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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §4.41.1-4.41.4

Fate of the Prisoners and Failed Spartan Peace Missions

Passage 406 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The Athenians decided on the treatment of the prisoners and garrisoned Pylos, from where the Messenians plundered Laconia. Hard-pressed, the Spartans sent embassies to recover Pylos and the prisoners, but the Athenians, seeking greater advantages, dismissed them empty-handed.

§4.41.1κομισθέντων δὲ τῶν ἀνδρῶν οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ἐβούλευσαν δεσμοῖς μὲν αὐτοὺς φυλάσσειν μέχρι οὗ τι ξυμβῶσιν, ἢν δ’ οἱ Πελοποννήσιοι πρὸ τούτου ἐς τὴν γῆν ἐσβάλωσιν, ἐξαγαγόντες ἀποκτεῖναι.
When the men had been brought to Athens, the Athenians resolved to keep them in custody in chains until they should come to some agreement, but if the Peloponnesians should invade their territory before that, to take them out and put them to death.
§4.41.2τῆς δὲ Πύλου φυλακὴν κατεστήσαντο, καὶ οἱ ἐκ τῆς Ναυπάκτου Μεσσήνιοι ὡς ἐς πατρίδα ταύτην (ἔστι γὰρ ἡ Πύλος τῆς Μεσσηνίδος ποτὲ οὔσης γῆς) πέμψαντες σφῶν αὐτῶν τοὺς ἐπιτηδειοτάτους ἐλῄζοντό τε τὴν Λακωνικὴν καὶ πλεῖστα ἔβλαπτον ὁμόφωνοι ὄντες.
They also established a garrison at Pylos; and the Messenians of Naupactus, sending to this place—since Pylos is in what was once the Messenian territory—as if to their own homeland, the most suitable of their own men, plundered the Laconian territory and did the greatest damage, being of the same dialect.
§4.41.3οἱ δὲ Λακεδαιμόνιοι ἀμαθεῖς ὄντες ἐν τῷ πρὶν χρόνῳ λῃστείας καὶ τοῦ τοιούτου πολέμου, τῶν τε Εἱλώτων αὐτομολούντων καὶ φοβούμενοι μὴ καὶ ἐπὶ μακρότερον σφίσι τι νεωτερισθῇ τῶν κατὰ τὴν χώραν, οὐ ῥᾳδίως ἔφερον, ἀλλὰ καίπερ οὐ βουλόμενοι ἔνδηλοι εἶναι τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις ἐπρεσβεύοντο παρ’ αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐπειρῶντο τήν τε Πύλον καὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας κομίζεσθαι.
As for the Lacedaemonians, who had previously been unaccustomed to plundering and to this kind of warfare, since the Helots were deserting and they feared lest some revolutionary movement in their country might spread even further to their detriment, they did not bear it easily; but, although they were unwilling to make this clear to the Athenians, they sent embassies to them and tried to recover both Pylos and the men.
§4.41.4οἱ δὲ μειζόνων τε ὠρέγοντο καὶ πολλάκις φοιτώντων αὐτοὺς ἀπράκτους ἀπέπεμπον.
The Athenians, however, aimed at greater things, and though the Lacedaemonians came repeatedly, they sent them away unsuccessful.
ταῦτα μὲν τὰ περὶ Πύλον γενόμενα.
These were the events that occurred around Pylos.

Notes

  1. §4.41.1κομισθέντων δὲ τῶν ἀνδρῶν — A genitive absolute construction denoting temporal priority ('after the men had been brought').
  2. §4.41.2ἔστι γὰρ ἡ Πύλος τῆς Μεσσηνίδος ποτὲ οὔσης γῆς — The genitive phrase τῆς Μεσσηνίδος ποτὲ οὔσης γῆς functions as a predicate with the copula ἔστι (either possessive or partitive genitive), meaning 'belongs to' or 'is part of' what was once Messenian territory.
  3. §4.41.2ὁμόφωνοι ὄντες — A nominative participle agreeing with the subject (the Messenians) and expressing cause. It highlights that speaking the same Doric dialect as the locals enabled them to plunder and instigate revolts without raising immediate suspicion.
  4. §4.41.3φοβούμενοι μὴ καὶ ἐπὶ μακρότερον σφίσι τι νεωτερισθῇ — The conjunction μή introduces a clause of fearing after the participle φοβούμενοι, taking the aorist subjunctive passive νεωτερισθῇ in an impersonal sense. σφίσι is a dative of disadvantage, meaning 'lest some further revolutionary movement should be started to their detriment.'
  5. §4.41.4φοιτώντων — A genitive absolute construction without an explicit subject, where 'the Lacedaemonian ambassadors' is understood from the context. It expresses concession or time ('although they came repeatedly').

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §4.41.1-4.41.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.41.1-4.41.4

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