Demosthenes, The Funeral Speech, Norman W. DeWitt (Translator), Norman J. DeWitt (Translator), 22

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[22] But if, after all, there is any human being who might rightly lay a charge concerning the issue of that battle, he would with good reason advance it against those of the Thebans who were appointed to this command,¹ nor could anyone rightly lay blame upon the rank and file of either the Thebans or ourselves. Those men, receiving command of a military force that would neither brook defeat nor make excuse and had an emulous zest for glory, made the right use of none of these.

The Funeral Speech. Demosthenes. Norman W. DeWitt (Translator), Norman J. DeWitt (Translator). London. 1949.

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Current edition Perseus

The Funeral Speech (English) (Demosthenes, Vol. VII: Funeral Speech, Erotic Essay, LX, LXI, Exordia and Letters. DeWitt, Norman W. and Norman J., translators. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1949 (printing).)

Editions (1)

ἐπιτάφιος Perseus (Demosthenes. Orationes, Vol. III. Rennie, W., editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1931.) — 22 focus

[22] αἰτιάσαιτʼ ἄν τις εἰκότως εἰ δʼ ἄρʼ ἔστι τις ἀνθρώπων ὅτῳ περὶ τούτων ἐγκαλέσαι προσήκει, τοῖς ἐπὶ τούτῳ ταχθεῖσιν Θηβαίων, οὐχὶ τοῖς πολλοῖς οὔτʼ ἐκείνων οὔθʼ ἡμῶν ἐγκαλέσειεν ἄν τις εἰκότως· οἳ δύναμιν λαβόντες ἔχουσαν θυμὸν ἀήττητον καὶ ἀπροφάσιστον καὶ φιλοτιμίαν ἐφάμιλλον οὐδενὶ τούτων ὀρθῶς ἐχρήσαντο.

Notes on the current edition

The Funeral Speech

1. Philip seems to have deceived the Athenians by a feigned retreat while throwing his strongest troops against the Thebans. This stratagem broke the line and decided the battle. The Theban general Theagenes and his colleagues seem to have been no more to blame than the rest.

Demosthenes The Funeral Speech 22

Norman W. DeWitt (Translator), Norman J. DeWitt (Translator)

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