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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §3.87.1-3.87.4

The Return of the Plague to Athens and Earthquakes

Passage 336 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Describes the second outbreak of the plague in Athens, causing severe casualties, and the occurrence of numerous earthquakes in various regions during the same period.

§3.87.1τοῦ δ’ ἐπιγιγνομένου χειμῶνος ἡ νόσος τὸ δεύτερον ἐπέπεσε τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις, ἐκλιποῦσα μὲν οὐδένα χρόνον τὸ παντάπασιν, ἐγένετο δέ τις ὅμως διοκωχή.
In the following winter, the plague fell upon the Athenians for the second time; although it had never entirely ceased, there had nevertheless been a certain intermission.
§3.87.2παρέμεινε δὲ τὸ μὲν ὕστερον οὐκ ἔλασσον ἐνιαυτοῦ, τὸ δὲ πρότερον καὶ δύο ἔτη, ὥστε Ἀθηναίους γε μὴ εἶναι ὅτι μᾶλλον τούτου ἐπίεσε καὶ ἐκάκωσε τὴν δύναμιν·
The second outbreak lasted not less than a year, and the first as much as two years, so that there was nothing which more than this oppressed and impaired the power of the Athenians.
§3.87.3τετρακοσίων γὰρ ὁπλιτῶν καὶ τετρακισχιλίων οὐκ ἐλάσσους ἀπέθανον ἐκ τῶν τάξεων καὶ τριακοσίων ἱππέων, τοῦ δὲ ἄλλου ὄχλου ἀνεξεύρετος ἀριθμός.
For there died from the ranks not less than four thousand four hundred hoplites, and three hundred cavalrymen, while the number of the rest of the multitude was beyond discovery.
§3.87.4ἐγένοντο δὲ καὶ οἱ πολλοὶ σεισμοὶ τότε τῆς γῆς, ἔν τε Ἀθήναις καὶ ἐν Εὐβοίᾳ καὶ ἐν Βοιωτοῖς καὶ μάλιστα ἐν Ὀρχομενῷ τῷ Βοιωτίῳ.
There also occurred at that time many earthquakes in the earth, both in Athens, in Euboea, and among the Boeotians, and especially at Boeotian Orchomenus.

Notes

  1. §3.87.2μὴ εἶναι ὅτι μᾶλλον — The antecedent (such as οὐδέν) is omitted after μὴ εἶναι, effectively forming the structure 'there was nothing which... (μὴ εἶναι [οὐδὲν] ὅ τι...)'. Here ὅτι stands for the neuter singular nominative of the relative pronoun ὅστις, and τούτου is a genitive of comparison referring to the plague (ἡ νόσος).
  2. §3.87.3τετρακοσίων γὰρ ὁπλιτῶν καὶ τετρακισχιλίων οὐκ ἐλάσσους — The numeral sequence τετρακοσίων καὶ τετρακισχιλίων represents 4,400 (400 + 4,000). οὐκ ἐλάσσους ('not fewer') indicates that the entire phrase functions as the subject of the verb ἀπέθανον, with the genitive depending on the numerical quantity.
  3. §3.87.4οἱ πολλοὶ σεισμοὶ — The phrase οἱ πολλοὶ σεισμοί with the definite article refers not merely to a high quantity but to 'the frequent earthquakes' (which were notorious at the time) or 'the great number of earthquakes'.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §3.87.1-3.87.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.87.1-3.87.4

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