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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §1.111.1-1.111.3

Athenian Failure at Pharsalus and Pericles' Campaign

Passage 111 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The Athenian expedition to restore the exiled Thessalian prince Orestes at Pharsalus ends in failure. Shortly after, under the command of Pericles, the Athenians defeat the Sicyonians and besiege Oeniadae, but are forced to withdraw without capturing it.

§1.111.1ἐκ δὲ Θεσσαλίας Ὀρέστης ὁ Ἐχεκρατίδου υἱὸς τοῦ Θεσσαλῶν βασιλέως φεύγων ἔπεισεν Ἀθηναίους ἑαυτὸν κατάγειν· καὶ παραλαβόντες Βοιωτοὺς καὶ Φωκέας ὄντας ξυμμάχους οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ἐστράτευσαν τῆς Θεσσαλίας ἐπὶ Φάρσαλον.
From Thessaly, Orestes, the son of Echecratides king of the Thessalians, being an exile, persuaded the Athenians to restore him; and the Athenians, taking with them the Boeotians and Phocians, who were their allies, marched against Pharsalus in Thessaly.
καὶ τῆς μὲν γῆς ἐκράτουν ὅσα μὴ προϊόντες πολὺ ἐκ τῶν ὅπλων (οἱ γὰρ ἱππῆς τῶν Θεσσαλῶν εἶργον), τὴν δὲ πόλιν οὐχ εἷλον, οὐδ’ ἄλλο προυχώρει αὐτοῖς οὐδὲν ὧν ἕνεκα ἐστράτευσαν, ἀλλ᾽ ἀπεχώρησαν πάλιν Ὀρέστην ἔχοντες ἄπρακτοι.
And they controlled as much of the country as they could without advancing far from their camp (for the Thessalian cavalry kept them in check), but they did not take the city, nor did anything else succeed for them of the objects for which they had marched; instead, they returned home with Orestes, having accomplished nothing.
§1.111.2μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα οὐ πολλῷ ὕστερον χίλιοι Ἀθηναίων ἐπὶ τὰς ναῦς τὰς ἐν Πηγαῖς ἐπιβάντες (εἶχον δ’ αὐτοὶ τὰς Πηγάς) παρέπλευσαν ἐς Σικυῶνα Περικλέους τοῦ Ξανθίππου στρατηγοῦντος, καὶ ἀποβάντες Σικυωνίων τοὺς προσμείξαντας μάχῃ ἐκράτησαν.
Not long after this, a thousand Athenians, embarking on the ships at Pegae (which they themselves held), sailed along the coast to Sicyon under the command of Pericles son of Xanthippus, and landing, they defeated in battle those of the Sicyonians who came to meet them.
§1.111.3καὶ εὐθὺς παραλαβόντες Ἀχαιοὺς καὶ διαπλεύσαντες πέραν τῆς Ἀκαρνανίας ἐς Οἰνιάδας ἐστράτευσαν καὶ ἐπολιόρκουν, οὐ μέντοι εἷλόν γε, ἀλλ’ ἀπεχώρησαν ἐπ’ οἴκου.
And immediately taking with them some Achaeans, they sailed across to Oeniadae in Acarnania and made an expedition against it and besieged it; they did not, however, capture it, but returned home.

Notes

  1. §1.111.1ὧν ἕνεκα — The relative pronoun ὧν is attracted from the accusative (which would be the object of ἐστράτευσαν, e.g., ἃ) to the genitive case under the influence of the prepositional adverb ἕνεκα which governs the genitive, while its antecedent (such as τούτων) is omitted.
  2. §1.111.1τῶν ὅπλων — While τὰ ὅπλα usually means 'weapons' or 'arms', in this military context it refers to the 'camp' or the 'place of arms' where the heavy infantry was stationed.
  3. §1.111.1ὅσα μὴ — A restrictive expression. Combined with the negative particle μή, it introduces a conditional restriction, meaning 'in so far as they did not' or 'unless they went far.'

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §1.111.1-1.111.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.111.1-1.111.3

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