201 Β μοι ούτωσὶ ποίησον αὔριον ἕωθεν ἀφίκου οἴκαδε, • καὶ μὴ | ἄλλως ποιήσῃς, ἵνα βουλευσώμεθα περὶ τὸ δὲ νῦν εἶναι τὴν συνουσίαν

αὐτῶν τούτων.

διαλύσωμεν.

ΣΩ. ̓Αλλὰ ποιήσω, ὦ Λυσίμαχε, ταῦτα, καὶ ἥξω παρὰ σὲ αὔριον, ἐὰν θεὸς ἐθέλῃ.

NOTES.

ΤΑ ΤΟΥ ΔΙΑΛΟΓΟΥ ΠΡΟΣΩΠΑ.

LYSIMACHUS and Melesias are two old men who live together. Lysimachus is the son of Aristides the Just, who was himself the son of a Lysimachus; and Melesias is the son of Thucydides the statesman, who was himself the son of a Melesias. (Thucydides the historian was the son of Olorus.)

Nicias and Laches are two Athenians, who have had experience in the command of armies. Of Nicias, who is perhaps the most conspicuous character in the history of Thucydides, it need only be said that he had apparently far too little energy and vigilance and far too much hesitation to be a successful general, that he was exceedingly superstitious, but of great personal courage, and up to the time of his death probably the most highly esteemed man at Athens. Plato perhaps introduces him here as the type of a soldier whose courage was spoilt by the preponderance of the cautious element.

Of Laches, the son of Melanopus, we learn from this dialogue that he was of the deme Aexone, and was engaged at the battle of Delium (B. C. 424). Thucydides (iii. 86) tells us that he in conjunction with Charoeades was sent to Sicily in command of a fleet of twenty ships in B.C. 427 to help Leontini against Syracuse, that in the next year he (being now sole commander, as Charoeades had fallen in battle) forced the Messenians to capitulate and become allies of Athens, and met with other successes, but some reverses. He fell at Mantineia in B.C. 418, where he commanded the Athenian contingent in the Argive army. He may possibly have had the reputation of being an officer of more dash than caution, as he seems never to have been employed as general in any operation of first-rate importance. However this may be, it is obvious that Plato intends to mark a contrast between

the characters of Laches and Nicias as military men.

The two were no doubt friends, and Nicias certainly, and Laches probably, belonged to the aristocratical and philo-Laconian party at Athens. Thus Laches was the proposer of the truce with the Lacedaemonians in B.C. 423, and was associated with Nicias two years afterwards in negotiating the peace called by the name of the latter.

The sons of Lysimachus and Melesias are two boys called respectively Aristides and Thucydides after their grandfathers.

For Socrates, see Introduction.

178 A

CAP. I.

Τεθέασθε μέν. The μέν is answered by the δέ in οὗ δ' ἕνεκα. These two particles may mark almost any degree of contrast in Greek, from the strongest to the weakest, and their force has to be rendered in English in different ways according to the circumstances. Here leave μév untranslated and render dé by 'but.' Below translate Tóre μèv oỷk eïtoμev, vûv d'époûμev by though we did not tell you then, we will tell you now.'

τὸν ἄνδρα μαχόμενον ἔν ὅπλοις. We are subsequently told that the man's name was Stesilaus. The art which he practised and taught seems to have been that of fighting in the full equipment of a hoplite, and if it was complete must have included the use of the sword as well as of the spear, though the latter was the main weapon of the heavyarmed soldier. Most however, if not all, of the parrying would be done with the shield. Athenian soldiers at this time probably underwent very little drilling, but there may have been a spear and shield exercise taught in the palaestrae. In that case, no doubt, no other armour would be used, and the bodies of the combatants would be naked.

Aristotle mentions spears with rounded heads (èopaipwμéva) instead of points, which in his time at any rate must have been used in such exercises. It would seem from what Nicias says in this dialogue (p. 182) that men like Stesilaus taught not only this military exercise, but tactics and strategy, and this is confirmed by a comparison of Plato's Euthydemus 271 D foll. and Xen. Mem. iii. Î.

πρός γε ὑμᾶς. The γε of course qualifies ὑμᾶς and not πρός. τῶν τοιούτων, neuter.

αὐτοῖς συμβουλεύσηται, ‘asks their advice. advice would be αὐτοῖς συμβουλεύσῃ.

