Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War 1.9

[1] And to me it seemeth that Agamemnon got together that fleet, not so much for that he had with him the suitors of Helen bound thereto by oath to Tindareus as for this, that he exceeded the rest in power.

[2] For they that by tradition of their ancestors know the most certainty of the acts of the Peloponnesians say that first Pelops, by the abundance of his wealth which he brought with him out of Asia to men in want, obtained such power amongst them, as, though he were a stranger, yet the country was called after his name; and that this power was also increased by his posterity. For Eurystheus being slain in Attica by the Heracleidae, Atreus, that was his uncle by the mother, and was then abiding with him as an exiled person for fear of his father for the death of Chrysippus, and to whom Eurystheus, when he undertook the expedition, had committed Mycenae and the government thereof, for that he was his kinsman; when as Eurystheus came not back (the Mycenians being willing to it for fear of the Heracleidae, and because he was an able man and made much of the common people), obtained the kingdom of Mycenae, and of whatsoever else was under Eurystheus, for himself;

[3] and the power of the Pelopides became greater than that of the Perseides. To which greatness Agamemnon succeeding, and also far excelling the rest in shipping, took that war in hand, as I conceive it, and assembled the said forces, not so much upon favour as by fear.

[4] For it is clear that he himself both conferred most ships to that action and that some also he lent to the Arcadians. And this is likewise declared by Homer (if any think his testimony sufficient), who, at the delivery of the scepter unto him, calleth him, of many isles and of all Argos king. Now he could not, living in the continent, have been lord of the islands, other than such as were adjacent which cannot be many, unless he had also had a navy. And by this expedition we are to estimate what were those of the ages before it.

[1] What enabled Agamemnon to raise the armament was more, in my opinion, his superiority in strength, than the oaths of Tyndareus, which bound the Suitors to follow him.

[2] Indeed, the account given by those Peloponnesians who have been the recipients of the most credible tradition is this. First of all Pelops, arriving among a needy population from Asia with vast wealth, acquired such power that, stranger though he was, the country was called after him; and this power fortune saw fit materially to increase in the hands of his descendants. Eurystheus had been killed in Attica by the Heraclids. Atreus was his mother's brother; and to the hands of his relation, who had left his father on account of the death of Chrysippus, Eurystheus, when he set out on his expedition, had committed Mycenae and the government. As time went on and Eurystheus did not return, Atreus complied with the wishes of the Mycenaeans, who were influenced by fear of the Heraclids,—besides, his power seemed considerable, and he had not neglected to court the favour of the populace,—and assumed the sceptre of Mycenae and the rest of the dominions of Eurystheus. And so the power of the descendants of Pelops came to be greater than that of the descendants of Perseus.

[3] To all this Agamemnon succeeded. He had also a navy far stronger than his contemporaries, so that, in my opinion, fear was quite as strong an element as love in the formation of the confederate expedition.

[4] The strength of his navy is shown by the fact that his own was the largest contingent, and that of the Arcadians was furnished by him; this at least is what Homer says, if his testimony is deemed sufficient. Besides, in his account of the transmission of the sceptre, he calls him

Of many an isle, and of all Argos king.

Hom. Il. 2.108 Now Agamemnon's was a continental power; and he could not have been master of any except the adjacent islands (and these would not be many), but through the possession of a fleet.

And from this expedition we may infer the character of earlier enterprises.

