- Source
- Thucydides. Historiae, Vol 1-2. Jones, Henry Stuart, editor. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1910. (1942 printing).
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.93.1-2.93.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-24
The Peloponnesian commanders plan a surprise attack on the unguarded Athenian harbor of Peiraeus, but out of fear, they divert their course to the promontory of Salamis and ravage the area.
πρὶν δὲ διαλῦσαι τὸ ἐς Κόρινθόν τε καὶ τὸν Κρισαῖον κόλπον ἀναχωρῆσαν ναυτικόν, ὁ Κνῆμος καὶ ὁ Βρασίδας καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι ἄρχοντες τῶν Πελοποννησίων ἀρχομένου τοῦ χειμῶνος ἐβούλοντο διδαξάντων Μεγαρέων ἀποπειρᾶσαι τοῦ Πειραιῶς τοῦ λιμένος τῶν Ἀθηναίων· ἦν δὲ ἀφύλακτος καὶ ἄκλῃστος εἰκότως διὰ τὸ ἐπικρατεῖν πολὺ τῷ ναυτικῷ.
Before dispersing the fleet which had withdrawn to Corinth and the Crisaean Gulf, Cnemus, Brasidas, and the other Peloponnesian commanders, at the beginning of winter, wished, on the suggestion of the Megarians, to make an attempt upon Peiraeus, the harbor of the Athenians; for it was unguarded and unclosed, naturally enough because of their great superiority with their fleet.
ἐδόκει δὲ λαβόντα τῶν ναυτῶν ἕκαστον τὴν κώπην καὶ τὸ ὑπηρέσιον καὶ τὸν τροπωτῆρα πεζῇ ἰέναι ἐκ Κορίνθου ἐπὶ τὴν πρὸς Ἀθήνας θάλασσαν καὶ ἀφικομένους κατὰ τάχος ἐς Μέγαρα καθελκύσαντας1 ἐκ Νισαίας τοῦ νεωρίου αὐτῶν τεσσαράκοντα ναῦς, αἳ ἔτυχον αὐτόθι οὖσαι, πλεῦσαι εὐθὺς ἐπὶ τὸν Πειραιᾶ·
It was resolved that each of the sailors should take his oar, his cushion, and his oarlock thong, and go on foot from Corinth to the sea facing Athens, and arriving in haste at Megara, launch forty ships from Nisaea, their dockyard, which happened to be there, and sail immediately for Peiraeus.
οὔτε γὰρ ναυτικὸν ἦν προφυλάσσον ἐν αὐτῷ οὐδὲν οὔτε προσδοκία οὐδεμία μὴ ἄν ποτε οἱ πολέμιοι ἐξαπιναίως οὕτως ἐπιπλεύσειαν, ἐπεὶ οὐδ’ ἀπὸ τοῦ προφανοῦς τολμῆσαι ἂν καθ᾽ ἡσυχίαν, οὐδ’ εἰ διενοοῦντο, μὴ οὐκ ἂν προαισθέσθαι.2
For there was no guard fleet watching in it, nor any expectation that the enemy would ever attack so suddenly, since they would not have dared to do so openly at their leisure, nor, even if they had thought of it, was it believed that they could do so without being noticed beforehand.
ὡς δὲ ἔδοξεν αὐτοῖς, καὶ ἐχώρουν εὐθύς· καὶ ἀφικόμενοι νυκτὸς καὶ καθελκύσαντες ἐκ τῆς Νισαίας τὰς ναῦς ἔπλεον ἐπὶ μὲν τὸν Πειραιᾶ οὐκέτι, ὥσπερ διενοοῦντο, καταδείσαντες τὸν κίνδυνον (καί τις καὶ ἄνεμος αὐτοὺς λέγεται κωλῦσαι), ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς Σαλαμῖνος τὸ ἀκρωτήριον τὸ πρὸς Μέγαρα ὁρῶν· καὶ φρούριον ἐπ’ αὐτοῦ ἦν καὶ νεῶν τριῶν φυλακὴ τοῦ μὴ ἐσπλεῖν Μεγαρεῦσι μηδὲ ἐκπλεῖν μηδέν. τῷ τε φρουρίῳ προσέβαλον καὶ τὰς τριήρεις ἀφείλκυσαν κενάς, τήν τε ἄλλην Σαλαμῖνα ἀπροσδοκήτοις ἐπιπεσόντες ἐπόρθουν.
As they decided, so they set out immediately; and arriving by night and launching the ships from Nisaea, they did not sail for Peiraeus as they had intended, fearing the danger (and a certain wind is also said to have prevented them), but for the promontory of Salamis facing Megara; and on it there was a fort and a guard of three ships to prevent anyone from sailing in or out for the Megarians. They attacked the fort, towed off the triremes empty, and falling unexpectedly upon the rest of Salamis, they ravaged it.
- 2.93.2λαβόντα τῶν ναυτῶν ἕκαστον ... ἀφικομένους ... καθελκύσαντας
The participle λαβόντα is in the singular to agree with ἕκαστον (the subject of the infinitive clause), but the subsequent participles ἀφικομένους and καθελκύσαντας shift to the plural. This is an example of agreement according to sense (constructio ad sensum), referring to the collective group of sailors implied by ἕκαστον.
- 2.93.3μὴ οὐκ ἂν προαισθέσθαι
Following the preceding negative expression οὔτε προσδοκία, the double negative μὴ οὐκ with the infinitive forms a strong affirmation ('that they would not fail to be perceived beforehand,' i.e., they would certainly be noticed). The particle ἂν goes with the infinitive προαισθέσθαι to express potentiality or a hypothetical past possibility.