- 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-grc2:7.39.1-7.39.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
The Syracusans attack the Athenians earlier the next day, and during the prolonged engagement, the Corinthian Ariston persuades the commanders to move the market to the shore so that the sailors can eat quickly and launch a surprise re-attack.
τῇ δ’ ὑστεραίᾳ οἱ Συρακόσιοι τῆς μὲν ὥρας πρωίτερον,1 τῇ δ’ ἐπιχειρήσει τῇ αὐτῇ τοῦ τε πεζοῦ καὶ τοῦ ναυτικοῦ προσέμισγον τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις, καὶ ἀντικαταστάντες ταῖς ναυσὶ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον αὖθις ἐπὶ πολὺ διῆγον τῆς ἡμέρας πειρώμενοι ἀλλήλων, πρὶν δὴ2 Ἀρίστων ὁ Πυρρίχου Κορίνθιος, ἄριστος ὢν κυβερνήτης τῶν μετὰ Συρακοσίων, πείθει τοὺς σφετέρους τοῦ ναυτικοῦ ἄρχοντας, πέμψαντας ὡς τοὺς ἐν τῇ πόλει ἐπιμελομένους,3 κελεύειν4 ὅτι τάχιστα τὴν ἀγορὰν τῶν πωλουμένων παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν μεταστῆσαι κομίσαντας, καὶ ὅσα τις ἔχει ἐδώδιμα, πάντας ἐκεῖσε φέροντας ἀναγκάσαι πωλεῖν, ὅπως αὐτοῖς ἐκβιβάσαντες τοὺς ναύτας εὐθὺς παρὰ τὰς ναῦς ἀριστοποιήσωνται, καὶ δι’ ὀλίγου αὖθις καὶ αὐθημερὸν ἀπροσδοκήτοις τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις5 ἐπιχειρῶσιν.
On the next day, the Syracusans, at an earlier hour of the day, and with the same manner of assault by both their land and naval forces, engaged the Athenians, and having drawn up their ships against them in the same manner, they again spent a large part of the day testing one another, until Ariston son of Pyrrhichus, a Corinthian, who was the best helmsman of those on the Syracusan side, persuaded their own naval commanders to send messengers to those in authority in the city, ordering them to move the market of provisions as quickly as possible down to the seashore, and to compel everyone to bring there and sell whatever eatables they had, so that they might disembark the sailors and have them take their midday meal immediately beside the ships, and after a short interval, on the very same day, make another attack on the Athenians when they were not expecting it.
- 7.39.1τῆς μὲν ὥρας πρωίτερον
The comparative adverb πρωίτερον (earlier) takes the genitive of comparison τῆς ὥρας, meaning "at an earlier hour of the day."
- 7.39.2πρὶν δὴ
Introducing a decisive turn in the narrative with the historical present πείθει, marking the sudden moment of change after a prolonged struggle.
- 7.39.2ὡς τοὺς ἐν τῇ πόλει ἐπιμελομένους
Here ὡς functions as a preposition meaning "to," used with the accusative of persons (τοὺς ἐπιμελομένους).
- 7.39.2πέμψαντας ... κελεύειν
The participle πέμψαντας (accusative plural) agrees with the implicit subject of the infinitive κελεύειν, which is the object of πείθει (τοὺς ἄρχοντας).
- 7.39.2ἀπροσδοκήτοις τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις
The adjective ἀπροσδοκήτοις is used predicatively with the dative τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις (governed by ἐπιχειρῶσιν), meaning "against the Athenians while they were not expecting it."