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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §1.133.1

Trap at Taenarum and Pausanias' Confession

Passage 133 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The ephors of Sparta, using a trap prearranged with the Argilian messenger, hide inside a double hut near the temple at Taenarum and overhear Pausanias himself confirm his treasonous plot and his orders to execute the messenger.

§1.133.1τότε δὴ οἱ ἔφοροι δείξαντος αὐτοῦ τὰ γράμματα μᾶλλον μὲν ἐπίστευσαν, αὐτήκοοι δὲ βουληθέντες ἔτι γενέσθαι αὐτοῦ Παυσανίου τι λέγοντος, ἀπὸ παρασκευῆς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐπὶ Ταίναρον ἱκέτου οἰχομένου καὶ σκηνησαμένου διπλῆν διαφράγματι καλύβην, ἐς ἣν τῶν [τε] ἐφόρων ἐντός τινας ἔκρυψε, καὶ Παυσανίου ὡς αὐτὸν ἐλθόντος καὶ ἐρωτῶντος τὴν πρόφασιν τῆς ἱκετείας ᾔσθοντο πάντα σαφῶς, αἰτιωμένου τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τά τε περὶ αὐτοῦ γραφέντα καὶ τἆλλ’ ἀποφαίνοντος καθ’ ἕκαστον, ὡς οὐδὲν πώποτε αὐτὸν ἐν ταῖς πρὸς βασιλέα διακονίαις παραβάλοιτο, προτιμηθείη δ’ ἐν ἴσῳ τοῖς πολλοῖς τῶν διακόνων ἀποθανεῖν, κἀκείνου αὐτά τε ταῦτα ξυνομολογοῦντος καὶ περὶ τοῦ παρόντος οὐκ ἐῶντος ὀργίζεσθαι, ἀλλὰ πίστιν ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ διδόντος τῆς ἀναστάσεως καὶ ἀξιοῦντος ὡς τάχιστα πορεύεσθαι καὶ μὴ τὰ πρασσόμενα διακωλύειν.
At that time, the ephors, when he showed them the letters, believed indeed more than before, but wishing furthermore to become ear-witnesses themselves of Pausanias saying something, by a prearranged plan, after the man had gone to Taenarum as a suppliant and had set up a double hut with a partition wall, in which he hid some of the ephors inside, and when Pausanias came to him and asked the reason for his supplication, they heard everything clearly; while the man complained of what had been written about him and disclosed the other details one by one, explaining how he had never compromised him in his services to the King, and yet had been selected to die on an equal footing with the generality of the servants, and the other admitted these very things, telling him not to be angry about the present situation, but giving him a pledge of safety from the temple for his departure, and begging him to set out as quickly as possible and not to hinder the business in progress.

Notes

  1. 1.133.1αὐτήκοοι δὲ βουληθέντες ἔτι γενέσθαι αὐτοῦ Παυσανίου τι λέγοντος — The genitive phrase αὐτοῦ Παυσανίου τι λέγοντος depends on the adjective αὐτήκοοι, which is the predicate of the infinitive γενέσθαι, which in turn depends on the nominative participle βουληθέντες (agreeing with the main subject, οἱ ἔφοροι).
  2. 1.133.1ἀπὸ παρασκευῆς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ... οἰχομένου ... καὶ Παυσανίου ... ἐλθόντος — A series of genitive absolute constructions, starting with τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ... οἰχομένου ... καὶ σκηνησαμένου and continued by καὶ Παυσανίου ... ἐλθόντος ..., establishing the temporal and circumstantial background for the main verb ᾔσθοντο.
  3. 1.133.1παραβάλοιτο — An oblique optative in indirect discourse (within the ὡς clause dependent on αἰτιωμένου/ἀποφαίνοντος). The middle voice of παραβάλλω here means 'to expose to danger' or 'compromise', expressing the messenger's claim that he had never compromised Pausanias.
  4. 1.133.1τῆς ἀναστάσεως — The noun ἀνάστασις here means 'rising up' in the sense of leaving the sanctuary/temple. Thus, πίστιν ... τῆς ἀναστάσεως refers to a pledge of safety for leaving the temple.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §1.133.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.133.1

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