Speech of the Corcyraean ambassadors at Athens. Chaps. 32-36.
§ 1, 2.
Whoever asks for aid without being able to appeal to
obligation, should show that the granting of his request will be attended with
advantage and not injury to those who help him.
μήτε εὐεργεσίας...προυφειλομένης
:
without having any claim on the score of
important service rendered or of alliance. Cf. Hdt. v. 82,
ἡ ἔχθρη ἡ προοφειλομένη. The pres. partic. expresses the
standing obligation,
μήτε, the
hypothetical generality of the thought.
τοὺς πέλας: has no local meaning, but simply
=
others, his neighbours. Cf. 16; c. 37. 13, 20; 69. 13; 70. 2,
etc.
ἀναδιδάξαι:
show on the
contrary or
rather; for the absence of previous claim
would be likely to give rise to an unfavourable judgment. Cf.
iii.97.2;
viii.86.4.—
πρῶτον: has its correlative in
ἔπειτα δέ. Cf.
v.31.3; 61. 15;
vi.2.18;
vii.23.5. Its
position gives it prominence enough without
μέν, which
before
μάλιστα μέν,
if
possible, would have been objectionable.—
καὶ ξύμφορα: implies ‘not only help for
himself.’
δεῖσθαι properly takes gen. of
person or of thing, but not often together as in 23. Kühn. 417, 2. But a neut.
acc. of inner obj. is freq. found. Cf.
Xen. An.
vii.2.34,
ταῦτ᾽ ἐστὶν ἃ ἐγὼ ὑμῶν
δέομαι. Here it =
ξύμφορον δέησιν δέονται.
ὅτι γε
: with conjs. and preps.
γε is often placed before what it really emphasizes; here
οὐκ ἐπιζήμια.
Κερκυραῖοι δέ:
and now
the Corcyraeans.
δέ brings their case under the general rule. Cf. c.
121. 1;
ii.64.28;
iii.10.7.
μετὰ...τῆς αἰτήσεως
: the obj. gen. is often placed first. Cf. c. 65. 13; 84. 13;
iii.23.27;
v.53.11;
vii.42.30.—
ταῦτα: i.e. the advantage their alliance would bring to the Athenians, and
the certainty of their gratitude.
παρέξεσθαι: mid., as in
ii.62.32, implying that the powers of the subject are
exerted. ‘Dynamic mid.’ Kr.
Spr. 52, 8, 2.
§ 3-5.
We must indeed admit that our former rule, of keeping
aloof from all entangling alliances, does not justify itself in view of the danger
which now threatens us from the Corinthians; and we now renounce it.
τετύχηκε δὲ
κτἑ.: before they proceed to give the promised
justification of their petition (which comes in c. 33), the
δέ,
and in truth, introduces a recognition of the
perilous mistake of their previous behaviour. The pred. adjs.
ἄλογον, ἀξύμφορον after
τετύχηκε
without a partic. Cf. c. 106. 4;
ii.87.23;
Soph. Aj. 9;
El. 46, 313; Ar.
Av. 760; Kühn. 483 c. Herbst, Philol. 24, p. 652.
τετύχηκε,
it has turned out, indicates
the unusual coincidence of two bad results of the same cause (
τὸ
αὐτό).
ἐπιτήδευμα:
a course of
conduct based on principles; of individuals,
vi.15.18; 28. 13; of states and peoples, c. 71. 9; 138. 4;
ii.37.11;
vi.18.19. The
consistent carrying out of the same is
ἐπιτήδευσις,
ii.36.15;
vii.86.26.—
πρὸς ὑμᾶς:
in your eyes;
ἐς τὴν χρείαν:
in respect of the
request we make;
ἐς τὰ ἡμέτερα αὐτῶν ἐν τῷ παρόντι:
as regards our position at the present time.—
ἡμῖν: belongs to
τετύχηκε
ἄλογον καὶ ἀξύμφορον. The
ἄλογον,
“involving a contradiction,” is explained by 12,
ξύμμαχοί τε . . . ἥκομεν, the
ἀξύμφορον by 13,
καὶ ἅμα . . .
καθέσταμεν.
ἐν τῷ πρὸ τοῦ: with
χρόνῳ,
ii.58.12; 73. 10; without
χρόνῳ,
iv.72.13, including all
past time up to the present. Note the behaviour of the Corcyraeans recorded in Hdt. vii.
168.
Κορινθίων: to be joined with
πόλεμον. Cf.
Xen. An.
ii.5.7,
τὸν θεῶν πόλεμον.
καθέσταμεν
:
here we stand; an emphatic
ἐσμέν, with pred. adj. Cf. c. 70. 3;
ii.59.9;
iii.40.10; 102. 26;
iv.26.25;
vi.15.17;
vii.28.31.
περιέστηκεν
κτἑ.: the verb expresses the change and
its result. Cf. c. 78. 5; 120. 27;
iv.12.12;
vi.24.6; 61. 18;
vii.18.26;
viii.1.9. The partic.
φαινομένη of actual manifestation, opposed to
δοκοῦσα of fallacious appearance.
And so (
καί, introducing the final consequence)
what
was formerly regarded as our wise discretion, in that we took no share in the risks of
the policy of others by joining in a foreign alliance, has now at last (
περι-)
shown itself to be sheer want of
foresight and weakness. The inf. clause
τὸ μὴ . . .
ξυγκινδυνεύειν is in appos. to
ἡ . . .
σωφροσύνη. Cf. c. 41. 8;
vii.36.26.
ἀβουλία and
ἀσθένεια, the
result of the
ἄλογον and
ἀξύμφορον.
τὴν μὲν οὖν...ναυμαχίαν
: though grammatically construed with
ἀπεωσάμεθα after the analogy of
νικᾶν τινα
μάχην, has at the head of the sentence an almost abs. position;
as regards the victory, however. This effect must be often noted
where the construction offers no difficulty. Cf. 33. 16; 73. 10; 86. 7; 142. 6;
ii.62.1;
iii.15.4.
κατὰ μόνας:
singlehanded. Cf. c. 37. 17. An elliptical phrase with no certain supplement. See
on c. 14. 15.
ὥρμηνται:
have made
themselves ready for war. Cf.
ii.9.1;
vi.33.6.
καὶ ἅμα: adds a new reason; not here
temporal. See on c. 2. 9.—22, 24.
κίνδυνος,
ἀνάγκη, ξυγγνώμη: usually without
ἐστί.
Kühn. 354 b. Cf.
iv.61.17;
v.88.1. Here for
κίνδυνος we
must supply
ἔσται or
ἂν
εἴη.
ὑμῶν...παντός
: dependent on
δεῖσθαι, to which
here is joined also the gen. of the thing. Cf. Hdt.
v.40.7;
Xen. Cyr. viii.3.19.
μή: belongs only to
μετὰ κακίας, not to the verb. Cf. c. 37. 6;
iii.14.7.
τολμῶμεν:
we venture,
decide. The thing to be encountered is not a danger but an unfavourable
judgment.
