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Διὸ δὴ καὶ—‘this is the very reason why.’ τῆς πόλεως —in preference to τῶν ἀνδρῶν, (1) to encourage his listeners (2) because the clearest proof of the greatness of the Atbenians was the greatness of Athens herself. περὶ ἴσου—‘for an equal prize.’ Kr. quotes Dem. 8, 60 οὐχ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἴσων ὑμῖν τε καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἔσθ᾽ ὁ κίνδυνος. (κινδυνεύειν, ἀγωνίζεσθαι and so forth, with περί, ὑπέρ or ἕνεκα are common in the orators. In Andoc. I. 10 εἰς τὸν ἀγῶνα τόνδε κατέστην, περὶ τῶν μυστηρίων ὡς οὔτε μοι ἠσέβηται, the comma should be placed after μυστηρίων.) τῶνδε—referring to what precedes. In speeches ὅδε is fairly often used thus of οὗτος. Cf. 40, 2, 60, 6, 63, 2, 71, 3, 72, 1, 3. The meaning was aided by gesture and emphasis, so that the use is akin to the deictic ὅδε. The phrase οὔτως εἶχεν frequently refers to what follows in the orators. Antiphon 6, 9 and 14, Isocr. 4, 163. μηδὲν—hypothetical rel., so that every nation is included, though Pericles has Sparta in his mind. ὁμοίως—this, like μηδέν, softens the expression and makes it vaguer. It also increases the force of the exhortation κἀμνειν ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως, by increasing the number of states with which Athens is contrasted. ἐφ᾽ οἷς—for τούτων ἐφ᾽ οἷς. Cf. c. 34, 6. σημείοις—approaches very near the sense of παραδείγμασι: the manifest proofs are the acts in which the fallen had a share.
Καὶ—‘and in fact.’ ὕμνησα—originally of poetic praise, then of a panegyric in prose. Plat. Repub. 364 A. αἱ τῶνδε—sc. ταῦτα, their deeds justify my words; for ‘they added fresh lustre to the glories which I praised in our city’: therefore, in speaking the praises of the city, I was praising them. The sense is τὰ τῆς πόλεως ἃ ὕμνησα, ταῦτα ἐκεῖνοι ἐκόσμησαν ταῖς ἀρεταῖς. L. and S. wrongly supply τὴν πόλιν, with several edd., to ἐκόσμησαν. ἀρεταὶ—‘valiant deeds.’ οὐκ ἂν—the whole result of this sentence is positive, but the idiom by which the verb after οὐχ ὥσπερ agrees with the thing in the simile and not the thing compared, has nothing to do with this passage. (Plat. Gorg. 522 A ἀπορεῖν ποιεῖ, οὐχ ὥσπερ ἐγὼ ηὐώχουν ὑμᾶς.) πολλοῖς—ethic dat., and equivalent here to πολλῶν, but preferred because of the gen. following. ‘There are few Greeks of whom it could be said that tbe report of their deeds does not do more than balance the reality.’ τῶνδε—depends on λόγος. τῷ ἔργῳ—=τῶν ἔργων τῆ̣ ἀληθείᾳ c. 41, 4. ἀνδρὸς ἀρετὴν—‘virtue in a man.’ πρώτη τε—=εἴτε πρώτη μηνύει εἴτε τελευταία βεβαιοῖ. For some, especially the younger men, their death was the first μηνυτὴς of the worth which they had not had a previous chance of showing; for others it was but the final confirmation of what had been amply proved before. καταστροφή— Soph. O. C. 103: meiosis for death.
Τοῖς τἆλλα χείροσι—not referring to any among the dead, but purely hypothetical, and intending to lead to a conclusion a fortiori. If men who have often proved themselves base can by one act rehabilitate themselves, how much more are these men noble who never in any case sbrank from danger? The dat. depends on δίκαιόν (ἐστι). προτίθεσθαι— =προτιμᾶσθαι (see 4 below), pass. They may have preferred wealth and ease to serving their country: in estimating them, we must prefer their one great sacrifice. ἀφανίσαντες—so that not the least trace of their failings remains. ὠφέλησαν —the aor. are gnomic. ἐκ τῶν ἰδιῶν—‘through their private life.’ Pericles is thinking of the indifference to state affairs against which he warns his hearers. See Intr. p. lxxiii.
