Classical Reading
To download this assignment as a pdf, click here: AGE Readings 17.
In 404 BCE, democratic Athens surrendered to Sparta after decades of conflict. A group known as the Thirty Tyrants then took control of Athens, but democracy was restored the next year. Among the Thirty was a man named Eratosthenes, who allegedly murdered the brother of the famous orator and legal expert Lysias. Lysias published a speech prosecuting Eratosthenes. Here Lysias explains that sometimes defendants point to their good, patriotic deeds as counterbalancing any crimes they committed, but that is impossible for Eratosthenes:
ἐπεὶ κελεύετε αὐτὸν ἀποδεῖξαι ὅπου τοσούτους τῶν πολεμίων ἀπέκτειναν ὅσους τῶν πολιτῶν, ἢ ναῦς ὅπου τοσαύτας ἔλαβον ὅσας αὐτοὶ παρέδοσαν, ἢ πόλιν ἥντινα τοιαύτην προσεκτήσαντο οἵαν τὴν ὑμετέραν κατεδουλώσαντο. ἀλλὰ γὰρ ὅπλα τῶν πολεμίων ἐσκύλευσαν τοσαῦτα ὅσα περ ὑμῶν ἀφείλοντο, ἀλλὰ τείχη τοιαῦτα εἷλον οἷα τῆς ἑαυτῶν πατρίδος κατέσκαψαν. οἵτινες καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν Ἀττικὴν φρούρια καθεῖλον, [and made it evident to you that even in dismantling the Peiraeus they were not obeying the injunctions of the Lacedaemonians], ἀλλ’ ὅτι ἑαυτοῖς τὴν ἀρχὴν οὕτω βεβαιοτέραν ἐνόμιζον εἶναι. πολλάκις οὖν ἐθαύμασα τῆς τόλμης τῶν λεγόντων ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ…. οὐ γὰρ νῦν πρῶτον τῷ ὑμετέρῳ πλήθει τὰ ἐναντία ἔπραξεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν Τετρακοσίων ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ ὀλιγαρχίαν καθιστὰς ἔφευγεν ἐξ Ἑλλησπόντου τριήραρχος καταλιπὼν τὴν ναῦν, μετὰ Ἰατροκλέους καὶ ἑτέρων, ὧν τὰ ὀνόματα οὐδὲν δέομαι λέγειν. ἀφικόμενος δὲ δεῦρο τἀναντία τοῖς βουλομένοις δημοκρατίαν εἶναι ἔπραττε. καὶ τούτων μάρτυρας ὑμῖν παρέξομαι.
Lysias 12.39-42
ἀποδείκνυμι show, display
Ἀττική -ῆς ἡ Attica
ἀφείλοντο (3rd pl aorist) take from (+ gen.)
ἀφικόμενος –η –ον having returned
βεβαιοτερος –α –ον more secure
βουλόμενος –η –ον wanting, planning
δέομαι need
δεῦρο here
δημοκρατία –ας ἡ
Ἑλλήσποντος –ου ὁ Hellespont
ἐπεί next, then
Ἰατροκλής –έους ὁ Iatrocles
καθεῖλον < κατα + αἱρέω take down, destroy
καθιστάς –άσα –άν having established
καταλιπών –οῦσα –όν having abandoned
κατεδουλώσαντο (3rd pl aorist) enslave
κατασκάπτω dig up, destroy
λέγων –όντος ὁ speaker, orator
νῦν now
οἷος –α –ον (of the same kind) as (here correlates with τοιαύτην)
ὀλιγαρχία –ας ἡ oligarchy
ὅπου where
ὅσος –α –ον as; as many of (here correlates with τοσούτους)
οὕτω this way
περ marker of emphasis
περιεῖλον < περι + αἱρέω take away
πολίτης –ου ὁ citizen
πολλάκις often
προσεκτήσαντο (3rd pl aorist) acquire σκυλεύω strip from
στρατόπεδον –ου τό military camp
τἀναντία = τὰ ἐναντία
Τετρακόσιοι –ων The Four Hundred (a brief oligarchy eight years earlier, in 411 BCE)
τοιοῦτος –αύτη –οῦτο of the same kind (as)
τόλμη –ης ἡ boldness, daring
τοσοῦτος –αύτη –οῦτο so great, so large
τριήραρχος –ου ὁ trierarch (commander of a trireme warship)
φρούριον –ου τό fort, garrison