Overcrowding in Athens and the Collapse of Burial Customs — Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War Book 2 (2.52.1–2.52.4), Greek & English

§2.52.1

ἐπίεσε δ’ αὐτοὺς μᾶλλον πρὸς τῷ ὑπάρχοντι πόνῳ καὶ ἡ ξυγκομιδὴ ἐκ τῶν ἀγρῶν ἐς τὸ ἄστυ, καὶ οὐχ ἧσσον τοὺς ἐπελθόντας.

Moreover, besides their present suffering, the crowding from the country into the city oppressed them, and not least those who had newly arrived.

§2.52.2

οἰκιῶν γὰρ οὐχ ὑπαρχουσῶν, ἀλλ’ ἐν καλύβαις πνιγηραῖς ὥρᾳ ἔτους¹ διαιτωμένων ὁ φθόρος ἐγίγνετο οὐδενὶ κόσμῳ, ἀλλὰ καὶ νεκροὶ ἐπ’ ἀλλήλοις ἀποθνῄσκοντες ἔκειντο καὶ ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς ἐκαλινδοῦντο καὶ περὶ τὰς κρήνας ἁπάσας ἡμιθνῆτες τοῦ ὕδατος ἐπιθυμίᾳ.²

For since there were no houses, but they lived in stifling huts at the hot season of the year, the mortality occurred in utter disorder; indeed, the dying lay overlapping one another as corpses, and they rolled about in the streets and around all the fountains, half-dead from their desire for water.

§2.52.3

τά τε ἱερὰ ἐν οἷς ἐσκήνηντο νεκρῶν πλέα ἦν, αὐτοῦ ἐναποθνῃσκόντων· ὑπερβιαζομένου γὰρ τοῦ κακοῦ οἱ ἄνθρωποι, οὐκ ἔχοντες ὅτι γένωνται,³ ἐς ὀλιγωρίαν ἐτράποντο καὶ ἱερῶν καὶ ὁσίων ὁμοίως.

And the temples in which they had quartered themselves were full of corpses, as people died right inside them; for as the disaster became overwhelming, men, not knowing what would become of them, fell into neglect of both sacred and secular laws alike.

§2.52.4

νόμοι τε πάντες ξυνεταράχθησαν οἷς ἐχρῶντο πρότερον περὶ τὰς ταφάς, ἔθαπτον δὲ ὡς ἕκαστος ἐδύνατο. καὶ πολλοὶ ἐς ἀναισχύντους θήκας ἐτράποντο σπάνει τῶν ἐπιτηδείων διὰ τὸ συχνοὺς ἤδη προτεθνάναι σφίσιν·⁴ ἐπὶ πυρὰς γὰρ ἀλλοτρίας φθάσαντες τοὺς νήσαντας⁵ οἱ μὲν ἐπιθέντες τὸν ἑαυτῶν νεκρὸν ὑφῆπτον, οἱ δὲ καιομένου ἄλλου ἐπιβαλόντες ἄνωθεν ὃν φέροιεν ἀπῇσαν.

All the customs which they had previously observed regarding burials were thrown into confusion, and they buried their dead as each was able. And many turned to shameless modes of burial, through the lack of necessary materials, because so many of their friends had already died before them; for anticipating those who had piled up a pyre, some would put their own dead on it and set it on fire, while others, while another body was burning, would throw onto it the one they were carrying and go away.

Syntax notes5 items

2.52.2ὥρᾳ ἔτους
The dative of time ὥρᾳ (season) combined with the genitive ἔτους (of the year) refers to the hot season of the year (i.e., summer), as indicated by the context of πνιγηραῖς ('stifling' or 'sultry').
2.52.2τοῦ ὕδατος ἐπιθυμίᾳ
τοῦ ὕδατος (water) is an objective genitive dependent on the noun ἐπιθυμίᾳ (desire, longing). The whole phrase functions as a dative of cause ('because of their desire for water').
2.52.3οὐκ ἔχοντες ὅτι γένωνται
ὅτι γένωνται is an indirect deliberative subjunctive clause using the aorist subjunctive, expressing the helpless state of 'not knowing what would become of them' or 'what they should do.'
2.52.4διὰ τὸ συχνοὺς ἤδη προτεθνάναι σφίσιν
In the articular infinitive construction introduced by διὰ τὸ, συχνούς acts as the subject accusative of the perfect infinitive προτεθνάναι, while σφίσιν functions as a dative of interest or reference ('for them/before them').
2.52.4φθάσαντες τοὺς νήσαντας
The participle φθάσαντες from φθάνω ('to anticipate, get ahead of') takes the accusative object τοὺς νήσαντας ('those who had piled [the pyre]'). It means 'anticipating (or arriving before) those who had piled the pyre.'

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25)urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.52.1-2.52.4