- 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-grc2:8.102.1-8.102.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
The Athenian fleet at Sestos, learning of the Peloponnesian entry into the Hellespont from beacons, attempts to escape to Elaeus by night. Though they elude the enemy ships at Abydos, they are spotted and chased by Mindarus' main fleet at dawn, losing four of their rearmost ships.
οἱ δὲ Ἀθηναῖοι ἐν τῇ Σηστῷ δυοῖν δεούσαις εἴκοσι1 ναυσὶν ὄντες, ὡς αὐτοῖς οἵ τε φρυκτωροὶ ἐσήμαινον καὶ ᾐσθάνοντο τὰ πυρὰ ἐξαίφνης πολλὰ ἐν τῇ πολεμίᾳ φανέντα, ἔγνωσαν ὅτι ἐσπλέουσιν οἱ Πελοποννήσιοι. καὶ τῆς αὐτῆς ταύτης νυκτὸς ὡς εἶχον τάχους2 ὑπομείξαντες τῇ Χερσονήσῳ παρέπλεον ἐπ’ Ἐλαιοῦντος, βουλόμενοι ἐκπλεῦσαι ἐς τὴν εὐρυχωρίαν τὰς τῶν πολεμίων ναῦς.3
Meanwhile, the Athenians at Sestos, who had eighteen ships, when the beacon-watchers signaled to them and they perceived many fires suddenly appearing in the enemy’s territory, realized that the Peloponnesians were sailing in. And during this very same night, sailing as fast as they could and keeping close to the Chersonese, they coasted towards Elaeus, wishing to sail past the enemy’s ships into the open water.
καὶ τὰς μὲν ἐν Ἀβύδῳ ἑκκαίδεκα ναῦς ἔλαθον, προειρημένης φυλακῆς4 τῷ φιλίῳ ἐπίπλῳ, ὅπως αὐτῶν ἀνακῶς ἕξουσιν,5 ἢν ἐκπλέωσιν· τὰς δὲ μετὰ τοῦ Μινδάρου ἅμα τῇ ἕῳ κατιδόντες, τὴν δίωξιν εὐθὺς ποιουμένων οὐ φθάνουσι πάσαις,6 ἀλλ’ αἱ μὲν πλείους ἐπὶ τῆς Ἴμβρου καὶ Λήμνου διέφυγον, τέσσαρες δὲ τῶν νεῶν αἱ ὕσταται πλέουσαι καταλαμβάνονται παρὰ τὸν Ἐλαιοῦντα.
They eluded the sixteen ships at Abydos, although a guard had been ordered beforehand in anticipation of the arrival of their friends, to keep a sharp look-out on them in case they should try to escape. But descrying the ships with Mindarus at dawn, and these latter immediately giving chase, they did not succeed in escaping with all their ships; most of them indeed fled to Imbros and Lemnos, but the four of their ships that sailed last were overtaken near Elaeus.
καὶ μίαν μὲν ἐποκείλασαν κατὰ τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦ Πρωτεσιλάου αὐτοῖς ἀνδράσι7 λαμβάνουσι, δύο δὲ ἑτέρας ἄνευ τῶν ἀνδρῶν· τὴν δὲ μίαν πρὸς τῇ Ἴμβρῳ κενὴν κατακαίουσιν.
And one of these, which had run aground near the temple of Protesilaus, they captured together with its crew, and two others without their crews; the remaining one they burned empty near Imbros.
- 8.102.1δυοῖν δεούσαις εἴκοσι
An expression for the number '18'. It literally means 'twenty (ships) lacking two', where δυοῖν is the genitive of 'two', and δεούσαις is the present active participle of δέω ('to lack') in the feminine dative plural, agreeing with ναυσίν.
- 8.102.1ὡς εἶχον τάχους
An idiomatic expression meaning 'as fast as they could' or 'at full speed', formed by ὡς + the indicative of ἔχω (here imperfect) + the partitive genitive (τάχους). The subject is the Athenians.
- 8.102.1ἐκπλεῦσαι ... τὰς τῶν πολεμίων ναῦς
The verb ἐκπλέω ('to sail out, escape'), which is normally intransitive, here takes an accusative object (τὰς τῶν πολεμίων ναῦς) to mean 'to sail past and escape the enemy's ships' in a transitive sense.
- 8.102.2προειρημένης φυλακῆς
A genitive absolute construction. The perfect passive participle of προερῶ in the feminine genitive singular (προειρημένης) agrees with the noun φυλακῆς, expressing a concessive sense: 'although a watch had been ordered beforehand.'
- 8.102.2ὅπως αὐτῶν ἀνακῶς ἕξουσιν
A clause introduced by ὅπως + future indicative (ἕξουσιν) expressing the content of the guard's duty. The phrase ἀνακῶς ἔχω is an idiom meaning 'to keep watch on' or 'to pay attention to', taking a genitive object (αὐτῶν, referring to the Athenians).
- 8.102.2οὐ φθάνουσι πάσαις
While φθάνω ('to anticipate, get the start of') is usually accompanied by a participle, here it takes a dative (πάσαις, with ναυσίν understood), meaning 'they did not succeed with all their ships (in escaping first)', i.e., 'they did not all manage to escape.'
- 8.102.3αὐτοῖς ἀνδράσι
An idiomatic use of the dative of αὐτός with a noun in the dative to express accompaniment or inclusion: 'together with their crew' or 'men and all.'