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Ὅτι μὲν καλὰ κ.τ.λ.—That our past exploits have been glorious, that it is a glorious future for which we are about to fight, most of you, we think, know: otherwise you would not have devoted yonrselves with such enthusiasm to your task. But if any man has not so clear a perception of this as he should have, we will make it plain. αὐτῶν = τῶν προειργασμένων καὶ τῶν μελλόντων.
Ἀθηναίους γὰρ κ.τ.λ.—the A., who came to this country intending first to enslave S. and then, if they succeeded, the Pel. as well and the rest of Greece—the A. who possess an empire at present the largest of all that belong or ever have belonged to Greeks, you, the first to withstand their navy that gave them all their power, have already defeated in several battles by sea and are probably going to defeat again now. Observe the construction of this admirable sentence, and esp. the order. ἔπειτ᾽—as καὶ follows, we should perhaps read ἔπειτα δέ with B, since ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ is the regular formula. τῷ ναυτικῷ—for the dat. after ὑφίστασθαι see L. and S. This is the only instance in Thuc, since in II. 61.4, which edd. compare, ξυμφορὰς τὰς μεγίστας ὑφίστασθαι is the true) reading.
ἄνδρες γὰρ κ.τ.λ.—for when men are humbled in that wherein they claim to excel, what remains of their selfrespect is more thoroughly weakened than if they had not thought to excel (sc. προύχειν) from the first, and while receiving a check from the unexpected outcome of their boast, they give way even more than their real strength necessitates. This we may suppose to be the case with the A. now αὐτὸ ἑαυτοῦ—a rhetorical device for exhibiting the change in the condition of a thing, which none the less retains its identity. τῷ παρ᾽ ἐλπίδα τοῦ αὐχήματος—if taken together, with Classen and Bolime, this balances παρὰ ἰσχὺν τῆς δυνάμεως better than if τοῦ αὐχήματος is put with σφαλλόμενοι, and τῷ παρ᾽ ἐλπίδα (= unexpectedly) taken alone, with Bloomfield, Arnold, and Stahl. See Appendix II. ὃ νῦν—the speaker shows that while they themselves might well anticipate victory, their enemies will look forward to nothing but defeat, and consequently will fail to exert the power which they have. Bloomfield.
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