- 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-grc2:8.74.1-8.74.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
The Samians and soldiers send the Paralus and Chaereas to Athens, unaware of the oligarchic coup. Upon seeing the oppressive rule of the Four Hundred, Chaereas escapes, returns to Samos, and delivers a highly exaggerated and terrifying report of the situation in Athens.
τὴν δὲ Πάραλον ναῦν καὶ Χαιρέαν ἐπ’ αὐτῆς τὸν Ἀρχεστράτου, ἄνδρα Ἀθηναῖον, γενόμενον ἐς τὴν μετάστασιν πρόθυμον,1 ἀποπέμπουσιν οἵ τε Σάμιοι καὶ οἱ στρατιῶται κατὰ τάχος ἐς τὰς Ἀθήνας ἀπαγγελοῦντα τὰ γεγενημένα· οὐ γὰρ ᾔδεσάν πω τοὺς τετρακοσίους ἄρχοντας.
The Samians and the soldiers dispatched in haste to Athens the ship Paralus, and on board it Chaereas the son of Archestratus, an Athenian who had shown himself eager for the change, to report what had taken place; for they did not yet know that the Four Hundred were in power.
καὶ καταπλευσάντων αὐτῶν εὐθέως τῶν μὲν Παράλων τινὰς οἱ τετρακόσιοι δύο ἢ τρεῖς ἔδησαν, τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους ἀφελόμενοι τὴν ναῦν καὶ μετεμβιβάσαντες ἐς ἄλλην στρατιῶτιν ναῦν ἔταξαν φρουρεῖν περὶ Εὔβοιαν.
And as soon as they sailed into port, the Four Hundred immediately imprisoned two or three of the crew of the Paralus, and taking the ship away from the rest and transferring them to another troopship, they ordered them to keep guard around Euboea.
ὁ δὲ Χαιρέας εὐθὺς διαλαθών πως, ὡς εἶδε τὰ παρόντα, πάλιν ἐς τὴν Σάμον ἐλθὼν ἀγγέλλει τοῖς στρατιώταις ἐπὶ τὸ μεῖζον πάντα δεινώσας2 τὰ ἐκ τῶν Ἀθηνῶν, ὡς πληγαῖς τε πάντας ζημιοῦσι καὶ ἀντειπεῖν ἔστιν οὐδὲν πρὸς τοὺς ἔχοντας τὴν πολιτείαν, καὶ ὅτι αὐτῶν καὶ γυναῖκες καὶ παῖδες ὑβρίζονται, καὶ διανοοῦνται,3 ὁπόσοι ἐν Σάμῳ στρατεύονται μὴ ὄντες τῆς σφετέρας γνώμης, τούτων πάντων τοὺς προσήκοντας λαβόντες εἴρξειν, ἵνα, ἢν μὴ ὑπακούσωσι, τεθνήκωσιν· καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ ἐπικαταψευδόμενος ἔλεγεν.
But Chaereas, having somehow managed to slip away immediately upon seeing the state of affairs, returned to Samos and reported to the soldiers, exaggerating everything from Athens in the most terrifying terms: that they punished everyone with blows, that it was impossible to say anything against those in possession of the government, that their own wives and children were being outraged, and that they intended, in the case of all those serving in Samos who were not of their way of thinking, to seize and imprison their relatives, so that they might be put to death if they did not obey; and he told many other lies in addition.
- 8.74.1γενόμενον ἐς τὴν μετάστασιν πρόθυμον
γενόμενον is a participle modifying ἄνδρα Ἀθηναῖον. The noun μετάστασις (change, revolution) in this context refers to the recent democratic reaction or political change against the oligarchy in Samos, indicating his active support for the democratic cause.
- 8.74.3ἐπὶ τὸ μεῖζον πάντα δεινώσας
The participle δεινώσας (making terrible, exaggerating) is combined with the prepositional phrase ἐπὶ τὸ μεῖζον (to a greater degree) to mean 'exaggerating everything in the most terrifying terms.'
- 8.74.3ὡς πληγαῖς τε πάντας ζημιοῦσι... καὶ ὅτι αὐτῶν... καὶ διανοοῦνται...
This complex indirect speech construction shifts from the conjunction ὡς to ὅτι, and subsequently introduces an accusative with infinitive clause (τούτων πάντων τοὺς προσήκοντας λαβόντες εἴρξειν) depending on the verb διανοοῦνται, showing a fluid combination of reported speech styles.