Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, Adolf Wahrmund (Translator), 5.103

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Athener: Freilich ist die Hoffnung Trost in der
Gefahr.und diejenigen,'welche bei eigenen reichen Mitteln sich ihr
hingeben, vernichtet sie nicht ganz, wenn sie ihneniauch Schaden bringt;
aber doch ist sie:ihrer.Natur.nah cVerlust,-und.wer.sein.'Allts auf
ihre Karte seht, der lernt sie erst kennen)-wenn.er,-enttäushctets,und.
sie ihm.Nichts mehrlübrig gelassen-hat, in,dessen Besitzen künftig
vor ihr/ der Erkannten, auf der Hut sein könnte. - Zhr nun seid-
schwach und Alles steht für euch auf Einem Wurf;, wollet euch also
njcht'jenes Schicksal zuziehen, und macht es.nicht wie-die große
Menge, denen es anfangs möglich wäre, sich durch menschlihce Mittel
noch zu retten; wenn!aber in der Bedrängniß die sichtbaren
Hoffnungen .sie.vetlassen,. so. wenden sie. sich den unsichtbaren.zu;.der Wahr-
sagerei und'den Orakeln, und. was dergleichen mehr unter
fortdauernder Hoffnung den Menschen zu Grunde-richtet. "

History of the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides. Adolf Wahrmund (Translator). Stuttgart. 1864.

Current edition First1KGreek

Geschichte des Peloponnesischen Kriegs (German) (Thucydides. Geschichte des Peloponnesischen Kriegs. Wahrmund, Adolf, translator. Stuttgart: Krais and Hoffmann, 1864.)

Editions (1)

Ἱστορίαι Perseus (Thucydides. Historiae, Vol 1-2. Jones, Henry Stuart, editor. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1910. (1942 printing).) — 5.103.1 focus

ΑΘ.

ἐλπὶς δὲ κινδύνῳ παραμύθιον οὖσα τοὺς μὲν ἀπὸ περιουσίας χρωμένους αὐτῇ, κἂν βλάψῃ, οὐ καθεῖλεν· τοῖς δ’ ἐς ἅπαν τὸ ὑπάρχον ἀναρριπτοῦσι (δάπανος γὰρ φύσει) ἅμα τε γιγνώσκεται σφαλέντων καὶ ἐν ὅτῳ ἔτι φυλάξεταί τις αὐτὴν γνωρισθεῖσαν οὐκ ἐλλείπει.

ΑΘ.

ὃ ὑμεῖς ἀσθενεῖς τε καὶ ἐπὶ ῥοπῆς μιᾶς ὄντες μὴ βούλεσθε παθεῖν μηδὲ ὁμοιωθῆναι τοῖς πολλοῖς, οἷς παρὸν ἀνθρωπείως ἔτι σῴζεσθαι, ἐπειδὰν πιεζομένους αὐτοὺς ἐπιλίπωσιν αἱ φανεραὶ ἐλπίδες, ἐπὶ τὰς ἀφανεῖς καθίστανται μαντικήν τε καὶ χρησμοὺς καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα μετ’ ἐλπίδων λυμαίνεται.

Translations (9)

The History of the Grecian War Perseus (Thucydides. The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury. Hobbes, Thomas. translator. London: John Bohn, 1843.) — 5.103.1 focus

[1] Ath. Hope, the comfort of danger, when such use it as have to spare, though it hurt them, yet it destroys them not. But to such as set their rest upon it (for it is a thing by nature prodigal), it at once by failing maketh itself known; and known, leaveth no place for future caution.

[2] Which let not be your own case, you that are but weak and have no more but this one stake. Nor be you like unto many men, who, though they may presently save themselves by human means, will yet, when upon pressure of the enemy their most apparent hopes fail them, betake themselves to blind ones, as divination, oracles, and other such things which with hopes destroy men.

History of the Peloponnesian War Perseus (Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Crawley, Richard, translator. London and Toronto: J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd.; New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., 1914.) — 5.103.1 focus

‘Hope, danger's comforter, may be indulged in by those who have abundant resources, if not without loss at all events without ruin; but its nature is to be extravagant, and those who go so far as to put their all upon the venture see it in its true colors only when they are ruined; but so long as the discovery would enable them to guard against it, it is never found wanting.

Let not this be the case with you, who are weak and hang on a single turn of the scale; nor be like the vulgar, who, abandoning such security as human means may still afford, when visible hopes fail them in extremity, turn to invisible, to prophecies and oracles, and other such inventions that delude men with hopes to their destruction.’

Geschichte des Peloponnesischen Kriegs First1KGreek (Thucydides. Geschichte des Peloponnesischen Kriegs. Braun, Theodor, translator. Leipzig: Insel-Verlag, 1917.) — 5.103 focus

Athener: „Gewiß, Hoffnung ist ein Trost in der Gefahr,
und sie wird dem Mächtigen, der sich auf sie verläßt, wenn
auch vielleicht schädlich, aber doch nicht verderblich werden.
Wer aber mit ihr, weil sie ihm goldene Berge verspricht, sein
alles aufs Spiel setzt, wird erst durch Schaden klug und dann
zu spät inne, wie trügerisch sie ist. Euch fehlt die Macht, und
euer Schicksal hängt an einem Haar, seht euch also vor, daß
es euch nicht auch so geht, und macht es nicht wie der ge
meine Mann, der auch da, wo noch menschliche Hilfe möglich
ist, wenn er bei einer Krankheit an die bewährten Mittel
nicht mehr glaubt, sich auf Wunderkuren nnd dergleichen
trügerische Hoffnungen verläßt."

