- 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-grc2:3.18.1-3.18.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-25
The Mytilenian expedition against Methymna and its failure is detailed, followed by their securing of nearby cities. In response, the Athenians dispatch Paches with reinforcements, who completely blockades Mytilene by land and sea.
Μυτιληναῖοι δὲ κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον ὃν οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι περὶ τὸν Ἰσθμὸν ἦσαν ἐπὶ Μήθυμναν ὡς προδιδομένην1 ἐστράτευσαν κατὰ γῆν αὐτοί τε καὶ οἱ ἐπίκουροι· καὶ προσβαλόντες τῇ πόλει, ἐπειδὴ οὐ προυχώρει ᾗ προσεδέχοντο,2 ἀπῆλθον ἐπ’ Ἀντίσσης καὶ Πύρρας καὶ Ἐρέσου, καὶ καταστησάμενοι τὰ ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι ταύταις βεβαιότερα καὶ τείχη κρατύναντες διὰ τάχους ἀπῆλθον ἐπ’ οἴκου.
The Mytilenians, during the same time that the Lacedaemonians were about the Isthmus, marched by land, themselves and their auxiliaries, against Methymna, expecting it to be betrayed to them; and having attacked the city, when things did not go as they expected, they departed for Antissa, Pyrrha, and Eresus, and having made affairs in these cities more secure and strengthened their walls, they departed for home in haste.
ἐστράτευσαν δὲ καὶ οἱ Μηθυμναῖοι ἀναχωρησάντων αὐτῶν ἐπ’ Ἄντισσαν· καὶ ἐκβοηθείας τινὸς γενομένης πληγέντες ὑπό τε τῶν Ἀντισσαίων καὶ τῶν ἐπικούρων ἀπέθανόν τε πολλοὶ καὶ ἀνεχώρησαν οἱ λοιποὶ κατὰ τάχος.
And the Methymnaeans also made an expedition against Antissa after they had withdrawn; and when a sally was made, being defeated by the Antissaeans and the auxiliaries, many died, and the rest withdrew in haste.
οἱ δὲ Ἀθηναῖοι πυνθανόμενοι ταῦτα, τούς τε Μυτιληναίους τῆς γῆς κρατοῦντας καὶ τοὺς σφετέρους στρατιώτας οὐχ ἱκανοὺς ὄντας εἴργειν,3 πέμπουσι περὶ τὸ φθινόπωρον ἤδη ἀρχόμενον Πάχητα τὸν Ἐπικούρου στρατηγὸν καὶ χιλίους ὁπλίτας ἑαυτῶν.
And the Athenians, hearing this—that the Mytilenians were masters of the land and that their own soldiers were not able to prevent them—sent, about the beginning of autumn, Paches the son of Epicurus as general, and a thousand of their own hoplites.
οἱ δὲ αὐτερέται πλεύσαντες τῶν νεῶν ἀφικνοῦνται καὶ περιτειχίζουσι Μυτιλήνην ἐν κύκλῳ ἁπλῷ τείχει· φρούρια δ’ ἔστιν ᾗ4 ἐπὶ τῶν καρτερῶν ἐγκατῳκοδόμηται.
And they, having rowed the ships themselves, arrived and walled in Mytilene with a single circumvallation wall in a circle; and there are forts built in at some strong points.
καὶ ἡ μὲν Μυτιλήνη κατὰ κράτος ἤδη ἀμφοτέρωθεν καὶ ἐκ γῆς καὶ ἐκ θαλάσσης εἴργετο, καὶ ὁ χειμὼν ἤρχετο γίγνεσθαι.
And so Mytilene was now closely blockaded from both sides, both by land and by sea, and winter was beginning.
- 3.18.1ὡς προδιδομένην
The conjunction ὡς with the participle (προδιδομένην, present passive) expresses the subjective reason, expectation, or pretext of the subject: "with the expectation that it was being betrayed" or "on the assumption of its being betrayed."
- 3.18.1ᾗ προσεδέχοντο
The relative adverb ᾗ means "in the way that" or "as," with its antecedent omitted. Together with the impersonally used verb προυχώρει ("to progress"), it forms the clause meaning "since things did not progress as they expected."
- 3.18.3τούς τε Μυτιληναίους τῆς γῆς κρατοῦντας καὶ τοὺς σφετέρους στρατιώτας οὐχ ἱκανοὺς ὄντας εἴργειν
An indirect discourse construction where the accusatives (τούς τε Μυτιληναίους and τοὺς σφετέρους στρατιώτας) and their respective participles (κρατοῦντας and ὄντας) serve as the objects of the participle of mental perception πυνθανόμενοι ("hearing, learning"), equivalent to a clause introduced by ὅτι.
- 3.18.4ἔστιν ᾗ
An idiomatic expression consisting of the third-person singular present indicative of εἰμί (ἔστιν) and the relative adverb ᾗ. It is equivalent to the Latin est ubi, meaning "in some places" or "here and there."