Humanitext Reader

Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §4.12.1-4.12.3

Brasidas Wounded and the Paradoxical Battle at Pylos

Passage 377 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Brasidas is wounded and loses his shield during the landing attempt, and the Lacedaemonian assault is repulsed. The historian describes the ironic role reversal between the land-based Spartan and maritime Athenian powers.

§4.12.1καὶ ὁ μὲν τούς τε ἄλλους τοιαῦτα ἐπέσπερχε καὶ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ κυβερνήτην ἀναγκάσας ὀκεῖλαι τὴν ναῦν ἐχώρει ἐπὶ τὴν ἀποβάθραν· καὶ πειρώμενος ἀποβαίνειν ἀνεκόπη ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀθηναίων, καὶ τραυματισθεὶς πολλὰ ἐλιποψύχησέ τε καὶ πεσόντος αὐτοῦ ἐς τὴν παρεξειρεσίαν ἡ ἀσπὶς περιερρύη ἐς τὴν θάλασσαν, καὶ ἐξενεχθείσης αὐτῆς ἐς τὴν γῆν οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ἀνελόμενοι ὕστερον πρὸς τὸ τροπαῖον ἐχρήσαντο ὃ ἔστησαν τῆς προσβολῆς ταύτης.
Thus he urged on the others, and forcing his own pilot to run the ship aground, he moved toward the landing-plank; but as he attempted to land, he was beaten back by the Athenians, and being wounded many times, he fainted, and as he fell onto the outrigger, his shield slipped off into the sea. When it was washed ashore, the Athenians picked it up and later used it for the trophy which they set up for this attack.
§4.12.2οἱ δ’ ἄλλοι προυθυμοῦντο μέν, ἀδύνατοι δ’ ἦσαν ἀποβῆναι τῶν τε χωρίων χαλεπότητι καὶ τῶν Ἀθηναίων μενόντων καὶ οὐδὲν ὑποχωρούντων.
The others were indeed eager, but they were unable to land due to the difficulty of the places and because the Athenians stood their ground and did not retreat at all.
§4.12.3ἐς τοῦτό τε περιέστη ἡ τύχη ὥστε Ἀθηναίους μὲν ἐκ γῆς τε καὶ ταύτης Λακωνικῆς ἀμύνεσθαι ἐκείνους ἐπιπλέοντας, Λακεδαιμονίους δὲ ἐκ νεῶν τε καὶ ἐς τὴν ἑαυτῶν πολεμίαν οὖσαν ἐπ’ Ἀθηναίους ἀποβαίνειν· ἐπὶ πολὺ γὰρ ἐποίει τῆς δόξης ἐν τῷ τότε τοῖς μὲν ἠπειρώταις μάλιστα εἶναι καὶ τὰ πεζὰ κρατίστοις, τοῖς δὲ θαλασσίοις τε καὶ ταῖς ναυσὶ πλεῖστον προύχειν.
And fortune took such a turn that the Athenians were defending themselves from the land, and that Laconian land, against the enemy who were attacking by sea, while the Lacedaemonians were trying to land from their ships onto their own territory, which was now hostile, against the Athenians; for it was a major part of their reputation at that time that the former were preeminently land-dwellers and strongest in infantry, while the latter were people of the sea and far superior with their ships.

Notes

  1. 4.12.1πεσόντος αὐτοῦ ἐς τὴν παρεξειρεσίαν — A genitive absolute construction indicating the action of Brasidas (αὐτοῦ), whose shield (ἡ ἀσπὶς) is the subject of the main verb. The noun 'παρεξειρεσία' refers to the outrigger or the projecting gunwale of the trireme where the upper oars were pivoted.
  2. 4.12.2τῶν τε χωρίων χαλεπότητι καὶ τῶν Ἀθηναίων μενόντων — The coordinating conjunction καί connects two grammatically asymmetrical structures expressing cause: a dative noun phrase (χωρίων χαλεπότητι) and a genitive absolute participle clause (Ἀθηναίων μενόντων). This is a characteristic example of Thucydidean variation (variatio).
  3. 4.12.3ἐπὶ πολὺ γὰρ ἐποίει τῆς δόξης — The verb ἐποίει is used impersonally or with the general situation as its subject, meaning 'tended to' or 'contributed to'. The adverbial phrase ἐπὶ πολύ governs the partitive genitive τῆς δόξης ('a great part of the reputation'). This is followed by explanatory dative-and-infinitive clauses (τοῖς μὲν... εἶναι... τοῖς δὲ... προύχειν).

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §4.12.1-4.12.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.12.1-4.12.3

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.