Plutarch, De gloria Atheniensium, ed. William W. Goodwin, 7

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[7] Now then let us consider the great generals as they approach, to whom, as they pass by, all those must rise up and pay their salutations who have never been famous for any great action, military or civil, and were never furnished with daring boldness nor purity of wisdom for such enterprises, nor initiated by the hand of Miltiades that overthrew the Medes, or of Themistocles that vanquished the Persians. This is the martial gang, at once combating with phalanxes by land, and engaging with navies by sea, and laden with the spoils of both. Give ear, Alala, daughter of War, to this same prologue of swords and spears.

Hasten to death, when for your country vowed,

as Epaminondas said,—for your country, your sepulchres, and your altars, throwing yourselves into most noble and illustrious combats. Their victories methinks I see approaching toward me, not dragging after them a goat or ox for a reward, nor crowned with ivy and smelling of the dregs of wine. But whole cities, islands, continents, and colonies well peopled are their rewards, being surrounded with trophies and spoils of all sorts. Whose statues and symbols of honor are Parthenons, a hundred feet in length, South-walls, houses for ships, the Propylaea, the Chersonesus, and Amphipolis. Marathon displays the victory of Miltiades, and Salamis the glory of Themistocles, triumphing over the ruins of a thousand vessels. The victory of Cimon brings away a hundred Phoenician galleys from the Eurymedon. And the victory of Cleon and Demosthenes brings away the shield of Brasidas, and the captive soldiers in chains from Sphacteria. The victory of Conon and Thrasybulus walls the city, and brings the people back at liberty from Phylae. The victory of Alcibiades near Sicily restores the languishing condition of the city; and Greece beheld Ionia raised again by the victories of Neleus and Androclus in Lydia and Caria.

If you ask what benefit every one of the rest procured to the city; one will answer Lesbos, another Samos, another Cyprus, another the Pontus Euxinus, another five hundred galleys with three banks of oars, and another ten thousand talents, the rewards of fame and trophies won. For these victories the city observes public anniversary festivals, for these victories she sacrifices to the Gods; not for the victories of Aeschylus and Sophocles, not because Carcinus was victorious¹ with his Aerope, or Astydamas with his Hector. But upon the sixth of September, even to this day, the Athenians celebrate a festival in memory of the fight at Marathon. Upon the sixteenth of the same month libations are poured in remembrance of the naval victory won by Chabrias near Naxos. Upon the twelfth they offer thanksgiving sacrifices for the recovery of their liberty. For upon that day they returned back from Phylae. The third of the same month they won the battle of Plataea. The sixteenth of April was consecrated to Diana, when the moon appeared in the full to the Greeks victorious at Salamis. The twelfth of June was made sacred by the battle of Mantinea, wherein the Athenians, when their confederates were routed and fled, alone by themselves obtained the victory and triumph over their victorious enemies. Such actions as these procured honor and veneration and grandeur to the city; for these acts it was that Pindar called Athens the support of Greece; not because she had set the fortune of the Greeks upright by the tragedies of Phrynichus and Thespis, but because (as he says) near Artemisium the Athenian youth laid the first glorious foundation of freedom; and afterwards fixing it upon the adamantine pillars of Salamis, Mycale, and Plataea, they multiplied their felicity to others.

De gloria Atheniensium. Plutarch. ed. William W. Goodwin. Boston. 1874.

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Current edition Perseus

Whether the Athenians Were More Renowned For Their Warlike Achievements or For Their Learning (English) (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. V. Goodwin, William W., editor; Smith, R, translator. Boston. Little, Brown, and Company, 1874.)

