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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §3.116.1-3.116.3

Eruption of Mount Etna and End of the Sixth Year

Passage 365 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The eruption of Mount Etna and its historical frequency are described, and the sixth year of the war comes to an end.

§3.116.1ἐρρύη δὲ περὶ αὐτὸ τὸ ἔαρ τοῦτο ὁ ῥύαξ τοῦ πυρὸς ἐκ τῆς Αἴτνης, ὥσπερ καὶ πρότερον, καὶ γῆν τινὰ ἔφθειρε τῶν Καταναίων, οἳ ὑπὸ τῇ Αἴτνῃ τῷ ὄρει οἰκοῦσιν, ὅπερ μέγιστόν ἐστιν ὄρος ἐν τῇ Σικελίᾳ.
And about this very spring, the stream of fire flowed from Etna, just as on former occasions, and ruined some of the land of the Catanaeans, who live under Mount Etna, which is the greatest mountain in Sicily.
§3.116.2λέγεται δὲ πεντηκοστῷ ἔτει ῥυῆναι τοῦτο μετὰ τὸ πρότερον ῥεῦμα, τὸ δὲ ξύμπαν τρὶς γεγενῆσθαι τὸ ῥεῦμα ἀφ’ οὗ Σικελία ὑπὸ Ἑλλήνων οἰκεῖται.
And it is said to have flowed in the fiftieth year after the former eruption, and that in all the eruption has occurred three times since Sicily has been inhabited by Greeks.
§3.116.3ταῦτα μὲν κατὰ τὸν χειμῶνα τοῦτον ἐγένετο, καὶ ἕκτον ἔτος τῷ πολέμῳ ἐτελεύτα τῷδε ὃν Θουκυδίδης ξυνέγραψεν.
These things, then, occurred during this winter, and the sixth year of this war came to an end, which Thucydides recorded.

Notes

  1. 3.116.1ὁ ῥύαξ τοῦ πυρὸς — Meaning "the stream of fire." It refers to a lava flow, described using this circumlocution since there was no specific technical term for "lava" at the time.
  2. 3.116.2πεντηκοστῷ ἔτει — "In the fiftieth year," a dative of time when, indicating the number of years that had passed since the previous eruption (traditionally dated to 475 BC).
  3. 3.116.2ἀφ’ οὗ — An idiomatic phrase consisting of the preposition ἀπό and the genitive neuter of the relative pronoun ὅς, meaning "since."
  4. 3.116.3τῷ πολέμῳ ... τῷδε ὃν Θουκυδίδης ξυνέγραψεν — τῷ πολέμῳ τῷδε ("for this war") is a dative of interest or reference depending on the verb ἐτελεύτα ("was coming to an end"). It is modified by the relative clause ὃν... ξυνέγραψεν, whose relative pronoun refers back to the war.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §3.116.1-3.116.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.116.1-3.116.3

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