- 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-grc2:6.2.1-6.2.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-05
Explains the ancient history of settlement in Sicily, mentioning the Cyclopes and Laestrygonians, and describes the colonization process of various non-Greek peoples such as the Sicanians, Elymians, Sicels, and Phoenicians.
ᾠκίσθη δὲ ὧδε τὸ ἀρχαῖον, καὶ τοσάδε ἔθνη ἔσχε τὰ ξύμπαντα. παλαίτατοι μὲν λέγονται ἐν μέρει τινὶ τῆς χώρας Κύκλωπες καὶ Λαιστρυγόνες οἰκῆσαι, ὧν ἐγὼ οὔτε γένος ἔχω εἰπεῖν1 οὔτε ὁπόθεν ἐσῆλθον ἢ ὅποι ἀπεχώρησαν· ἀρκείτω δὲ ὡς ποιηταῖς τε εἴρηται2 καὶ ὡς ἕκαστός πῃ γιγνώσκει περὶ αὐτῶν.
Now it was settled in ancient times in this manner, and it possessed so many nations in all. The oldest are said to have inhabited some part of the country, namely the Cyclopes and Laestrygonians, of whom I can neither tell the race nor whence they entered or whither they departed; let it suffice as has been said by the poets and as each in some way knows about them.
Σικανοὶ δὲ μετ’ αὐτοὺς πρῶτοι φαίνονται ἐνοικισάμενοι, ὡς μὲν αὐτοί φασι, καὶ πρότεροι διὰ τὸ αὐτόχθονες εἶναι, ὡς δὲ ἡ ἀλήθεια εὑρίσκεται, Ἴβηρες ὄντες καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ Σικανοῦ ποταμοῦ τοῦ ἐν Ἰβηρίᾳ ὑπὸ Λιγύων ἀναστάντες. καὶ ἀπ’ αὐτῶν Σικανία τότε ἡ νῆσος ἐκαλεῖτο, πρότερον Τρινακρία καλουμένη· οἰκοῦσι δὲ ἔτι καὶ νῦν τὰ πρὸς ἑσπέραν τὴν Σικελίαν.
The Sicanians after them appear to have been the first to settle, indeed, as they themselves say, even prior to them because of being autochthonous, but as the truth is found, they were Iberians and were driven out by the Ligurians from the river Sicanus in Iberia. And from them the island was then called Sicania, having previously been called Trinacria; and they still inhabit even now the western parts of Sicily.
Ἰλίου δὲ ἁλισκομένου τῶν Τρώων τινὲς διαφυγόντες Ἀχαιοὺς πλοίοις ἀφικνοῦνται πρὸς τὴν Σικελίαν, καὶ ὅμοροι τοῖς Σικανοῖς οἰκήσαντες ξύμπαντες μὲν Ἔλυμοι ἐκλήθησαν, πόλεις δ’ αὐτῶν Ἔρυξ τε καὶ Ἔγεστα. προσξυνῴκησαν δὲ αὐτοῖς καὶ Φωκέων τινὲς τῶν ἀπὸ Τροίας τότε χειμῶνι ἐς Λιβύην πρῶτον, ἔπειτα ἐς Σικελίαν ἀπ’ αὐτῆς κατενεχθέντες.
Upon the capture of Ilium, some of the Trojans, escaping from the Achaeans, arrived by boats in Sicily, and having settled on the borders of the Sicanians, they were all called Elymians, and their cities were Eryx and Egesta. There also settled with them some of the Phocians of those from Troy, who were then carried by a storm first to Libya, and then from there to Sicily.
Σικελοὶ δ’ ἐξ Ἰταλίας (ἐνταῦθα γὰρ ᾤκουν) διέβησαν ἐς Σικελίαν, φεύγοντες Ὀπικούς, ὡς μὲν εἰκὸς καὶ λέγεται, ἐπὶ σχεδιῶν, τηρήσαντες τὸν πορθμὸν κατιόντος τοῦ ἀνέμου, τάχα ἂν δὲ καὶ ἄλλως πως ἐσπλεύσαντες.3 εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ νῦν ἔτι ἐν τῇ Ἰταλίᾳ Σικελοί, καὶ ἡ χώρα ἀπὸ Ἰταλοῦ βασιλέως τινὸς Σικελῶν, τοὔνομα τοῦτο ἔχοντος, οὕτως Ἰταλία ἐπωνομάσθη.