Editions (2)

Πότερον Ἀθηναῖοι κατὰ πόλεμον ἢ κατὰ σοφίαν ἐνδοξότεροι Perseus (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. IV. Babbitt, Frank Cole, editor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).) — 7 focus

[7] τοὺς δὲ στρατηγοὺς αὖ πάλιν ἐνθένδε παριόντας σκοπῶμεν, ὧν παρερχομένων ὡς ἀληθῶς εὐφημεῖν χρὴ κἀξίστασθαι τοὺς ἀπράκτους καὶ ἀπολιτεύτους καὶ ἀστρατεύτους, ὅστις ἄτολμος ¹ πρὸς ἔργα τοιαῦτα καὶ γνώμῃν ² μὴ καθαρεύει, 349c μηδὲ Μιλτιάδου τοῦ μηδοφόνου μηδὲ τοῦ περσοκτόνου Θεμιστοκλέους χειρὸς βακχεῖʼ ἐτελέσθη. Ἀρήιος ὁ κῶμος οὗτος ἐκ γῆς ἅμα φάλαγξι καὶ στόλοις ἐκ θαλάττης καὶ μεμειγμένοις ³ σκύλοις καὶ τροπαίοις βεβριθώς.

κλῦθʼ ⁴ Ἀλαλά, ⁵ Πολέμου θύγατερ,

ἐγχέων προοίμιον, ᾇ θύεται ⁶

ἄνδρες τὸν ἱρόθυτον ⁷ θάνατον,

ὡς ὁ Θηβαῖος Ἐπαμεινώνδας εἶπεν, ὑπὲρ πατρίδος καὶ τάφων καὶ ἱερῶν ἐπιδιδόντες ἑαυτοὺς τοῖς καλλίστοις καὶ λαμπροτάτοις ἀγῶσιν. ὧν τὰς Νίκας ὁρᾶν μοι δοκῶ προσερχομένας, οὐ βοῦν ἔπαθλον ἑλκούσας ἢ τράγον, οὐδʼ ἀνεστεμμένας κιττῷ καὶ Διονυσιακῆς τρυγὸς ὀδωδυίας; ἀλλʼ ὅλαι μὲν πόλεις αὐτῶν εἰσι καὶ νῆσοι καὶ ἤπειροι, καὶ 349d ναοὶ χιλιοτάλαντοι ⁸ καὶ δήμων ἀποικισμοὶ μυρίανδροι, τροπαίοις δὲ παντοδαποῖς ἀναστέφονται ⁹ καὶ λαφύροις· ὧν ἀγάλματα καὶ σύμβολα παρθενῶνες ἑκατόμπεδοι, νότια τείχη, νεώσοικοι, ¹⁰ προπύλαια, Χερρόνησος, Ἀμφίπολις. Μαραθὼν τὴν Μιλτιάδου Νίκην προπέμπει, καὶ Σαλαμὶς τὴν Θεμιστοκλέους, χιλίων σκαφῶν ναυαγίοις ἐπιβεβηκυῖαν. φέρει δʼ ἡ μὲν Κίμωνος τριήρεις ἑκατὸν Φοινίσσας ἀπʼ Εὐρυμέδοντος, ἡ δὲ Δημοσθένους καὶ Κλέωνος ἀπὸ Σφακτηρίας τὴν Βρασίδου ἀσπίδʼ αἰχμάλωτον καὶ δεδεμένους Σπαρτιάτας. ¹¹ τειχίζει δὲ τὴν πόλιν ἡ Κόνωνος, ἡ δὲ Θρασυβούλου κατάγει τὸν δῆμον ἀπὸ 349e φυλῆς