity does not injure us so much as your friendship, being on the one hand a proof of weakness, your hatred being etc.’ Cleon utters similar sentiments, e.g. iii. 39, 5, πέφυκε γὰρ καὶ ἄλλως ἄνθρωπος τὸ μὲν θεραπεῦον ὑπερφρονεῖν, τὸ δὲ μὴ ὐπεῖκον θαυμάζειν: cf. oderint dum metuant (Krüger). CHAPTER XCVI

Are friendly relations then, ask the Melians, between you and the Greek islanders, an invariable proof of weakness? Is there no difference between strangers and your own colonists?

τούς τε μὴ προσήκοντας—‘those who have no connexion with you’, and on whom you have no claim. ὅσοι...οἱ πολλοί τινές—a notable instance of appositional construction, ‘all who, being mostly colonists, and having revolted in some cases’; cf. iv. 62, 2, πλείους ἤδη .ἐλπίσαντες ἕτ εροι.

κεχείρωνται—‘the verb does not apply strictly to ἄποικοι, but only to τινές, and under the influence of ἀποστάντες is used instead of a more general verb, such as ἄρχονται’ (Jowett).

ἐς τὸ αὐτὸ τιθ<*>ασιν—‘put under the same head, reckon together’; iv. 73, 2, καὶ αὐτοῖς τὴν νίκην δικαίως ἂν τίθεσθαι: see Liddell and Scott, τίθημι B. ii. 3, for various phrases with εἰς, ἐν, adverbs etc. In Latin we have a similar usage of traho, ibidem traho, traho ad, in; e.g. Plaut. Trin. ii. 4, 10, ibidem una traho, ‘I count it under the same head’. CHAPTER XCVII

No, reply the Athenians; our subjects are convinced that all such things are mere questions of material strength.

δικαιώματι—‘in plea of justice’, ‘rationes quibus suam causam tueantur’; i. 41, 1, διλαιώματα τάδε πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἔχομεν. The dative is not elsewhere in Thucydides found with ἐλλείπειν, which takes the genitive, i. 80, 4, πολλῷ ἔτι πλέον τούτου <*>λλείπομεν (where Kruger reads τούτῳ): ii. 61, 4, τῆς ὑπαρχούσης δόξης ἐλλείπει. The construction is however not unreasonable, as the dative denotes that in which the deficiency occurs; and a genitive of the person, ἄλλων or ὑμῶν, is virtually implied. It may also be supported by such constructions as ch. 72, 10, τῇ ἐμπειρίᾳ ἐλασσωθέντες: so vi. 69, 1, τῇ προθυμίᾳ ἐλλιπεῖς. Kruger suggests reading ἐλλιπεῖς here. One manuscript has δικαιώματα, and this would go well either with the accusative or οὐδετέροις.

κατὰ δύναμιν—lit. ‘m accordance with’. It is a question of material strength and power, not of abstract justice. περιγίγνεσθαι = ‘escape submission’; ἐλευθέρους μένειν, as explained by the scholiast.

ἔξω—ch. 26, 13: i. 9, 7 etc. Thuc. and Hdt., also Xen. Anab. vii. 3, 10. καὶ τοῦ seems awkward; should it be τοῦ καί? Note aorist ἄρξαι, as in ch. 91, 10.

νησιῶται ναυκρατόρων—these words are put together for the sake of antithesis, ναυκρατόρων being dependent grammatically on περιγένοισθε, ‘especially as you are islanders while we are lords of the sea, weaker islanders too than others, should you not escape submission (get the better of us)’. In vi. 82, 2, according to the manuscript reading, there is a still harsher construction, ἡμεῖς Ἴωνες ὄντες Πελοποννησίοις Δωριεῦσι ..ἐσκεψάμεθα ὅτῳ τρόπῳ ἥκιστα αὐτῶν ὑπακουσόμεθα. There Δωριεῦσι is first put out of its place for the sake of antithesis, and then the construction changes. For the juxtaposition cf. vi. 6, 3, Δωριῆς δὲ Δωριεῦσι...βοηθήσαντες. CHAPTER XCVIII

The Melians now point out the probable danger to Athens of her overbearing policy.

ἐν δ̓ ἐκείνῳ—either (1) ‘in the former case’, i.e. in the neutrality proposed in ch. 94; or (2) like illud, referring to what is coming, ὅσοι γάρ κ.τ.λ. (2) seems more probable, as δέ in this dialogue generally introduces a fresh point or suggestion. The meaning affects the sense to be given to οὐ νομίζετε ἀσφάλειαν, either (1) sc. εἶναι, ‘do you think there is no security?’, or (2) do you not take safety into consideration?’.

δεῖ γάρ . πείθειν—parenthetical. αὖ καὶ ἐνταῦθα—as well as in the case suggested in ch. 90. ἐκβιβάσαντες—Classen reads ἐκβιάσαντες, and ἐκβιάζοιεν in vi. 64, 1, with some MSS. authority. ἐκβιάζω however is not found before Plutarch (passive Soph. Phil. 1129), while ἐκβιβάζω has better classical authority, but only in its literal sense (vii. 39, 2: Hdt. vii. 130: Xen. etc.).

τῷ ὑμετέρῳ ξυμφόρῳ—‘to be subservient to your interests’; iv. 87, 2, τῷ ὑμετέρῳ εὔνῳ βλάπτωνται. τὸ αὐτό may be appositional with χρήσιμον, ‘at the same time’, like idem; as in iv. 17, 1, ὄ τι ἂν ὑμῖν τε ὠφέλιμον ὂν τὸ αὐτὸ πείθωμεν. ξυμβαῖνον—the regular participial construction with τυγχάνω. Poppo says ‘simul audi χρήσιμον’, as in ch. 92. ξυμβαίνειν is indeed used in the sense of turning out well, as in iii. 3, 3, ἢν ξυμβῇ ἡ πεῖρα, but ὑμῖν ξυμβαῖνον by itself can scarcely mean ‘expedient for you’.

μηδετέροις—μή shows that ὅσοι = εἴ τινες: cf. ch. 110, 6. In ch. 30, 13, where dennite persons are meant, ὅσοι is followed by οὐ. πῶς οὐ—‘must you not make them your enemies?’ πολεμοῦσθαι is elsewhere passive, as twice in i. 57, 1. Sometimes forms may come either from πολεμοῦσθαι or πολεμεῖσθαι, for instance πολεμοῦνται, iv. 20, 3.

τάδε—i.e. our case, what is doing here. Note the emphatic position of ποτε: they will feel that the day will come when they too will be assailed: vi. 78, 4, τάχ᾽ ἂν ἴσως καὶ τοῖς ὲμοῖς ἀγαθοῖς ποτε βουληθείη αὖθις φθονῆσαι.

κἀν τούτῳ—‘herein’, i.e. hereby: slightly different ii. 8, 3: iv. 14, 2, etc. For τί ἄλλο ἤ see note on ch. 87, 2. μεγαλύνετε—‘strengthen’, in numbers etc.: in vi. 28, 2, of magnifying a crime. μελλήσοντας—In ch. 30, 4, we have the aorist infinitive following the present of μέλλειν: so vi. 30, 2. Many editors however adopt the correction μελλήσαντας. which is supported by the scholiast's explanation διανοηθέντας

ἐπάγεσθε—‘bring on yourselves’ as enemies; vi. 10, 1, πολεμίους έπαγαγέσθαι. CHAPTER XCIX

The Athenians reply that they do not fear the hostility of large powers so much as the insubordinate spirit of islanders.

