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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §4.48.1-4.48.6

Massacre of Corcyraean Captives and End of the Civil War

Passage 413 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The massacre and collective suicide of the captured Corcyraeans are described, marking the end of the civil war. The Athenian fleet then proceeds to Sicily.

§4.48.1καὶ ἐς μὲν ἄνδρας ἑξήκοντα ἔλαθον τοὺς ἐν τῷ οἰκήματι τούτῳ τῷ τρόπῳ ἐξαγαγόντες καὶ διαφθείραντες (ᾤοντο γὰρ αὐτοὺς μεταστήσοντάς ποι ἄλλοσε ἄγειν)· ὡς δὲ ᾔσθοντο καί τις αὐτοῖς ἐδήλωσε, τούς τε Ἀθηναίους ἐπεκαλοῦντο καὶ ἐκέλευον σφᾶς, εἰ βούλονται, αὐτοὺς διαφθείρειν, ἔκ τε τοῦ οἰκήματος οὐκέτι ἤθελον ἐξιέναι, οὐδ’ ἐσιέναι ἔφασαν κατὰ δύναμιν περιόψεσθαι οὐδένα.
And they succeeded in leading out and destroying about sixty men in this manner without the notice of those in the building (for they thought they were being led away to be relocated somewhere else); but when they perceived it, and someone made it clear to them, they called upon the Athenians and bade them, if they wished, to destroy them themselves, and they were no longer willing to go out of the building, nor did they say they would permit anyone to enter, as far as lay in their power.
§4.48.2οἱ δὲ Κερκυραῖοι κατὰ μὲν τὰς θύρας οὐδ’ αὐτοὶ διενοοῦντο βιάζεσθαι, ἀναβάντες δὲ ἐπὶ τὸ τέγος τοῦ οἰκήματος καὶ διελόντες τὴν ὀροφὴν ἔβαλλον τῷ κεράμῳ καὶ ἐτόξευον κάτω.
The Corcyraeans on their part did not think of forcing their way through the doors, but having climbed up to the roof of the building and broken through the tiling, they threw down the tiles and shot arrows at those below.
§4.48.3οἱ δὲ ἐφυλάσσοντό τε ὡς ἐδύναντο καὶ ἅμα οἱ πολλοὶ σφᾶς αὐτοὺς διέφθειρον, οἰστούς τε οὓς ἀφίεσαν ἐκεῖνοι ἐς τὰς σφαγὰς καθιέντες καὶ ἐκ κλινῶν τινῶν αἳ ἔτυχον αὐτοῖς ἐνοῦσαι τοῖς σπάρτοις καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἱματίων παραιρήματα ποιοῦντες ἀπαγχόμενοι, παντί 〈τε〉 τρόπῳ τὸ πολὺ τῆς νυκτός (ἐπεγένετο γὰρ νὺξ τῷ παθήματι) ἀναλοῦντες σφᾶς αὐτοὺς καὶ βαλλόμενοι ὑπὸ τῶν ἄνω διεφθάρησαν.
The prisoners protected themselves as best they could, and at the same time most of them destroyed themselves, some by thrusting into their throats the arrows which their enemies shot, others by hanging themselves with the cords of some beds which happened to be inside, or with strips torn from their own garments; in every way, through the greater part of the night (for night came upon their calamity), destroying themselves and being struck by those above, they perished.
§4.48.4καὶ αὐτοὺς οἱ Κερκυραῖοι, ἐπειδὴ ἡμέρα ἐγένετο, φορμηδὸν ἐπὶ ἁμάξας ἐπιβαλόντες ἀπήγαγον ἔξω τῆς πόλεως. τὰς δὲ γυναῖκας, ὅσαι ἐν τῷ τειχίσματι ἑάλωσαν, ἠνδραποδίσαντο.
When day came, the Corcyraeans piled them crosswise on wagons and carried them out of the city; and all the women who had been captured in the fort they sold into slavery.
§4.48.5τοιούτῳ μὲν τρόπῳ οἱ ἐκ τοῦ ὄρους Κερκυραῖοι ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου διεφθάρησαν, καὶ ἡ στάσις πολλὴ γενομένη ἐτελεύτησεν ἐς τοῦτο, ὅσα γε κατὰ τὸν πόλεμον τόνδε· οὐ γὰρ ἔτι ἦν ὑπόλοιπον τῶν ἑτέρων ὅτι καὶ ἀξιόλογον.
In this manner the Corcyraeans from the mountain were destroyed by the commons, and the sedition, which had grown to such a height, ended in this, at least as far as this war is concerned; for there was no longer any remnant of the other party left that was of any account.
§4.48.6οἱ δὲ Ἀθηναῖοι ἐς τὴν Σικελίαν, ἵναπερ τὸ πρῶτον ὥρμηντο, ἀποπλεύσαντες μετὰ τῶν ἐκεῖ ξυμμάχων ἐπολέμουν.
The Athenians then sailed away to Sicily, whither they were bound at the first, and carried on the war with their allies there.

Notes

  1. 4.48.1ἔλαθον ... ἐξαγαγόντες — The verb ἔλαθον (aorist of λανθάνω) in combination with the participles ἐξαγαγόντες and διαφθείραντες forms a construction meaning 'to do something without being noticed.' Here, it indicates they led out and killed the men without the knowledge of those inside.
  2. 4.48.1οὐδ’ ἐσιέναι ἔφασαν κατὰ δύναμιν περιόψεσθαι οὐδένα — The verb of saying with a negative οὔ φημι (in the past ἔφασαν, correlated with οὐδ') governs the future infinitive περιόψεσθαι (from περιοράω, 'to overlook' or 'allow') and the present infinitive ἐσιέναι ('to enter'), expressing a strong resolve: 'they said they would not, as far as they were able, permit anyone to enter.'
  3. 4.48.3ἐπεγένετο γὰρ νὺξ τῷ παθήματι — The dative τῷ παθήματι is governed by the compound verb ἐπεγένετο (ἐπί + γίγνομαι), meaning that night overtook or added itself to their suffering, emphasizing the progression of time during the tragedy.
  4. 4.48.5ὅσα γε κατὰ τὸν πόλεμον τόνδε — A restrictive expression consisting of the relative pronoun ὅσα and the limiting particle γε, meaning 'at least so far as concerns the events in this war,' defining the scope of Thucydides' statement.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §4.48.1-4.48.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.48.1-4.48.6

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