Chapter 27

	1. eijsi; de; katav....iJeroi'": This parenthetical statement may be translated literally thus: They (the hermae) are, according to the custom of the country, numerous - the (well-known) square-figured production - both in private porches and in temples. More freely: In accordance with national custom, these square-cut figures appear in many places, both in porches of private houses and in temples.
	oiJ plei'stoi...provswpa: Literally: the majority were mutilated with respect to their faces. periekovphsan is the 3rd plur. aor. indic. pass. of perikovptw. provswpa is an accus. of respect or specification.
	2. ajlla; megavloi"...ejzhtou'nto: Literally: but these (the perpetrators) were sought with great rewards (offered for information) at public expense.
	kai; prosevti....douvlwn: They also decreed that anyone who knew of any other act of impiety that had occurred and was willing to give information about it would be granted immunity, whether citizen, alien, or slave. mhnuvein ajdew'" = "to give information with immunity".
	3. kai; to; pra'gma meizovnw" ejlavmbanon: They took the matter very seriously.
	oijwnov" is the word for a large bird of prey, such as a vulture or eagle. Observation of the flight of such birds often figured in the taking of the auspices. Hence oijwnov" could have the secondary meaning "omen", as in this passage.
	ejpi; xunwmosiva/ a{ma newtevrwn pragmavtwn: in furtherance of (as an expression of) a conspiracy of a revolutionary movement.
	kai; dhvmou kataluvsew": and for the overthrow of the democracy.

	1. ajllwn de; ajgalmavtwn....u{brei: Literally: but some mutilations of other statues (were reported), carried out by young men in sport and under the influence of wine, and at the same time (it was reported) that the mysteries had been performed in mockery in private houses.
	2. oiJ mavlista....proestavnai: those who above all disliked Alcibiades for standing in the way (ejmpodw;n o[nti) of them maintaining for themselves a firm grip upon the democracy. ejmpodw;n o[nti is equivalent to a verb of hindering or preventing used with mhv + infin., as here. See Goodwin, Greek Grammar, sec. 1549. The accompanying proestavnai is the perf. infin. of proi?sthmi, used here with the sense "act as leader". Thucydides consistently represents Athenian political life as a competition for prostasiva ("leadership").... Here there is an important difference, in that Thucydides treats Alcibiades' enemies as a group; Alcibiades was a giant, and men who were potentially rivals of one another combined to overthrow him." (Gomme, Andrewes, Dover)
	kai; oujde;n....ejpravcqh: Literally: and (they said that) nothing of these things was done which was not (done) with him (i.e. Alcibiades). That is to say, Alcibiades was (allegedly) fully involved in both the profanation of the Mysteries and the mutilation of the hermae. ejpilevgonte"....paranomivan: citing as evidence the unconventional and undemocratic nature of his personal conduct.

	1. eJtoi'mo" is followed by three infins.: krivnesqai (to be judged), divkhn dou'nai (to be punished), and a[rcein (to take up, i.e. resume, his command).
	eij ti touvtwn eijrgasmevno" h\n: It is possible that these words are an interpolation, occasioned by the fact, Gomme et al. suggest, that krivnein commonly means "condemn" in later Greek.
	2. ajpovnto" is put first in its phrase for emphasis.
	o{ti swfronevsteron....strateuvmati: Literally: that it would be wiser not to send him in command of so large an army with such a serious charge (hanging over him) before they passed judgment. diagnw'si is the 3rd plur. 2nd aor. subjunct.of diagignwvskw here used in the legal sense "pass judgment". After a negative main clause, privn meaning "before, until" is normally followed by the subjunct. or opt.; see JACT p. 226, sec. 198.
	3. oiJ d! ejcqroi;....e[xh/: But his enemies, fearing that both the army would be supportive (of him), if he was brought to trial at once, and the people would be lenient.... mhv is used twice to introduce a clause after a verb of fearing (dediovte").
	qerapeuvwn o{ti: protecting (him) because...
	kai; tw'n Mantinevwn tinev": "Mantinea had (in Book 5.81.1) unwillingly come to terms with Sparta. The Mantineans who went to Sicily with the Athenians are classified as mercenaries in 6.43 and 7.57.9, but no doubt there were also some who came as volunteers with the connivance of their government." (Gomme et al.)
	ajpevtrepon kai; ajpevspeudon: A classic instance of the imperf. tense with the sense of "try to".
	ejnievnte" is the pres. partic. of ejnivhmi.
	e[legon here has the sense they urged (that he should sail now).
	ejlqovnta de;.... rJhtai'": and that he should be judged on his return within a prescribed number of days.
	poriei'n is the fut. infin. (after e[mellon) of porivzw which means "furnish, provide".
	It would be best in translation to break up the long sentence beginning oiJ d! ejcqroiv into three: oiJ d! ejcqroiv.... His enemies were afraid that.... ajpevtrepon.... Therefore they strove to put off... boulovmenoi... Their intention was...