Histoire de la Guerre du Péloponèse First1KGreek (Thucydides. Histoire de la Guerre du Péloponnése, Vol. 1-2. Zévort, Marie Charles, translator. Paris: Charpentier, 1852.) — 5.103 focus

CIII. L es A théniens, « On peut se livrer à l’espérance, ce soutien de l’homme dans les périls, quand on n’expose que son superflu; si elle coûte cher, du moins ce n’est pas la ruine; mais quand on risque sur elle tout ce qu’on possède (car elle est prodigue de sa nature), c’est dans les revers qu’on apprend à la connaître, et elle ne dévoile sa perfidie qu’au moment où elle ne laisse plus rien pour s’en garantir. Vous qui êtes faibles et qui n’avez qu’une chance à courir, gardezvous de cette folie; ne faites pas comme la plupart des hommes qui, pouvant encore se sauver par des moyens humains, ont recours dans leur détresse, quand tout espoir réel les abandonne, à de chimériques illusions, à la divination, aux oracles, et à tous ces expédients qui mènent à la ruine par de décevantes espérances.

Histoire de la Guerre du Péloponnése First1KGreek (Thucydides. Histoire de la Guerre du Péloponnése. Bétant, Élie-Ami, translator. Paris: Librairie de L. Hachette, 1863.) — 5.103 focus

Les Athéniens. L’espérance soutient les hommes dans le péril. Unie à la force, elle peut nuire sans ruiner ; mais quand elle porte à risquer le tout pour le tout, — car elle est de sa I nature mauvaise ménagère, — les revers n’ont pas plus tôt fait connaître les pièges où elle entraîne, qu’il ne reste plus aucnn moyen de s’en garantir. Faibles comme vous Fêtes et placés dans la position la plus critique, ne vous laissez pas séduire par cette dangereuse illusion. N’imitez pas le commun des hommes, qui, pouvant encore se sauver par les voies humaines lorsque, dans leur détresse, les appuis visibles leur échappent, ont recours aux invisibles, à la divination, aux oracles et à d’autres pratiques analogues, qui, jointes à l’espérance, les perdent sans retour.

History of the Peloponnesian War First1KGreek (Thucydides, Vol. 1-4. Smith, Charles Foster, translator. London and Cambridge, MA: Heinemann and Harvard University Press, 1919-1923.) — 5.103.1 focus

[1] ATH. “Hope is indeed a solace in danger, and for those who have other resources in abundance, though she may injure, she does not ruin them; but for those who stake their all on a single throw—hope being by nature prodigal—it is only when disaster has befallen that her true nature is recognized, and when at last she is known, she leaves the victim no resource wherewith to take precautions against her in future.

[2] This fate, we beg of you, weak as you are and dependent on a single turn of the scale, do not willingly incur; nor make yourselves like the common crowd who, when it is possible still to be saved by human means, as soon as distress comes and all visible grounds of hope fail them, betake themselves to those that are invisible—to divination, oracles, and the like, which, with the hopes they inspire, bring men to ruin.”

History of the Peloponnesian War First1KGreek (Thucydides. The history of the Peloponnesian War, Volume 1-2. Dale, Henry, translator. London: Heinemann and Henry G. Bohn, 1851-1852.) — 5.103.1 focus

[1] Ath.

Hope, which is the solace of danger, when entertained by those who have abundant means, though it may injure, yet does not ruin them. But in the case of those who ¹ risk all they have on a throw, (for it is naturally an extravagant passion,) it is only found out at the time of their ruin, and leaves no room for guarding against it in future, when it is found out.

[2]

Do not you then, weak as you are, and hanging on one single turn of the scale, be desirous of this fate, nor of resembling the greater part of mankind, who, when they might have been saved by human means, after visible hopes have failed them in their distress, betake themselves to such as are invisible, namely, prophecy, and oracles, and all such things as bring men to ruin, together with the hopes resting upon them.

Historia Belli Peloponnesiaci First1KGreek (Historia Belli Peloponnesiaci. Haase, Friedrich, translator. Paris: Firmin Didot, 1869.) — 5.103.1 focus

[1] Ath. Spes vero, quae periculi est solalium, illos quidem, qui in ea magna opum abundantia utuntur, quamvis damno afliciat, non tamen evertit; ab illis autem, qui de summa suarum fortunarum aleam jaciunt (nam spes natura prodiga est), simul et cognoscitur post eorum calamitatem, et cognitam eam si qua in re adhuc cavere poterit, non deficit.

[2] Quare vos, qui infirmi estis et in unico rerum momento positi, hoc ne velitis accidere vobis, neve vulgo hominum similes esse, qui, quum humanis subsidiis conservandae salutis facultas adhuc adsit, postquam certa; spes eos ab hoste pressos destituerunt, ad incertas confugiunt , ad divinationem et oracula, et quae alia hujus generis inter sperandum damna afferunt.

La storia di Tucidide First1KGreek (Thucydides. Della storia di Tucidide volgarizzata libri otto. Anonymous translator. Florence: Tipografia Galileiana, 1835.) — 5.103 focus

Aten. « Ma la speranza, la quale suol essere di conforto nel pericolo, può disastrare, non già spiantare quelli che di lei usano nella sovrabbondanza delle cose : all’opposto chi temerario rischia tutto il suo (essendo la speranza prodiga per natura), la conosce per quello che ella è al punto di sua rovina ; ed essa non gli dà più luogo di guardarsi da lei già conosciuta. Lo che non vogliate che accada anche a voi che siete deboli e propio in sul bilico ; e non vi rendete simili ai molti, i quali potendo umanamente salvarsi, poiché le chiare speranze gli abbandonano nella stretta , si voltano a quelle oscure degli astrologi e degli oracoli, e all’altre siffatte che coll’esca della speranza ti rovinano ».

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War 5.103

Adolf Wahrmund (Translator)

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