- 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-grc2:4.115.1-4.115.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-31
After the truce expires, Brasidas launches an attack on Lekythos. The Athenians attempt to counter by erecting a wooden tower, but the structure collapses under its own weight, causing soldiers further away to panic and flee to their ships, thinking the fort had fallen.
καὶ ὁ μὲν τοιαῦτα εἰπὼν καὶ παραθαρσύνας διελθουσῶν τῶν σπονδῶν τὰς προσβολὰς ἐποιεῖτο τῇ Ληκύθῳ· οἱ δὲ Ἀθηναῖοι ἠμύνοντό τε ἐκ φαύλου τειχίσματος καὶ ἀπ’ οἰκιῶν ἐπάλξεις ἐχουσῶν, καὶ μίαν μὲν ἡμέραν ἀπεκρούσαντο· τῇ δ’ ὑστεραίᾳ μηχανῆς μελλούσης1 προσάξεσθαι αὐτοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐναντίων, ἀφ’ ἧς πῦρ ἐνήσειν διενοοῦντο ἐς τὰ ξύλινα παραφράγματα, καὶ προσιόντος ἤδη τοῦ στρατεύματος, ᾗ2 ᾤοντο μάλιστα αὐτοὺς3 προσκομιεῖν τὴν μηχανὴν καὶ ἦν ἐπιμαχώτατον, πύργον ξύλινον ἐπ’ οἴκημα ἀντέστησαν, καὶ ὕδατος ἀμφορέας πολλοὺς καὶ πίθους ἀνεφόρησαν καὶ λίθους μεγάλους, ἄνθρωποί τε πολλοὶ ἀνέβησαν.
Having spoken thus and encouraged them, Brasidas, when the truce had expired, made attacks upon Lekythos; and the Athenians defended themselves from a poor fortification and from houses that had battlements, and for one day they repulsed them; but on the next day, as an engine was about to be brought against them by the enemy, from which they intended to throw fire onto the wooden breastworks, and as the army was already approaching, at the very point where they thought the enemy would especially bring up the engine and where it was most vulnerable to attack, they erected a wooden tower upon a building, and carried up many amphoras and jars of water and large stones, and many men went up on it.
τὸ δὲ οἴκημα λαβὸν μεῖζον4 ἄχθος ἐξαπίνης κατερράγη καὶ ψόφου πολλοῦ γενομένου τοὺς μὲν ἐγγὺς καὶ ὁρῶντας τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἐλύπησε μᾶλλον ἢ ἐφόβησεν, οἱ δὲ ἄπωθεν, καὶ μάλιστα οἱ διὰ πλείστου, νομίσαντες ταύτῃ5 ἑαλωκέναι ἤδη τὸ χωρίον, φυγῇ ἐς τὴν θάλασσαν καὶ τὰς ναῦς ὥρμησαν.
But the building, having received too great a weight, suddenly collapsed, and a great crash having been made, it distressed rather than terrified those of the Athenians who were near and saw it; but those who were at a distance, and especially those furthest off, thinking that the place had already been captured at that point, rushed in flight toward the sea and the ships.
- 4.115.2μηχανῆς μελλούσης
Genitive absolute construction. The prepositional phrase indicating the agent or direction, ἀπὸ τῶν ἐναντίων, depends on the infinitive προσάξεσθαι.
- 4.115.2ᾗ
Relative adverb. The demonstrative adverb ἐκείνῃ (or a noun phrase) indicating the place is omitted, forming an adverbial clause meaning 'at the place where'.
- 4.115.2αὐτοὺς
The subject accusative of the infinitive προσκομιεῖν in the accusative with infinitive construction. It is explicitly expressed as an accusative because it refers to the enemy, distinct from the subject of the main clause (the Athenians).
- 4.115.3μεῖζον
Comparative in the neuter accusative singular. It functions as an absolute comparative ('excessive', 'too great'), indicating that the weight exceeded the limit, rather than comparing it to a specific object.
- 4.115.3ταύτῃ
The feminine dative singular of the demonstrative pronoun οὗτος used adverbially. It can be interpreted as either 'at this place' (the fort was captured) or 'in this manner', but in this context, it refers to the specific spot where the tower collapsed.