Τὴν ἔτι—‘the continued enjoyment’ of wealth. πενίας ἐλπίδι, ὡς .. αὐτὴν—=οὔτε ἐλπίδι, ὡς διαφυγὼν τὴν πενίαν κἂν ἔτι πλουτήσειεν. But πενίας is attracted to ἐλπίδι because of the antithesis to πλούτῳ. ἔτι—some day, as in prophecies and threats. πλουτήσειεν—ingressive. ἀναβολὴν ἐποίησατο—these periphrases will be found collected in the index, s.v. ποιεῖσθαι. ποθεινοτέραν—a strong word used of things that are desirable. ποθεῖν is the regular word in oratory to describe the supposed anxiety of tbe hearers to have information on any point. Antiph. 5, 64; Andoc. 1, 70; Lys. 14. 1; Isocr. 12, 167; 15, 43; Isaeus 11, 19; Dem. 4, 28; 21, 77; 50, 43; Aeschin. 2, 7 and 44. αὐτῶν—again a loose reference to what has been described, here = πλούτου ὴ ἔτι ἀπόλαυσις and τὸ ἔτι πλουτῆσαι. λαβόντες—=ὑπολαβόντες, as ‘I take it’ is used by us for ‘I suppose.’ Often in Thuc. μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ—sc. τοῦ κινδύνου. It goes with ἐφίεσθαι also. τῶν δὲ—viz. the enjoyment and the hope: ‘to face this danger in exacting vengeance before tbey indulged in these hopes.’ The chief emphasis is on μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ. (Only Bh., Kraz and Ste. among recent edd. retain ἐφίεσθαι). ἐλπίδι μὲν—the construction differs from that of ἔργῳ, which is adverbial. τοῦ κατορθώσειν—the fut. is due to the prominence of tbe idea of futurity here. Cf. c. 13, 9. The infin. approximates in these cases to its use in Oratio Obliqua, in that the writer allows the thought of the person to whom he refers to influence the tense (ἀφανές ἐστιν εἰ κατορθώσομεν). It is characteristic of Thuc. to present an action as it was regarded by the actors themselves. M. T. 113. ἔργῳ—‘but in the task actually before them at the moment, tbey resolved to trust to themselves’: i.e. the future must be left to τύχη (Providence); the present required γνώμη. ἐν αὐτῷ—what can this be but the act just described, i.e. ἐν τῷ ... σφίσιν αὐτοῖς πεποιθέναι? The sense is ‘in carrying out their resolution,’ i.e. in the struggle itself. τὸ ἀμύνεσθαι καὶ παθεῖν—cf. Isocr. 2, 36 ἢν δ᾽ ἀναγκασθῆ̣ς κινδυνεύειν, αἱροῦ τεθνάναι καλῶς μᾶλλον ἢ ζῆν αἰσχρῶς. 4, 95 τοῖς καλοῖς κἀγαθοῖς αἱρετώτερόν ἐστι καλῶς ἀποθανεῖν ἢ ζῆν αἰσχρῶς. Intr. p. xl. τὸ αἰσχρὸν τοῦ λόγου—i.e. τὸ ὀνειδίζεσθαι ὡς δειλοί (Schol.). ἔφυγον—antithesis to ὑπέμειναν, as very often, e.g. Lys. 13, 27 and 63. τὸ ἔργον—=τὸν κίνδυνον. δι᾽ ἐλαχίστου καιροῦ τύχης—human γνώμη is often crossed by divine τύχη, and in this case was so modified that their highest hopes were not realised. The edd. quote Horace Sat. I. 1, 7 horae momento cita mors venit aut victoria laeta, but horae momento denotes a far greater length of time, and does not take in τύχης. But this sentence, the close of the ἔπαινος τῶν ἀποθανόντων, in its intense solemnity, resembles (mutatis mutandis) the words of St. Paul (1 Cor. 15, 52, 54) ‘We shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. ... O grave, wbere is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?’ So here Pericles refers to the rapidity and sud denness with which τύχη acts. Hence ‘in a moment ordained by Fate, at the crisis not of fear but of glory—they passed.’ (Behrendt rightly objects to Steup's proposal.) ἀπηλλάγησαν—absolute, a poetical use. Dr. Kennedy (Cam. Phil. Proceedings 1882, p. 20 fol.) well says that the speaker's voice ‘sinks to the sad and solemn cadence of ἀπηλλάγησαν.’ Supply τοῦ βίου.
Commentary on Thucydides Book 2. E.C. Marchant. London. MacMillan & Company. 1891.
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