48. Later, when the Greek war broke out through jealousy as to the past and envy of what was done, while all were envious and each needed but small grievances, when a naval battle was fought by the Athenians against the Aeginetans and their allies, they took seventy triremes. 49. And while they were struggling with Egypt and Aegina at the same time, and while the men of military age were away on sea and in the army, the Corinthians and their allies, thinking they would either attack a deserted country or they (the Athenians) would withdraw from Aegina, marched out and took Gereneia. 50. And the Athenians, some being at a distance and some near, did not dare to summon either, but trusting their own spirits and despising the invaders, the old men and the boys thought they alone could face the danger, (51) the former gaining courage from experience and the latter from their natures. And they in themselves became brave and the boys imitated them, the older men knowing how to command and the boys being able to obey commands. 52. Under the leadership of Myronides they set out for Megaris and conquered in battle all the forces (of the enemy), by those past service and those not yet ready for it, going into a foreign country to meet those who presumed to invade theirs. 53. And they set up a trophy for this glorious deed of theirs, and shameful act of the enemy, and the men, some no longer strong in body, the rest not yet strong, became greater in spirit and went back home with great renown, the latter to their teachers, the former to meditate on the future.
54. It is no easy task for one man to enumerate the brave deeds of so many, nor to tell in a single day the acts of all time. For what speech or time or orator could adequately testify to the valor of these men lying here? 55. For after countless struggles and signal contests and glorious encounters they have made Greece free, and proved their country the greatest, which ruled the sea for seventy years, kept the allies from revolt, (56) not permitting the many to be enslaved by the few, but forcing all to share alike, nor weakening the allies, but establishing them, so that the great king no longer longed for others' goods, but yielded up some of his own possessions and trembled for the future. 57. No ships sailed for Asia in that time, nor was a tyrant established among the Greeks, nor was a Greek city enslaved by the barbarians. Such was the moderation and fear their valor produced on all men. For this reason they alone must be the champions of the Greeks and leaders of the cities.
56. And also in adversity they showed their valor. For when the ships were lost in the Hellespont, either through the fault of the commander or by the will of the gods, and when that great disaster resulted to us and all the Greeks, they showed not long after that the power of the city was the safety of Greece. 59. For under the leadership of others those conquered the Greeks in naval battle who formerly had not embarked upon the sea, and they sailed to Europe, and enslaved Greek cities and established tyrannies, some after our disaster, and some after the victory of the barbarians. 60. So it would be fitting for Greece to grieve at his tomb, and bewail those who lie there, as if her freedom were buried with their valor, so unfortunate is Greece in being bereft of such men, and so fortunate is the king of Asia in meeting other leaders; for bereft of these, slavery is their fate, while in the others a desire springs up to emulate the wisdom of their ancestors.
61. But I have been led off to lament for all Greece; but it is fitting to remember these men both in private and in public, who hated slavery and fought for justice and struggled for the democracy, and having made all men their enemies they went to the Piraeus, not compelled by law, but impelled by instinct, imitating in fresh dangers the valor of their ancestors, (62) and by their own courage securing the city as a common possession for the rest also, choosing death and liberty rather than life and slavery, no less through shame of their lack of success than through anger at their enemies, preferring to die in their own country to living in a foreign land, having as allies oaths and agreements, and as enemies both the former ones and their own citizens. 63. But not fearing the number of their opponents, but risking their own lives, they set up a trophy to their enemies, and as evidence of their valor they buried the Lacedaemonians near this memorial. For they proved the city great and not small, and rendered it harmonious and not dissentious, and erected the walls instead of pulling them down. 64. And those of them who returned, showing plans like the deeds of those who lie here, devoted themselves not to the punishment of their enemies but the safety of the city, and neither being able to suffer encroachment on their privileges nor desiring to have more, give a share of their freedom even to those wishing to be in slavery, but they were not willing to share their slavery. 65. And with the bravest and most glorious deeds they repelled the charges against them, that the city met with disaster, not by their cowardice nor the enemy's valor. For if in dissension with one another they could enter their own country in spite of the presence of the Peloponnesians and their other enemies, evidently if they had been agreed they would have made a stand against them.
