- 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-grc2:8.23.1-8.23.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
Astyochus sails to assist Lesbos but retreats upon learning Mytilene has fallen to the Athenians. The Athenians restore order in Lesbos and bring Clazomenae back to their alliance.
Ἀστύοχος δὲ ὁ Λακεδαιμόνιος ναύαρχος τέσσαρσι ναυσίν, ὥσπερ ὥρμητο, πλέων ἐκ τῶν Κεγχρειῶν ἀφικνεῖται ἐς Χίον. καὶ τρίτην ἡμέραν αὐτοῦ ἥκοντος1 αἱ Ἀττικαὶ νῆες πέντε καὶ εἴκοσιν ἔπλεον ἐς Λέσβον, ὧν ἦρχε Λέων καὶ Διομέδων· Λέων γὰρ ὕστερον δέκα ναυσὶ προσεβοήθησεν ἐκ τῶν Ἀθηνῶν.
Astyochus, the Lacedaemonian admiral, sailing from Cenchreae with four ships as he had started, arrived at Chios. And on the third day after his arrival, the twenty-five Attic ships sailed to Lesbos, commanded by Leon and Diomedon; for Leon had later brought a reinforcement of ten ships from Athens.
ἀναγαγόμενος δὲ καὶ ὁ Ἀστύοχος τῇ αὐτῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐς ὀψὲ καὶ προσλαβὼν Χίαν ναῦν μίαν ἔπλει ἐς τὴν Λέσβον, ὅπως ὠφελοίη, εἴ τι δύναιτο.2 καὶ ἀφικνεῖται ἐς τὴν Πύρραν, ἐκεῖθεν δὲ τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ ἐς Ἔρεσον, ἔνθα πυνθάνεται ὅτι ἡ Μυτιλήνη ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀθηναίων αὐτοβοεὶ ἑάλωκεν·
And Astyochus also, putting to sea late on the same day and taking with him one Chian ship, sailed to Lesbos, in order to render assistance if he could do anything. And he arrived at Pyrrha, and from there on the next day at Eresus, where he learned that Mytilene had been captured by the Athenians at the first assault.
οἱ γὰρ Ἀθηναῖοι ὥσπερ ἔπλεον ἀπροσδόκητοι κατασχόντες ἐς τὸν λιμένα τῶν τε Χίων νεῶν ἐκράτησαν καὶ ἀποβάντες τοὺς ἀντιστάντας μάχῃ νικήσαντες τὴν πόλιν ἔσχον.
For the Athenians, sailing in and putting in to the harbor unexpectedly, got possession of the Chian ships, and landing, defeated those who opposed them in battle and held the city.
ἃ πυνθανόμενος ὁ Ἀστύοχος τῶν τε Ἐρεσίων καὶ τῶν ἐκ τῆς Μηθύμνης μετ’ Εὐβούλου Χίων νεῶν,3 αἳ τότε καταλειφθεῖσαι καὶ ὡς ἡ Μυτιλήνη ἑάλω φεύγουσαι περιέτυχον αὐτῷ τρεῖς (μία γὰρ ἑάλω ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀθηναίων), οὐκέτι ἐπὶ τὴν Μυτιλήνην ὥρμησεν, ἀλλὰ τὴν Ἔρεσον ἀποστήσας καὶ ὁπλίσας, καὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ νεῶν ὁπλίτας πεζῇ παραπέμπει ἐπὶ τὴν Ἄντισσαν καὶ Μήθυμναν ἄρχοντα Ἐτεόνικον προστάξας· καὶ αὐτὸς ταῖς τε μεθ’ ἑαυτοῦ ναυσὶ καὶ ταῖς τρισὶ ταῖς Χίαις παρέπλει, ἐλπίζων τοὺς Μηθυμναίους θαρσήσειν τε ἰδόντας σφᾶς καὶ ἐμμενεῖν τῇ ἀποστάσει.
Learning these things from the Eresians and from the Chian ships coming from Methymna with Eubulus, which had been left behind there at the time and encountered him while fleeing when Mytilene was captured—three of them, for one had been captured by the Athenians—he no longer set out for Mytilene, but caused Eresus to revolt and armed it, and sent the hoplites from his own ships by land to Antissa and Methymna, having appointed Eteonicus as commander. And he himself sailed along the coast with the ships he had and the three Chian ones, hoping that the Methymnaeans would take courage on seeing them and remain steadfast in their revolt.
ὡς δὲ αὐτῷ τὰ ἐν τῇ Λέσβῳ πάντα ἠναντιοῦτο, ἀπέπλευσε τὸν ἑαυτοῦ στρατὸν πεζὸν ἀναλαβὼν ἐς τὴν Χίον. ἀπεκομίσθη δὲ πάλιν κατὰ πόλεις καὶ ὁ τῶν ξυμμάχων πεζός, ὃς ἐπὶ τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον ἐμέλλησεν ἰέναι. καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν Κεγχρειᾷ ξυμμαχίδων Πελοποννησίων νεῶν ἀφικνοῦνται αὐτοῖς ἓξ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐς τὴν Χίον.
But when everything in Lesbos went against him, he sailed back to Chios, taking along his land army. The land force of the allies, which was to have gone to the Hellespont, was also sent back to their respective cities. And after this, six of the Peloponnesian allied ships at Cenchreae arrived to join them at Chios.
οἱ δὲ Ἀθηναῖοι τά τ’ ἐν τῇ Λέσβῳ πάλιν κατεστήσαντο καὶ πλεύσαντες ἐξ αὐτῆς Κλαζομενίων τὴν ἐν τῇ ἠπείρῳ Πολίχναν τειχιζομένην ἑλόντες διεκόμισαν πάλιν αὐτοὺς ἐς τὴν ἐν τῇ νήσῳ πόλιν, πλὴν τῶν αἰτίων τῆς ἀποστάσεως· οὗτοι δὲ ἐς Δαφνοῦντα ἀπῆλθον. καὶ αὖθις Κλαζομεναὶ προσεχώρησαν Ἀθηναίοις.
Meanwhile the Athenians re-established order in Lesbos, and sailing from there, captured Polichna, a place belonging to the Clazomenians on the mainland which was being fortified, and transported the inhabitants back to their city on the island, except for those responsible for the revolt, who departed for Daphnus. And once more Clazomenae came over to the Athenians.
- 8.23.1τρίτην ἡμέραν αὐτοῦ ἥκοντος
αὐτοῦ ἥκοντος is a genitive absolute meaning "after he had arrived." τρίτην ἡμέραν is an accusative of time (adverbial accusative), specifying the point of time: "on the third day after his arrival."
- 8.23.2ὅπως ὠφελοίη, εἴ τι δύναιτο
Following the past tense of the main verb (imperfect ἔπλει), both the purpose clause (ὅπως ὠφελοίη) and the conditional clause (εἴ τι δύναιτο) are in the optative mood. The conditional clause expresses an expectation or tentative attempt: "if he should be able to do anything."
- 8.23.4ἃ πυνθανόμενος ὁ Ἀστύοχος τῶν τε Ἐρεσίων καὶ τῶν... νεῶν
The verb πυνθάνομαι ("to learn, hear of") takes the matter learned in the accusative (here the relative pronoun ἃ acting as the direct object) and the source of information in the genitive (τῶν τε Ἐρεσίων... καὶ τῶν... νεῶν).