	1. th;n Salaminivan nau'n: This was one of Athens' two state ships.
	ej" ajpologivan...ejnekavlei: to answer the charges which the state had brought against him
	kai; ejp! a[llou" tinav"....memhnumevnwn: and to fetch some others...against whom information had also been laid
	2. crhsimwvteron....diafugei'n: Literally: thinking it better to examine closely and find out the matter (i.e. get to the bottom of it) than (that) anyone even with a good reputation (kai; crhsto;n dokou'nta ei\nai) (and) having been accused (aijtiaqevnta) (only) through the wickedness of an informer (dia; mhnutou' ponhrivan) should escape being interrogated (ajnevlegkton diafugei'n). More freely: For they thought it better to get to the bottom of the matter through close examination than to allow anybody, even a person with a good reputation, and whose accusation was due only to a wicked informer, to escape interrogation.
	3. kai; prosevti.....uJpo; Lakedaimonivwn: A reference to the expulsion of Peisistratus' son Hippias by the Spartan king Cleomenes in 510.

Chapters 60-61: Arrests made in connection with the Mysteries and hermae incidents. Andocides gives information in exchange for a guarantee of immunity. Punishment is carried out on those convicted. Alcibiades appears to comply with the request to return to Athens for trial.

Chapter 60

	1. *Wn ejnqumouvmeno"...hjpivstato: Thucydides has, in the previous section, given an account of the activities of the Athenian tyrant Hippias (527-10 B.C.), son of Peisistratus. He refers to his harsh rule after the assassination of his brother Hippias, his subsequent exile at the court of Darius when he was forced to flee Athens, and his presence at Marathon on the Persian side. All this, now recalled by the Athenians, provides the context for their suspicion and hostility towards those accused in connection with the profanation of the Mysteries. They see this act as part of a plot aimed at setting up an oligarchy or dictatorship in Athens.
	ejpi; xunwmosiva/...pepra'cqai: for a conspiracy aimed at setting up an oligarchy or a tyranny. "A modern historian of the archaic period would not speak of oligarchy and tyranny in the same breath; but after a century of democracy the conception of the tyrant as popular champion had faded...., and the Athenians regarded oligarchy and tyranny indifferently as the antithesis of democracy." (Gomme et al.)
	2. kaq! hJmevran....ajgriwvteron: Every day they advanced further into savagery. ejpedivdosan is the 3rd plur. imperf. indic. act. of ejpidivdwmi, here used intransitively with the meaning "increase, advance".
	ei|" tw'n dedemevnwn: This was in fact Andocides.
	ei[te a[ra...kai; ou[: to give information - which may have been true or false. This last bit is a comment thrown in by Thucydides.
	ejp! ajmfovtera ga;r eijkavzetai: The verb eijkavzetai is here used with the meaning "conjecture, form an opinion". Translate: Both opinions are held.
	3. levgwn....sw'sai: Literally: The one speaking persuaded him that it would be better (crhv) (for him) (even) if he had not done it, to save himself, having obtained for himself immunity.
	bebaiotevran...ejlqei'n: Literally: for (he said) safety was more secure for him having confessed with immunity than (for him), having denied (the charges), to come to trial. ajrnhqevnti is the aor. partic. of the depon. verb ajrnevomai which means "deny".
	4. oJ de; dh'mo"....ei[sontai: Literally: But the people were delighted at having discovered, as they thought, the truth, after previously thinking it (would be) a dreadful thing if they did not find out (the identity of) those plotting against their state. The pres. partic. poiouvmenoi refers to continuous action in the past. ei[sontai is the 3rd plur. fut. indic. of oi\da. The tense is an example of the "vivid future" used to express in a conditional statement of future time what a person's actual words (or in this case thoughts) would have been: It will be a dreadful thing if we do not (= will not) find out ....
	tou;" de; kataitiaqevnta"....katagnovnte": Literally: But having put on trial (krivsei" poihvsante") those having been accused (kataitiaqevnta" is the aor. partic. pass. of kataitiavomai), they executed all those who had been seized (xunelhvfqhsan), and having passed sentence of death on those who had escaped (note again the construction used with katagignwvskw - accus. of the penalty inflicted and gen. of the person on whom it is inflicted), they offered by proclamation (ejpanei'pon) money to the one killing (them) ..... ejpanei'pon, they proclaimed, is a 2nd. aor. form which has no existing present form. The reward came from the confiscated property of the condemned person.
	5. kajn touvtw/ = kai; ejn touvtw/: In all this,
	a[llh povli": the rest of the city

