- 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-grc2:6.35.1-6.35.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-06
Following Hermocrates' speech, a heated dispute arises among the Syracusan populace regarding the reality and threat of the Athenian invasion, prompting the popular leader Athenagoras to step forward to speak.
καὶ ὁ μὲν Ἑρμοκράτης τοσαῦτα εἶπεν· τῶν δὲ Συρακοσίων ὁ δῆμος ἐν πολλῇ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἔριδι ἦσαν,1 οἱ μὲν ὡς οὐδενὶ ἂν τρόπῳ ἔλθοιεν οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι οὐδ’ ἀληθῆ ἐστὶν ἃ λέγει, τοῖς δέ,2 εἰ καὶ ἔλθοιεν, τί ἂν δράσειαν αὐτοὺς ὅτι οὐκ ἂν μεῖζον ἀντιπάθοιεν.3 ἄλλοι δὲ καὶ πάνυ καταφρονοῦντες ἐς γέλωτα ἔτρεπον τὸ πρᾶγμα. ὀλίγον δ’ ἦν τὸ πιστεῦον τῷ Ἑρμοκράτει καὶ φοβούμενον4 τὸ μέλλον.
Thus spoke Hermocrates. But the people of Syracuse were in great dispute with one another, some declaring that the Athenians would in no way come and that what he said was not true, and others asking, even if they should come, what could they do to them that they would not suffer more in return? And others, treating the matter with utter contempt, turned it into a laughing-stock. But those who believed Hermocrates and feared the future were few.
παρελθὼν δ’ αὐτοῖς Ἀθηναγόρας, ὃς δήμου τε προστάτης ἦν καὶ ἐν τῷ παρόντι πιθανώτατος τοῖς πολλοῖς, ἔλεγε τοιάδε.
Then Athenagoras, who was a leader of the people and at that time most persuasive to the multitude, came forward before them and spoke as follows.
- 6.35.1ὁ δῆμος ... ἦσαν
The plural verb ἦσαν is used with the singular noun δῆμος (the people). This is an instance of construction according to sense (constructio ad sensum), where the collective noun is treated as plural because it refers to a multitude of individuals.
- 6.35.1τοῖς δέ
This dative pronoun forms an anacoluthon, breaking the expected parallel with the nominative οἱ μὲν (some). It functions as a dative of interest or relation: 'and as for others' or 'for others, the feeling was...'
- 6.35.1ὅτι οὐκ ἂν μεῖζον ἀντιπάθοιεν
The subject of ἀντιπάθοιεν (from ἀντιπάσχω, 'to suffer in turn') is the Athenians. The ὅτι clause explains the reason: 'because they [the Athenians] would not cause greater harm than they themselves would suffer in return' from the Syracusan counterattack.
- 6.35.1τὸ πιστεῦον ... καὶ φοβούμενον
The neuter singular participles with the definite article function collectively to denote a class of people ('the part that believed... and feared...'), which agrees with the singular verb ἦν.