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ἀκούουσι and ἀναμιμνῃσκομένοις are syntactically parallel: the former participle seems at first to agree with ὑμῖν understood, but the subdivision of ὑμῖν which appears in the second member with τοῖς εἰδόσιν αὐτοῖς makes it clear that ἀκούουσι is intended to apply only to τοῖς μὴ αὐτοῖς εἰδόσιν ὑμῶν. Cf. Thuc. I.42 ὧν ἐνθυμηθέντες καὶ νεώτερός τις παρὰ πρεσβυτέρων αὐτὰ μαθών.

αὐτοῖς, almost ‘by personal experience,’ with εἰδόσιν.

ἡλίκην ... ὡς καλῶς . The double question, whether direct or reported, is a regular Greek idiom. Cf. Plato, Rep. 332 D τίσι τί ἀποδιδοῦσα τέχνη; Soph. El. 751οἷ᾽ ἔργα δράσας οἷα λαγχάνει κακά”. In instances like the present there is some doubt whether forms like ἡλίκος and οἷος are to be regarded (1) as used loosely for the dependent interrogative forms (ὁπηλίκος, ὁποῖος, &c.), (2) as dependent exclamations, or (3) as strictly relative.

The vagueness of ἐξ οὗ χρόνος οὐ πολὺς allows us to suppose that the speaker alludes to the ‘Corinthian’ war which began in 395 B.C. or the ‘Boeotian’ which began in 378.

θεάσησθε is not by any means a mere synonym of ἰδῆτε: Demosthenes wishes his hearers not merely to perceive the fact, but also to contemplate it.

φυλαττομένοις. Participle used conditionally, parallel to ἂν ὀλιγωρῆτε.

μηδὲν is to be taken adverbially, the regular construction after φροντίζειν being a genitive. Why not οὐδέν?

hide References (3 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (3):
    • Plato, Republic, 332d
    • Sophocles, Electra, 751
    • Thucydides, Histories, 1.42
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