τῷ ἐλευθέρῳ—dative of the cause, ‘from their freedom’, i.e. freedom from Athenian rule or the danger of it. The idea is that the mainland cities would be free from the feeling of imminent peril, which might at any time drive the islanders to desperate risks. Stahl suggests τῶν ἐλευθέρων, comparing vii. 44, 8, ὅσοι ἧσαν τῶν προτέρων στρατιωτῶν. διαμέλλησις is not found elsewhere: the verb occurs i. 142, 1 etc.

ἀλλά—following οὐ and the comparative; i. 83, 1, ὁ πόλεμος οὐχ ὅπλων τὸ πλέον ἀλλὰ δαπάνης: so ii. 43, 2 etc.

τοὺς νησιώτας τέ που—Krüger alters που into τούς, and the article seems certainly required; unless indeed ἀνάρκτους ὥσπερ ὑμᾶς (sc. ὄντας) can be taken as a predicate.

καὶ τοὺς ἤδη—‘and those who are already exasperated by the constraint of our empire’. The subject allies are meant, see i. 76, 77, where the Athenians point out that the rule of sovereign states must needs be galling in time of war. Classen misunderstands this passage, taking παροξυνομένους to refer to the ἄναρκτοι who were ‘already made desperate’ by the ‘inevitable danger’ (τῷ ἀναγκαίῳ) of Athenian empire. With this view he proposes to leave out τε after νησιώτας and τούς before ἤδη. The next chapter however shows conclusively that οἱ δουλεύοντες ἤδη are meant.

πλεῖστα ἐπιτρέψαντες—Hdt. iii. 36, 1, μὴ πάντα ἡλικίῃ καὶ θυμῷ ἐπίτρεπε: in both passages the verb appears to have an active force. Sometimes the accusative is not expressed, Hom. Il. x. 79, ἐπέτρεπε γήραἱ λυγρῷ (the only instance in Homer): Plat Legg. 802 B, ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις.

ἐς προὗπτον κίνδυνον—Hdt. ix. 17, προόπτῳ θανάτῳ δώσειν: Aesch. etc. For the construction cf. ii. 100, 6, ἐς κίνδυνον καθίστασαν. Classen quotes other instances with ἐς. CHAPTER C

The Melians now urge that tame submission would be most dishonourable.

ἦ που ἄρα—‘surely then’; i. 142, 1, ἦ που δή, ‘much more’: vi. 37, 3, ἦ πού γε δή. For ἄρα. stating an inference subjectively, see Liddell and Scott. Note the emphatic force of γε twice in this sentence.

μὴ παυθῆναι—the infinitives express purpose and follow τὴν παρακινδύνευσιν ποιοῦνται (Goodwin § 770). ἀρχῆς—so iii. 40, 4, παύεσθαι τῆς ἀρχῆς. παρακινδύνευσις is only found here; the verb occurs twice in Thucydides, and is not uncommon elsewhere. The preposition gives the idea of reckless venture.

πᾶν ἐπεξελθεῖν—‘to do and suffer anything’ (Jowett). Xen. Anab. iii. 1, 18, οὐκ ἂν ἐπὶ πᾶν ἔλθοι; ib. πάντα ποιητέον: Soph. O. T. 260, ἐπὶ πάντ᾽ ἀφίξομαι. For the accusative construction, cf. i. 70, 4, ἃ ἂν ἐπινοήσαντες μὴ ἐπεξέλθωσιν. πρὸ τοῦ δουλεῦσαι—‘before submitting to your yoke’: or is πρό used of choice, as in ch. 36, 18? CHAPTER CI

Not so, reply the Athenians; honour does not require you to contend against hopeless odds.

οὐκ, ἤν γε—so iii. 66 fin. ὁ ἀγών—‘you are not now contending’ etc.; see note on ch. 91, 4. The infinitives are explanatory of the purpose, as in ch. 100, ἀπὸ τοῦ ἴσου— opposed to πρὸς τοὺς κρείσσονας πολλῷ, αἰσχύνην ὀφλεῖν—‘to incur disgrace, forfeit honour’. CHAPTER CII

The Melians suggest that their case is not absolutely hopeless, as the chances of warfare are uncertain.

τἀ τῶν πολέμων—ii. 11, 3, ἄδηλα τὰ τῶν πολέμων: see also i. 78. κοινοτέρας—‘more impartial’; in which sense κοινός is applied to persons iii. 53, 2: κοινῇ (perhaps) iv. 83, 4. ‘κοιναὶ τύχαι sunt casus, qui utrisque possunt accidere, adeoque incerti, ancipites, inexspectati, si accidunt potentioribus quae accidere posse non putares’ (Goller): Lys. ii. 10, τὰς ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ τύχας κοινὰς ἁπάντων ἀνθρώπων νομίζοντες: Plut. Nic. 27, κοιναὶ αἱ τύχαι τοῦ πολέμου. So Hom. Il. xviii. 309, ξυνὸς Ἐνυάλιος, καί τε κτανέοντα κατέκτα: cf. Cic. Scst. 5, 12, communem martem belli metuenti, where see Holden's note.

ἔστιν ὅτε—‘at times’; see note on ἔστιν ἧ, iv. 32, 3. τὰς τύχας—the fortunes, various phases of war, on several occasions; i. 78, 1: iv. 18, 4, ὡς ἂν αἱ τύχαι ἡγήσωνται. λαμβάνοντα—apparently ‘receiving’ or ‘admitting of’. ἔχοντα might almost be substituted; but ἔχω would imply what is inherent and invariable, while λαμβάνω only suggests what sometimes happens. Classen cites vi. 86, 3, ὅταν καιρὸν λάβωσιν, ‘when they get an opportunity’, but this is not a similar usage.

ἢ κατά—‘than might be expected from’, lit. ‘corresponding to’ etc.: i. 76, 3, δικαιότεροι ἢ κατὰ τὴν δύναμιν. εὐθύς seems to belong to ἀνέλπιστον, as ἔτι does to ἐλπίς, but the position is ambiguous.

μετὰ τοῦ δρωμένου—so μετὰ κινδύνων commonly. vi. 16, 3, ἐκ τοῦ δρωμένου. For this use of the participle see note on ch. 9, 14: cf. ii, 63, 1, τῆς πόλεως τῷ τιμωμένῳ βοηθεῖν.

ὀρθῶς—with στῆναι: some suggest ὀρθούς oi ὀρθοῖς. CHAPTER CIII

The Athenians reply by urging the great danger the Melians incur by risking their all on one vague chance.

κινδύνῳ παραμύθιον οὖσα—the sense required is ‘an encouragement to risk’, rather than ‘a solace (relief) to danger’. Whether this meaning can be fairly derived from the dative construction is doubtful. It scarcely corresponds to such phrases as δόσις θεοῖς Plat. Euthyph. 17 c: διακονία πόλει Rep. 493 D: for we conld not say παραμυθεῖσθαι κινδύνῳ, though we can say διδόναι θεοῖς παραμύθιον is commonly found with the genitive, and Kruger here reads κινδύνου.

