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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §1.89.1-1.89.3

Siege of Sestos and Preparation to Rebuild the Walls

Passage 89 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The narrative of the period in which Athens grew powerful begins, detailing the siege of Sestos at the end of the Persian War, and the subsequent return of the Athenian citizens to prepare the rebuilding of their city and its walls.

§1.89.1οἱ γὰρ Ἀθηναῖοι τρόπῳ τοιῷδε ἦλθον ἐπὶ τὰ πράγματα ἐν οἷς ηὐξήθησαν.
For the Athenians came in the following manner to the circumstances in which they grew powerful.
§1.89.2ἐπειδὴ Μῆδοι ἀνεχώρησαν ἐκ τῆς Εὐρώπης νικηθέντες καὶ ναυσὶ καὶ πεζῷ ὑπὸ Ἑλλήνων καὶ οἱ καταφυγόντες αὐτῶν ταῖς ναυσὶν ἐς Μυκάλην διεφθάρησαν, Λεωτυχίδης μὲν ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων, ὅσπερ ἡγεῖτο τῶν ἐν Μυκάλῃ Ἑλλήνων, ἀπεχώρησεν ἐπ’ οἴκου ἔχων τοὺς ἀπὸ Πελοποννήσου ξυμμάχους, οἱ δὲ Ἀθηναῖοι καὶ οἱ ἀπὸ Ἰωνίας καὶ Ἑλλησπόντου ξύμμαχοι ἤδη ἀφεστηκότες ἀπὸ βασιλέως ὑπομείναντες Σηστὸν ἐπολιόρκουν Μήδων ἐχόντων, καὶ ἐπιχειμάσαντες εἷλον αὐτὴν ἐκλιπόντων τῶν βαρβάρων, καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο ἀπέπλευσαν ἐξ Ἑλλησπόντου ὡς ἕκαστοι κατὰ πόλεις.
When the Medes, having been defeated both by sea and by land by the Greeks, retreated from Europe, and those of them who had fled with their ships to Mycale were destroyed, Leotychides, the king of the Lacedaemonians, who was leading the Greeks at Mycale, departed for home with the allies from the Peloponnese; but the Athenians and the allies from Ionia and the Hellespont, who had already revolted from the King, remained behind and besieged Sestos, which was held by the Medes, and having spent the winter there, took it after the barbarians abandoned it. After this, they sailed away from the Hellespont, each to their own cities.
§1.89.3Ἀθηναίων δὲ τὸ κοινόν, ἐπειδὴ αὐτοῖς οἱ βάρβαροι ἐκ τῆς χώρας ἀπῆλθον, διεκομίζοντο εὐθὺς ὅθεν ὑπεξέθεντο παῖδας καὶ γυναῖκας καὶ τὴν περιοῦσαν κατασκευήν, καὶ τὴν πόλιν ἀνοικοδομεῖν παρεσκευάζοντο καὶ τὰ τείχη· τοῦ τε γὰρ περιβόλου βραχέα εἱστήκει καὶ οἰκίαι αἱ μὲν πολλαὶ ἐπεπτώκεσαν, ὀλίγαι δὲ περιῆσαν, ἐν αἷς αὐτοὶ ἐσκήνωσαν οἱ δυνατοὶ τῶν Περσῶν.
As for the Athenian commonwealth, when the barbarians had departed from their country, they immediately began bringing back their children, wives, and remaining property from where they had placed them for safety, and prepared to rebuild the city and the walls; for only small portions of the surrounding wall were standing, and most of the houses had fallen, while only a few remained in which the powerful men of the Persians had themselves quartered.

Notes

  1. §1.89.3ὅθεν ὑπεξέθεντο — The relative adverb `ὅθεν` (from where) implies the omission of its antecedent `ἐκεῖθεν` (from there). Although the verb in the relative clause `ὑπεξέθεντο` (they had placed for safety) would naturally govern a directional adverb meaning 'whither' (`οἷ` or `ὅποι`), the relation is attracted into the source-concept (`ὅθεν`, 'whence') under the influence of the main verb `διεκομίζοντο` (they were bringing back).
  2. §1.89.3βραχέα εἱστήκει — The neuter plural subject `βραχέα` (short parts) is paired with the singular verb `εἱστήκει` (was standing, pluperfect). This is a standard grammatical rule in Attic Greek (the *schema Atticum*), where a neuter plural subject takes a singular verb.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §1.89.1-1.89.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.89.1-1.89.3

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