- Source
- Polybius. Vols. 1-4. Büttner-Wobst, Theodor, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1893.
- 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:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.54.1-4.54.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
The Cnossians occupy and utterly destroy Lyttus in the absence of its defenders, forcing the returning Lyttians to seek refuge in Lappa and continue the war.
νέων,1 τὴν δὲ πόλιν ἐνεχείρισαν τοῖς Κνωσίοις. κατὰ δὲ τοὺς αὐτοὺς καιροὺς Λυττίων ἐξωδευκότων εἰς τὴν πολεμίαν πανδημεί, συννοήσαντες οἱ Κνώσιοι τὸ γεγονὸς καταλαμβάνονται τὴν Λύττον, ἔρημον οὖσαν τῶν βοηθησόντων·2
of the younger men, and handed the city over to the Cnossians. At the same time, when the Lyttians had marched out with their whole force into the enemy’s territory, the Cnossians, getting wind of what had happened, occupied Lyttus, which was empty of defenders;
καὶ τὰ μὲν τέκνα καὶ τὰς γυναῖκας εἰς Κνωσὸν ἀπέπεμψαν, τὴν δὲ πόλιν ἐμπρήσαντες καὶ κατασκάψαντες καὶ λωβησάμενοι κατὰ πάντα τρόπον ἐπανῆλθον.
and after sending the children and the women away to Cnossus, they set fire to the city, razed it to the ground, and after treating it with every kind of outrage, they returned.
οἱ δὲ Λύττιοι παραγενόμενοι πρὸς τὴν πόλιν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐξοδείας, καὶ συνθεασάμενοι τὸ συμβεβηκός, οὕτως περιπαθεῖς ἐγένοντο ταῖς ψυχαῖς ὥστε μηδʼ εἰσελθεῖν μηδένα τολμῆσαι3 τῶν παρόντων εἰς τὴν πατρίδα·
When the Lyttians returned from their expedition to the city and beheld what had happened, they were so deeply affected in their souls that not one of those present dared to enter his fatherland;
πάντες δὲ περιπορευθέντες αὐτὴν κύκλῳ, καὶ πολλάκις ἀνοιμώξαντες καὶ κατολοφυράμενοι τήν τε τῆς πατρίδος καὶ τὴν αὑτῶν τύχην, αὖθις ἐξ ἀναστροφῆς ἐπανῆλθον εἰς τὴν τῶν Λαππαίων πόλιν.
but all of them, walking round it in a circle, and repeatedly crying out and bewailing both the fate of their fatherland and their own, turned back again and went to the city of the Lappaeans.
φιλανθρώπως δʼ αὐτοὺς καὶ μετὰ πάσης προθυμίας τῶν Λαππαίων ὑποδεξαμένων,4 οὗτοι μὲν ἀντὶ πολιτῶν ἀπόλιδες ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ καὶ ξένοι γεγονότες ἐπολέμουν πρὸς τοὺς Κνωσίους ἅμα τοῖς συμμάχοις.
Since the Lappaeans received them kindly and with all possible goodwill, these men, having become in a single day outcasts and strangers instead of citizens, continued to make war against the Cnossians along with their allies.
Λύττος δʼ ἡ Λακεδαιμονίων μὲν ἄποικος οὖσα καὶ συγγενής, ἀρχαιοτάτη δὲ τῶν κατὰ Κρήτην πόλεων, ἄνδρας δʼ ὁμολογουμένως ἀρίστους ἀεὶ τρέφουσα Κρηταιέων, οὕτως ἄρδην καὶ παραλόγως ἀνηρπάσθη.
Thus Lyttus, though a colony and kinsman of the Lacedaemonians, and the most ancient of the cities in Crete, and by common consent always rearing the bravest men of the Cretans, was utterly and unexpectedly destroyed.
- 4.54.1νέων
The genitive "νέων" is a partitive genitive continuing from the end of the previous section (§4.53.9: "τῶν [δʼ ἀπέκτειναν τῶν]"), forming the construction "τοὺς μὲν ... τοὺς δὲ ... τῶν νέων" (expelled some, and put to death others of the younger men).
- 4.54.1τῶν βοηθησόντων
The substantivized future active participle of "βοηθέω" (those who would bring aid / defenders). It is in the genitive case because the adjective "ἔρημος" requires a genitive of separation/deprivation ("empty of...", "destitute of...").
- 4.54.3μηδʼ εἰσελθεῖν μηδένα τολμῆσαι
An infinitive construction within the consecutive clause introduced by "ὥστε". "μηδένα" is the subject of the infinitive "τολμῆσαι". In accordance with Greek syntax, the negative is reinforced (not cancelled) when a compound negative ("μηδένα") follows a preceding negative ("μηδέ"), meaning "not even one dared to enter".
- 4.54.5τῶν Λαππαίων ὑποδεξαμένων
A genitive absolute construction where the noun "τῶν Λαππαίων" acts as the subject of the participle "ὑποδεξαμένων". In this context, it expresses cause (since/because the Lappaeans received them).