'Gives them 178 A

Oúk äν EĽπTOLEν, 'will not say,' i.e. 'do not wish to say.' The optative with av must here be regarded as a milder way of expressing οὐ θέλουσιν εἰπεῖν. For its conditional form is not a result of its being the apodosis of ἐάν τις.. συμβουλεύσηται, but exists in spite of it. The continuation in the indicative aλa éyovo is regular enough. The construction of the following lines from the Alcestis

ἦν δ ̓ ἐγγὺς ἔλθῃ θάνατος, οὐδεὶς βούλεται

θνήσκειν, τὸ γῆρας δ' οὐκέτ ̓ ἔστ ̓ αὐτοῖς βαρύ (671, 672) would be an exact parallel if av Oávo were substituted for βούλεται θνήσκειν. Of course the present indicative will be found in the apodosis after éáv in the protasis only in the case of general statements.

ἀλλὰ στοχαζόμενοι, κ.τ.λ., lit. ‘but guessing at their consultor say other things contrary to their own opinion,' i.e. 'but make a guess at their friend's wishes, and in consequence give advice which is contrary to their own opinion.'

6

ὑμᾶς δὲ ἡμεῖς, κ.τ.λ., but in your case it is precisely Β because we thought that you were able to form a decision, and having formed it would tell us your opinion honestly, that we called you to a consultation on the matter of which we will now speak.'

ἔστιν οὖν τοῦτο, κ.τ.λ., ‘well, the question about which I have been all this time making this long preface is as follows.' Tálal, like jamdudum and jampridem in Latin, and phrases like il y a longtemps que in French, gives to a present the force of the English perfect and to an imperfect the force of an English pluperfect.

Toûde, of my friend here,' i.e. Melesias.

πάππου ἔχων ὄνομα, Θουκυδίδης. We should say, called Thucydides after his grandfather.' Notice the omission of the article before the familiar word πάππου. A reference to the note on the Persons of the Dialogue will show that in these two families one out of two names (Melesias and Thucydides in the one case, Lysimachus and Aristides in the other) was given in turn to the first-born of each generation. This was the usual, but not the universal, custom at Athens.

émiμednoñvai, a deponent form.

καὶ μὴ ποιῆσαι, κ.τ.λ., 6 and not to do what most fathers do; that is, let our sons do what they like now that they

179 A

179 A have ceased to be children, but rather to make this the very time for beginning to look after them to the best of our power.'

B

μelpákia yéyovev. The neut. plur. predicate here attracts the verb into the singular, the more easily, perhaps, because the subject is understood and not expressed.

μeμeλnkévα, impersonal. Supply ὑμῖν. (Strictly the

viv in the sentence is constructed both with ovтas and μεμεληκέναι.)

,

EĽTEρ Tolv äMois, a common Greek phrase. Cf. such English expressions as I saw fifty if I saw one. Here translate,We thought you as likely as any men' (meaning 'more likely than any other men ') 'to have considered.'

πῶς ἂν θεραπευθέντες γένοιντο ἄριστοι, lit. being how trained they would become best,' i.e. 'what sort of training would make the best men out of them.' There is a stiffness and cumbrousness about interrogative sentences in English which makes their management difficult, especially in translation.

εἰ δ ̓ ἄρα πολλάκις, but if by any chance.” ἄρα conveys the idea of a result discovered, Toáкis implies that the result is within the bounds of possibility: cf. 194 a.

ὑπομνήσοντες and παρακαλοῦντες. These participles are (as Jacobs says) used as if ἤλθομεν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἡγησάμενοι had occurred in the preceding paragraph. Anacoluthon is unfortunately frequent in Plato, but this instance is particularly harsh. Tapakaλoûvтes is fut. here.

с

CAP. II.

Sn, you must know that.'

παρασιτεῖ. This verb and the substantive παράσιτοs had not yet acquired a bad sense at the time when Plato wrote.

OTEр. It may be said that the antecedent to this is the clause παῤῥησιασόμεθα πρὸς ὑμᾶς. Translate As.

ἡμέτερα ... αὐτῶν, ‘nostra ipsorum.”

ταῦτα δὴ ὑπαισχυνόμεθά τε τούσδε. The verb is constructed with a double accusative. 'Well, we feel rather ashamed of this before them.'

ὅτι ἡμᾶς μὲν εἴων τρυφᾶν, κ.τ.λ., because they allowed us to take life easily, as soon as we were out of our boyhood, while