Humanitext Reader

Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §2.29.1-2.29.7

Alliance with Sitalces and Reconciliation with Perdiccas

Passage 175 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The Athenians secure an alliance with Sitalces, the Thracian king, through Nymphodorus of Abdera, and reconcile with Perdiccas of Macedon. The author clarifies that the mythical Tereus is entirely distinct and unrelated to Sitalces' father, Teres.

§2.29.1καὶ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ θέρει Νυμφόδωρον τὸν Πύθεω ἄνδρα Ἀβδηρίτην, οὗ εἶχε τὴν ἀδελφὴν Σιτάλκης, δυνάμενον παρ’ αὐτῷ μέγα οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι πρότερον πολέμιον νομίζοντες πρόξενον ἐποιήσαντο καὶ μετεπέμψαντο, βουλόμενοι Σιτάλκην σφίσι τὸν Τήρεω, Θρᾳκῶν βασιλέα, ξύμμαχον γενέσθαι.
In the same summer, the Athenians made Nymphodorus, the son of Pythees, a man of Abdera, their proxenus and sent for him, though they had previously considered him an enemy; Sitalces had married his sister, and Nymphodorus had great influence with him. The Athenians wished Sitalces, the son of Teres, king of the Thracians, to become their ally.
§2.29.2ὁ δὲ Τήρης οὗτος ὁ τοῦ Σιτάλκου πατὴρ πρῶτος Ὀδρύσαις τὴν μεγάλην βασιλείαν ἐπὶ πλέον τῆς ἄλλης Θρᾴκης ἐποίησεν· πολὺ γὰρ μέρος καὶ αὐτόνομόν ἐστι Θρᾳκῶν.
Now this Teres, the father of Sitalces, was the first to establish the great kingdom of the Odrysians over the rest of Thrace, a large part of the Thracians being indeed independent.
§2.29.3Τηρεῖ δὲ τῷ Πρόκνην τὴν Πανδίονος ἀπ’ Ἀθηνῶν σχόντι γυναῖκα προσήκει ὁ Τήρης οὗτος οὐδέν, οὐδὲ τῆς αὐτῆς Θρᾴκης ἐγένοντο, ἀλλ’ ὁ μὲν ἐν Δαυλίᾳ τῆς Φωκίδος νῦν καλουμένης γῆς [ὁ Τηρεὺς ] ᾤκει, τότε ὑπὸ Θρᾳκῶν οἰκουμένης, καὶ τὸ ἔργον τὸ περὶ τὸν Ἴτυν αἱ γυναῖκες ἐν τῇ γῇ ταύτῃ ἔπραξαν (πολλοῖς δὲ καὶ τῶν ποιητῶν ἐν ἀηδόνος μνήμῃ Δαυλιὰς ἡ ὄρνις ἐπωνόμασται), εἰκός τε καὶ τὸ κῆδος Πανδίονα ξυνάψασθαι τῆς θυγατρὸς διὰ τοσούτου ἐπ’ ὠφελίᾳ τῇ πρὸς ἀλλήλους μᾶλλον ἢ διὰ πολλῶν ἡμερῶν ἐς Ὀδρύσας ὁδοῦ.
With Tereus, who took Procne, the daughter of Pandion, from Athens to be his wife, this Teres had no connection at all; nor did they belong to the same part of Thrace. On the contrary, Tereus lived in Daulia, in the land now called Phocis, which was then inhabited by Thracians, and it was in this land that the women committed the deed concerning Itys (indeed, by many of the poets, when mentioning the nightingale, the bird is called the Daulian bird). Moreover, it was natural for Pandion to contract the marriage alliance for his daughter at so short a distance for their mutual benefit, rather than through a journey of many days to the Odrysians.
Τήρης δὲ οὐδὲ τὸ αὐτὸ ὄνομα ἔχων βασιλεύς [τε] πρῶτος ἐν κράτει Ὀδρυσῶν ἐγένετο.
Teres, on the other hand, did not even have the same name, and became the first king with power among the Odrysians.
§2.29.4οὗ δὴ ὄντα τὸν Σιτάλκην οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ξύμμαχον ἐποιοῦντο, βουλόμενοι σφίσι τὰ ἐπὶ Θρᾴκης χωρία καὶ Περδίκκαν ξυνεξελεῖν αὐτόν.
It was his son Sitalces whom the Athenians were making their ally, wishing him to help them in reducing the places in the Thracian direction and Perdiccas.
§2.29.5ἐλθών τε ἐς τὰς Ἀθήνας ὁ Νυμφόδωρος τήν τε τοῦ Σιτάλκου ξυμμαχίαν ἐποίησε καὶ Σάδοκον τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ Ἀθηναῖον τόν τε ἐπὶ Θρᾴκης πόλεμον ὑπεδέχετο καταλύσειν· πείσειν γὰρ Σιτάλκην πέμπειν στρατιὰν Θρᾳκίαν Ἀθηναίοις ἱππέων τε καὶ πελταστῶν.
Nymphodorus came to Athens, concluded the alliance with Sitalces, made his son Sadocus an Athenian citizen, and undertook to bring the war in the Thracian direction to an end; for he said he would persuade Sitalces to send the Athenians a Thracian force of cavalry and targeteers.
§2.29.6ξυνεβίβασε δὲ καὶ τὸν Περδίκκαν τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις καὶ Θέρμην αὐτῷ ἔπεισεν ἀποδοῦναι· ξυνεστράτευσέ τε εὐθὺς Περδίκκας ἐπὶ Χαλκιδέας μετὰ Ἀθηναίων καὶ Φορμίωνος.
He also reconciled Perdiccas with the Athenians and persuaded them to restore Therme to him; and Perdiccas immediately joined the Athenians and Phormio in a campaign against the Chalcidians.
§2.29.7οὕτω μὲν Σιτάλκης τε ὁ Τήρεω Θρᾳκῶν βασιλεὺς ξύμμαχος ἐγένετο Ἀθηναίοις καὶ Περδίκκας ὁ Ἀλεξάνδρου Μακεδόνων βασιλεύς.
In this way Sitalces, the son of Teres, king of the Thracians, became an ally of the Athenians, and so did Perdiccas, the son of Alexander, king of the Macedonians.

Notes

  1. 2.29.3Τηρεῖ δὲ τῷ Πρόκνην τὴν Πανδίονος ἀπ’ Ἀθηνῶν σχόντι γυναῖκα προσήκει ὁ Τήρης οὗτος οὐδέν — The subject of the entire clause is the subsequent `ὁ Τήρης οὗτος` (this Teres), and the verb is `προσήκει` (be related to). `Τηρεῖ...` (to Tereus) is a dative phrase accompanied by the aorist participle `σχόντι` (having taken as wife), which depends on `προσήκει`. `οὐδέν` is an adverbial accusative of negation, meaning "not at all."
  2. 2.29.3διὰ τοσούτου — Formed by the preposition `διά` with the genitive indicating spatial distance, meaning "over so short a distance" or "across so close a proximity." It refers to the relative closeness between Athens and Phocis, creating a spatial contrast with the following phrase `διὰ πολλῶν ἡμερῶν ... ὁδοῦ` (through a journey of many days).
  3. 2.29.4ξυνεξελεῖν αὐτόν — The accusative pronoun `αὐτόν` functions as the subject of the infinitive `ξυνεξελεῖν` (to reduce/conquer together). Because it refers to a subject (Sitalces) different from that of the main clause (the Athenians), it is expressed in the accusative. The entire phrase forms the object clause of the participle `βουλόμενοι` (wishing).

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §2.29.1-2.29.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.29.1-2.29.7

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.