Humanitext Reader

Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §3.32.1-3.32.3

Alcidas Slaughtering Prisoners and the Samian Rebuke

Passage 281 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Alcidas massacres most of his prisoners at Myonnesus, but after being admonished at Ephesus by Samian envoys for his unjust actions, he releases the remaining captives. The Ionians had approached the Peloponnesian ships without fleeing, mistaking them for Athenian due to the Athenian naval supremacy.

§3.32.1ἄρας δὲ ἐκ τοῦ Ἐμβάτου παρέπλει, καὶ προσσχὼν Μυοννήσῳ τῇ Τηίων τοὺς αἰχμαλώτους οὓς κατὰ πλοῦν εἰλήφει ἀπέσφαξε τοὺς πολλούς.
Setting sail from Embatum, he coasted along, and having touched at Myonnesus in the territory of Teos, he butchered most of the prisoners whom he had taken during the voyage.
§3.32.2καὶ ἐς τὴν Ἔφεσον καθορμισαμένου αὐτοῦ Σαμίων τῶν ἐξ Ἀναίων ἀφικόμενοι πρέσβεις ἔλεγον οὐ καλῶς τὴν Ἑλλάδα ἐλευθεροῦν αὐτόν, εἰ ἄνδρας διέφθειρεν οὔτε χεῖρας ἀνταιρομένους οὔτε πολεμίους, Ἀθηναίων δὲ ὑπὸ ἀνάγκης ξυμμάχους· εἴ τε μὴ παύσεται, ὀλίγους μὲν αὐτὸν τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἐς φιλίαν προσάξεσθαι, πολὺ δὲ πλείους τῶν φίλων πολεμίους ἕξειν.
And when he had come to anchor at Ephesus, envoys arrived from the Samians of Anaea, who told him that he was not liberating Greece in the right way if he destroyed men who were neither lifting their hands against him nor hostile, but were allies of the Athenians only by necessity; and that if he did not cease, he would win but few of his enemies into friendship, while he would make far more of his friends into enemies.
§3.32.3καὶ ὁ μὲν ἐπείσθη τε καὶ Χίων ἄνδρας ὅσους εἶχεν ἔτι ἀφῆκε καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τινάς· ὁρῶντες γὰρ τὰς ναῦς οἱ ἄνθρωποι οὐκ ἔφευγον, ἀλλὰ προσεχώρουν μᾶλλον ὡς Ἀττικαῖς καὶ ἐλπίδα οὐδὲ τὴν ἐλαχίστην εἶχον μή ποτε Ἀθηναίων τῆς θαλάσσης κρατούντων ναῦς Πελοποννησίων ἐς Ἰωνίαν παραβαλεῖν.
And he was persuaded, and released all the Chian prisoners he still held and some of the others; for when the people saw the ships, they did not flee, but rather came toward them, thinking they were Athenian, and they had not the slightest expectation that, while the Athenians ruled the sea, Peloponnesian ships would ever cross over to Ionia.

Notes

  1. 3.32.1τοὺς πολλούς — Placed in apposition to or functioning predicatively with the preceding noun `τοὺς αἰχμαλώτους`, meaning 'the majority of' or 'most of the prisoners'. The use of the definite article with `πολύς` in this position denotes 'the greater part' or 'the majority'.
  2. 3.32.2οὐ καλῶς τὴν Ἑλλάδα ἐλευθεροῦν αὐτόν — An indirect discourse introduced by the main verb `ἔλεγον` (imperfect). The accusative `αὐτόν` (referring to Alcidas) serves as the subject of the infinitive `ἐλευθεροῦν`.
  3. 3.32.3ὡς Ἀττικαῖς — A dative feminine plural adjective with the omission of the noun `ναυσί` (ships). The particle `ὡς` expresses a subjective belief or impression ('thinking that they were...'), indicating that the people mistakenly identified the ships as Athenian.
  4. 3.32.3ἐλπίδα οὐδὲ τὴν ἐλαχίστην εἶχον μή ποτε ... παραβαλεῖν — Following the noun phrase of negative expectation `ἐλπίδα ... οὐδὲ τὴν ἐλαχίστην εἶχον` ('had not the slightest expectation'), the infinitive `παραβαλεῖν` is introduced with the negative particle `μή`, reinforcing the negative sense ('that... would never...'). The genitive absolute `Ἀθηναίων ... κρατούντων` is embedded just before it.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §3.32.1-3.32.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.32.1-3.32.3

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.