E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 2

τὸν γὰρ .. ἐπαινεῖν]— the general statement, παισὶ δ᾽ αὖ, is continued and explained in καὶ μὁλις ἂν ... κριθεῖτε. Then follows the reason in φθόνος γὰρ κ.τ.λ. καθ᾽ ὑπερβολὴν ἀρετῆς—‘by pre-eminent virtue.’ For κατά cf. c. 27, 2.

ἀλλ᾽—would more naturally be ἀλλὰ καί. φθόνος—cf. Demosth 18, 315 τίς γὰρ οὐκ οἶδεν, ὅτι τοῖς μὲν ζῶσι πᾶσιν ὕπεστί τις ἢ πλείων ἢ ἐλάττων φθόνος, τοὺς τεθνεῶτας δ᾽ οὑδὲ τῶν ἐχθρῶν τις μισεῖ; τοῖς ζῶσι πρὸς τὸ ἀντίπαλον—‘envy towards a rival attacks the living.’

πρὸς—adversus (so Grundstrom and Golisch: Sta. propter).

τὸ ἀντίπαλον— for τοὺς ἀντιπάλους. τὸ μὴ ἐμποδὼν—=τὸ μηκέτ᾽ ἐμποδών. Cf. τῶν οὐκ ὄντων c. 44, 3. This is the antithesis to τοῖς ζῶσι, while ἀνανταγωνίστῳ εὐνοίᾳ corresponds to πρὸς τὸ ἀντίπαλον, and τετίμηται to φθόνος. ἀνανταγωνίστῳ—‘without opposition.’

τετίμηται—gnomic perf., according to Goodwin; but may be the Homeric use of this word, with pres. sense.

ἔσονται—contrast πάρεστε above. Cf. c. 44, 1.

ὑπαρχούσης—by no means attributing weakness, but referring to the restraints and household duties which nature imposed on women. Pericles refers to the Spartan women, who, according to Aristotle, lived a very different life from the stern asceticism of the Spartan men.

καὶ ἧς—i.e. καὶ μεγάλη ἐστιν ὴ δόξα ταύτης ἧς. μεγάλη ἡ δόξα—cf. VII. 68 τὸ τούσδε κολασθῆναι ... καλὸς ὁ ἀγών. κλέος—‘talk,’ a neutral word. Cf. Aesch. Ag. 611, Clyt. says οὐκ οἶδα τέρψιν οὐδ᾽ ἐπίψογον φάτιν | ἄλλου πρὸς ἀνδρός.