ἐλεύθερον, αἱ ¹² δὲ Ἀλκιβιάδου περὶ Σικελίαν ὀλισθοῦσαν τὴν πόλιν ἐγείρουσιν· ἐκ δὲ τῶν Νείλεω ¹³ καὶ Ἀνδρόκλου περὶ Λυδίαν καὶ Καρίαν ἀγώνων Ἰωνίαν ἀνισταμένην ¹⁴ ἐπεῖδεν ἡ Ἑλλάς. τῶν δʼ ἄλλων ἑκάστης ἂν πύθῃ τί τῇ πόλει γέγονεν ἐξ αὐτῆς ἀγαθόν, ἡ μὲν ἐρεῖ Λέσβον, ἡ δὲ Σάμον, ἡ δὲ Κύπρον, ἡ δὲ Πόντον Εὔξεινον, ἡ δὲ πεντακοσίας τριήρεις, ἡ δὲ μυρία τάλαντα, προῖκα τῆς δόξης καὶ τῶν τροπαίων. ταῦθʼ ἡ πόλις ἑορτάζει καὶ ὑπὲρ τούτων θύει τοῖς θεοῖς, οὐκ ἐπὶ ταῖς Αἰσχύλου νίκαις ἢ Σοφοκλέους· οὐδʼ ὅτε Καρκίνος Ἀερόπῃ εὐτύχει ¹⁵ ἢ Ἕκτορι Ἀστυδάμας, ἀλλʼ ἕκτῃ μὲν ἱσταμένου ¹⁶ Βοηδρομιῶνος ἐσέτι νῦν τὴν ἐν Μαραθῶνι νίκην ἡ πόλις ἑορτάζει· ἕκτῃ δʼ ἐπὶ δέκα 349f τοῦ ¹⁷ μηνὸς οἰνοχοεῖται τῆς Χαβρίου περὶ Νάξον ἐπινίκια ναυμαχίας· τῇ δὲ δωδεκάτῃ χαριστήρια ἔθυον ἐλευθερίας· ἐν ἐκείνῃ γὰρ οἱ ἀπὸ Φυλῆς κατῆλθον. τρίτῃ δʼ ἱσταμένου τὴν ἐν Πλαταιαῖς μάχην ἐνίκων. τὴν δὲ ἕκτην ἐπὶ δέκα τοῦ Μουνιχιῶνος Ἀρτέμιδι καθιέρωσαν, ἐν ᾗ τοῖς Ἕλλησι περὶ Σαλαμῖνα νικῶσιν ἐπέλαμψεν ἡ θεὸς πανσέληνος 350a . τὴν δὲ δωδεκάτην τοῦ Σκιρροφοριῶνος ἱερωτέραν ἐποίησεν ὁ Μαντινειακὸς ἀγών, ἀπὸ τῶν ἄλλων συμμάχων ἐκβιασθέντων καὶ τραπέντων, μόνοι τὸ καθʼ ἑαυτοὺς νικήσαντες ἔστησαν τρόπαιον ἀπὸ τῶν νικώντων πολεμίων. ταῦτα τὴν πόλιν ᾖρεν ¹⁸ εἰς δόξαν, ταῦτα εἰς μέγεθος· ἐπὶ ¹⁹ τούτοις Πίνδαρος

ἔρεισμα τῆς Ἑλλάδος

προσεῖπε τὰς Ἀθήνας, οὐχ ὅτι ταῖς Φρυνίχου τραγῳδίαις καὶ Θέσπιδος ὤρθουν ²⁰ τοὺς Ἕλληνας, ἀλλʼ ὅτι πρῶτον, ὥς φησιν αὐτός, ἐπʼ Ἀρτεμισίῳ

παῖδες Ἀθαναίων ²¹ ἐβάλοντο φαεννὰν ²² κρηπῖδʼ ἐλευθερίας·

350b ἐπί τε Σαλαμῖνι καὶ Μυκάλῃ καὶ Πλαταιαῖς ὥσπερ ἀδαμαντίνοις ²³ στηρίξαντες τὴν ἐλευθερίαν τῆς Ἑλλάδος παρέδοσαν τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις.

