- 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-grc2:3.88.1-3.88.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
The Athenians and Rhegians launch a winter expedition against the Aeolian Islands, describing the geography of Lipara and Hiera, and the fifth year of the war comes to an end.
καὶ οἱ μὲν ἐν Σικελίᾳ Ἀθηναῖοι καὶ Ῥηγῖνοι τοῦ αὐτοῦ χειμῶνος τριάκοντα ναυσὶ στρατεύουσιν ἐπὶ τὰς Αἰόλου νήσους καλουμένας· θέρους γὰρ δι’ ἀνυδρίαν ἀδύνατα ἦν1 ἐπιστρατεύειν.
And the Athenians in Sicily and the Rhegians, during the same winter, made an expedition with thirty ships against the islands called those of Aeolus; for in summer, owing to the lack of water, it was impossible to campaign against them.
νέμονται δὲ Λιπαραῖοι αὐτάς, Κνιδίων ἄποικοι ὄντες. οἰκοῦσι δ’ ἐν μιᾷ τῶν νήσων οὐ μεγάλῃ, καλεῖται δὲ Λιπάρα· τὰς δὲ ἄλλας ἐκ ταύτης ὁρμώμενοι γεωργοῦσι, Διδύμην καὶ Στρογγύλην καὶ Ἱεράν.
These islands are inhabited by the Liparaeans, who are colonists from Cnidus. They dwell in one of the islands, which is not large, and is called Lipara; and setting out from this, they cultivate the other islands, Didyme, Strongyle, and Hiera.
νομίζουσι δὲ οἱ ἐκείνῃ ἄνθρωποι ἐν τῇ Ἱερᾷ ὡς ὁ Ἥφαιστος χαλκεύει,2 ὅτι τὴν νύκτα φαίνεται πῦρ ἀναδιδοῦσα3 πολὺ καὶ τὴν ἡμέραν καπνόν. κεῖνται δὲ αἱ νῆσοι αὗται κατὰ τὴν Σικελῶν καὶ Μεσσηνίων γῆν, ξύμμαχοι δ’ ἦσαν Συρακοσίων.
And the people in those parts believe that Hephaestus works his forge in Hiera, because by night it is seen sending up much fire and by day smoke. These islands lie off the territory of the Sicels and Messenians, and they were allies of the Syracusans.
τεμόντες δ’ οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι τὴν γῆν, ὡς οὐ προσεχώρουν, ἀπέπλευσαν ἐς τὸ Ῥήγιον. καὶ ὁ χειμὼν ἐτελεύτα, καὶ πέμπτον ἔτος τῷ πολέμῳ ἐτελεύτα τῷδε ὃν Θουκυδίδης ξυνέγραψεν.
And the Athenians, having ravaged their land, since they would not surrender, sailed away to Rhegium. And the winter ended, and so ended the fifth year of this war which Thucydides wrote the history of.
- 3.88.1ἀδύνατα ἦν
A common usage in Thucydides where a neuter plural adjective is used as an impersonal predicate. It is equivalent in meaning to the singular ἀδύνατον ἦν ("it was impossible"), with the infinitive ἐπιστρατεύειν ("to campaign") acting as the logical subject.
- 3.88.3ἐν τῇ Ἱερᾷ ὡς ὁ Ἥφαιστος χαλκεύει
The conjunction ὡς ("that") introduces the object clause after the verb νομίζουσι ("believe"). The prepositional phrase of place ἐν τῇ Ἱερᾷ ("in Hiera") logically belongs inside the dependent clause (with χαλκεύει) but is pulled forward (prolepsis) before the conjunction ὡς for emphasis.
- 3.88.3φαίνεται πῦρ ἀναδιδοῦσα
The verb φαίνομαι combined with a participle (ἀναδιδοῦσα) expresses a clear fact ("it is seen sending up" or "it clearly sends up"). The subject of the participle is the island Ἱερά (feminine), hence the feminine singular form of the participle.