Auch Agamemnon scheint mir vielmehr durch seine überlegene
Macht die Andern zu jenem Zuge gebracht zu haben, und nicht sowohl
als der Vornehmste unter den Freiern der Helena, welche ein Eid dem
Tyndareos verpflichtet hielt ^). Es erzählen nämlich auch die, welche ^{1 2 3} als der
durch Bekanntschaft mit der Ueberlieferung der Alten über die
Peloponnefifchen Dinge am besten unterrichtet sind, daß der Ursprung der
Macht des Pelops in den: Geldreichthmn zu suchen sei, mit welchem
er aus Asien zu den dürftigen Eingebornen herübergekommen, und
daß er eben deshalb, obgleich ein Fremder, zu der Ehre gelangte, dem
Lande den Namen zu geben ^). Noch viel glücklicher seien aber seine
Nachkommen gewesen. Enrystheus nämlich, der in Attika durch die
Heraklideu seinen Tod fand, habe, als er in den Krieg zog, die Stadt
Mykene und die Regierung der nahen Verwandtschaft wegen dem
Atreus, seiner Mutter Bruder, anvertraut, welcher damals grade
wegen der Ermordung des Ehrysippos vor seinem Vater flüchtig war;
und da nun Eurystheus nicht mehr zurückkehrte, habe Atreus die
Herrschaft über Mykene und alle Besitzungen des Eurystheus, und zwar
mit der Mykener Zustimmung, an sich genommen, denn diese
fürchteten die Herakliden, ihn selbst aber, der überdies dem Volke zn
gefallen verstand, hielten sie für stark genug, und so seien die Pelopiden
mächtiger geworden als die Abkömmlinge des Perfens Das Alles ^{4 5 6}
nun hat sich, wie mir scheint, auf Agamemnon vererbt, und da er
überdies auch durch eine mächtige Flotte den Andern überlegen war,
so hat er dieselben wohl mehr durch die Furcht, die er einflößte,
zu jener Unternehmung vereinigt, als daß sie es ihm zu Liebe
gethan hätten 21); denn es zeigt sich, daß er für seine eigene Person
mit der größten Anzahl von Schiffen erschien und überdies noch
den Arkadiern solche gestellt hat ^-). So erzählt nämlich Homer,
— wenn dieser überhaupt als Gewährsmann gelten kann. Auch
läßt er ihn an der Stelle, wo von der Vererbung des Scepters die
Rede ist (Jl. II, 108):
„Inseln viele beherrschen und sämtliche Gaue von Argos."
Als festlandischer Fürst kann er aber nicht wohl über die wenigen
zunächst gelegenen hinaus auch noch andere Inseln beherrscht haben,
wenn er nicht im Besitz einer Flotte war. Und nach diesem
Kriegszug muß man sich auch ein Bild von den vorangegangenen Zuständen
machen.

Nach meiner Meinung hat Agamemnon die übrigen durch
seine Übermacht, und nicht weil er sie als Freier der Helena
durch ihren TyndareoS geleisteten Eid am Bande hatte, zu
diesem Zuge vermocht. Sagen doch auch die besten Kenner der
alten peloponnesischen Geschichte, daß PelopS durch den Reich­
tum, mit dem er bei seiner Ankunft aus Asien unter der ärm­
lichen Bevölkerung aufgetreten, so mächtig geworden und das
Land sogar nach ihm, dem Fremdling, benannt sei, seine Nach­
kommen aber ihre Macht dann noch erweitert hätten. Euryftheus
nämlich habe vor seinem Auszuge den Bruder seiner Mutter,
den damals nach der Ermordung des EhrysippoS vor seinem
Vater flüchtigen Atreus, als einen Angehörigen seines HauseS
zum Reichsverweser in Mykene bestellt. Als er dann in Attika
im Kampfe gegen die Herakliden gefallen und nicht zurück­
gekehrt sei, habe sich Atreus die Herrschaft über Mpkene und
das ganze Reich des Eurystheus selbst angeeignet, und die
Mykener seien damit auch einverstanden gewesen, teils aus
Furcht vor den Herakliden, teils weil sie Atreus, der es über­
dies verstanden, sich bei den Leuten beliebt zu machen, die
nötige Kraft zugetraut hätten, und so seien die Pelopiden den
Persiden über den Kopf gewachsen. So hat auch Agamemnon
als Erbe dieser Macht und dabei im Besitz einer den anderen
überlegenen Flotte die Griechen denn doch wohl mehr auS
Furcht als aus Liebe zu ihm zur Heerfolge bewogen. Denn
er tritt nicht nur selbst mit den meisten Schiffen auf, sondern
versieht damit auch die Arkadier, wie uns Homer sagt, wenn
man den überhaupt als Beweis gelten lassen will, der ihn dann
auch in der Erzählung von der Vererbung des Zepters „über
viele Inseln und ganz Argos" herrschen läßt. Inseln aber
hätte er, abgesehen von den doch wohl nur wenigen in un­
mittelbarer Nähe der Küste, nicht beherrschen können, wenn er
nicht eine ansehnliche Flotte gehabt. Auch aus diesem Zuge können
wir auf die früheren Zustände in Griechenland schließen.

