- 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-grc2:8.41.1-8.41.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
Upon hearing of reinforcements at Caunus, Astyochus abandons Chios to sail there, plundering Cos on the way. At Cnidus, he is advised to immediately attack the Athenian fleet.
ἐν τούτῳ δὲ ἐκ τῆς Καύνου παραγίγνεται ἀγγελία ὅτι αἱ ἑπτὰ καὶ εἴκοσι νῆες καὶ οἱ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων ξύμβουλοι πάρεισιν· καὶ νομίσας πάντα ὕστερα εἶναι τἆλλα πρὸς τὸ ναῦς τε, ὅπως θαλασσοκρατοῖεν μᾶλλον, τοσαύτας ξυμπαρακομίσαι, καὶ τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους, οἳ ἧκον κατάσκοποι αὐτοῦ, ἀσφαλῶς περαιωθῆναι,1 εὐθὺς ἀφεὶς τὸ ἐς τὴν Χίον ἔπλει ἐς τὴν Καῦνον.
Meanwhile, a message arrived from Caunus that the twenty-seven ships and the Lacedaemonian advisers were there. Thinking everything else to be of secondary importance compared to convoying so many ships in order that they might better hold the mastery of the sea, and to getting the Lacedaemonians, who had come as his inspectors, safely across, he immediately abandoned the expedition to Chios and sailed for Caunus.
καὶ ἐς Κῶν τὴν Μεροπίδα ἐν τῷ παράπλῳ ἀποβὰς τήν τε πόλιν ἀτείχιστον οὖσαν καὶ ὑπὸ σεισμοῦ, ὃς αὐτοῖς ἔτυχε μέγιστός γε δὴ ὧν μεμνήμεθα γενόμενος,2 ξυμπεπτωκυῖαν ἐκπορθεῖ, τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐς τὰ ὄρη πεφευγότων, καὶ τὴν χώραν καταδρομαῖς λείαν ἐποιεῖτο, πλὴν τῶν ἐλευθέρων· τούτους δὲ ἀφίει.
Landing on his way at Cos Meropis, he sacked the city, which was unfortified and had been laid in ruins by an earthquake—the greatest, indeed, within our memory. The inhabitants had fled to the mountains, and he plundered the territory, except for the free population, whom he set free.
ἐκ δὲ τῆς Κῶ ἀφικόμενος ἐς τὴν Κνίδον νυκτὸς ἀναγκάζεται ὑπὸ τῶν Κνιδίων παραινούντων μὴ ἐκβιβάσαι τοὺς ναύτας, ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ εἶχε3 πλεῖν εὐθὺς ἐπὶ τὰς τῶν Ἀθηναίων ναῦς εἴκοσιν, ἃς ἔχων Χαρμῖνος εἷς τῶν ἐκ Σάμου στρατηγῶν ἐφύλασσε ταύτας τὰς ἑπτὰ καὶ εἴκοσι ναῦς ἐκ τῆς Πελοποννήσου προσπλεούσας, ἐφ’ ἅσπερ καὶ ὁ Ἀστύοχος παρέπλει.
Arriving at Cnidus from Cos by night, he was urged by the Cnidians not to land his sailors, but to sail just as he was straight against the twenty Athenian ships, with which Charminus, one of the generals from Samos, was watching for those twenty-seven ships sailing from the Peloponnese—the very ones towards which Astyochus also was sailing.
ἐπύθοντο δὲ οἱ ἐν τῇ Σάμῳ ἐκ τῆς Μήλου τὸν ἐπίπλουν αὐτῶν, καὶ ἡ φυλακὴ τῷ Χαρμίνῳ περὶ τὴν Σύμην καὶ Χάλκην καὶ Ῥόδον καὶ περὶ τὴν Λυκίαν ἦν· ἤδη γὰρ ᾐσθάνετο καὶ ἐν τῇ Καύνῳ οὔσας αὐτάς.
For those in Samos had learned from Melos of their approach, and Charminus was keeping watch around Syme, Chalce, Rhodes, and Lycia; for he was already aware that they were even in Caunus.
- 8.41.1πρὸς τὸ ναῦς τε, ὅπως θαλασσοκρατοῖεν μᾶλλον, τοσαύτας ξυμπαρακομίσαι, καὶ τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους, οἳ ἧκον κατάσκοποι αὐτοῦ, ἀσφαλῶς περαιωθῆναι
The preposition πρός (with accusative, meaning "compared to") governs two infinitives substantivized by the article τό (ξυμπαρακομίσαι and περαιωθῆναι). τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους acts as the subject accusative of the latter infinitive.
- 8.41.2ὃς αὐτοῖς ἔτυχε μέγιστός γε δὴ ὧν μεμνήμεθα γενόμενος
The verb τυγχάνω is used with the participle γενόμενος to express "happened to be" or "actually was." ὧν is a relative pronoun in the genitive, with its antecedent omitted and attracted into the genitive case governed by the verb μεμνήμεθα.
- 8.41.3ὥσπερ εἶχε
An idiomatic expression using ἔχω intransitively ("to be in a certain state"), meaning here "just as he was," i.e., without delay or preparation.