	1. ejnagovntwn tw'n ejcqrw'n: a gen. absolute with dependent rel. clause (oi{per...). The main clause in the sentence begins with calepw'".
	kai; ejpeidh;....e[cein: And since they thought they had found out the truth about the hermae,...
	polu; dh; ma'llon....pracqh'nai: Literally: much more so the (profanation of the) Mysteries, in which he was implicated (w|n ejpaivtio") seemed to have been perpetrated by that man with the same plan, that is to say (explanatory kaiv) the conspiracy against the democracy. More freely: they were much more inclined to believe that the profanation of the Mysteries, in which he was implicated, was part of the same plot - the conspiracy against the democracy.
	2. kai; gavr ti"....pravssonte": Literally: For a small army of Spartans happened, at just the time in which there was all this uproar, to be negotiating with the Boeotians, having come into their presence as far as the isthmus. We recall that Andocides also, in sec. 45 of his speech, referred to Boeotian troop movements on the frontier with Attica.
	ejdovkei....h{kein: Literally: It seemed therefore that the Spartans had come by arrangement with him (Alcibiades) having done (this) and not because of the Boeotians. More freely: The view therefore was that the Spartans had come at the instigation of Alcibiades and not because of the Boeotians.
	kai; eij mh; e[fqasan dh; aujtoi;...tou;" a[ndra": And if the Athenians had not forestalled them by arresting those against whom the information had been laid, ...
	katevdarqon is the 3rd plur. 2nd aor. indic. of katadarqavnw "I sleep".
	ejn Qhseivw/: The reference is to the temple of Theseus which lay to the south east of the Agora and was used as a place for mustering arms.
	3. oi{ te xevnoi...oiJ ejn #Argei: These were friends made by Alcibiades while he was in the Peloponnese where he had taken refuge after refusing the summons to return to Athens to stand trial for his alleged involvement in the profanation of the Mysteries.
	uJpwpteuvqhsan tw'/ dhvmw/ ejpitivqesqai: Literally: (the friends of Alcibiades) were suspected to be making attack on the democracy (in Argos).
	kai; tou;" oJmhvrou"....diacrhvsasqai: And because of this the Athenians then handed over the Argive hostages being held in the islands to the people of Argos to be executed. The Athenians did this presumably on the grounds that the hostages were considered to be in league with Alcibiades' friends.
	4. pantacovqen....to;n !Alkibiavdhn: Suspicion had surrounded Alcibiades on all sides. perieisthvkei is the 3rd sing. pluperf. indic. of periivsthmi here used in the sense "stand round about".
	ejpiv te ejkei'non...ejmemhvnuto: to fetch him and (those) others against whom information had been laid.
	5. ei[rhto...xullambavnein: The instruction was (ei[rhto) to order him to go with (the ship back to Athens) in order to defend himself (the fut. partic. ajpologhsomevnw / here expresses purpose) but not to arrest him.
	qerapeuvonte"...mh; qorubei'n: (for those giving the orders) were anxious not to cause a disturbance... The plur. qerapeuvonte" does not have an explicit noun or pronoun to qualify. However, the notion of plurality is implicit in ei[rhto above. Similarly, boulovmenoi and nomivzante" below.
	kai; oujc h{kista....xustrateuvein: Literally: and not least of all wishing the Mantineans and Argives to remain, believing that because of him (Alcibiades) they had been persuaded to serve alongside (the Athenian forces).
	6. wJ" ej" ta;" !Aqhvna": Note the force of wJ" - as though on the way to Athens. In actual fact they had other ideas!
	Qourivoi": Thurii was a city in southern Italy colonised by the Athenians in 443. It lay on or near the site of Sybaris which had been destroyed by the city of Croton in 510.
	ouj faneroi; h\san: they went into hiding.
	deivsante"...katapleu'sai: Literally: fearing to sail onwards to a trial in view of the prejudice (against them).
	7. ejrhvmh/ divkh/ means "by default", the legal expression used in a case where one of the parties to the action fails to appear, and thus loses the case by default.