Agathocles' Escape from Syracuse and the Solar Eclipse — Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica Book 20 (20.5.1–20.5.5), Greek & English

§20.5.1

ὡς δʼ εὐτρεπῆ πάντʼ ἦν, πληρώσας ἑξήκοντα ναῦς ἐπετήρει καιρὸν οἰκεῖον πρὸς τὸν ἔκπλουν. ἀγνοουμένης δὲ τῆς ἐπινοίας αὐτοῦ τινὲς μὲν εἰς τὴν Ἰταλίαν ὑπελάμβανον αὐτὸν στρατεύειν, τινὲς δὲ πορθήσειν τῆς Σικελίας τὴν ὑπὸ Καρχηδονίους, πάντες δὲ ἀπεγίνωσκον τῶν ἐκπλεῖν μελλόντων τὴν σωτηρίαν¹ καὶ τοῦ δυνάστου τὴν μανίαν κατεγίνωσκον.

When everything was ready, having manned sixty ships, he watched for a suitable opportunity for his departure. Since his plan was not known, some supposed that he was making an expedition to Italy, and others that he was going to plunder the part of Sicily under the Carthaginians; but all despaired of the safety of those who were about to sail, and condemned the madness of the ruler.

§20.5.2

ἐφορμούντων δὲ τῶν πολεμίων πολλαπλασίαις τριήρεσι τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἐφʼ ἡμέρας τινὰς ἠνάγκαζε συνέχειν ἑαυτοὺς² ἐν ταῖς ναυσὶ τοὺς στρατιώτας, οὐ δυναμένους ἐκπλεῦσαι· ἔπειτα δὲ σιτηγῶν πλοίων τῇ πόλει προσθεόντων οἱ μὲν Καρχηδόνιοι παντὶ τῷ στόλῳ πρὸς τὰς ναῦς ἀνήχθησαν, ὁ δʼ Ἀγαθοκλῆς ἀπελπίζων ἤδη τὴν ἐπιβολήν, ὡς ἴδεν τὸ στόμα τοῦ λιμένος ἔρημον τῶν ἐφορμούντων, ἐξέπλευσεν ὀξείαις ταῖς εἰρεσίαις χρώμενος.

And since the enemy were blockading the harbor with many times more triremes, at first for some days he forced the soldiers to keep themselves inside the ships, as they were unable to sail out; but later, when grain-ships were running toward the city, the Carthaginians put to sea with their entire fleet against those ships, while Agathocles, already despairing of his attempt, as soon as he saw the mouth of the harbor clear of the blockading ships, sailed out, employing swift rowing.

§20.5.3

εἶθʼ οἱ μὲν Καρχηδόνιοι πλησίον ἤδη τῶν φορτηγῶν ὄντες, ὡς ἴδον τοὺς πολεμίους ἀθρόαις ταῖς ναυσὶ πλέοντας, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ὑπολαβόντες αὐτὸν ὡρμηκέναι πρὸς τὴν τῶν σιτηγῶν βοήθειαν, ἀνέστρεφον καὶ τὸν στόλον ἐξήρτυον εἰς ναυμαχίαν· ὡς δʼ ἐπʼ εὐθείας ἑώρων παραθέοντας καὶ πολὺ τοῦ πλοῦ προλαμβάνοντας, ἐποιοῦντο τὸν διωγμόν.

Then the Carthaginians, being already near the merchant vessels, when they saw the enemy sailing with all their ships together, at first supposing that he had rushed to the assistance of the grain-ships, turned back and prepared their fleet for a naval battle; but when they saw them passing by in a straight line and gaining a long lead in their voyage, they began the pursuit.

§20.5.4

ἔνθα δὴ τούτων πρὸς ἀλλήλους φιλοτιμουμένων τὰ μὲν τὴν ἀγορὰν κομίζοντα πλοῖα παραδόξως ἐκφυγόντα τὸν κίνδυνον πολλὴν εὐπορίαν ἐποίησεν ἐν ταῖς Συρακούσσαις τῶν ἐπιτηδείων, σιτοδείας ἤδη τὴν πόλιν ἐχούσης, ὁ δʼ Ἀγαθοκλῆς περικατάληπτος ἤδη γινόμενος ἐπιλαβούσης τῆς νυκτὸς³ ἀνελπίστου σωτηρίας ἔτυχεν.

Thereupon, while these were contending against each other, the vessels carrying the provisions, having unexpectedly escaped the danger, created a great abundance of necessaries in Syracuse, since the city was already experiencing a scarcity of grain; but Agathocles, who was already on the point of being overtaken, met with unexpected safety as night came on.

§20.5.5

τῇ δʼ ὑστεραίᾳ τηλικαύτην ἔκλειψιν ἡλίου συνέβη γενέσθαι ὥστε ὁλοσχερῶς φανῆναι νύκτα, θεωρουμένων τῶν ἀστέρων πανταχοῦ· διόπερ οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἀγαθοκλέα, νομίσαντες καὶ τὸ θεῖον αὐτοῖς προσημαίνειν τὸ δυσχερές, ἔτι μᾶλλον ὑπὲρ τοῦ μέλλοντος ἐν ἀγωνίᾳ καθειστήκεισαν.

On the next day, it happened that there was so great an eclipse of the sun that it completely appeared to be night, the stars being seen everywhere; wherefore those with Agathocles, thinking that the divine power also was foretelling trouble to them, were in still greater anxiety about the future.

Syntax notes3 items

20.5.1ἀπεγίνωσκον τῶν ἐκπλεῖν μελλόντων τὴν σωτηρίαν
The verb ἀπογινώσκω takes a genitive of the person (τῶν ἐκπλεῖν μελλόντων) and an accusative of the thing (τὴν σωτηρίαν), meaning 'to despair of something in regard to someone.'
20.5.2ἠνάγκαζε συνέχειν ἑαυτοὺς
The subject of the imperfect ἠνάγκαζε is Agathocles, carried over from the context. The subject accusative of the infinitive συνέχειν is the subsequent τοὺς στρατιώτας. The reflexive pronoun ἑαυτούς refers to the soldiers.
20.5.4ἐπιλαβούσης τῆς νυκτὸς
An intransitive (or middle) use of the verb ἐπιλαμβάνω in a genitive absolute construction, meaning 'night having overtaken them' or 'as night came on.'

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

2026-09-21 AI review — source 1

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc6:20.5.1-20.5.5