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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §3.81.1-3.81.5

Peloponnesian Retreat and the Corcyraean Massacres

Passage 330 of 917 · Greek

Summary

As the Peloponnesian fleet retreats upon hearing of the Athenian approach, a brutal massacre of the oligarchic faction by the democrats begins in Corcyra.

§3.81.1οἱ μὲν οὖν Πελοποννήσιοι τῆς νυκτὸς εὐθὺς κατὰ τάχος ἐκομίζοντο ἐπ’ οἴκου παρὰ τὴν γῆν· καὶ ὑπερενεγκόντες τὸν Λευκαδίων ἰσθμὸν τὰς ναῦς, ὅπως μὴ περιπλέοντες ὀφθῶσιν, ἀποκομίζονται.
So the Peloponnesians immediately at nightfall hastened home along the shore; and having hauled their ships across the isthmus of Leucas, so that they might not be seen sailing round, they retreated.
§3.81.2Κερκυραῖοι δὲ αἰσθόμενοι τάς τε Ἀττικὰς ναῦς προσπλεούσας τάς τε τῶν πολεμίων οἰχομένας, λαβόντες τούς τε Μεσσηνίους ἐς τὴν πόλιν ἤγαγον πρότερον ἔξω ὄντας, καὶ τὰς ναῦς περιπλεῦσαι κελεύσαντες ἃς ἐπλήρωσαν ἐς τὸν Ὑλλαϊκὸν λιμένα, ἐν ὅσῳ περιεκομίζοντο, τῶν ἐχθρῶν εἴ τινα λάβοιεν, ἀπέκτεινον·
The Corcyraeans, perceiving that the Attic ships were sailing towards them and that those of the enemy had gone, took the Messenians, who were previously outside, and led them into the city; and having ordered the ships which they had manned to sail round into the Hyllaic harbor, they put to death any of their enemies whom they caught while those vessels were being brought round.
καὶ ἐκ τῶν νεῶν ὅσους ἔπεισαν ἐσβῆναι ἐκβιβάζοντες ἀπεχρῶντο, ἐς τὸ Ἥραιόν τε ἐλθόντες τῶν ἱκετῶν ὡς πεντήκοντα ἄνδρας δίκην ὑποσχεῖν ἔπεισαν καὶ κατέγνωσαν πάντων θάνατον.
They also took down from the ships those whom they had persuaded to embark, and dispatched them; then, going to the temple of Hera, they persuaded about fifty of the suppliants to submit to trial, and condemned them all to death.
§3.81.3οἱ δὲ πολλοὶ τῶν ἱκετῶν, ὅσοι οὐκ ἐπείσθησαν, ὡς ἑώρων τὰ γιγνόμενα, διέφθειρον αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ ἀλλήλους, καὶ ἐκ τῶν δένδρων τινὲς ἀπήγχοντο, οἱ δ’ ὡς ἕκαστοι ἐδύναντο ἀνηλοῦντο.
But the majority of the suppliants, who had not been persuaded, when they saw what was happening, destroyed one another there in the temple, and some hanged themselves from the trees, while others made away with themselves in whatever way they could.
§3.81.4ἡμέρας τε ἑπτά, ἃς ἀφικόμενος ὁ Εὐρυμέδων ταῖς ἑξήκοντα ναυσὶ παρέμεινε, Κερκυραῖοι σφῶν αὐτῶν τοὺς ἐχθροὺς δοκοῦντας εἶναι ἐφόνευον, τὴν μὲν αἰτίαν ἐπιφέροντες τοῖς τὸν δῆμον καταλύουσιν, ἀπέθανον δέ τινες καὶ ἰδίας ἔχθρας ἕνεκα, καὶ ἄλλοι χρημάτων σφίσιν ὀφειλομένων ὑπὸ τῶν λαβόντων·
For seven days, during which Eurymedon, having arrived with his sixty ships, remained there, the Corcyraeans continued to slaughter those of their own citizens who were deemed to be enemies, bringing against them the charge of subverting the democracy; but some were put to death also for personal enmity, and others by their debtors on account of the money owed to them.
§3.81.5πᾶσά τε ἰδέα κατέστη θανάτου, καὶ οἷον φιλεῖ ἐν τῷ τοιούτῳ γίγνεσθαι, οὐδὲν ὅτι οὐ ξυνέβη καὶ ἔτι περαιτέρω.
Every form of death was seen, and, as is wont to happen in such crises, there was nothing that did not occur, and even worse.
καὶ γὰρ πατὴρ παῖδα ἀπέκτεινε καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἱερῶν ἀπεσπῶντο καὶ πρὸς αὐτοῖς ἐκτείνοντο, οἱ δέ τινες καὶ περιοικοδομηθέντες ἐν τοῦ Διονύσου τῷ ἱερῷ ἀπέθανον.
For father slew son, and men were dragged from the temples and slain near them, while some were even walled up in the temple of Dionysus and died there.

Notes

  1. §3.81.1ὑπερενεγκόντες τὸν Λευκαδίων ἰσθμὸν τὰς ναῦς — The aorist active participle ὑπερενεγκόντες takes a double accusative: the place crossed (τὸν ἰσθμὸν) and the object carried (τὰς ναῦς), meaning 'having hauled the ships across the isthmus'.
  2. §3.81.2ἀπεχρῶντο — Imperfect of ἀποχράομαι (normally 'to use to the full' or 'consume'). Here it is used in the pregnant sense of 'to make away with', i.e., 'to put to death' or 'slaughter' those taken off the ships.
  3. §3.81.4ὑπὸ τῶν λαβόντων — Substantive use of the aorist active participle of λαμβάνω ('those who received the money'), which in contrast to the preceding phrase about owed money (χρημάτων ... ὀφειλομένων) means 'the debtors'. The creditors were murdered by their debtors.
  4. §3.81.5οὐδὲν ὅτι οὐ — A contraction of οὐδὲν [ἐστὶν] ὅτι οὐ, equivalent to the Latin 'nihil non' (literally 'there was nothing which did not [happen]'), idiomatic for 'everything' or 'every conceivable thing happened'.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §3.81.1-3.81.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.81.1-3.81.5

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