IX. Agamemnon était, je crois, le plus puissant des Grecs de son temps ; et c’est là ce qui lui permit, bien plus que le consentement des amants d’Hélène, liés par le serment fait à Tyndare ¹ , de réunir et de commander l’expédition. Ceux qui ont recueilli les traditions les plus exactes sur l’histoire du Péloponnèse rapportent que Pélops, parti d’Asie avec d’immenses richesses, s’éta- blit au milieu d’hommes pauvres, exerça autour de lui un grand ascendant, et donna, quoique étranger, son nom au pays ² . La puissance de ses descendants ne fit que s’acroître : Eurystée, neveu d’Atrée par sa mère, fut tué en Attique par les Héraclides. En partant pour cette expédition il avait confié le commandement de Mycènes et toute son autorité à Atrée, son parent, réfugié auprès de lui pour échapper aux violences de son propre père qui avait déjà tué Chrysippe. Eurystée n’étant pas revenu, Atrée, dont la puissance paraissait une garantie aux Mycéniens contre les tenta- tives des Héraclidcs, obtint les suffrages du peuple qu’il avait flatté, et se fit conférer la royauté de Mycènes et de toutes les contrées auparavant soumises à Eurystée. La puissance des Pélopides se trouva ainsi supérieure à celle des despendants de Persée. Agamemnon, héritier de cette puissance, et fort en même temps, je crois, de la supériorité de sa marine, parvint, moins par amour que par crainte, à rassembler l’expédition qu’il commanda. On sait d’ailleurs que c’est lui qui amena le plus grand nombre de vaisseaux, puisqu’il en fournit même aux Arcadiens ; c’est du moins ce que rapporte Homère, si toutefois son témoignage est valable. Homère dit aussi, à propos de la trans- mission du sceptre ³ , qu’il régnait sur un grand nombre d’iles et sur tout le pays d’Argos. Habitant le continent, il n’aurait pu, sans une marine, régner sur un grand nombre d’iles, à moins qu’on n’entende par là les îles voisines de la terre ferme, et elles n’étaient pas en grand nombre. C’est d’après cette expédition que nous devons juger celles qui ont précédé.

[1] And it was, as I think, because Agamemnon surpassed in power the princes of his time that he was able to assemble his fleet, and not so much because Helen's suitors, whom he led, were bound by oath to Tyndareus. ¹

[2] It is said, furthermore, by those of the Peloponnesians who have received the clearest traditional accounts from men of former times, that it was by means of the great wealth which he brought with him from Asia into the midst of a poor people that Pelops first acquired power, and, consequently, stranger though he was, gave his name to the country, and that yet greater things fell to the lot of his descendants. For when Eurystheus set out on the expedition that resulted in his death in Attica at the hands of the Heracleidae, Atreus, his mother's brother, who chanced to have been banished by his father for the death of Chrysippus, ² was intrusted by Eurystheus with Mycenae and the sovereignty because he was a kinsman; and when Eurystheus did not return, Atreus, in accordance with the wish of the Mycenaeans, who feared the Heracleidae, and because he seemed to be a man of power and had won the favour of the multitude, received the sovereignty over the Mycenaeans and all who were under the sway of Eurystheus. And so the house of Pelops became greater than the house of Perseus.

[3] And it was, I think, because Agamemnon had inherited all this, and at the same time had become strong in naval power beyond the rest, that he was able to collect his armament, not so much by favour as by fear, and so to make the expedition.

[4] For it is clear that he himself brought the greatest number of ships, and that he had others with which to supply the Arcadians, ³ as Homer testifies, if he is sufficient witness for anyone. And he says, in the account of the delivery of the sceptre, ⁴ that Agamemnon "ruled over many islands and all Argos." Now, if he had not had something of a fleet, he could not, as he lived on the mainland, have been lord of any islands except those on the coast, and these would not be "many." And it is from this expedition that we must judge by conjecture what the situation was before that time.

[1] And Agamemnon appears to me to have assembled the armament because he surpassed the men of that day in power, and not so much because he took the suitors of Helen bound by their oaths to Tyndarus.

[2] It is said too by those of the Peloponnesians who have received the most certain accounts by tradition from their forefathers, that Pelops first acquired power by the abundance of riches with which he came from Asia to men who were in needy circumstances; and although a new-comer, yet gave his name to the country; ¹ and that afterwards still greater power fell to the lot of his descendants, as Eurystheus was killed in Attica by the Heraclidae, and Atreus was his mother's brother, and Eurystheus, when going on the expedition, intrusted Mycenae and the government to Atreus, on the ground of their connexion; (he happened to be flying from his father on account of the death of Chrysippus :) and when Eurystheus did not return again, they say that at the wish of the Mycenaeans themselves, through their fear of the Heraclidae, and also because he appeared to be powerful, and had courted the commons, Atreus received the kingdom of the Mycenaeans and all that Eurystheus ruled over; and that so the descendants of Pelops became greater than those of Perseus.

[3] And I think that Agamemnon, from having received this inheritance, and from being strong in his navy also at the same time to a greater extent than others, assembled and made the expedition not so much by favour as by fear.