ἀπὸ περιουσίας—‘with plenty to fall back on’, not risking their all. For ἀπό see ch. 89, 9. χρωμένους αὐτῇ—lit. ‘having recourse to her’, or ‘associating with her’. hope being personified: Ar. Vesp. 1028, τὰς Μούσας αἷσιν χρῆται.

βλάψῃ καθεῖλεν—the metaphor of στῆναι in the last chapter is carried on: hope may ‘hinder’ such men, and check them in their course, but does not ‘lay them prostrate.’ καθεῖλεν is the gnomic aorist, which describes what generally happens because it has happened before; Goodwin § 155. The following is from Dr Sandys' note on Dem. Lept. 471, § 49, where βλάπτουσιν is immediately followed by ἀσφαλῶς. βλάπτω (though not from the same root as λαμβάνω) has in old Greek the special meaning of impeding, checking, arresting (Il. vi. 39: vii. 271 etc.). Hence it is combined with φυγεῖν in Soph. El. 697, ὅταν δέ τις θεῶν βλάπτῃ δύναιτ᾽ ἂν οὐδ̓ ἂν ίσχύων φυγεῖν: and Aj. 455. Even in prose we have what may be fairly regarded as a reminiscence, possibly a half unconscious reminiscence, of the older use of the word: as in the present passage of Thucydides; and in vii. 68, 3, κινδύνων οὗτοι σπανιώτατοι, οἳ ἂν ἥκιστα ἰκ τοῦ σφαλῆναι βλάπτοντες πλεῖστα διὰ τὸ εὐτυχῆσαι ὠφελῶσιν.

τοῖς δ̓ ...ἀναρριπτοῦσι—‘but as for those who stake their all on the cast’, lit. throw the die, run the risk, so as to extend to their all: iv. 92, 4, ἐς πᾶσαν εἷς ὅρος παγήσεται, ‘one limit will be fixed, extending to and including all our land’. With ἀναρριπτοῦσι is to be understood κίνδυνον: iv. 85, 2: iv. 95, 1. Classen reads ἀναρριπτοῦσα agreeing with ἐλπίς, but the alteration does not seem to improve the grainmar or the sense. ἀναρριπτεῖν is used of the person who incurs the risk, not of hope which causes it.

δάπανος—sc. ελπις ἐστιν: according to Lid. and Scott, a rare form of the adjective, which is usually δαπανηρός. ἅμα τε—‘she is found out when they are ruined’ (lit. tripped up and brought to the ground), not before. ἅμα goes with the participle, which is in the genitive absolute, sc. αὐτῶν.

καὶ. .οἰκ ἐλλείπει—most editors take ἐλλείπει transitively, ‘she leaves no room for one to guard against her afterwards when she is found out’, i e. her delusive character is not found out till recovery is hopeless. In support of this view may be cited Soph. El. 736, ἐλλελειμμένον ‘left in’: Eur. El. 609, οὐδ̓ ἐλλέλοιπας ἐλπίδ̓, ‘nor have you left ground for hope’. So προσέχω is occasionally found in the sense ‘to have besides’, as in Plat. Rep. 521 D. Poppo however takes ἐλλείπει here in its usual sense of failing, and ἐν ὅτῳ to mean ‘whilst’, as ἐξ ὅτου is used of time by Xenophon. This seems the simpler view; and the sense is excellent; that men continue to hope till their condition is desperate. On the other hand the future φυλάξεται seems more appropriate to a dependent relative construction.

ὅ—ch. 107, 3: 109, 3. ἐπὶ ῥοπῆς μιᾶς—Eur. Hip. 1164, δέδορκε φῶς ἐπὶ σμικρᾶς ῥοπῆς: Soph. Trach. 82, ἐν ῥοπῇ τοιᾷδε κειμένῳ. The metaphorical use of ῥοπή, ‘a turn of the scale’, is frequent both in prose and verse.

μὴ βούλεσθε παθεῖν—‘do not let this be your case’: Plat. Phaedr. 236 c, μὴ βούλου: so noli, nolite. The whole phrase is equivalent to ‘do not you act thus unadvisedly’: see note on παθεῖν, iv. 17, 4.

οἷς παρόν—the usual form, not οἳ, παρὸν (αὐτοῖς): so in Latin, cui cum nuntiatum esset, Romam advolavit. For ἀνθρωπείως see note on ch. 89, 9. καθίστανται—‘betake themselves’ = καταφεύγουσι (schol.).

μετ᾽ ἐλπίδων—‘combined with hopes’, i.e. by encouraging vague hopes. λυμαίνεται—‘ruin men,’ ‘are their bane.’ CHAPTER CIV

The Melians urge that their hopes are not absolutely unreasonable. Heaven will defend their righteous cause; and Sparta will aid them as allies and kinsmen.

εἰ μὴ...ἔσται—sc. ἡ τύχη: ‘if it shall not be impartial’. According to some ἀγωνίζεσθαι is to be supplied, ‘if we shall not be able to contend’. τῇ μὲν τύχῃ—cf. ch. 112, 8, which suggests that the dative is governed by πιστεύομεν, the following infinitive being explanatory: otherwise we should naturally take it with ἐλασσώσεσθαι, as in ch. 72, 10, which would make the general construction of the sentence more regular.

ὅσιοι—only here of persons; ‘righteous’, observant of τὸ ὅσιον (iii. 84, 2). ἱστάμεθα—‘we take our stand’; i. 53, 2, ἡμῖν ἐμποδὼν ἵστασθε ὅπλα ἀνταιρόμενοι. Here ἵστασθαι πρός denotes opposition. Poppo points out that it generally has a different meaning, as in iv. 56, 4, πρὸς τὴν ἐκείνων γνώμην ἕστασαν.

τῷ ἐλλείποντι—dependent on προσέσεσθαι, as is ἡμῖν though less directly, and with an ethical force. In illustration of the double dative, Krüger cites Eur. Hel. 1248, τί σοι παράσχω δῆτα τῷ τεθνηκότι; what service am I to do for you to the dead?

αἰσχύνῃ—=διὰ τὸ αἰσχρόν, ch. 105, 14: because they were bound in honour, as we should say. CHAPTER CV

The Athenians reply that they are doing nothing to forfeit the favour of heaven; and the Melians cannot trust for help the Spartan sense of honour.

πρὸς τὸ θεῖον—Krüger suggests τοῦ θείου and Meineke περὶ τὸ θεῖον. Classen however seems to give the right explanation. The Athenians are speaking not only of the favour they would receive from heaven, but of the general terms on which they stood with the divinity. Their relations with the gods were as good as any one's, for there was nothing unusual in their conduct. Relationship generally is expressed by πρός, see note on iv. 80, 2: cf. iv. 51, ποιησάμενοι πρὸς Ἀθη<*>αίους πίστεις, etc. = ‘having secured pledges from the Athenians’: Dem. de Cor. 237 § 36, τὴν ἀπέχθειαν τὴν πρὸς Θηβαίους γενέσθαι τῇ πόλει.

οὐδ̓ ἡμεῖς—any more than you; an answer to ὅτι ὅσιοι πρὸς οὐ δικαίους ἱστάμεθα. ch. 104, 5.

