- 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-grc2:3.109.1-3.109.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-28
Menedaius takes command of the Peloponnesian forces and sues for a truce after their defeat. Demosthenes secretly grants a treaty of retreat only to the Mantineans and Peloponnesian officers, aiming to isolate the Ambraciots and discredit Lacedaemonian prestige.
Μενεδάϊος δὲ τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ Εὐρυλόχου τεθνεῶτος καὶ Μακαρίου αὐτὸς παρειληφὼς τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ ἀπορῶν μεγάλης ἥσσης γεγενημένης ὅτῳ τρόπῳ ἢ μένων πολιορκήσεται1 ἔκ τε γῆς καὶ ἐκ θαλάσσης ταῖς Ἀττικαῖς ναυσὶν ἀποκεκλῃμένος ἢ καὶ ἀναχωρῶν διασωθήσεται, προσφέρει λόγον περὶ σπονδῶν καὶ ἀναχωρήσεως Δημοσθένει καὶ τοῖς Ἀκαρνάνων στρατηγοῖς, καὶ περὶ νεκρῶν ἅμα ἀναιρέσεως.
On the following day, Menedaius, having himself assumed the command since Eurylochus and Macarius were dead, and being at a loss—since a great defeat had occurred—as to how, either by remaining he could avoid being besieged, cut off both by land and by sea by the Attic ships, or by retreating he could save himself, made proposals concerning a truce and retreat to Demosthenes and the generals of the Acarnanians, and at the same time concerning the recovery of the dead.
οἱ δὲ νεκροὺς μὲν ἀπέδοσαν καὶ τροπαῖον αὐτοὶ ἔστησαν καὶ τοὺς ἑαυτῶν τριακοσίους μάλιστα ἀποθανόντας ἀνείλοντο, ἀναχώρησιν δὲ ἐκ μὲν τοῦ προφανοῦς οὐκ ἐσπείσαντο ἅπασι, κρύφα δὲ Δημοσθένης μετὰ τῶν ξυστρατήγων Ἀκαρνάνων σπένδονται2 Μαντινεῦσι καὶ Μενεδαΐῳ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἄρχουσι τῶν Πελοποννησίων καὶ ὅσοι αὐτῶν ἦσαν ἀξιολογώτατοι ἀποχωρεῖν κατὰ τάχος, βουλόμενος ψιλῶσαι τοὺς Ἀμπρακιώτας τε καὶ τὸν μισθοφόρον ὄχλον [τὸν ξενικόν], μάλιστα δὲ Λακεδαιμονίους καὶ Πελοποννησίους διαβαλεῖν ἐς τοὺς ἐκείνῃ χρῄζων Ἕλληνας ὡς καταπροδόντες τὸ ἑαυτῶν προυργιαίτερον ἐποιήσαντο.3
They, on the one hand, restored the dead and themselves erected a trophy, and took up their own dead, about three hundred in number; on the other hand, they did not make a treaty for a retreat openly for all, but secretly Demosthenes, with his Acarnanian fellow-generals, made a treaty with the Mantineans, Menedaius, the other Peloponnesian officers, and those among them who were most distinguished, to depart quickly. This he did because he wished to leave the Ambraciots and the mercenary crowd [the foreign one] stripped of allies, and, above all, because he desired to discredit the Lacedaemonians and Peloponnesians among the Greeks in those parts, on the ground that, by betraying their allies, they had preferred their own interests.
καὶ οἱ μὲν τούς τε νεκροὺς ἀνείλοντο καὶ διὰ τάχους ἔθαπτον, ὥσπερ ὑπῆρχε,4 καὶ τὴν ἀποχώρησιν κρύφα οἷς ἐδέδοτο ἐπεβούλευον·
And so, they took up their dead and buried them in haste, as well as circumstances permitted, and those to whom it had been granted began secretly to plan their retreat.
- 3.109.1ὅτῳ τρόπῳ ἢ μένων πολιορκήσεται
In the indirect question clause introduced by ὅτῳ τρόπῳ, the verbs πολιορκήσεται and διασωθήσεται retain their original indicative mood (future indicative) instead of changing to the optative (the repraesentatio construction), reflecting the actual thoughts of Menedaius. The participles μένων and ἀναχωρῶν function conditionally ('if he remained', 'if he retreated').
- 3.109.2Δημοσθένης μετὰ τῶν ξυστρατήγων Ἀκαρνάνων σπένδονται
Although the grammatical subject Δημοσθένης is singular, the verb σπένδονται is in the plural because the subject is accompanied by μετὰ τῶν ξυστρατήγων ('with his fellow-generals'), representing a constructio ad sensum (agreement according to sense).
- 3.109.2ὡς καταπροδόντες τὸ ἑαυτῶν προυργιαίτερον ἐποιήσαντο
The conjunction ὡς introduces the substance of the slander (after διαβαλεῖν). The participle καταπροδόντες ('having betrayed') is in the nominative plural because it acts as the subject of the finite verb ἐποιήσαντο inside the ὡς clause, referring back to the accusatives Λακεδαιμονίους καὶ Πελοποννησίους. τὸ ἑαυτῶν ('their own interest') is the object, and προυργιαίτερον ('more urgent/important') is a comparative neuter singular adjective acting as a predicate accusative with ἐποιήσαντο.
- 3.109.3ὥσπερ ὑπῆρχε
This is an idiomatic expression based on the impersonal use of ὑπάρχει, meaning 'as circumstances permitted' or 'as was possible under the circumstances', modifying the hasty burial under difficult conditions.