- 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-grc2:5.110.1-5.110.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-05
The Melians argue that the vastness of the Cretan Sea makes interception difficult and warn that the Lacedaemonians could strike Athens' own territory and allies, turning the war into a struggle for self-defense.
ΜΗΛ. οἱ δὲ καὶ ἄλλους ἂν ἔχοιεν πέμψαι· πολὺ δὲ τὸ Κρητικὸν πέλαγος, δι’ οὗ τῶν κρατούντων ἀπορώτερος ἡ λῆψις1 ἢ τῶν λαθεῖν βουλομένων ἡ σωτηρία.
MEL. But they could send others too; and the Cretan sea is vast, through which the interception by those who command it is more difficult than the escape of those who wish to pass undetected.
καὶ εἰ τοῦδε σφάλλοιντο, τράποιντ’ ἂν καὶ ἐς τὴν γῆν ὑμῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς τῶν ξυμμάχων, ὅσους μὴ Βρασίδας ἐπῆλθεν· καὶ οὐ περὶ τῆς μὴ προσηκούσης2 μᾶλλον ἢ τῆς οἰκειοτέρας ξυμμαχίδος τε καὶ γῆς ὁ πόνος ὑμῖν ἔσται.
And if they should fail in this, they might turn both against your own land and against the rest of your allies, as many as Brasidas did not attack; and your struggle will be not so much for a land that does not belong to you, but rather for your own alliance and territory.
- 5.110.1τῶν κρατούντων ἀπορώτερος ἡ λῆψις
τῶν κρατούντων (those who rule, i.e., the Athenians) is a subjective genitive with the noun ἡ λῆψις (capture, interception). Similarly, τῶν λαθεῖν βουλομένων (those who wish to pass undetected) is a subjective genitive with ἡ σωτηρία (safety, escape). The comparative adjective ἀπορώτερος is from the two-termination adjective ἄπορος, here agreeing with the feminine noun ἡ λῆψις.
- 5.110.2τῆς μὴ προσηκούσης
The participle προσηκούσης (belonging to, concerning) implies territory (γῆς) and refers to Melos (a land that does not belong to Athens). In contrast, τῆς οἰκειοτέρας ξυμμαχίδος τε καὶ γῆς refers to Athens' own alliance (such as the Chalcidice/Thracian allies) and territory, indicating that the war would shift from an overseas conquest to self-defense.