ἀνθρωπείας—this adjective belongs to both nouns, ‘there is nothing in our claims or in our conduct beyond what men hold in regard to the divinity and will as regards themselves’: cf. ii. 44, 2, οἳ ἂν τῆς εὐπρεπεστάτης λάχωσι. οἵδε μὲν τελευτῆς, ὑμεῖς δὲ λύπης. νόμισις, which is only found here in Thucydides, is explained by ἡγούμεθα δόξῃ in the next sentence, and therefore denotes current belief and accepted opinion. Classen however follows the scholiast in understanding it of the observances of religion, τἁ νενομισμένα, τὰ εἰθισμένα. βούλησις—‘will and purpose’, tending to policy and action, ή εἰς ἀνθρώπους προαίρεσις, as the scholiast explains.

ἡγούμεθα δόξῃ . σαφῶς—‘we hold in point of opinion, as an obvious fact’. διὰ παντός—always, continually; i. 38, 1, etc. θέντες—cf. Hdt. vii. 8, οὔτ᾽ αὐτὸς κατηγήσομαι νόμον τόνδε ἐν ὑμῖν τιθείς, παραδεξάμενός τε αὐτῷ χρήσομαι. All this is an echo of the Athenian speech at Sparta in 432; see i. 76. Note the prominence of the participial clauses in this sentence. εἰδότες καὶ ὑμᾶς ἂν ..ἂν—ἄν is repeated ‘in a long sentence, to make the conditional force felt through the whole, especially when the connexion is broken by intermediate clauses. It may also be done in order to emphasize particular words with which it is joined, and to make them prominent, as being affected by the contingency’ (Goodwin, § 223).

ἡμῖν—i.e. the same that we have: so with genitive, as in iv. 92, 4, ἐπικινδυνότερον ἑτέρων τὴν παροίκησιν τῶνδε ἔχομεν, ‘than that of others’.

αὐτό—‘it’ or ‘this’; cf. ch. 27, 4. Classen follows Stahl in reading ταὐτό.

ἐλασσώσεσθαι—this is a singular instance of the future infinitive with a verb of fearing. Here the construction with μή might be expected; but probably the infinitive has to some extent the nature of an object=‘we regard without fear the prospect of coming off the worse’. Such instances as i. 136, 1, δεδιέναι ἔχειν αὐτόν, ‘to be afraid of keeping him’, iv. 110, 3, κατέδεισαν ἐσελθεῖν, ‘were afraid to enter’, are different. There the infinitive denotes the direct object of the verb; and μὴ ἐσέλθωσιν, for instance, could not be substituted. See Goodwin, § 372 sq. As a general principle the future infinitive is a favourite Thucydidean usage when the intention is ‘to make the reference to the future especially prominent’; Goodwin, § 113.

τῆς. δόξης—dependent on both τὸ ἀπειρόκακον and τὸ ἄφρον: the subjective genitive ὑμῶν also belongs to both.

ἥν...πιστεύετε—the conjecture ᾗ is tempting, but the cognate construction is scarcely harsher than βούλησιν ἐλπίζει, vi. 78, 2: cf. ἄ ch. 9, 18. μακαρίσαντες—‘we felicitate you on your guilelessness but do not envy your folly’.

πλεῖστα—i. 3, 4, πλείω χρώμενοι: ii. 11, 5, λογισμῷ ἐλάχιστα χρώμενοι. πρὸς δὲ τοὺς ἄλλους—dependent on προσφέρονται, and placed first to emphasize the antithesis.

πολλὰ ἄν—Poppo compares Dem. Olynth. iii. 36, τὰ μὲν ἄλλα σιωπῶ, πόλλ̓ ἀν ἔχων εἰπεῖν: de Chers. πάντα τἄλλ̓ εἰπὼν ἂν ἡδέως. ξυνελών—iii. 40, 4, ἓν δὲ ξυνελὼν λέγω, etc. ὧ ἴσμεν—i. 18, 1, ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ὧν ἴσμεν χρόνον.

πρός—‘in favour of’; ch. 90, 6. ἀλόγου—which you cannot reasonably expect; cf. Dem. Aristocr. 672 § 158, τυγχάνει ταύτης τῆς ἀλόγου καὶ ἀπροσδοκήτου σωτηρίας. This clause answers the end of the last chapter. ἡ τοιαύτη διάνοια—such principles as these. CHAPTER CVI

But, say the Melians, their own interest will make the Spartans help us.

κατ᾽ αὐτὸ τοῦτο—‘in accordance with this very thing’, or ‘on this very point’, that is the Lacedaemonians' regard to their in terests: Soph. Phil. 438, κατ᾽ αὐτὸ τοῦτό γε ἀναξίου μὲν φωτὸς ἐξερήσομαι. ἤδη—apparently ‘now that we are come to this point’: Krüger suggests δή. καὶ μάλιστα—ch. 73, 21.

τῷ ξυμφέροντι αὐτῶν—probably dependent on πιστεύομεν, as a similar construction occurs in 104, 4: 111, 6: 112, 8. It may however be taken with the following words, as dative of the cause, like τῷ ἐλευθἑρῳ, ch. 99, 2. αὑτῶν has been proposed, but Classen justly points out that τῷ αὑτῶν ξυμφέροντι would be required; see note on ch. 71, 3. Why not connect αὑτῶν with ἀποίκους ὄντας? It would give a forcible sense.

καταστῆναι—to make themselves, put themselves in a certain position. It implies something more permanent than γενέσθαι. CHAPTER CVII

The interests of the Spartans will not lead them into danger.

οὔκουν οἴεσθε—‘you do not then think’, i.e. you seem to forget; so most editors; Classen makes the sentence interrogative, ‘do you not think?’ i.e. of course you do. μετὰ κινδύνου δρᾶσθαι—simply ‘involve danger (in doing)’. Poppo takes οἴεσθε as=οἴεσθε δεῖν, a force which some give to νομίζειν iv. 86, 4: iv. 117, 1. In those passages however no such sense is required, and here it is entirely out of place. For δρᾶσθαι the reading of nearly all MSS. is δρᾶσαι. Jowett would retain this, supplying τινά as subject. CHAPTER CVIII

Their interests, say the Melians, will surely impel them to stand by their own colony.

καί—emphasizes κινδύνους. The following τε is suspicious. Classen, comparing ch. 82, 16, considers that it connects the two infinitive clauses.

ἐγχειρίσασθαι—‘undertake’; the middle is not found elsewhere before Dio Cassius.

βεβαιοτέρους—‘will consider such risks less hazardous than (if undertaken) in the case of others’. βέβαιος seems a strange word to apply to κίνδυνος: cf. however iii. 39, 6, τὸν μετὰ τῶν ὀλίγων κίνδυνον ἡγησάμενοι βεβαιότερον. So we say ‘a safe speculation’. ἐς is used by Thucydides in the most general way to denote relation of any kind. Krüger and Poppo suggest leaving out ἐς, referring βεβαιοτέρους to ἡμᾶς, but the parallel passage supports the text.

