- 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-grc2:4.23.1-4.23.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-29
Following the return of the envoys, the truce of Pylos collapsed as the Athenians refused to return the Peloponnesian ships, alleging minor treaty violations. Both sides resumed hostilities with vigor, the Athenians blockading the island by sea and the Peloponnesians attacking the fort on the mainland.
ἀφικομένων δὲ αὐτῶν διελέλυντο εὐθὺς αἱ σπονδαὶ αἱ περὶ Πύλον, καὶ τὰς ναῦς οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι ἀπῄτουν, καθάπερ ξυνέκειτο· οἱ δ’ Ἀθηναῖοι ἐγκλήματα ἔχοντες ἐπιδρομήν1 τε τῷ τειχίσματι παράσπονδον καὶ ἄλλα οὐκ ἀξιόλογα δοκοῦντα εἶναι οὐκ ἀπεδίδοσαν, ἰσχυριζόμενοι ὅτι δὴ εἴρητο,2 ἐὰν καὶ ὁτιοῦν παραβαθῇ, λελύσθαι τὰς σπονδάς. οἱ δὲ Λακεδαιμόνιοι ἀντέλεγόν τε καὶ ἀδίκημα ἐπικαλέσαντες τὸ τῶν νεῶν ἀπελθόντες ἐς πόλεμον καθίσταντο.
Upon their arrival, the truce concerning Pylos was immediately dissolved, and the Lacedaemonians demanded the return of their ships, as had been agreed. But the Athenians, alleging as grievances an attack made upon the fort in violation of the treaty, and other matters which seemed of no great importance, refused to restore them, insisting that it had been expressly stated that if any point whatsoever were violated, the truce should be void. The Lacedaemonians protested against this, and having denounced the detention of the ships as an injustice, they departed and entered upon war.
καὶ τὰ περὶ Πύλον ὑπ’ ἀμφοτέρων κατὰ κράτος ἐπολεμεῖτο, Ἀθηναῖοι μὲν δυοῖν νεοῖν ἐναντίαιν3 αἰεὶ τὴν νῆσον περιπλέοντες τῆς ἡμέρας (τῆς δὲ νυκτὸς καὶ ἅπασαι περιώρμουν, πλὴν τὰ πρὸς τὸ πέλαγος, ὁπότε ἄνεμος εἴη·4 καὶ ἐκ τῶν Ἀθηνῶν αὐτοῖς εἴκοσι νῆες ἀφίκοντο ἐς τὴν φυλακήν, ὥστε αἱ πᾶσαι ἑβδομήκοντα ἐγένοντο), Πελοποννήσιοι δὲ ἔν τε τῇ ἠπείρῳ στρατοπεδευόμενοι καὶ προσβολὰς ποιούμενοι τῷ τείχει, σκοποῦντες καιρὸν εἴ τις παραπέσοι ὥστε τοὺς ἄνδρας σῶσαι.
Thus the war around Pylos was vigorously prosecuted by both sides: the Athenians on their part constantly patrolled the island by day with two ships sailing in opposite directions (while by night all their ships lay at anchor around it for guard, except on the side facing the open sea whenever there was a wind; and twenty additional ships arrived from Athens to join the guard, so that they numbered seventy in all), while the Peloponnesians, encamped on the mainland and making assaults upon the fort, watched for any opportunity that might occur to rescue their men.
- 4.23.1ἐπιδρομήν
An accusative noun in apposition with ἐγκλήματα (grievances), which is the direct object of the participle ἔχοντες. It explains the substance of their complaints ("complaints, namely, the attack on the fort").
- 4.23.1εἴρητο
An impersonal pluperfect passive of λέγω, meaning "it had been agreed/stated." The following accusative with infinitive clause λελύσθαι τὰς σπονδάς (that the treaty was dissolved) functions as the subject or content of this impersonal verb.
- 4.23.2δυοῖν νεοῖν ἐναντίαις
Dative dual (from the feminine noun ναῦς, the adjective ἐναντίος, and the numeral δύο). It functions as a dative of means or manner, meaning "with two ships sailing in opposite directions."
- 4.23.2ὁπότε ἄνεμος εἴη
The conjunction ὁπότε followed by the optative εἴη (third-person singular present optative of εἰμί) expresses an iterative condition in past time ("whenever there was a wind"). This corresponds with the repeated action of the main verb in the imperfect tense (περιώρμουν).