ταῦτα βουλόμενος ἰᾶσθαι καί τι παραλυπεῖν τοὺς πολεμίους, ἑκατὸν καὶ πεντήκοντα ναῦς ἐπλήρου, καὶ πολλοὺς καὶ ἀγαθοὺς ὁπλίτας καὶ ἱππέας ἀναβιβασάμενος ἔμελλεν ἀνάγεσθαι, μεγάλην ἐλπίδα τοῖς πολίταις καὶ φόβον οὐκ ἐλάττω τοῖς πολεμίοις ἀπὸ τοσαύτης ἰσχύος παρασχών. ἤδη δὲ πεπληρωμένων τῶν νεῶν καὶ τοῦ Περικλέους ἀναβεβηκότος ἐπὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ τριήρη τὸν μὲν ἥλιον ἐκλιπεῖν συνέβη καὶ γενέσθαι σκότος, ἐκπλαγῆναι δὲ πάντας ὡς πρὸς μέγα σημεῖον.
Desiring to heal these evils, and at the same time to inflict some annoyance upon the enemy, he manned a hundred and fifty ships of war, and, after embarking many brave hoplites and horsemen, was on the point of putting out to sea, affording great hope to the citizens, and no less fear to the enemy in consequence of so great a force. But when the ships were already manned, and Pericles had gone aboard his own trireme, it chanced that the sun was eclipsed and darkness came on, and all were thoroughly frightened, looking upon it as a great portent.
ὁρῶν οὖν ὁ Περικλῆς περίφοβον τὸν κυβερνήτην καὶ διηπορημένον, ἀνέσχε τὴν χλαμύδα πρὸ τῶν ὄψεων αὐτοῦ, καὶ παρακαλύψας ἠρώτησε μή τι δεινὸν ἢ δεινοῦ τινος οἴεται σημεῖον· ὡς δʼ οὐκ ἔφη, τί οὖν, εἶπεν, ἐκεῖνο τούτου διαφέρει, πλὴν ὅτι μεῖζόν τι τῆς χλαμύδος ἐστὶ τὸ πεποιηκὸς τὴν ἐπισκότησιν; ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἐν ταῖς σχολαῖς λέγεται τῶν φιλοσόφων.
Accordingly, seeing that his steersman was timorous and utterly perplexed, Pericles held up his cloak before the man’s eyes, and, thus covering them, asked him if he thought it anything dreadful, or portentous of anything dreadful. No, said the steersman. How then, said Pericles, is yonder event different from this, except that it is something rather larger than my cloak which has caused the obscurity? At any rate, this tale is told in the schools of philosophy.
ἐκπλεύσας δʼ οὖν ὁ Περικλῆς οὔτʼ ἄλλο τι δοκεῖ τῆς παρασκευῆς ἄξιον δρᾶσαι, πολιορκήσας τε τὴν ἱερὰν Ἐπίδαυρον ἐλπίδα παρασχοῦσαν ὡς ἁλωσομένην ἀπέτυχε διὰ τὴν νόσον. ἐπιγενομένη γὰρ οὐκ αὐτοὺς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ὁπωσοῦν τῇ στρατιᾷ συμμίξαντας προσδιέφθειρεν. ἐκ τούτου χαλεπῶς διακειμένους τοὺς Ἀθηναίους πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐπειρᾶτο παρηγορεῖν καὶ ἀναθαρρύνειν.
Well, then, on sailing forth, Pericles seems to have accomplished nothing worthy of his preparations, but after laying siege to sacred Epidaurus, which awakened a hope that it might he captured, he had no such good fortune, because of the plague. Its fierce onset destroyed not only the Athenians themselves, but also those who, in any manner soever, had dealings with their forces. The Athenians being exasperated against him on this account, he tried to appease and encourage them.