τὰ ἔργα—the operations which war would involve. τῆς γνώμης τῷ ξυγγενεῖ—lit. ‘from kinship of views’; being of the same stock they had the same interests and policy. γνώμη is used of political views, iv. 56 fin. πρὸς τὴν έκείνων γνώμην ἔστασαν, etc. The expression is awkward, aud it is tempting to take τῷ ξυγγενεῖ separately; in which case we must read τῇ γνώμῃ or τὴν γνώμην, for, though certus animi is good Latin, πιστὸς γνώμης is unknown in Greek. CHAPTER CIX

Not so, when they have no prospect of support in the event of war.

τὸ ἐχυρόν—‘security’; predicate with the article: ii. 43, 4, τὸ εὔδαιμον τὸ ἐλεύθερον τὸ δὲ ἐλεύθερον τὸ εὔψυχον κρίναντες: Plat. Gorg. 498, τὰ ἀγαθὰ φῂς εῖναι τὰς ἡδονὰς κακὰ δὲ τὰς ἀνίας (Krüger's Grammar, § 50, 4, 14).

ἀλλ̓ ἤν—so ch. 91, 5. τῶν ἔργων δυνάμει—i. 25, 4, χρημάτων δυνάμει: i. 82, 2, ναυτικοῦ ἤ χρημάτων δύναμιν. Here the genitive = τῶν πρὸς τὰ ἔργα.

ὅ—ch. 103, 6. καὶ πλεῖόν τι—καὶ emphatic, as in ch. 73, 21. πλέον and πλεῖον are often used for μᾶλλον, τὸ πλέον is more common. τι has an intensive force, as in μέρος τι, etc.: so vii. 21, 4, πλέον τι περιεσομένους.

καὶ μετὰ ξυμμάχων—lit. ‘(not alone but) also with’ etc. So in the speech of Pericles, ii. 39, 2, Λακεδαιμόνιοι...μετὰ πάντων ἐς τὴν γῆν ἡμῶν στρατεύουσι.

εἰκὸς..περαιωθῆναι—i. 81 fin. εἰκὸς δουλεῦσαι: where Krüger collects the instances of this construction, and observes that the future infinitive is not found with εἰκὁς in Thucydides. CHAPTER CX

But they may use the help of naval allies, and may themselves attack the Athenian dependencies.

ἄλλους—e.g. the Corinthians, their chief naval allies, ii. 9, 2. πολὺ δέ—vii. 13, 3, πολλὴ δὲ ἡ Σικελία: Plat. Phaed. 78 A, πολλὴ ἡ Ἔλλας. The ‘Cretan Sea’ (iv. 53 fin.) is the sea E. and S.E. of Laconia. δι᾽ οὗ—1. 2, 1, οὔτε κατὰ γῆν οὔτε διὰ θαλάσσης.

τῶν κρατούντων ..ἡ σωτηρία—cf. the use of the article ch. 91, 4. The lords of the sea will find it harder to catch their foes than the foes to effect their escape. For the form ἀπορώτερος cf. iii. 89, 4, βιαιότερον τὴν ἐπίκλυσιν: iii. 101, 2, δυσεσβολώτατος ἡ Λοκρίς. Krüger says that these are the only instances he knows in Attic prose; εὐσκεπαστότατον, ch. 71, 9, being neuter.

ὅσους μή—indefinite, such as came under this description, ch. 98, 6; so in the next line. ἐπῆλθεν—‘visited’, not ‘attacked’: iv. 85, 1, εἰ δὲ χρόνῳ ἐπήλθομεν, μηδεὶς μεμφθῇ, in Brasidas' speech at Acanthus: ib. § 3, ἐπὶ οὓς πρῶτον ἦλθον ὑμᾶς.

ξυμμαχίδος τε καὶ γῆς—these words are found in all the manuscripts, and it is therefore improbable that they are merely interpolated. They seem rather added by the historian as a further explanation of οἰκειοτέρας. ξυμμαχίς occurs in ch. 36, 1. CHAPTER CXI

The Athenians reply that such threats will not deter them. They urge on the Melians the immediate necessity of taking a practical view of their interests. They have no real grounds to hope for escape; and their only safe course is to accept the reasonable terms which Athens offers.

τούτων μέν—‘you too may learn by experience something of this’, i.e. of the hopelessness of deterring us by threats of counter-attacks or invasion. The construction resembles ii. 60, 1, προσδεχομένῳ μοι τὰ τῆς όργῆς γεγένηται: iv. 28, 5, ἀσμένοις ἐγίγνξτο: ii. 3, 2, τῷ πλήθει οὐ βουλομένῳ ἦν. So πεπειραμένῳ γίγνεται = it is a thing that one has experienced; the perfect implying that knowledge comes when the experience has been undergone. τούτων refers either to the suggested threats of the Melians or to the Athenian boast, ὅτι οὐδ̓ κ.τ.λ. καὶ ὑμῖν—as well as to others before you. Stahl and Classen read γένοιτο ἡμῖν, καὶ ὑμῖν, ‘if such a thing (as invasion) occurred it would be one of which we have experience, and you too may not be unaware etc.’

οὐδ̓ ἀπὸ μιᾶς—emphatic; it is the only instance of οὐδείς or μηδείς separated in Thucydides. In i. 105, and iii. 26, we find sieges continued by the Athenians in spite of counter-demonstrations.

ἐνθυμούμεθα—according to Classen, ‘we observe with regret’; the word at any rate always implies serious consideration. φήσαντες—‘after you professed’; cf. φάσκοντες ch. 42, 21.

ἄνθρωποι—see ch. 89, 9. νομίσειαν—Classen reads this instead of νομίσαιεν as the proper Thucydidean form; so iii. 49, 2, φθάσειαν for φθάσαιεν.

ὑμῶν. μέλλεται—‘your strongest grounds are hopes deferred’ (Jowett). μέλλεται, lit. ‘are a future matter’, the passive as it were of μἑλλετε ταῦτα cognate. The passive of μέλλω occurs twice besides; Dem. Phil. i. 50, § 37, ἐν ὅσῳ ταῦτα μέλλεται, ‘are going to be done’: Xen. Anab. iii. 1, 47, ὡς μὴ μέλλοιτο ἀλλὰ περαίνοιτο τὰ δέοντα. Kruger cites also Soph. O. T. 1628, πάλαι τἀπὸ σοῦ βραδύνεται

βραχέα περιγίγνεσθαι—πρός is closely connected with βραχέα, ‘slight in comparison with’; ii. 35, 2, ἐνδεεστέρως πρὸς ἃ βούλεται. For the following infinitive cf. i. 50, 5, νῆες όλίγαι ἀμὐνειν: i. 61, 2, ταπεινὴ ἡ διάνοια ἐγκαρτερεῖν. Such explanatory infinitives are particularly joined with adjectives which imply ability or the opposite (Goodwin, § 758). They have in effect a sort of comparative force = βραχύτερα ἣ ὥστε.

πολλήν τε—‘and so’, summing up the argument. μεταστησάμενοι—‘after bidding us withdraw’, in order to reconsider the matter among yourselves: i. 79, 1, μεταστησάμενοι πάντας ἐβουλεύοντο κατὰ σφᾶς αὐτούς. ἔτι—‘as even now you may’ (Jowett). The word affects the whole clause, but its position gives especial emphasis to the participle, deprecating an immediate decision. ὅμως, ἅμα and the like are similarly used.