The Sicels crossed over from Italy to Sicily (for they used to dwell there), fleeing from the Opicans, on rafts, as is probable and said, having watched for the crossing when the wind came down, or perhaps having sailed in some other way. And there are still even now Sicels in Italy, and the country was thus named Italy after Italus, a certain king of the Sicels who had this name.
ἐλθόντες δὲ ἐς τὴν Σικελίαν στρατὸς πολὺς τούς τε Σικανοὺς κρατοῦντες4 μάχῃ ἀνέστειλαν πρὸς τὰ μεσημβρινὰ καὶ ἑσπέρια αὐτῆς καὶ ἀντὶ Σικανίας Σικελίαν τὴν νῆσον ἐποίησαν καλεῖσθαι, καὶ τὰ κράτιστα τῆς γῆς ᾤκησαν ἔχοντες, ἐπεὶ διέβησαν, ἔτη ἐγγὺς τριακόσια πρὶν Ἕλληνας ἐς Σικελίαν ἐλθεῖν· ἔτι δὲ καὶ νῦν τὰ μέσα καὶ τὰ πρὸς βορρᾶν τῆς νήσου ἔχουσιν.
Having come to Sicily with a great army, and defeating the Sicanians in battle, they drove them to the southern and western parts of it and caused the island to be called Sicily instead of Sicania, and they inhabited and held the best parts of the land, after they crossed over, for nearly three hundred years before the Greeks came to Sicily; and even now they still hold the central and northern parts of the island.
ᾤκουν δὲ καὶ Φοίνικες περὶ πᾶσαν μὲν τὴν Σικελίαν ἄκρας τε ἐπὶ τῇ θαλάσσῃ ἀπολαβόντες καὶ τὰ ἐπικείμενα νησίδια ἐμπορίας ἕνεκεν τῆς πρὸς τοὺς Σικελούς· ἐπειδὴ δὲ οἱ Ἕλληνες πολλοὶ κατὰ θάλασσαν ἐπεσέπλεον, ἐκλιπόντες τὰ πλείω Μοτύην καὶ Σολόεντα καὶ Πάνορμον ἐγγὺς τῶν Ἐλύμων ξυνοικήσαντες ἐνέμοντο, ξυμμαχίᾳ τε πίσυνοι τῇ τῶν Ἐλύμων, καὶ ὅτι ἐντεῦθεν ἐλάχιστον πλοῦν Καρχηδὼν Σικελίας ἀπέχει. βάρβαροι μὲν οὖν τοσοίδε Σικελίαν καὶ οὕτως ᾤκησαν.
Phoenicians also lived around all of Sicily, having occupied capes on the sea and the adjacent islets for the sake of trade with the Sicels; but when the Greeks sailed in in great numbers by sea, they abandoned most of these places and, settling together near the Elymians, inhabited Motya, Solous, and Panormus, relying on the alliance of the Elymians and because from there Carthage is the shortest voyage from Sicily. These, then, were the barbarians who inhabited Sicily and in this manner.
- 6.2.1οὔτε γένος ἔχω εἰπεῖν
The verb ἔχω with an infinitive (εἰπεῖν) expresses ability ('to be able to'). Here it means 'I cannot tell their race'.
- 6.2.1ἀρκείτω δὲ ὡς ποιηταῖς τε εἴρηται
ἀρκείτω is the third-person singular imperative of ἀρκέω ('to be sufficient'), meaning 'let it suffice'. The subjects are the two following noun clauses introduced by ὡς.
- 6.2.4τάχα ἂν δὲ καὶ ἄλλως πως ἐσπλεύσαντες
The particle ἄν modifies the participle ἐσπλεύσαντες (aorist participle of ἐσπλέω), expressing a potential or hypothetical possibility in the past ('they might have sailed'). It qualifies the implied main action of crossing.
- 6.2.5ἐλθόντες δὲ ἐς τὴν Σικελίαν στρατὸς πολὺς τούς τε Σικανοὺς κρατοῦντες
The participles ἐλθόντες and κρατοῦντες are in the masculine plural, despite the grammatical subject being the collective noun phrase στρατὸς πολὺς in the singular. This is an instance of constructio ad sensum (agreement according to sense).