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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §1.66.1

Mutual Grievances and the Provisional Truce

Passage 66 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Mutual grievances had arisen between the Athenians and the Peloponnesians over the siege of Potidaea and the instigation of revolt, but open war had not yet broken out as the Corinthians acted on their own.

§1.66.1τοῖς δ’ Ἀθηναίοις καὶ Πελοποννησίοις αἰτίαι μὲν αὗται προυγεγένηντο ἐς ἀλλήλους, τοῖς μὲν Κορινθίοις ὅτι τὴν Ποτείδαιαν ἑαυτῶν οὖσαν ἀποικίαν καὶ ἄνδρας Κορινθίων τε καὶ Πελοποννησίων ἐν αὐτῇ ὄντας ἐπολιόρκουν, τοῖς δὲ Ἀθηναίοις ἐς τοὺς Πελοποννησίους ὅτι ἑαυτῶν τε πόλιν ξυμμαχίδα καὶ φόρου ὑποτελῆ ἀπέστησαν, καὶ ἐλθόντες σφίσιν ἀπὸ τοῦ προφανοῦς ἐμάχοντο μετὰ Ποτειδεατῶν.
These, then, were the grounds of complaint that had already arisen between the Athenians and the Peloponnesians against one another: on the part of the Corinthians, because the Athenians were besieging Potidaea, which was their own colony and contained Corinthian and Peloponnesian men within it; and on the part of the Athenians against the Peloponnesians, because they had instigated the revolt of a city that was their ally and tributary, and had come openly to fight against them alongside the Potidaeans.
οὐ μέντοι ὅ γε πόλεμός πω ξυνερρώγει, ἀλλ’ ἔτι ἀνοκωχὴ ἦν· ἰδίᾳ γὰρ ταῦτα οἱ Κορίνθιοι ἔπραξαν.
Nevertheless, the war had not yet actually broken out, but there was still a suspension of hostilities; for the Corinthians had taken these actions on their own private account.

Notes

  1. 1.66.1τοῖς μὲν Κορινθίοις — Dative of interest/respect, expanding asymmetrical details of the initial 'τοῖς δ’ Ἀθηναίοις καὶ Πελοποννησίοις' through the 'μὲν ... δὲ ...' correlation. It designates that 'on the part of the Corinthians', the grievance was the siege of Potidaea by the Athenians.
  2. 1.66.1σφίσιν — Indirect reflexive pronoun in the dative plural. It refers not to the subject of the dependent clause (the Peloponnesians) but back to the logical subject of the main governing thought, the Athenians (τοῖς δὲ Ἀθηναίοις).
  3. 1.66.1ἀπὸ τοῦ προφανοῦς — An idiomatic adverbial phrase consisting of the preposition 'ἀπό' and the genitive of the substantivized neuter adjective, meaning 'openly' or 'manifestly', modifying the verb 'ἐμάχοντο'.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §1.66.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.66.1

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