Dercylidas Sent to Abydus and the Naval Battle at Chios — Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War Book 8 (8.61.1–8.61.3), Greek & English

§8.61.1

τοῦ δ’ ἐπιγιγνομένου θέρους ἅμα τῷ ἦρι εὐθὺς ἀρχομένῳ Δερκυλίδας τε ἀνὴρ Σπαρτιάτης στρατιὰν ἔχων οὐ πολλὴν παρεπέμφθη πεζῇ ἐφ’ Ἑλλησπόντου Ἄβυδον ἀποστήσων¹ (εἰσὶ δὲ Μιλησίων ἄποικοι), καὶ οἱ Χῖοι, ἐν ὅσῳ αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἀστύοχος ἠπόρει ὅπως βοηθήσοι, ναυμαχῆσαι πιεζόμενοι τῇ πολιορκίᾳ ἠναγκάσθησαν.

At the very beginning of the following summer, simultaneously with the opening of spring, Dercylidas, a Spartan, was sent by land with a small army to the Hellespont to bring about the revolt of Abydus (which is a colony of the Milesians); and the Chians, while Astyochus was still at a loss how to help them, were forced by the pressure of the siege to fight a battle at sea.

§8.61.2

ἔτυχον δὲ ἔτι ἐν Ῥόδῳ ὄντος Ἀστυόχου ἐκ τῆς Μιλήτου Λέοντά τε ἄνδρα Σπαρτιάτην, ὃς Ἀντισθένει ἐπιβάτης ξυνεξῆλθε, τοῦτον κεκομισμένοι² μετὰ τὸν Πεδαρίτου θάνατον ἄρχοντα καὶ ναῦς δώδεκα, αἳ ἔτυχον φύλακες Μιλήτου οὖσαι, ὧν ἦσαν Θούριαι πέντε καὶ Συρακόσιαι τέσσαρες καὶ μία Ἀναιῖτις καὶ μία Μιλησία καὶ Λέοντος μία.

Now while Astyochus was still at Rhodes, they had brought from Miletus, after the death of Pedaritus, Leon, a Spartan who had gone out with Antisthenes as a marine, to be their commander, and twelve ships which happened to be on guard duty at Miletus, of which five were Thurian, four Syracusan, one Anaian, one Milesian, and one Leon’s own.

§8.61.3

ἐπεξελθόντων δὲ τῶν Χίων πανδημεὶ καὶ καταλαβόντων τι ἐρυμνὸν χωρίον καὶ τῶν νεῶν αὐτοῖς ἅμα ἓξ καὶ τριάκοντα ἐπὶ τὰς τῶν Ἀθηναίων δύο καὶ τριάκοντα ἀναγαγομένων ἐναυμάχησαν·³ καὶ καρτερᾶς γενομένης ναυμαχίας οὐκ ἔλασσον ἔχοντες ἐν τῷ ἔργῳ οἱ Χῖοι καὶ οἱ ξύμμαχοι (ἤδη γὰρ καὶ ὀψὲ ἦν) ἀνεχώρησαν ἐς τὴν πόλιν.

Then, when the Chians had marched out in full force and occupied a strong position, and at the same time their thirty-six ships had put to sea against the thirty-two of the Athenians, they fought a battle; and after a hard-fought action, the Chians and their allies, having had not the worst of the engagement (for it was now already late), withdrew into the city.

Syntax notes3 items

8.61.1Ἄβυδον ἀποστήσων
The future participle ἀποστήσων expresses purpose, meaning 'in order to bring about the revolt of Abydus.'
8.61.2ἔτυχον ... κεκομισμένοι
A periphrastic construction consisting of τυγχάνω (ἔτυχον) and the perfect participle κεκομισμένοι (whose subject is 'the Chians' from the preceding section), meaning 'they happened to have brought.'
8.61.3ἐπεξελθόντων δὲ τῶν Χίων ... ἐναυμάχησαν
A series of genitive absolutes (ἐπεξελθόντων... καὶ καταλαβόντων... and τῶν νεῶν... ἀναγαγομένων) following the conjunction δέ, which set up the circumstances for the main finite verb ἐναυμάχησαν ('they fought a battle').

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — translation 1

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.61.1-8.61.3