Harold North Fowler, Commentary on Thucydides Book 5

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Now that Cleon and Brasidas were dead, the disposition to peace was encouraged in Athens by Nicias, and in Sparta by King Pleistoanax, about whose return from exile evil stories were circulated.

ὁ μὲν...ὁ δέ : chiastic order, as in 10 ff.

διὰ τὸ εὐτυχεῖν τε καὶ τιμᾶσθαι ἐκ τοῦ πολεμεῖν: “because he owed his great successes as well as his reputation (not at Sparta only, but among all the Greeks) to his previous activity as general,” and could therefore only hope to retain his influence by a continuance of the war.

κακουργῶν: with καταφανέστερος, as διαβάλλων with ἀπιστότερος: “with his rascalities, with his (continual) calumnies”; and therefore διαβάλλων is necessary instead of διαβαλών of good Mss. In these words a severe judgment of Cleon's general character and conduct, special traits of which have been mentioned before (cf. iii. 36. 26; iv. 21. 9; 27. 18 ff.; 28. 26 f.; 39. 11; v. 7. 3 ff.), is unequivocally expressed.

τότε δέ: see App. —ἑκατέρᾳ τῇ πόλει σπεύδοντες τὰ μάλιστ᾽ αὐτήν: urging it (sc. τὴν εἰρήνην) most vigorously for each of the two cities, i.e. trying to bring it about. See App.

πλεῖστα: adv. — 11. ἠξιοῦτο: in other words, ἐν ἀξιώματι ἦν, as in i. 130. 2 f.; not elsewhere found in this signification.—ἐν ᾧ κτἑ: “now while his good fortune and influence were still at their height, he wished to take care that they should remain unimpaired.” (διασώσασθαι, aor.)

πεπαῦσθαι: pf., “to have attained his end,” “to have come to rest.” GMT. 18, 3 b, N.

καταλιπεῖν ὄνομα: reputation; also in vi. 33. 29 f.

διεγένετο: had reached his end. Like διεσώθη, iv. 96. 33. Closely connected with οὐδὲν σφήλας: without having injured the state. διαγίγνεσθαι in this sense does not occur again before Plutarch.

καὶ ὅστις: i.e. καὶ τούτῳ ὅς.—ἐλάχιστα τύχῃ αὑτὸν παραδίδωσι: the same expression is employed by Nicias in vi. 23. 11 about himself. ἐλάχιστα like πλεῖστα, 9.

περὶ τῆς καθόδου : his return from his exile after the unsuccessful campaign of 446 B.C. Cf. i. 114. 9 ff.; ii. 21. 8 f. —ἐς ἐνθυμίαν προβαλλόμενος: pers. const. The explanation follows in the words ὡς διὰ τὴν ἐκείνου κάθοδον παρανομηθεῖσαν ταῦτα ξυμβαίνοι. ἐς ἐνθυμίαν προβάλλειν is “to cast as a reproach,” “to cause to weigh upon the conscience.” Cf. προβαλλόμενα, i. 73. 13; τὸν προβαλλόμενον λόγον, vi. 92. 19. See App.

ὁπότε τι πταίσειαν: explanatory modification of ἀεί, 19.

παρανομηθεῖσαν: attrib. partic. placed after its subst. On account of his illegally accomplished return. Thuc. freq. places the attrib. partic. after its subst. when other modifiers are added. See on i. 11. 19.

ἀδελφοῖ: see App.—ὥστε: const. with πείθειν. Cf. ii. 2. 23; iii. 70. 21.—ἐπὶ πολύ: temporal, as in i. 7. 6; ii. 16. 1. Lit. for a long time, i.e. repeatedly, to which the pres. partic. ἀφικνουμένοις corresponds. “Every time messengers came (on other business) to Delphi.” See on ἀφικνουμένων, i. 91. 3.

Διὸς υἱοῦ: so here the Mss. For υἱοῦ see Foucart, Revue de philol. 1, p. 36. Ἡρακλέους, τὸ σπέρμα, τὸν ἀπόγονον, εὐλάκαν δὲ τὴν ὕνιν Λακεδαιμόνιοι λέγουσιν, εὐλαξεῖν (this form also in the text, with Schol. and Plut. de Pyth. oraculis 403 B, instead of εὐλακεῖν）δὲ ἀρόσειν, ἀργυρέᾳ εὐλάκᾳ εὐλαξεῖν τοῦτ᾽ ἔστι λιμὸν ἔσεσθαι καὶ πολλοῦ σφόδρα τὸν σῖτον ὠνήσεσθαι ὥσπερ ἀργυροῖς ἐργαλείοις χρωμένους. Schol. On εὐλαξεῖν, Cobet, Mnem. 6, p. 155, justly observes that the Dor. form of the fut. must be written with the Dor. accent.

χρόνῳ δέ: referring to ἐπὶ πολύ, 23; and therefore the subj. of προτρέψαι is τὴν πρόμαντιν, not Πλειστοάνακτα.

ἐς Λύκαιον : in the Arcadian mountains, with an ancient and celebrated sanctuary of Zeus.— 28. μετὰ δώρων δοκοῦσαν ἀναχώρησιν: δοκοῦσαν, as in i. 32. 15, of the belief which was, though not proved, generally received. This corresponds to the report in ii. 21. 8, ἡ φυγὴ αὐτῷ ἐγένετο ἐκ Σπάρτης δόξαντι χρήμασι πεισθῆναι τὴν ἀναχώρησιν. See App.

τότε: he occupied this dwelling at that time while in banishment.— ἥμισυ τῆς οἰκίας τοῦ ἱεροῦ: i.e. a house, half of which belonged to the temple of Zeus, so that he could, φόβῳ τῶν (with Vat. for τῷ, cf. c. 11. 11) Λακεδαιμονίων, retreat at any moment to the shelter of the sanctuary. ἱεροῦ is pred. part. gen. H. 732 a.

ἔτει ἑνὸς δέοντι εἰκοστῷ: i.e. 427 B.C., since he had left the country in 446 B.C. (i. 114. 9 ff.; cf. ii. 21. 6).

τοὺς βασιλέας: the pl. refers doubtless to the two kings at Sparta; prob. without reference to the controversy mentioned by Hdt.vi. 52. 1 ff., as to whether Aristodemus himself originally occupied the throne. See O. Müller, Dorier, p. 90.