- 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-grc2:4.67.1-4.67.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-30
With careful preparation on both sides, the Athenians and their Megarian accomplices set an ambush by night, opened the gates using a disguised boat, and captured the gates after a swift assault.
οἱ οὖν Ἀθηναῖοι, ἐπειδὴ ἀπό τε τῶν ἔργων καὶ τῶν λόγων παρεσκεύαστο ἀμφοτέροις,1 ὑπὸ νύκτα πλεύσαντες ἐς Μινῴαν τὴν Μεγαρέων νῆσον ὁπλίταις ἑξακοσίοις, ὧν Ἱπποκράτης ἦρχεν, ἐν ὀρύγματι ἐκαθέζοντο, ὅθεν ἐπλίνθευον τὰ τείχη2 καὶ ἀπεῖχεν οὐ πολύ·
The Athenians, therefore, when preparations had been made on both sides, as well by deeds as by words, sailed by night with six hundred hoplites, commanded by Hippocrates, to Minoa, the island of the Megarians, and took up a position in a trench from which they had been making bricks for the walls, and which was not far off.
οἱ δὲ μετὰ τοῦ Δημοσθένους τοῦ ἑτέρου στρατηγοῦ Πλαταιῆς τε ψιλοὶ καὶ ἕτεροι περίπολοι ἐνήδρευσαν ἐς τὸ Ἐνυάλιον, ὅ ἐστιν ἔλασσον ἄπωθεν. καὶ ᾔσθετο οὐδεὶς εἰ μὴ οἱ ἄνδρες οἷς ἐπιμελὲς ἦν εἰδέναι τὴν νύκτα ταύτην.
And those with Demosthenes, the other general, both the Plataean light-armed troops and other patrol-men, lay in ambush at the Enyalium, which is at a shorter distance. And no one perceived it except the men who were interested in knowing it on that night.
καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἕως ἔμελλε γίγνεσθαι, οἱ προδιδόντες τῶν Μεγαρέων οὗτοι τοιόνδε ἐποίησαν. ἀκάτιον ἀμφηρικὸν ὡς λῃσταί, ἐκ πολλοῦ τεθεραπευκότες τὴν ἄνοιξιν τῶν πυλῶν, εἰώθεσαν ἐπὶ ἁμάξῃ, πείθοντες τὸν ἄρχοντα, διὰ τῆς τάφρου κατακομίζειν τῆς νυκτὸς ἐπὶ τὴν θάλασσαν καὶ ἐκπλεῖν· καὶ πρὶν ἡμέραν εἶναι πάλιν αὐτὸ τῇ ἁμάξῃ κομίσαντες ἐς τὸ τεῖχος κατὰ τὰς πύλας ἐσῆγον, ὅπως τοῖς ἐκ τῆς Μινῴας Ἀθηναίοις ἀφανὴς δὴ εἴη ἡ φυλακή,3 μὴ ὄντος ἐν τῷ λιμένι πλοίου φανεροῦ μηδενός.
And when dawn was about to break, these traitors among the Megarians did as follows. They had for a long time managed the opening of the gates, and having been accustomed to carry a double-oared boat on a wagon, pretending to be privateers, by persuading the commander, they would convey it through the trench at night to the sea and sail out; and before it was day, they would bring it back again to the wall on the wagon and introduce it through the gates, so that, as there was no ship visible in the harbour, the guard might be unnoticed by the Athenians in Minoa.
καὶ τότε πρὸς ταῖς πύλαις ἤδη ἦν ἡ ἅμαξα, καὶ ἀνοιχθεισῶν κατὰ τὸ εἰωθὸς ὡς τῷ ἀκατίῳ οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι (ἐγίγνετο γὰρ ἀπὸ ξυνθήματος τὸ τοιοῦτον) ἰδόντες ἔθεον δρόμῳ ἐκ τῆς ἐνέδρας, βουλόμενοι φθάσαι πρὶν ξυγκλῃσθῆναι4 πάλιν τὰς πύλας καὶ ἕως ἔτι ἡ ἅμαξα ἐν αὐταῖς ἦν, κώλυμα οὖσα προσθεῖναι· καὶ αὐτοῖς ἅμα καὶ οἱ ξυμπράσσοντες Μεγαρῆς τοὺς κατὰ τὰς πύλας φύλακας κτείνουσιν.
And on this occasion also the wagon was already at the gates, and when they were opened in the usual way as if for the boat, the Athenians (for this was done by preconcerted signal) seeing it, ran at full speed from their ambush, wishing to get there before the gates were closed again, and while the wagon was still in them, preventing their being shut; and at the same time their Megarian accomplices killed the guards at the gates.
καὶ πρῶτον μὲν οἱ περὶ τὸν Δημοσθένη Πλαταιῆς τε καὶ περίπολοι ἐσέδραμον οὗ νῦν τὸ τροπαῖόν ἐστι, καὶ εὐθὺς ἐντὸς τῶν πυλῶν (ᾔσθοντο γὰρ οἱ ἐγγύτατα Πελοποννήσιοι) μαχόμενοι τοὺς προσβοηθοῦντας οἱ Πλαταιῆς ἐκράτησαν καὶ τοῖς τῶν Ἀθηναίων ὁπλίταις ἐπιφερομένοις βεβαίους τὰς πύλας παρέσχον·
And first of all, the Plataeans and patrol-men with Demosthenes rushed in where the trophy now stands, and immediately inside the gates (for the nearest Peloponnesians perceived them) the Plataeans fought and overcame those who came to the rescue, and secured the gates for the advancing Athenian hoplites.
- 4.67.1παρεσκεύαστο ἀμφοτέροις
The verb παρεσκεύαστο is a pluperfect passive used impersonally, with ἀμφοτέροις acting as a dative of interest or agent ('for both sides', i.e., the Athenians and the Megarian conspirators). It indicates that preparation had been completed on both sides.
- 4.67.1ὅθεν ἐπλίνθευον τὰ τείχη
The relative adverb ὅθεν ('from where') refers to the trench (ὀρύγματι). The verb ἐπλίνθευον ('were making bricks') implies that the trench was the clay-pit from which they extracted material to make bricks for the walls.
- 4.67.3ὅπως τοῖς ἐκ τῆς Μινῴας Ἀθηναίοις ἀφανὴς δὴ εἴη ἡ φυλακή
A purpose clause introduced by ὅπως. The phrase ἀφανὴς δὴ εἴη ἡ φυλακή ('the guard might be unnoticed') can be interpreted as keeping their guarding actions or vigilance invisible to the Athenians on Minoa. By leaving no boat in the harbour, they prevented the enemy from suspecting any patrol or unusual activity.
- 4.67.4βουλόμενοι φθάσαι πρὶν ξυγκλῃσθῆναι
The infinitive φθάσαι (from φθάνω, 'to anticipate' or 'get there first') is used with the prepositional infinitive construction πρὶν ξυγκλῃσθῆναι ('before [the gates] were closed'). Combined with βουλόμενοι, it expresses their desire to reach the gates before they could be shut.