Charles D. Morris, Commentary on Thucydides Book 1

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For it was not till after they had begun their wrong-doing that they professed to be ready to submit to arbitration; and they allege this to entangle you in their guilt.

ἥν γε κτἑ.: the rel. has the effect of a strong adversative conj., as in c. 35. 15. So below, 10, οὓς χρῆν. ἥν depends on τὸν—προκαλούμενον (cf. iv.20.4; v.37.24), which is defined by προύχοντα as well as ἐκ τοῦ ἀσφαλοῦς: but surely not he who from a commanding and safe position challenges such a decision ought to be considered as saying anything worth listening to. For a similar combination of a partic. and adv. expression, cf. ii.89.22; iii.34.17; 42. 23.

λέγειν τι: opp. to οὐδὲν λέγειν. Cf. Plat. Crit. 46 d; Men. 92 d; Eur. H. F. 279; Ar. Eq. 334.—ἐς ἴσον...καθιστάντα : places on the same level with his opponent. Cf. c. 121. 15. The stress lies on ἔργα, which therefore attracts ὁμοίως. Cf. c. 58. 7; 70. 25; iii.47.13. Their offer to submit to arbitration should be accompanied by the evacuation of Epidamnus.

πρὶν διαγωνίζεσθαι: before proceeding to appeal to arms. Cl. gives a rendering which covers alike Poppo's armis discernere and Reiske's iudicio disceptare. But this is not necessary. Note the force of πρίν with pres. inf. In the next line it occurs again apparently in a neg. sentence. But here, as in c. 68. 9, the following clause with ἀλλ᾽ ἐπειδή shows that οὐ πρίν is used only as a note of time to bring out rhetorically the contrast of before and after. Sturm, ΠΡΙΝ, p. 89. GMT. 106, 2, N. 2; H. 924; Kr. Dial. 54, 17, 11. Cf. also the use of οὐ in 8 after ἀξιοῦντες with the regular μή in c. 43. 4.

τὸ εὐπρεπὲς τῆς δίκης: more striking than τὴν εὐπρεπῆ δίκην. Cf. c. 68. 1; 69. 14.

παρέσχοντο: they proffered. Cf. iii.36.3; 54. 1; 90. 18; 112. 15; iv.108.15.—οὐ τἀκεῖ...ἁμαρτόντες : not satisfied with the wrongs they have committed yonder by themselves.

ξυμμαχεῖν κτἑ.: note the adv. force of ξύν (cf. c. 37. 16), to be, not their allies, but their accomplices in crime. Jowett. It is this parenthetical antithesis which justifies οὐ with inf. after a verb of will. Kr. Spr. 67, 7, 3.

διαφόρους: qualifies σφᾶς, though placed first for emphasis: to receive them now that they are at variance with us, and therefore in danger. The opposite to this follows, 10, ὅτε ἀσφαλέστατοι ἦσαν.

προσιέναι: i.e. for the purpose of seeking alliance. Cf. c. 40. 23; 71. 22; 75. 6; iv.76.27.—μή: a pres. inf. depending on χρή regularly takes μή. μὴ ποίει is expressed by χρὴ μὴ ποιεῖν, but usually μὴ ποιήσῃς by οὐ χρὴ ποιῆσαι. See Gildersleeve on Pind. Ol. IX. 40. Cf. Eur. Heracl. 969, χρῆν τόνδε μὴ ζῆν μηδὲ φῶς ὁρᾶν ἔτι. Isocr. IV. 176, ἃ χρῆν ἀναιρεῖν καὶ μηδὲ μίαν ἐᾶν ἡμέραν.

ἐν ᾧ : not merely temporal, like ὅτε, but including the notion of condition, circumstances. Cf. c. 42. 4; 122. 6; ii.35.9; VI. 55. 18; viii.86.22; and ἐν τούτῳ, c. 37. 15.

μεταδώσετε: and in 15 ἕξετε, express categorically the cer tainty of the disastrous results.

ἀπογενόμενοι: though having had nothing to do with. ἀπό = ‘far from.’ Cf. Hdt. ix.69.4, ἀπογενομένοισι τῆς μάχης. Plut. Them. 2. 1, ἀπὸ τῶν μαθημάτων γενόμενος. Elsewhere in Thuc. ‘be destroyed, lost.’ Cf. ii.34.4; 98. 10; v.74.12.—τῆς ἀφ᾽ ἡμῶν αἰτίας: cf. c. 37. 5, αἰτία being = αἰτίασις. Cf. c. 83. 8; ii.18.9. Schol. αἰτιασόμεθα γὰρ τοὺς συμμαχήσαντας τοῖς Κερκυραίοις ὡς ἐχθρούς.— 15. πάλαι δὲ κοινωνήσαντας : this reading of the best Mss. requires for its subj. not τοὺς Κερκυραίους implied in οὕς (10), but, following the intermediate clauses, ἐκείνους τε καὶ ὑμᾶς. See on c. 18. 21. And since κοινωνεῖν is really = κοινὸν ἔχειν, it here has the acc. obj. δύναμιν in contrast with τὰ ἀποβαίνοντα (cf. c. 83. 7; ii.11.37; viii.89.26); and only if both parties had before shared their power, ought they now to have the results of their policy in common. See App.