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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §1.108.1-1.108.5

Athenian Victory at Oenophyta and the Fall of Aegina

Passage 108 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Following their defeat at the Battle of Tanagra, the Athenians launched a swift counter-offensive into Boeotia, defeating the Boeotians at Oenophyta, compelling Aegina to surrender, and successfully circumnavigating the Peloponnesus under Tolmides.

§1.108.1γενομένης δὲ μάχης ἐν Τανάγρᾳ τῆς Βοιωτίας ἐνίκων Λακεδαιμόνιοι καὶ οἱ ξύμμαχοι, καὶ φόνος ἐγένετο ἀμφοτέρων πολύς.
A battle took place at Tanagra in Boeotia, and the Lacedaemonians and their allies were victorious, and there was great slaughter on both sides.
§1.108.2καὶ Λακεδαιμόνιοι μὲν ἐς τὴν Μεγαρίδα ἐλθόντες καὶ δενδροτομήσαντες πάλιν ἀπῆλθον ἐπ᾽ οἴκου διὰ Γερανείας καὶ Ἰσθμοῦ· Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ δευτέρᾳ καὶ ἑξηκοστῇ ἡμέρᾳ μετὰ τὴν μάχην ἐστράτευσαν ἐς Βοιωτοὺς Μυρωνίδου στρατηγοῦντος, §1.108.3καὶ μάχῃ ἐν Οἰνοφύτοις τοὺς Βοιωτοὺς νικήσαντες τῆς τε χώρας ἐκράτησαν τῆς Βοιωτίας καὶ Φωκίδος καὶ Ταναγραίων τὸ τεῖχος περιεῖλον καὶ Λοκρῶν τῶν Ὀπουντίων ἑκατὸν ἄνδρας ὁμήρους τοὺς πλουσιωτάτους ἔλαβον, τά τε τείχη ἑαυτῶν τὰ μακρὰ ἀπετέλεσαν.
The Lacedaemonians, after entering the Megarid and cutting down the trees, returned home again by way of Geraneia and the Isthmus; while the Athenians, sixty-two days after the battle, made an expedition into Boeotia under the command of Myronides, and having defeated the Boeotians in a battle at Oenophyta, they became masters of the territory of Boeotia and Phocis, demolished the wall of the Tanagraeans, took one hundred of the wealthiest men of the Opuntian Locrians as hostages, and completed their own long walls.
§1.108.4ὡμολόγησαν δὲ καὶ οἱ Αἰγινῆται μετὰ ταῦτα τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις, τείχη τε περιελόντες καὶ ναῦς παραδόντες φόρον τε ταξάμενοι ἐς τὸν ἔπειτα χρόνον.
After this, the Aeginetans also came to terms with the Athenians, demolishing their walls, surrendering their ships, and agreeing to pay tribute for the future.
§1.108.5καὶ Πελοπόννησον περιέπλευσαν Ἀθηναῖοι Τολμίδου τοῦ Τολμαίου στρατηγοῦντος, καὶ τὸ νεώριον τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων ἐνέπρησαν καὶ Χαλκίδα Κορινθίων πόλιν εἷλον καὶ Σικυωνίους ἐν ἀποβάσει τῆς γῆς μάχῃ ἐκράτησαν.
The Athenians also sailed around the Peloponnesus under the command of Tolmides, son of Tolmaeus, and burnt the dockyard of the Lacedaemonians, captured Chalcis, a city of the Corinthians, and defeated the Sicyonians in a battle upon landing on their territory.

Notes

  1. 1.108.2δευτέρᾳ καὶ ἑξηκοστῇ ἡμέρᾳ — Dative of time when. It means 'on the sixty-second day' after the battle of Tanagra, emphasizing the rapidity of the Athenian recovery and counter-offensive.
  2. 1.108.3τῆς τε χώρας ἐκράτησαν τῆς Βοιωτίας καὶ Φωκίδος — The verb of ruling ἐκράτησαν (κρατέω) governs the genitive case. τῆς Βοιωτίας καὶ Φωκίδος functions either in apposition to or as a defining genitive for τῆς χώρας, meaning 'they became masters of the territory of Boeotia and Phocis.'
  3. 1.108.4φόρον τε ταξάμενοι — The participle ταξάμενοι (τάσσομαι, active τάσσω 'to assess/impose') is in the middle voice, here carrying a reflexive or consentient sense: 'having agreed to pay tribute' (literally, 'having assessed for themselves' or 'having accepted the assessment').

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §1.108.1-1.108.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.108.1-1.108.5

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