Πότερον Ἀθηναῖοι κατὰ πόλεμον ἢ κατὰ σοφίαν ἐνδοξότεροι Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol II. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig. Teubner, 1889.) — 7 focus

[7] τοὺς δὲ στρατηγοὺς αὖ πάλιν ἐνθένδε παριόντας 10 σκοπῶμεν, ὧν παρερχομένων ὡς ἀληθῶς εὐφημεῖν χρὴ κἀξίστασθαι τοὺς ἀπράκτους καὶ ἀπολιτεύτους καὶ ἀστρατεύτους, ὅστις ἄτολμος ¹ πρὸς ἔργα 349c τοιαῦτα καὶ γνώμῃ μὴ καθαρεύει, μηδὲ Μιλτιάδου τοῦ μηδοφόνου μηδὲ τοῦ περσοκτόνου Θεμιστοκλέους 15 χειρὸς βακχεῖʼ ἐτελέσθη Ἀρήιος ὁ κῶμος οὗτος ἐκ γῆς ἅμα φάλαγξι καὶ στόλοις ἐκ θαλάττης καὶ μεμιγμένοις ² σκύλοις καὶ τροπαίοις βεβριθώς.

κλῦθʼ ³ Ἀλαλά, Πολέμου ⁴ θύγατερ, ἐγχέων προοίμιον, ᾇ θύεται ⁵ ἄνδρες τὸν ἱρόθυτον ⁶ θάνατον,

