Aristides, Thucydides, and their family names

Use in the book

The young Aristides exemplifies progress that does not last after separation from Socrates. He had advanced greatly in a short time, then a campaign took him away by sea. On returning he finds the young Thucydides spending time with Socrates. Thucydides had fallen out with Socrates in certain arguments the previous day. Aristides hears that he is giving himself airs and angrily treating himself as someone of consequence; he asks whether Thucydides has forgotten what a “slave” he was before their association.

The insult immediately turns back upon Aristides. He confesses that he himself is now in a laughable condition. Before sailing he could converse with anyone and appear inferior to no one; now educated people make him flee in shame. The frame prevents Aristides from standing simply as the confident judge of another companion. His remembered superiority and present failure are aspects of the same account of unstable progress.

The genealogies add a connection with the earlier problem of statesmen’s sons, but the text does not argue that public excellence has been biologically transmitted or disproved by these young men. The edition’s note identifies their grandfathers as Aristides “the Just” and Thucydides son of Melesias, Pericles’ political opponent. It also links their fathers’ educational concerns with the Laches. Those contexts help explain the prominence of the family identifications; they should not be made into additional episodes narrated here.

The Thucydides in this scene is not the historian, and Aristides is not his own famous grandfather. The passage states neither the target nor date of Aristides’ campaign. Assigning it to the expedition mentioned just before would be an unsupported harmonisation.

Places to read

1. 130aἈριστείδης ὁ Λυσιμάχου ὑὸς τοῦ Ἀριστείδου — the first three-generation identification
2. 130a–bΘουκυδίδην τὸν Μελησίου ὑὸν τοῦ Θουκυδίδου — the second family sequence
3. 130aστρατεία τις … ᾤχετο ἐκπλέων — Aristides leaves on an unspecified campaign
4. 130bδι’ ἀπεχθείας ἐν λόγοις τισίν — Thucydides has fallen out with Socrates in argument
5. 130bοἷον ἦν τὸ ἀνδράποδον — Aristides’ disparaging recollection is an insult, not a statement of legal enslavement
6. 130b–c2καὶ αὐτός γε … καταγελάστως ἔχω — he admits his own ridiculous condition

Translation in this edition

Note 37 supplies the family and inter-dialogue context. The printed genealogies retain the forms hyos and hyon rather than silently simplifying the relatives. “Some campaign” respects the source’s indefiniteness, and “what sort of slave he was” preserves the speaker’s harsh comparison without converting it into biography.

Aristides, the young companion — Ἀριστείδης

Aristides, the young companion. Lysimachus’ son and the older Aristides’ grandson; the speaker who reports progress followed by loss during absence. Attested: Ἀριστείδης (130a). Aristides, Thucydides, and their family names.

Aristides, the grandfather — Ἀριστείδης

Aristides, the grandfather. The elder namesake in the genealogy, identified by the edition as Aristides the Just; not the returning companion. Attested: Ἀριστείδου (130a). Aristides, Thucydides, and their family names.

Have arrived; return — ἥκειν

Have arrived; return. To be present after arriving; Aristides’ return introduces the encounter with Thucydides’ current association. Attested: ἥκων (130a). Aristides, Thucydides, and their family names.

Lysimachus — Λυσίμαχος

Lysimachus. Father of the young Aristides and son of the famous older Aristides; the middle generation in the stated genealogy. Attested: Λυσιμάχου (130a). Aristides, Thucydides, and their family names.

Melesias — Μελησίας

Melesias. Father of the young Thucydides and son of his older namesake; the intervening generation in the family sequence. Attested: Μελησίου (130a). Aristides, Thucydides, and their family names.

The previous day — ἡ προτεραία

The previous day. The preceding day, with ‘day’ understood; it dates Thucydides’ quarrel relative to Aristides’ return. Attested: προτεραίᾳ (130b). Aristides, Thucydides, and their family names.

Sail out; sail away — ἐκπλεῖν

Sail out; sail away. To depart by sea; Aristides’ campaign removes him from continued association with Socrates. Attested: ἐκπλέων (130a). Aristides, Thucydides, and their family names.

Thucydides, the young companion — Θουκυδίδης

Thucydides, the young companion. Melesias’ son and the elder Thucydides’ grandson; he has quarrelled with Socrates shortly before Aristides returns. Attested: Θουκυδίδην (130a). Aristides, Thucydides, and their family names.

Thucydides, the grandfather — Θουκυδίδης

Thucydides, the grandfather. The elder namesake identified by the edition as Pericles’ political opponent; neither the young companion nor the historian. Attested: Θουκυδίδου (130a–b). Aristides, Thucydides, and their family names.