οὐ γἀρ δή—introducing the final exhortation; cf. i. 122 (fin.), οὐ γὰρ δὴ ἐπὶ τὴν πλείστους δὴ βλάψασαν καταφρόνησιν κεχωρήκατε: in both sentences the stress falls on the noun, which is the last word but one. αἰσχροῖς—‘dangers which involve shame’, i.e. which threaten national honour, and which it would be shameful to decline. This is the accepted explanation, but it is not quite satisfactory, as, though the various phrases of ‘shame’ and ‘shameful’ naturally follow the emphatic αἰσχύνην, they have no particular force before it. έσχάτοις, ἄκροις, ἰσχυροῖς are suggested emendations.

πολλοῖς γάρ—‘for many have found’ etc.; the Thucydidean initial dative. In construction πολλοῖς and ἡσσηθεῖσι are usually taken as dependent on ἐπεσπάσατο, and ἑκόντας περιπεσεῖν as the direct object of ἐπεσπάσατο. But ἐπισπάσασθαι more naturally means ‘drawing on a person to’ a course of action, than ‘bringing a thing on a person’. It may be then that the grammatical object of the verb is to be found in πολλοῖς, the construction being changed, and the literal meaning being ‘in the case of many.. it drew them on to incur’. The middle ἐπεσπάσατο is decidedly in favour of this view; and it is adopted by Donaldson, who says ‘this use of the dative may be extended to cases where the construction would have admitted of the accusative’. He translates ‘in the case of many still foreseeing the tendency of their actions, that which is called dishonour has been an inducement to involve themselves in irremediable disasters’. The aorist is ‘gnomic’ and general like καθεῖλε, ch. 103, 3.

ἐς οἷα φέρονται—‘what they are rushing on’ or tending towards; φέρεσθαι, like ferri, being the regular word for moving; see note on iv. 34, 3, ὑπὸ τοξευμάτων φερομένων. ἐπαγωγοῦ— ch. 85, 4: iv. 88, 1, διὰ τὸ ἐπαγωγὰ ε<*>πεῖν τὸν Βρασἰδαν. ἐπεσπάσατο—see previous note. The sense required, according to the ordinary view of the clause, is ‘brought on them’ and there seems then some ground for the conjecture ἐπέσπασε τό. In Hdt. iii. 42, ἵνα ἐπισπάσωνται κέρδος, is ‘to win gain for themselves’, and here it may be said that the meaning is ‘many have found.. that it has won for them’ etc., i.e. that this is all they gain by it’. In the other passages of Thucydides where the middle is found it has its proper force, iii. 44, 4: iv. 9, 2. We find the passive, iii. 89, 5: iv. 130, 4.

ἡσσηθεῖσι τοῦ ῥήματος—‘esse ipsum turpitudinis vocabulum docet articulus’ (Poppo). For gen. cf. iv. 37, 1, εἴ πως ἡσσηθεῖεν τοῦ δεινοῦ. Note the antithesis between ὀνόματος and ῥήματος and the following ἔργῳ. καὶ αἰσχύνην— lit. ‘and incur too a shame which is more shameful as involving folly than from fortune’, i.e. than if it had been due to fortune. μετά—like μετὰ κινδύνων etc.

ἢ τύχης—the scholiast has τύχῃ, which, as Poppo says, ‘propter orationem variatam valde Thucydideum est’. There is however no authority for reading it in the text. The preposition is omitted in the second clause, as is common after a comparative; cf. iii. 44, περὶ τοῦ μέλλοντος μᾶλλον βουλεύεσθαι ἢ τοῦ παρόντος: viii. 96, 2, ἐξ ἧς πλείω ἢ τῆς Ἀττικῆς ὠφελοῦντο. Other instances are given by Poppo on vii. 47, 4, and in Kruger's Grammar, § 68, 9: e.g. Xen. Hel. ii. 3, 21, οἱ τριάκοντα πολλοὺς μὲν ἔχθρας ἕνεκα ἀπέκτεινον, πολλοὺς δὲ χρημάτων. προσλαβεῖν—‘to bring on themselves’ rather than ‘to get in addition’; so iv. 61, 1, with κινδύνους.

ὃ ὑμεῖς—ch. 103, 6. τῆς μεγίστης—for this emphatic order cf. ch. 18, 57; ii. 61, 4, ξυμφοραῖς ταῖς μεγίσταις: iv. 10, 1, κινδύνου τοῦ ταχίστου. ξυμμάχους γενέσθαι—explanatory infinitive, defining the terms proposed.

ὑποτελεῖς—sc. φόρου, as is expressed in i. 19, 1, and i. 80, 3. This was the condition of the great majority of the Athenian so-called allies. See i. 96—99, and the words of Euphemus, vi. 85. ib καὶ φιλονεικῆσαι—καί answers to τε; the whole clause therefore depends on οὐκ ἀπρεπὲς νομιεῖτε. τὰ χείρω— cognate, with φιλονεικῆσαι, ‘obstinately to choose the worse’. Dem. Lept. 501, § 144, μηδὲν φιλονείκει. So we have προθυμεῖσθαι, σπεύδειν τι etc. In Plat. Protag. 360 E, we have φιλονεικεῖν τὸ ἐμὲ εἶναι τὸν ἀποκρινόμενον, ‘to stickle for the answer coming from me’ (Wayte): but πρός is inserted in the same phrase, Rcp. 338 A, in accordance with the usual construction. Phileb. 14 B, has πρός (wrongly cited by Liddell and Scott). The form of the word, which according to Cobet and others should be νικis discussed in Liddell and Scott under φιλόνεικος.

καλῶς προσφέρονται—‘behave with propriety’, i.e. with due deference.

καὶ μεταστάντων ἡμῶν—‘etiam semotis nobis, non solum praesentibus’ (Poppo). The Athenians deprecate a rash and hasty decision, as in line 10: so infr. πολλάκις.

ἣν μιᾶς πέρι—Poppo calls this ‘locus desperatus’; and there is in fact no satisfactory explanation or correction as yet proposed. The general sense is plain. The Melians are exhorted to reflect that they are deliberating concerning the only country they have, and that its fate will be determined by one single decision. There is very little difference in the manuscript readings. For ἥν one manuscript has ἤν, and another ἦν. One omits ἣν μιᾶς πέρι. For ἔσται are found ἴστε and ἵσταται. Thus the first and last words are those which are most open to doubt. Possibly both these words are interpolations. Assuming that ἤν found its way into the text from some error, it would be necessary to supply a verb to govern it, and this would account for the variation in the final word. Omitting ἤν and ἔσται we get a sentence which can be construed, ‘reflect that you are deliberating about your country, your one only country, and this in one deliberation, as it may turn out well or ill’. Further discussion of the passage may be found in the Appendix.