ὡς ὁ Θηβαῖος Ἐπαμεινώνδας 20 εἶπεν, ⁷ ὑπὲρ πατρίδος καὶ τάφων καὶ ἱερῶν ἐπιδιδόντες ἑαυτοὺς τοῖς καλλίστοις καὶ λαμπροτάτοις ἀγῶσιν. ὧν τὰς Νίκας μοι δοκῶ προσερχομένας, οὐ βοῦν ἔπαθλον ἑλκούσας ἢ τράγον, οὐδʼ ἀνεστεμμένας 349d κιττῷ καὶ Διονυσιακῆς τρυγὸς ὀδωδυίας· ἀλλʼ ὅλαι μὲν πόλεις αὐτῶν εἰσι καὶ νῆσοι καὶ ἤπειροι, καὶ ναοὶ ⁸ χιλιοτάλαντοι καὶ δήμων ἀποικισμοὶ μυρίανδροι, 5 τροπαίοις δὲ παντοδαποῖς ἀναστέφονται ⁹ καὶ λαφύροις· ὧν ἀγάλματα καὶ σύμβολα παρθενῶνες ἑκατόμπεδοι, νότια τείχη, νεῶν οἶκοι, ¹⁰ προπύλαια, Χερρόνησος, Ἀμφίπολις. Μαραθὼν τὴν Μιλτιάδου Νίκην προπέμπει, καὶ Σαλαμὶς τὴν Θεμιστοκλέους, χιλίων 10 σκαφῶν ναυαγίοις ἐπιβεβηκυῖαν. φέρει δʼ ἡ μὲν Κίμωνος τριήρεις ἑκατὸν Φοινίσσας ἀπʼ Εὐρυμέδοντος, ἡ δὲ Δημοσθένους καὶ Κλέωνος ἀπὸ Σφακτηρίας τὴν Βρασίδου ἀσπίδʼ αἰχμάλωτον καὶ δεδεμένους 349e Σπαρτιάτας. ¹¹ τειχίζει δὲ τὴν πόλιν ἡ Κόνωνος, 15 ἡ δὲ Θρασυβούλου κατάγει τὸν δῆμον ἀπὸ Φυλῆς ἐλεύθερον, αἱ ¹² δʼ Ἀλκιβιάδου περὶ Σικελίαν ὀλισθοῦσαν τὴν πόλιν ἐγείρουσιν· ἐκ δὲ τῶν Νειλέου καὶ Ἀνδρόκλου περὶ Λυδίαν καὶ Καρίαν ἀγώνων Ἰωνίαν ἀνισταμένην ¹³ ἐπεῖδεν ἡ Ἑλλάς. τῶν δʼ ἄλλων 20 ἑκάστης ἂν πύθῃ τί τῇ πόλει γέγονεν ἐξ αὐτῆς ἀγαθόν, ἡ μὲν ἐρεῖ Λέσβον, ἡ δὲ Σάμον, ἡ δὲ Κύπρον, ἡ δὲ Πόντον Εὔξεινον, ἡ δὲ πεντακοσίας τριήρεις, ἡ δὲ μυρία τάλαντα, προῖκα τῆς δόξης καὶ τῶν τροπαίων. ταῦθʼ ἡ πόλις ἑορτάζει καὶ ὑπὲρ τούτων 25 349f θύει τοῖς θεοῖς, οὐκ ἐπὶ ταῖς Αἰσχύλου νίκαις ἢ Σοφοκλέους οὐδʼ ὅτε Καρκίνος ¹⁴ Ἀερόπῃ συνῆν ¹⁵ ἢ Ἕκτορι Ἀστυδάμας ¹⁶, ἀλλʼ ἕκτῃ μὲν ἱσταμένου ¹⁷ Βοηδρομιῶνος ἐσέτι νῦν τὴν ἐν Μαραθῶνι νίκην ἡ πόλις ἑορτάζει· ἕκτῃ δʼ ἐπὶ δέκα μηνὸς ¹⁸ οἰνοχοεῖται τῆς 5 Χαβρίου περὶ Νάξον ἐπινίκια ναυμαχίας· τῇ δὲ δωδεκάτῃ χαριστήρια ἔθυον ἐλευθερίας· ἐν ἐκείνῃ γὰρ οἱ ἀπὸ Φυλῆς κατῆλθον. τρίτῃ δʼ ἱσταμένου τὴν ἐν Πλαταιαῖς μάχην ἐνίκων. τὴν δʼ ἕκτην ἐπὶ δέκα τοῦ Μουνιχιῶνος ¹⁹ Ἀρτέμιδι καθιέρωσαν, ἐν ᾗ 10 τοῖς Ἕλλησι περὶ Σαλαμῖνα νικῶσιν ἐπέλαμψεν ἡ 350a θεὸς πανσέληνος. τὴν δὲ δωδεκάτην τοῦ Σκιρροφοριῶνος ἱερωτέραν ἐποίησεν ὁ Μαντινειακὸς ἀγών, ἐν ᾧ τῶν ἄλλων συμμάχων ἐκβιασθέντων καὶ τραπέντων, μόνοι τὸ καθʼ ἑαυτοὺς νικήσαντες ἔστησαν τρόπαιον 15 ἀπὸ τῶν νικώντων πολεμίων. ταῦτα τὴν πόλιν ἤγειρεν εἰς δόξαν, ταῦτʼ εἰς μέγεθος· ἐπὶ ²⁰ τούτοις Πίνδαρος ²¹ ἔρεισμα τῆς Ἑλλάδος προσεῖπε τὰς Ἀθήνας, οὐχ ὅτι ταῖς Φρυνίχου τραγῳδίαις καὶ Θέσπιδος ὤρθουν ²² τοὺς Ἕλληνας, ἀλλʼ ὅτι πρῶτον, ὥς φησιν αὐτός, 20 350b ἐπʼ Ἀρτεμισίῳ παῖδες ²³ Ἀθαναίων ²⁴ ἐβάλοντο φαεννὰν ²⁵ κρηπῖδʼ ἐλευθερίας· ἐπί τε Σαλαμῖνι καὶ Μυκάλῃ καὶ Πλαταιαῖς ὥσπερ ἀδαμάντινοι ²⁶ στηρίξαντες τὴν ἐλευθερίαν τῆς Ἑλλάδος παρέδοσαν τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις.