66. So those are admired by all men for their perils at the Piraeus. And it is also fitting to praise those lying here, who aiding the people and fighting for our safety, regarded valor as their country and so ended life. For this the city bewailed them and gave them a public funeral and granted them to have for all time the same honor as the citizens.
67. Those who are now buried, aiding the Corinthians who were wronged by their old friends, became renewed allies, not sharing the ideas of the Lacedaemonians, (for they envied their good fortunes, while the former pitied them when wronged, not remembering the previous hostility, but caring more for the present friendship) made evident to all men their own valor. 68. For they dared, trying to make Greece great, not only to incur danger for their own safety but to die for the liberty of their enemies; for they fought with Sparta's allies for their freedom. And when victorious they thought them worthy of the same privileges which they enjoyed, and if unsuccessful they would have fastened slavery firmly on the Peloponnesians.
69. As they so conducted themselves their life was pitiful, and their death desired; but these lived and died praised, being brought up in the virtues of their ancestors, and on becoming men they kept their fame untarnished and exhibited their own valor. 70. For they brought many benefits to their country, and made good the ill-successes of others, and carried war far from their own land. And they ended their lives as the good should die, having paid what is due to the country and leaving grief for those who trained them. 71. So it is fitting for the living to bewail these men and pity themselves and pity their relatives in future. For what pleasure will there be left them after these men are buried, who from their belief in the importance of virtue before all else lose their lives, made their wives widows and their children orphans, and rendered desolate their brothers, fathers and mothers. 72. For their many sufferings, I envy the children who are too young to know of what sort of parents they are bereft, and I pity their parents who are too old to forget their trial. 73. For what could be more terrible than this, to have and bring up children, and in old age become helpless and without hope, become friendless and without resources, and be pitied by the same ones who once envied them, and have death seem more to be desired than life? The braver men they were, the greater the grief for those left behind. 74. And how are they to cease grieving? In the crises of the state? But others should fittingly remember them at such a time. In the time of common prosperity? But is it then reasonable that they grieve, as their children are dead, and the living are reaping the benefits of their valor? But in private troubles, when they see those formerly their friends leaving them in their distress, and their enemies exulting over their misfortunes? 75. It seems to me that the only return we can make to these lying here is to treat their parents as themselves, and show a father's love to their children, and render such aid to their wives as they would if living. 76. For to whom do we owe greater thanks than to these men before us? Whom living should we make more of than their relatives, who like the others share their valor, but at their death have only sorrow.
77. But I know not why we should grieve. For we were not unaware that we were mortal. So why should we now mourn for those (who have suffered) what we have long realized we should suffer, or why be so downcast at natural occurrences, in the knowledge that death is the common experience of the evil and the good? For he (Death) neither overlooks the base nor loves the good, but comes equally to all. 78. For if it is possible for men who escaped dangers by word to be immortal for all time, the living would bewail the dead for all time. But now nature, subject to diseases and old age and the divinity who presides over our fates are inexorable. 79. So it is fitting to regard those men most fortunate, who have met their end, risking their lives for the noblest and best things, not entrusting themselves to fortune, nor waiting the appointed death, but choosing the noblest. For memories of them are undying, and their honors envied by all men. 80. They are mourned as mortal for nature's sake, but are sung of immortal for their valor. For they are publicly buried, and for them are held contests of strength and wisdom and wealth, as if those dying in war are to receive the same honor as the immortals. 81. Thus I praise their death and envy (them), and they are the ones of all men who I believe are the happiest in coming into the world, who, though in possession of mortal bodies, have left an immortal memory for their valor. But yet we must observe the usual customs and keeping our ancestral rites, mourn the dead.