ἐς μίαν βουλήν—‘in’ or ‘at one deliberation’; an idea of ‘coming to’ or ‘looking to’ being implied. See Liddell and Scott, εἰς ii. 2, for such phrases as ἐς καιρὸν ἐπείγεσθε (Hdt. iv. 139), which have some resemblance to the present instance: cf. Thuc. vi. 16, 6, Λακεδαιμονίους ἐς μίαν ἡμέραν κατέστησα... ἀγωνίσασθαι

τυχοῦσάν τε καὶ μὴ κατορθώσασαν—‘according to its success or failure’, i.e. according as you decide well or ill. τε and καί are here disjunctive as noted on ch. 15, 6: cf. ii. 35, 2, εὖ τε καὶ χεῖρον είπόντι. τυχοῦσαν is opposed to μὴ κατορθώσασαν, as in iii. 39, 7, τυχόντες to σφαλέντες, κατορθώσαντι occurring just before in antithesis to σφαλέντι. The active form is regularly used of persons, as an object (πεῖραν, βούλευμα etc.) is implied, κατορθοῦν meaning literally to bring one's design to a successful issue. Here, taking the reading of the text, the active must go with βουλήν. I rather doubt if this can be right: we should expect the passive, as in iv. 76, 4, εἰ κατορθοῖτο ἡ πεῖρα. CHAPTER CXII

The Melians finally refuse to submit, or to concede anything more than a pledge of neutrality.

μετεχώρησαν—‘withdrew’; ii. 72, 5. ἐκ τῶν λόγων— ‘from the conference’; so ch. 113, 2: iv. 58, 1, ἐς λόγους κατέστησαν ἀλλήλοις: iv. 73 fin. ἐς λόγους ἔρχονται. κατὰ σφᾶς αὐτούς—i. 79, 2, μεταστησάμενοι πάντας ἐβουλεύοντο κατὰ σφᾶς αὐτούς: iii. 78, 1, etc.

παραπλήσια καί—vii. 71, 7, παραπλήσια καὶ ἔδρασαν: so καί follows ἴσος and other words of sameness or likeness; cf. similis atque, ac, etc. ἀντέλεγον—imperfect, referring to the time of the conference; lit. ‘what they had been objecting’.

ἑπτακόσια ἔτη—a rough statement, counting from the supposed time of the establishment of Dorian supremacy in Peloponnesus, the legendary ‘return of the Heracleidae’. Melos is said to have been founded some little time later; Grote, Pt. i. ch. 18.

ἐκ τοῦ θείου—constructed with σωζούσῃ, and placed immediately after τύχῃ to define its meaning. See ch. 104, 4: 105, 1. In this sentence there is perhaps the same difference between ἐξ and ἀπό, denoting respectively motion from within and motion from the surface, which is noted by Donaldson on iv. 126, 3. καὶ Λακεδαιμονίων—καὶ either = atque, ‘and especially’; or more probably it gives a definition ‘even the Lacedaemonians’. This defining or correcting sense of καί, = ‘in fact, that is to say’, is noticed on ch. 20, 3: iv. 33, 1. Jowett says, ‘the desire to oppose the single idea ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων to ἐκ τοῦ θείου has led to a formal distinction between ἀνθρώπων and Λακεδαιμονίων, ‘from men, and in particular from Lacedaemonians’. τιμωρίᾳ—‘help’; so three times in i. 25: i. 38, 3 etc. προκαλούμεθα δὲ ὑμᾶς—προκαλεῖσθαι with the accusative and infinitive is to invite another to do something. Here the regular eonstruction is interrupted by the insertion of a nominative clause, referring to the subject of the sentence, the whole, as Classen says, being equivalent to προκαλούμεθα ὑμᾶς, ἡμῶν φίλων ὄντων κ.τ.λ., ἀναχωρῆσαι. Kruger cites two somewhat similar sentences in which the last clause refers to the subject; i. 26, 3, προεῖπον τοὺς ξένους ἀπιέναι, εἰ δὲ μή, ὡς πολεμίοις χρήσεσθαι: Hdt. ii. 115, αὐτὸν δέ σε καὶ τοὶς σοὺς συμπλόους προαγορεύω μετορμίζεσθαι, εἰ δὲ μή, ἅτε πολεμίους περιέψεσθαι.

ἐπιτήδειοι—elsewhere ἐπιτήδειος has three terminations, though a few manuscripts have ἐπιτηδείους in ch. 21, 9. CHAPTER CXIII

The Athenians accordingly break up the conference with significant threats.

διαλυόμενοι ἐκ—vi. 41 fin. διελύθησαν ἐκ τοῦ ξυλλόγου: Hdt. iii. 73, διαλύεσθαι ἐκ τοῦ συλλόγου. ἀλλ̓ οὖν—‘well then’, ‘well certainly’: ‘sunt partieulae contra dicendi cum asseveratione, at profecto’ (Poppo). So Plat. Protag. 310 A, ἀλλ̓ οὖν ἀκούετε, ‘well then, hear’. ἀλλ̓ οὖν (with γε commonly following) more usually means ‘but, or yet, at any rate’, as in Plat. Protag. 327 C. Soph. Ant. 84. Poppo cites Xen. Cyr. i. 4, 19, ἀλλ̓ οὖν πονηροί γε φαινόμενοι ἄγουσι ἡμῶν τὰ χρήματα, in illustration of the present passage, but there the sense seems rather ‘well but they look but a poor lot to plunder our belongings’.

ἀπὸ τούτων τῶν βουλευμάτων—‘from’, i.e. judging from; <*>. 21, 2, ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν τῶν ἔργων σκοποῦσι: cf. ch. 89, 9. δοκεῖτε—ch 9, 21, note.

τῷ βούλεσθαι—dative of the cause: cf. a somewhat similar passage in iv. 108, 3, τὸ πλέον βουλήσει κρίνοντες ἀσαφεῖ ἢ προνοίᾳ ἀσφαλεῖ κ.τ.λ.

καὶ Λακεδαιμονίοις—the omission of the article gives a somewhat contemptuous force, ‘Lacedaemonians and fortune and hopes’: see note on iv. 10, 4. παραβεβλημένοι—usually taken as middle, ‘having staked, or risked’. ἐπιτρέψαντες παραβόλως, as the scholiast explains. In this sense the word is used ii. 44, 3, παῖδας παραβαλλόμενοι: iii. 14, 1, τὸν κίνδυνον τῶν σωμάτων παραβαλλομένους. Stahl however takes the word as passive, comparing Ar. Plut. 243, πόρναισι καὶ κύβοισι παραβεβλημένος, ‘given over to’. The sense thus obtained is not bad; still, as the idea of risk and hazard perpetually occurs in these chapters, the ordinary rendering seems preferable. The perfect participle denotes the general attitude of the Melians, the aorist πιστεύσαντες refers to their decision in the present case. Classen would omit καί before πιστεύσαντες, ‘having risked everything from your trust’ etc., as he considers that the datives cannot depend on παραβεβλημένοι. CHAPTER CXIV

οὐδὲν ὑπήκουον—‘showed no sign of submission’; i. 26, 4, οὐδὲν αὐτῶν ὑπήκουσαν. ἐτρέποντο περιετείχισαν—Arnold compares ii. 75, 1, καθίστη ἐς πόλεμον τὸν στρατόν, καὶ πρῶτον μὲν περιεσταύρωσεν αύτούς. Some editors read ἐτράποντο, with slight manuscript authority; but the imperfect is preferable, denoting the beginning and progress of hostile operations.