[4] For he appears to have both come himself with most ships, and to have furnished them for the Arcadians besides; as Homer has also shown, if he is sufficient authority for any one, ² and also, in [his account of] the transmission of the sceptre, he has mentioned that he Now, as he lived on the mainland, he would not have been master of islands, except those that were adjacent, (and those would not be numerous,) if he had not also had some naval force. And we must conjecture by this expedition, what was the character of those before it.

[1] Et Agamemno mihi videtur eo quod ceteros illius saeculi potentia superaret, non autem tantopere, quod Tyn- darei jurejurando obstricti essent, expeditionem comparasse.

[2] Atque aiunt etiam, qui praeter ceteros probabiliter Peloponnesiorum res a majoribus memoria traditas acceperunt, Pelopem primum quum magna vi pecuniarum, quas secum ex Asia ad homines inopes attulerat, potentiam parasset, quamvis peregrinus esset, tamen illi regioni ut nomen daret obtinuisse, et postea longe ampliores res ipsius posteris accessisse, quum Eurystheus quidem in Attica ab Heraclidis interfectus esset, Atreus vero ipsius avunculus esset et commisisset Eurystheus, quum ad expeditionem proficisceretur, Mycenas et imperium propter cognationem Atreo; eum vero tum fugere patris metu propter Chrysippi necem, et quum Eurystheus nondum jam rediisset, volentibus etiam Mycenmis Hcraclidarutn metu, simul etiam quod vir strenuus esse videretur et multitudinis benevolentiam sibi conciliasset, regno Mycenaeorum,et ceterorum omnium, quibus Eurystheus imperabat, regnum cepisse Atreum et Persidis Pelopidas majores evasisse.

[3] His mihi videtur Agamemno opibus acceptis et simul etiam re navali supra ceteros potentia auctus expeditionem illam fecisse non gratia potius quam metu comparatam.

[4] Constat enim eum et plurimis cum navibus ipsum profectum, et Arcadibus praeterea naves praebuisse, ut Homerus hoc declaravit, si cui idoneus testis videtur; atque etiam in sceptri traditione, dixit ipsum « Multis insulis, et omni Argo imperare.» Nequaquam igitur insulas, praeter vicinas (hae autem non multae esse possint), qui in continente degebat, in sua ditione habere potuisset, nisi aliquam etiam classem habuisset.

[5] Ex hoc autem bellico apparatu etiam conjecturam facere licet, quales fuerint superiorum saeculorum expeditiones.

Perciò credo avere anche Agamennone riunito quell’ armata, non tanto perchè i pretendenti d' Elena eh’ ei conduceva vi erano astretti dai giuramenti prestati a Tindaro, ma sibbene perchè era il più potente de’Greci d’ allora. Conciossiachè quelli stessi, che per tradizioni ricevute dai maggiori hanno più esatta contezza delle cose del Peloponneso, raccontano che Pelope con le ricchezze portate seco dall’Asia fu il primo ad acquistarsi potenza tra quei popoli miserabili; e pose, benché forestiero, il cognome del paese : che questa potenza anco maggiore toccò coll’ andar del tempo a’ suoi discendenti ; pel caso che Euristeo partito per la guerra , ed ucciso poi nelFAttica dagli Eraclidi, avea, per titolo di parentela, affidato il reggimento di Micene e del suo impero ad Atreo fratello di sua madre, il quale si trovava esule dal padre Pelope per avere ucciso Crisippo. Non essendo Euristeo altramente ritornato, ebbe egli il regno di Micene e dì quant’ altro era stato sotto il comando di Euristeo, col consentimento de' Micenesi mossi dal timore degli Eraclidi ; ed anche perchè godeva reputazione di valoroso, e si era colle sue maniere conciliata la moltitudine : e così rese i Pelopidi più forti de’ Perseidi. Delle quali forze divenuto erede Agamennone, che era anche più degli altri potente sul mare, parmi che col timore più che con le sue buone grazie raccogliesse P armata per eseguire la spedizione. Infatti si vede arrivare con maggior numero di navi, ed offrirle agli Arcadi, siccome lo ha dichiarato Omero, se pur vale per alcuno la sua testimonianza : e nella consegnazione dello scettro dice di più

Or senza avere una flotta considerevole non avrebbe potuto , uomo di terraferma com’ egli era, avere impero al di là delle isole circonvicine, che certamente non potevano esser molte. Da quest' istessa armata si conghiettura cosa furono quelle prima di essa.