Speech of the Athenian envoys. Chaps. 73-78.
That you may rightly judge of the complaints made against us, we must remind you of the
services of Athens in the first and second Persian wars.
ἡ πρέσβευσις ἡμῶν ἐγένετο: the pass.
expression of the act. periphrasis,
τὴν πρέσβευσιν
ἐποιησάμεθα. See on c. 50. 8. Cf. c. 75. 14; 87. 18; 96. 10;
ii.11.18; 14. 7;
iv.74.17;
etc.
πρέσβευσις not found elsewhere in Attic.—
τοῖς ξυμμάχοις: dependent on
ἀντιλογίαν. See on 63. 9.
καταβοήν: cf.
viii.85.10; 87. 19. Not elsewhere in Attic. But
καταβοᾶν in c. 67. 4.— 4.
τῶν πολέων: see c. 67. § 1, 2.— 5.
οὐ γὰρ...ἂν γίγνοιντο
: the stress of the thought lies mainly on
παρὰ δικασταῖς ὑμῖν, “our taking part in these proceedings
does not imply that we recognize you as our judges.”
ἡμῶν
and
τούτων depend on
λόγοι.
ἀλλ᾽ ὅπως...ἀξία λόγου ἐστίν
: the positive purpose of the speech is expressed, (1) by the
conj.
ὅπως κτἑ., and (2) by the partic.
βουλόμενοι κτἑ. (going back in constr. to
ἀντεροῦντες); and the second of these includes two points:
(a)
ὡς οὔτε . . . κεκτήμεθα, and (b)
ἥ τε πόλις . . . ἐστίν. But in carrying out this scheme,
the order is changed chiastically, and the speaker treats (b) in c. 73 to 74. §
2; (a) in c. 75 to 77; and (1) in c. 78.
περὶ τοῦ παντὸς...καθεστῶτος
: not about the complaints just now brought forward by the
Corinthians,—the partic. pf. could not mean this,—but on the whole
judgment which our enemies have this long while formed about us.
οὔτε ἀπεικότως: cf.
ii.8.2;
vi.55.11;
viii.68.25, always with neg., and by litotes =
δικαιότατα.
καὶ...μὲν...δέ
: transition to consideration of details. Cf. c. 69.
14.—
τὰ πάνυ παλαιά: Schol.,
τὰ κατὰ Ἀμαζόνας καὶ Θρᾷκας καὶ
Ἡρακλείδας; favourite themes among the panegyrists of Athens at all times.
These are put aside with an ironical oxymoron,
ὧν . . .
ἀκουσομένων, for
ἀκοαὶ λόγων are in no
proper sense
μάρτυρες. ἀκοαί, pl. on account of the
pl. object, as in c. 20. 3; while
ὄψις with the pl.
subjective gen. is to be preferred to
ὄψεις of the inferior Mss. which Kr., St., and v. H. adopt (in c. 10. 17,
τὰς ὄψεις is connected with the
objective
τῶν πόλεων).
ὧν depends on
μάρτυρες. With
μᾶλλον . . . ἤ, as with
οὐχ ἧσσον . . . ἤ, c. 70. 31, the second member
is practically denied.
ξύνιστε: i.e. of your own knowledge. Cf.
ii.35.10;
iii.56.2.—
δἰ ὄχλου
ἔσται: =
ἐνοχλήσει. See on c. 40.
16.—
μᾶλλον...ἀεί
: express reciprocal proportion; “the more annoying,
the more often they are brought forward.” Herbst, Philol. 16, p.
351.—
προβαλλόμενα: see App.
ὅτε ἐδρῶμεν:
when we
were engaged in the war. Cf. c. 69. 11.—
ἐπ᾽ ὠφελίᾳ:
to gain a common good, a
modestly vague expression for
ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ τῆς
Ἑλλάδος.
ἐκινδυνεύετο
: impers. pass.; see on c. 46. 1.—
ἧς: see on c. 10. 20; 35. 15. The gen. depends both on
ἔργου and on
λόγου,
the former of the practical gains, the latter of the result in fame.
μέρος, which is usually not expressed with
μετέχειν, is here necessary as opp. to
τοῦ λόγου παντός, where
παντός is made
more forcible by its pred. position.
εἴ τι ὠφελεῖ: “if you have
received your share in the practical results, we should not miss all our share of the
credit, if there is any advantage in that,” as there would be if it led now to
a just appreciation of the present case.
ῥηθήσεται: this form of the fut. also
viii.66.5.
εἰρήσεται,
vi.34.18; the latter is the only form in Tragedy and in Hom.
οὐ μᾶλλον - ἤ:
not so
much—as, the former member being completely excluded. Cf. c. 70.
31.—
παραιτήσεως: here only in
Thuc. =
τοῦ αἰτεῖν ξυγγνώμην, “not to
excuse ourselves.”
πρὸς οἵαν: see on c. 70.
4.—
ὁ ἀγὼν καταστήσεται: a
significant and solemn expression for
ὁ πόλεμος
ἔσται, in reference to the momentous character of the war, if it should
actually break out.
Μαραθῶνι: on this as a locative form,
without
ἐν, see Kühn. 426, 1; and App. on c.
18. 13. In
ii.34.14 the Mss. have
ἐν.
μόνοι
: no doubt the Plataeans were counted as Athenians. See Hdt. vi.
108; 111.—
προκινδυνεῦσαι: from the
frequent use of
κίνδυνος for
μάχη, the verb here has the sense and even the const. of
μάχεσθαι. προ-,
before all others, i.e.
before they appeared on the ground. Cf.
vii.56.21.
ξυνναυμαχῆσαι: i.e.
κοινῇ μεθ᾽ ὑμῶν, opp. to the former
μόνοι.
ἔσχε
:
prevented; with
μή and inf. also in Hdt.
Ἀριστόδικος ὁ
Ἡρακλειδεω . . . ἔσχε μὴ ποιῆσαι ταῦτα Κυμαίους,
i.158.8;
ix.12.5; with
τὸ μή, Hdt.
v.101.1; with acc.,
vii.62.13; Hdt.
vii.171.12;
viii.110.15;
Soph. El. 375. GMT. 95, 2
c; H.
1029.— 24.
ἀδυνάτων ἂν ὄντων:
i.e.
ἐν ᾧ（εἰ κατὰ πόλεις
ἐπέπλει）ἀδύνατοι ἂν ἦσαν. Cf.
iii.82.6. GMT. 41, 1; H. 987. The gen.
τῶν
Πελοποννησίων must be supplied. See on c. 2. 9; 3. 9.
τεκμήριον ἐποίησε: cf.
iii.67.28,
παράδειγμα.
ὁμοίας
: paris, i.e.
ἀντιπάλου,
ἀξιομάχου: in this sense in
ii.89.4;
οὐ γὰρ ὦν ἐδόκεον ὅμοιοι εἶναι, Hdt.
ix.96.9; very seldom elsewhere. In c. 80. 8
παρόμοιος in same sense.
τῷ πλέονι: i.e. except what was left with
Mardonius, Hdt. viii. 113.
