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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §4.38.1-4.38.5

Surrender of the Spartans on Sphacteria

Passage 403 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The Spartans on Sphacteria surrendered after receiving a message from the mainland allowing them to decide their own fate. The Athenians guarded the prisoners and prepared to sail, while the Lacedaemonians recovered their dead.

§4.38.1οἱ δὲ ἀκούσαντες παρῆκαν τὰς ἀσπίδας οἱ πλεῖστοι καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ἀνέσεισαν, δηλοῦντες προσίεσθαι τὰ κεκηρυγμένα.
On hearing this, most of them lowered their shields and waved their hands, showing that they accepted the terms of the proclamation.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα γενομένης τῆς ἀνοκωχῆς ξυνῆλθον ἐς λόγους ὅ τε Κλέων καὶ ὁ Δημοσθένης καὶ ἐκείνων Στύφων ὁ Φάρακος, τῶν πρότερον ἀρχόντων τοῦ μὲν πρώτου τεθνηκότος Ἐπιτάδου, τοῦ δὲ μετ’ αὐτὸν Ἱππαγρέτου ἐφῃρημένου ἐν τοῖς νεκροῖς ἔτι ζῶντος κειμένου ὡς τεθνεῶτος, αὐτὸς τρίτος ἐφῃρημένος ἄρχειν κατὰ νόμον, εἴ τι ἐκεῖνοι πάσχοιεν.
After this, when a truce had been made, Cleon and Demosthenes came to a conference, and from the other side, Styphon, son of Pharax; of the former commanders, Epitadas, the first, having died, and Hippagretas, who had been chosen next after him, lying among the dead still alive as if dead, Styphon himself had been chosen as the third to command according to the law, if anything should happen to them.
§4.38.2ἔλεγε δὲ ὁ Στύφων καὶ οἱ μετ’ αὐτοῦ ὅτι βούλονται διακηρυκεύσασθαι πρὸς τοὺς ἐν τῇ ἠπείρῳ Λακεδαιμονίους ὅτι χρὴ σφᾶς ποιεῖν.
And Styphon and those with him said that they wished to send a herald to the Lacedaemonians on the mainland to ask what they ought to do.
§4.38.3καὶ ἐκείνων μὲν οὐδένα ἀφέντων, αὐτῶν δὲ τῶν Ἀθηναίων καλούντων ἐκ τῆς ἠπείρου κήρυκας καὶ γενομένων ἐπερωτήσεων δὶς ἢ τρίς, ὁ τελευταῖος διαπλεύσας αὐτοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐκ τῆς ἠπείρου Λακεδαιμονίων ἀνὴρ ἀπήγγειλεν ὅτι [οἱ] ‘Λακεδαιμόνιοι κελεύουσιν ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς περὶ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν βουλεύεσθαι μηδὲν αἰσχρὸν ποιοῦντασ’· οἱ δὲ καθ’ ἑαυτοὺς βουλευσάμενοι τὰ ὅπλα παρέδοσαν καὶ σφᾶς αὐτούς.
And though the Athenians did not let any of them go, but themselves called heralds from the mainland, and after questions had been asked two or three times, the messenger who last crossed over to them from the Lacedaemonians on the mainland reported: 'The Lacedaemonians bid you to decide for yourselves about yourselves, doing nothing shameful.' And they, having deliberated among themselves, surrendered their weapons and themselves.
§4.38.4καὶ ταύτην μὲν τὴν ἡμέραν καὶ τὴν ἐπιοῦσαν νύκτα ἐν φυλακῇ εἶχον αὐτοὺς οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι· τῇ δ’ ὑστεραίᾳ οἱ μὲν Ἀθηναῖοι τροπαῖον στήσαντες ἐν τῇ νήσῳ τἆλλα διεσκευάζοντο ὡς ἐς πλοῦν, καὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας τοῖς τριηράρχοις διεδίδοσαν ἐς φυλακήν, οἱ δὲ Λακεδαιμόνιοι κήρυκα πέμψαντες τοὺς νεκροὺς διεκομίσαντο.
For that day and the following night, the Athenians kept them under guard; but on the next day, the Athenians, having set up a trophy on the island, made all other preparations for sailing away, and distributed the men to the trierarchs for custody, while the Lacedaemonians sent a herald and carried away their dead.
§4.38.5ἀπέθανον δ’ ἐν τῇ νήσῳ καὶ ζῶντες ἐλήφθησαν τοσοίδε· εἴκοσι μὲν ὁπλῖται διέβησαν καὶ τετρακόσιοι οἱ πάντες· τούτων ζῶντες ἐκομίσθησαν ὀκτὼ ἀποδέοντες τριακόσιοι, οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι ἀπέθανον.
There died on the island, and were taken alive, this many: four hundred and twenty hoplites in all had crossed over; of these, two hundred and ninety-two were brought away alive, and the others died.
καὶ Σπαρτιᾶται τούτων ἦσαν τῶν ζώντων περὶ εἴκοσι καὶ ἑκατόν.
And of these survivors, about one hundred and twenty were Spartans.
Ἀθηναίων δὲ οὐ πολλοὶ διεφθάρησαν· ἡ γὰρ μάχη οὐ σταδαία ἦν.
Not many of the Athenians were killed; for the battle was not a standing one.

Notes

  1. §4.38.1τῶν πρότερον ἀρχόντων ... εἴ τι ἐκεῖνοι πάσχοιεν — A complex sentence explaining Styphon's succession to the command. It starts with genitive absolutes (τῶν πρότερον ἀρχόντων τοῦ μὲν πρώτου τεθνηκότος Ἐπιτάδου...) but shifts to the nominative participle αὐτὸς... ἐφῃρημένος qualifying Styphon, resulting in an anacoluthon. The clause εἴ τι ἐκεῖνοι πάσχοιεν ('if anything should happen to them') is a euphemism for the death or disablement of the prior commanders.
  2. §4.38.2ὅτι χρὴ σφᾶς ποιεῖν — σφᾶς is an indirect reflexive pronoun referring back to the subjects of the main clause (Styphon and his men). It functions as the accusative subject of the impersonal verb χρή, meaning 'what they ought to do.'
  3. §4.38.3μηδὲν αἰσχρὸν ποιοῦντας — The present participle ποιοῦντας agrees with ὑμᾶς (the accusative subject of βουλεύεσθαι), functioning as a conditional or restrictive clause ('doing nothing shameful,' i.e., provided you do nothing shameful).
  4. §4.38.5ὀκτὼ ἀποδέοντες τριακόσιοι — A mathematical expression of subtraction in Greek: 'three hundred lacking eight,' which equals 292.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §4.38.1-4.38.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.38.1-4.38.5

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