οὐ μὴν παρέλυσε τὴν ὀργὴν οὐδὲ μετέπεισε πρότερον ἢ τὰς ψήφους λαβόντας ἐπʼ αὐτὸν εἰς τὰς χεῖρας καὶ γενομένους κυρίους ἀφελέσθαι τὴν στρατηγίαν καὶ ζημιῶσαι χρήμασιν, ὧν ἀριθμὸν οἱ τὸν ἐλάχιστον πεντεκαίδεκα τάλαντα, πεντήκοντα δʼ οἱ τὸν πλεῖστον γράφουσιν. ἐπεγράφη δὲ τῇ δίκῃ κατήγορος, ὡς μὲν Ἰδομενεὺς λέγει, Κλέων, ὡς δὲ Θεόφραστος, Σιμμίας· ὁ δὲ Ποντικὸς Ἡρακλείδης Λακρατίδαν εἴρηκε.
He did not, however, succeed in allaying their wrath, nor yet in changing their purposes, before they got their hostile ballots into their hands, became masters of his fate, stripped him of his command, and punished him with a fine. The amount of this was fifteen talents, according to those who give the lowest, and fifty, according to those who give the highest figures. The public prosecutor mentioned in the records of the case was Cleon, as Idomeneus says, but according to Theophrastus it was Simmias, and Heracleides Ponticus mentions Lacratides.
τὰ μὲν οὖν δημόσια ταχέως ἔμελλε παύσεσθαι, καθάπερ κέντρον εἰς τοῦτον ἅμα πληγῇ τὸν θυμὸν ἀφεικότων τῶν πολλῶν· τὰ δʼ οἰκεῖα μοχθηρῶς εἶχεν αὐτῷ κατά τε τὸν λοιμὸν οὐκ ὀλίγους ἀποβαλόντι τῶν ἐπιτηδείων καὶ στάσει διατεταραγμένα πόρρωθεν. ὁ γὰρ πρεσβύτατος αὐτοῦ τῶν γνησίων υἱῶν Ξάνθιππος φύσει τε δαπανηρὸς ὢν καὶ γυναικὶ νέᾳ καὶ πολυτελεῖ συνοικῶν, Τισάνδρου θυγατρὶ τοῦ Ἐπιλύκου, χαλεπῶς ἔφερε τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς ἀκρίβειαν γλίσχρα καὶ κατὰ μικρὸν αὐτῷ χορηγοῦντος.
So much, then, for his public troubles; they were likely soon to cease, now that the multitude had stung him, as it were, and left their passion with their sting; but his domestic affairs were in a sorry plight, since he had lost not a few of his intimate friends during the pestilence, and had for some time been rent and torn by a family feud. The eldest of his legitimate sons, Xanthippus, who was naturally prodigal, and had married a young and extravagant wife, the daughter of Tisander, the son of Epilycus, was much displeased at his father’s exactitude in making him but a meagre allowance, and that a little at a time.
πέμψας οὖν πρός τινα τῶν φίλων ἔλαβεν ἀργύριον ὡς τοῦ Περικλέους κελεύσαντος. ἐκείνου δʼ ὕστερον ἀπαιτοῦντος, ὁ μὲν Περικλῆς καὶ δίκην αὐτῷ προσέλαχε, τὸ δὲ μειράκιον ὁ Ξάνθιππος ἐπὶ τούτῳ χαλεπῶς διατεθεὶς ἐλοιδόρει τὸν πατέρα, πρῶτον μὲν ἐκφέρων ἐπὶ γέλωτι τὰς οἴκοι διατριβὰς αὐτοῦ καὶ τοὺς λόγους οὓς ἐποιεῖτο μετὰ τῶν σοφιστῶν.
Accordingly, he sent to one of his father’s friends and got money, pretending that Pericles bade him do it. When the friend afterwards demanded repayment of the loan, Pericles not only refused it, but brought suit against him to boot. So the young fellow, Xanthippus, incensed at this, fell to abusing his father, publishing abroad, to make men laugh, his conduct of affairs at home, and the discourses which he held with the sophists.