Translations (1)

Were the Athenians More Famous in War or in Wisdom? Perseus (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. IV. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).) — 7 focus

[7] But let us now review the generals in their turn, as they make entrance from the other side; and at their approach those who have had no part in deeds of valour or political life or campaigns must in very truth speak not a word of evil sound and clear the way, whoever there be that lacks courage for such deeds as theirs and whose mind is not free from uncleanness, nor has ever been trained in the Bacchic rites that are the handiwork of Miltiades, bane of Medes, and Themistocles, slayer of Persians. This is the rebel-rout of the god of war, with battalions on land and squadrons on sea, laden with mingled spoils and trophies:

Hearken, Alala, daughter of War, Thou prelude of clashing spears, thou to whom are offered

Heroes in the holy sacrifice of death,¹

as Epameinondas the Theban cried, when he and his men were dedicating themselves to the noblest and most resplendent of struggles for their native land, the graves of their fathers, and their holy shrines. I seem to see their victories advancing, not dragging along a bull or a goat as their prize, nor garlanded with ivy and redolent of the lees of Dionysus; but whole cities are theirs, and islands, and even continents, temples costing a thousand talents,² and colonies of vast population; and they are garlanded with all manner of trophies and spoils. Their ornaments and emblems are buildings like the Parthenon one hundred feet in length, southern Long Walls, ³ dockyards, Propylaea, Chersonese, and Amphipolis.⁴ Marathon leads forward the Victory of Miltiades, and Salamis does the same for Themistocles’ Victory, poised upon the wreckage of a thousand ships. Cimon’s Victory brings an hundred Phoenician ships from the Eurymedon, and the Victory of Demosthenes and Cleon brings from Sphacteria the captive shield⁵ of Brasidas and his soldiers in chains. Conon’s Victory fortifies the city with new walls, while that of Thrasybulus leads back from Phyle the people restored to freedom. Alcibiades’ Victories revive the city laid prostrate by her failure in Sicily. From the struggles of Neileus and Androclus⁶ about Lydia and Caria Greece came to see that Ionia was rising. If you inquire of the other Victories in turn what good came to the State from each, one will reply Lesbos, another Samos, another Cyprus, another the Euxine, another five hundred triremes, another ten thousand talents, to say nothing of the glory and the trophies which they won. These are the things which the city celebrates in her festivals, for these she sacrifices to the gods, not for the dramatic victories of Aeschylus and Sophocles. Nor is the day celebrated when Carcinus⁷ was successful with his Aüropê, or Astydamas⁸ with his Hector, but even yet the State celebrates the victory at Marathon on the sixth of Boëdromion.⁹ On the sixteenth of this month they pour a libation of wine in memory of Chabrias’s victory at Naxos.¹⁰ On the twelfth they used to sacrifice thank-offerings for the recovery of their liberty, for on that day the exiles returned from Phylê.¹¹ On the third they won the battle of Plataeae.¹² The sixteenth of Munichion they dedicated to Artemis, for on that day the goddess shone with full moon upon the Greeks as they were conquering at Salamis. The conflict at Mantineia¹³ has made the twelfth of Scirophorion more sacred; for in this battle, when the other allies were overpowered and routed, it was the Athenians alone who defeated the force opposed to them and erected a trophy taken from the victorious enemy. These are the things which have uplifted Athens to heights of glory and greatness; it was for these that Pindar¹⁴ addressed Athens as

The mainstay of Greece,

not because she had guided the Greeks aright with the tragedies of Phrynichus and Thespis, but because, as he himself says, first at Artemisium

Sons of the Athenians laid the far-shining foundation of freedom.¹⁵

And when at Salamis and Mycalê and Plataeae they had firmly established, as in adamant, the liberty of Greece, they handed it down to all mankind.

Notes on the current edition

Whether the Athenians Were More Renowned For Their Warlike Achievements or For Their Learning

1. I follow Baehr’s emendation (or rather substitution) ἐνίκα for συνῆν, which is demanded by the obvious sense of the whole passage. (G.)

Plutarch De gloria Atheniensium 7

ed. William W. Goodwin

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