διελόμενοι—ch. 75, 23, διελόμενοι...περιετεἱχιζον. Note the different tense of the following verb in the two passages. Here, the aorist περιετείχισαν gives an ‘end-view’, and the Athenians are regarded as having completed their lines round the city. κατὰ πόλεις—ii. 78, 1, διελόμενοι κατὰ πόλεις τὸ χωρίον. κατὰ γῆν κ.τ.λ.—to be taken with φνλακὴν καταλιπόντες. CHAPTER CXV

Ἀργεῖοι—see ch. 83, 12, for a previous attempt. τὸν χρόνον τὸν αὐτόν—‘attende rariorem collocationem pronominis ὀ αὐτός: cf. vii. 39, 1, τῇ ἐπιχει ήσει τῇ αὐτῇ: Dem. de Chers. 93, 14, μἐνειν ἐπὶ τῆς ἀνοίας τῆς αὐτῆς: Xen. Cyr. iv. 4, 10 (Poppo). Krüger cites i. 140, 1: and i. 2, 2, ἄνθρωποι οἱ αὐτοί.

λοχισθέντες—iii. 107, 3, λοχίζει ὁπλίτας, ‘stations them in ambush’. Here the word is used like λοχᾶν, as in one or two instances cited by Liddell and Scott from Dio Cassius.

ὡς ὀγδοήκοντα—the same construction as in ch. 59, 7: cf. also ch. 10, 57. οἱ ἐκ τῆς Πύλου—ch. 56, 13. As Pylos was now chiefly held by Lacedaemonian Helots, Kruger would omit Ἀθηναῖοι, but it denotes generally those who acted on the Athenian side.

οὐδ̓ ὥς—‘not even after this’: so i. 132, οὐδ̓ ὣς ἠξίωσαν νεώτερόν τι ποιεῖν ἐς αὐτόν etc. καὶ ὥς, i. 44, 2: iii. 33, 1. The negative belongs to both the verb and the participle;—they did not throw up the truce and begin a war. ἀφέντες—ch. 78, 8. The truce between Athens and Sparta was not considered to be actually broken till 414, when an Athenian fleet ravaged the coast of Peloponnesus (vi. 105, 1).

ἐκήρυξαν δὲ εἴ τις—sc. that he should do so, see Poppo on iii. 52, 2: cf. iv. 37, 2, ἐκήρυξάν τε εἰ βούλοιντο τὰ ὅπλα παραδοῦναι. παρὰ σφῶν—i.e. from Lacedaemonia: ii. 41, 1, παρ᾽ ἡμῶν. ληίζεσθαι—private depredations of this kind were not considered incompatible with a formal state of peace.

διαφορῶν—‘differences’, from διαφορά, the manuscript reading. Bekker and others alter it into διαφόρων, as τὰ ἵδια διάφορα is found ii. 37, 1: τὰ αὐτοῖς ἰδίᾳ διάφορα, i. 68, 2: τὰ ἡμῖν διάφορα, iv. 87, 1: see ch. 18, 19.

τὸ κατὰ τὴν ἀγοράν—i.e. the market in the Athenian camp, where their supplies were stored; i. 62, 1, at Potidaea, ἀγορὰν ἔξω τῆς πόλεως ἐπεποίηντο: iii. 6, at Mytilene, ναύσταθμον ἦν αὐτοῖς πλοίων καὶ ἀγορᾶς ἡ Μαλέα.

ἄνδρας—iv. 132, 3, τῶν ἡβώντων ἄνδρας ἐξῆγον: vii. 43, 3, ἄνδρας τῶν φυλάκων ἀποκτείνουσιν. ἐσενεγκάμενοι—so ἐσκομίζεσθαι, vi. 22, 1. χρήσιμα—the MSS. reading is χρήμασι: hence some read χρήματα in the general meaning of supplies: so vi. 49, 3, τὴν στρατιὰν οὐκ ἀπορήσειν χρημάτων: vii. 49, 1, τὴν τῶν χρημάτων ἀπορίαν.

τὸ ἔπειτα—so iv. 54, 3, τό τε παραυτίκα καὶ τὸ ἔπειτα τὰ τῆς ὁμολογίας ἐπράχθη: iv. 107, 1, καὶ τὸ αὐτίκα καὶ τὸ ἔπειτα. CHAPTER CXVI

μελλήσαντες—‘having intended’; i. 134, 4, ἐμέλλησαν μὲν.. ἔπειτα. viii. 23, 5, πεζὸς δς ἐπὶ τὸν Ἐλλήσποντον ἐμέλλησεν ἰέναι. τἀ διαβατήρια ἱερά—cf. ch. 54, 6. Cobet would omit ἱερὰ ἐν τοῖς ορίοις as an explanatory gloss, such words not being added elsewhere. For ἐγίγνετο see ch. 55, 17.

διὰ τὴν ἐκείνων μέλλησιν—i.e. hearing of their intended attack. ὑποτοπήσαντες—altered by Meineke into ὑποπτεύσαντες, as ὺποτοπεῖν is not found with an accusative of the person. Possibly it may stand in the sense of ‘having formed a suspicion’, τινάς being governed by ξυνέλαβον and then resolved into τοὺς μὲν...οἱ δέ: cf. ch. 54, 16.

αὖθις—the best manuscripts have αὖτις, which is also found in some manuscripts in ch. 8, 18, and ch. 43, 18. Lid. and Scott call it a form erroneously introduced into Attic authors.

καθ̓ ἕτερόν τι—apparently καθ̓ ἕτερον is governed directly by εἶλον, and is equivalent to a single word; as in iv. 3, 2, ἐμπρήσαντός τινος κατὰ μικρὸν τῆς υ<*>´λης: so ii. 76, 4, ἐπὶ μέγα κατέσεισε: see note on iv. 3, 2. Otherwise περιτειχίσματος may be regarded as a partitive genitive, ‘took a part of the Athenian lines of attack’. Classen takes καθ̓ ἕτερον separately, governing the genitive by τι, but, as Poppo says, ‘separari posse non videntur’. He suggests that καθ̓ should perhaps be altered into καί. The instances quoted are however sufficient to support the view first given.

ὡς ταῦτα ἐγίγνετο—these words, if genuine, must mean, ‘as these things happened’, i.e. as the Athenians found themselves assailed in turn by the enemy. To give the meaning ‘after this happened’, which we should rather expect, ἐγένετο would be needed. Poppo brackets the whole clause as weak and awkwardly inserted between ἄλλης and ἧς: and he is followed by Classen.

καὶ...πολιορκούμενοι—cf. i. 65, 1, ἀποτειχισθείσης αὐτῆς ...καὶ ἔχων, where Poppo gives several instances, e.g. iv. 29, 1, of the genitive absolute thus joined with participles in the nominative.

ὥστε—of conditions; ch. 17, 14. βουλεῦσαι—‘decide’; the usual force of the aorist.

ᾤκησαν—‘settled in’; ch. 1, 10. The reading of the best manuscripts however is ᾤκισαν, which is adopted by Poppo and Classen; cf. i. 98, 1. Either word makes good sense, οἰκίζω being ‘to settle’, i.e. to people with settlers; and the aorists are naturally liable to confusion. In the middle voice the forms of οἰκίζω are to be preferred (e.g. vi. 1, 2), as the use cf οἰκεῖσθαι middle is doubtful.