πεντάθλου γάρ τινος ἀκοντίῳ πατάξαντος Ἐπίτιμον τὸν Φαρσάλιον ἀκουσίως καὶ κατακτείναντος, ἡμέραν ὅλην ἀναλῶσαι μετὰ Πρωταγόρου διαποροῦντα πότερον τὸ ἀκόντιον ἢ τὸν βαλόντα μᾶλλον ἢ τοὺς ἀγωνοθέτας κατὰ τὸν ὀρθότατον λόγον αἰτίους χρὴ τοῦ πάθους ἡγεῖσθαι. πρὸς δὲ τούτοις καὶ τὴν περὶ τῆς γυναικὸς διαβολὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ Ξανθίππου φησὶν ὁ Στησίμβροτος εἰς τοὺς πολλοὺς διασπαρῆναι, καὶ ὅλως ἀνήκεστον ἄχρι τῆς τελευτῆς τῷ νεανίσκῳ πρὸς τὸν πατέρα παραμεῖναι τὴν διαφοράν· ἀπέθανε γὰρ ὁ Ξάνθιππος ἐν τῷ λοιμῷ νοσήσας.
For instance, a certain athlete had hit Epitimus the Pharsalian with a javelin, accidentally, and killed him, and Pericles, Xanthippus said, squandered an entire day discussing with Protagoras whether it was the javelin, or rather the one who hurled it, or the judges of the contests, that in the strictest sense ought to be held responsible for the disaster. Besides all this, the slanderous charge concerning his own wife Stesimbrotus says was sown abroad in public by Xanthippus himself, and also that the quarrel which the young man had with his father remained utterly incurable up to the time of his death,—for Xanthippus fell sick and died during the plague.
ἀπέβαλε δὲ καὶ τὴν ἀδελφὴν ὁ Περικλῆς τότε καὶ τῶν κηδεστῶν καὶ φίλων τοὺς πλείστους καὶ χρησιμωτάτους πρὸς τὴν πολιτείαν. οὐ μὴν ἀπεῖπεν οὐδὲ προὔδωκε τὸ φρόνημα καὶ τὸ μέγεθος τῆς ψυχῆς ὑπὸ τῶν συμφορῶν, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ κλαίων οὐδὲ κηδεύων οὐδὲ πρὸς τάφῳ τινὸς ὤφθη τῶν ἀναγκαίων, πρίν γε δὴ καὶ τὸν περίλοιπον αὑτοῦ τῶν γνησίων υἱῶν ἀποβαλεῖν Πάραλον.
Pericles lost his sister also at that time, and of his relatives and friends the largest part, and those who were most serviceable to him in his administration of the city. He did not, however, give up, nor yet abandon his loftiness and grandeur of spirit because of his calamities, nay, he was not even seen to weep, either at the funeral rites, or at the grave of any of his connections, until indeed he lost the very last remaining one of his own legitimate sons, Paralus.
ἐπὶ τούτῳ δὲ καμφθεὶς ἐπειρᾶτο μὲν ἐγκαρτερεῖν τῷ ἤθει καὶ διαφυλάττειν τὸ μεγαλόψυχον, ἐπιφέρων δὲ τῷ νεκρῷ στέφανον ἡττήθη τοῦ πάθους πρὸς τὴν ὄψιν, ὥστε κλαυθμόν τε ῥῆξαι καὶ πλῆθος ἐκχέαι δακρύων, οὐδέποτε τοιοῦτον οὐδὲν ἐν τῷ λοιπῷ βίῳ πεποιηκώς.
Even though he was bowed down at this stroke, he nevertheless tried to persevere in his habit and maintain his spiritual greatness, but as he laid a wreath upon the dead, he was vanquished by his anguish at the sight, so that he broke out into wailing, and shed a multitude of tears, although he had never done any such thing in all his life before.
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