- 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-grc2:3.26.1-3.26.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-25
In the following summer, the Peloponnesians dispatched Alcidas' fleet to Mytilene and simultaneously launched a major invasion of Attica to distract the Athenians. They thoroughly ravaged the land, including crops that had grown again, but eventually withdrew when no news of the fleet arrived and their provisions were exhausted.
τοῦ δ’ ἐπιγιγνομένου θέρους οἱ Πελοποννήσιοι ἐπειδὴ τὰς ἐς τὴν Μυτιλήνην δύο καὶ τεσσαράκοντα ναῦς ἀπέστειλαν ἄρχοντα Ἀλκίδαν, ὃς ἦν αὐτοῖς ναύαρχος, προστάξαντες, αὐτοὶ ἐς τὴν Ἀττικὴν καὶ οἱ ξύμμαχοι ἐσέβαλον, ὅπως οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ἀμφοτέρωθεν θορυβούμενοι ἧσσον ταῖς ναυσὶν ἐς τὴν Μυτιλήνην καταπλεούσαις ἐπιβοηθήσωσιν.1
In the following summer, the Peloponnesians, after they had dispatched the forty-two ships to Mytilene, having appointed Alcidas, who was their admiral, as commander, they themselves and their allies invaded Attica, in order that the Athenians, being harassed from both sides, might be less able to send forces to oppose the ships sailing to Mytilene.
ἡγεῖτο δὲ τῆς ἐσβολῆς ταύτης Κλεομένης ὑπὲρ Παυσανίου τοῦ Πλειστοάνακτος υἱέος βασιλέως ὄντος καὶ νεωτέρου ἔτι, πατρὸς δὲ ἀδελφὸς ὤν.
This invasion was led by Cleomenes, on behalf of Pausanias, the son of Pleistoanax, who was king and still a minor, Cleomenes being his father’s brother.
ἐδῄωσαν δὲ τῆς Ἀττικῆς τά τε πρότερον τετμημένα [καὶ] εἴ τι ἐβεβλαστήκει2 καὶ ὅσα ἐν ταῖς πρὶν ἐσβολαῖς παρελέλειπτο· καὶ ἡ ἐσβολὴ αὕτη χαλεπωτάτη ἐγένετο τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις μετὰ τὴν δευτέραν.
They ravaged the territory of Attica, both whatever had grown again of what had been previously laid waste, and all that had been passed over in the former invasions; and this invasion proved the most severe to the Athenians, next to the second.
ἐπιμένοντες γὰρ αἰεὶ ἀπὸ τῆς Λέσβου τι πεύσεσθαι τῶν νεῶν ἔργον ὡς ἤδη πεπεραιωμένων3 ἐπεξῆλθον τὰ πολλὰ τέμνοντες. ὡς δ’ οὐδὲν ἀπέβαινεν αὐτοῖς ὧν προσεδέχοντο καὶ ἐπελελοίπει ὁ σῖτος, ἀνεχώρησαν καὶ διελύθησαν κατὰ πόλεις.
For, constantly waiting to hear from Lesbos some news of the achievements of their ships, which they assumed had already arrived there, they traversed the country, ravaging most of it. But when nothing of what they expected turned out for them, and their provisions had run out, they withdrew and dispersed to their respective cities.
- 3.26.1ἐπιβοηθήσωσιν
The verb ἐπιβοηθέω usually means 'to hasten to the aid of (someone),' but here, taking the dative ταῖς ναυσὶν (referring to the Peloponnesian ships sailing to Mytilene), it is used in the sense of 'to march out against' or 'to intercept (an enemy).' It describes the difficulty the Athenians would face in dispatching forces to oppose the enemy fleet while being harassed at home.
- 3.26.3εἴ τι ἐβεβλαστήκει
The phrase εἴ τι ('if anything'), while in the form of a conditional clause, functions substantially as a relative clause meaning 'whatever had grown again,' limiting and explaining the preceding τά ... τετμημένα ('what had been previously laid waste').
- 3.26.4ὡς ἤδη πεπεραιωμένων
This is a 'genitive absolute' construction with the particle ὡς and the genitive participle πεπεραιωμένων (whose implied subject is τῶν νεῶν). The addition of ὡς marks the subjective belief or assumption of the main subject ('thinking that they had already arrived').
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
- 2026-09-21 AI review — source 1