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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §4.91.1

Pagondas Urges the Boeotians to Attack

Passage 456 of 917 · Greek

Summary

While the Boeotians assemble at Tanagra, the other Boeotarchs oppose fighting because the Athenians have retreated near the border, but Pagondas, holding the chief command, calls the troops by companies to persuade them to attack.

§4.91.1οἱ δὲ Βοιωτοὶ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ταύταις ξυνελέγοντο ἐς τὴν Τάναγραν·
Meanwhile, the Boeotians were assembling at Tanagra during these days.
καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἀπὸ πασῶν τῶν πόλεων παρῆσαν καὶ ᾐσθάνοντο τοὺς Ἀθηναίους προχωροῦντας ἐπ’ οἴκου, τῶν ἄλλων βοιωταρχῶν, οἵ εἰσιν ἕνδεκα, οὐ ξυνεπαινούντων μάχεσθαι, ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἐν τῇ Βοιωτίᾳ ἔτι εἰσί (μάλιστα γὰρ ἐν μεθορίοις τῆς Ὠρωπίας οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ἦσαν, ὅτε ἔθεντο τὰ ὅπλα), Παγώνδας ὁ Αἰολάδου βοιωταρχῶν ἐκ Θηβῶν μετ᾽ Ἀριανθίδου τοῦ Λυσιμαχίδου καὶ ἡγεμονίας οὔσης αὐτοῦ βουλόμενος τὴν μάχην ποιῆσαι καὶ νομίζων ἄμεινον εἶναι κινδυνεῦσαι, προσκαλῶν ἑκάστους κατὰ λόχους, ὅπως μὴ ἁθρόοι ἐκλίποιεν τὰ ὅπλα, ἔπειθε τοὺς Βοιωτοὺς ἰέναι ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἀθηναίους καὶ τὸν ἀγῶνα ποιεῖσθαι, λέγων τοιάδε.
And when they had arrived from all the cities and perceived that the Athenians were advancing toward home, the other Boeotarchs, who are eleven in number, did not agree to fight, since the Athenians were no longer in Boeotia (for the Athenians were mostly in the borderlands of Oropia when they piled their arms); but Pagondas the son of Aeoladas, being a Boeotarch from Thebes along with Arianthides the son of Lysimachidas, and as the chief command was his, wishing to bring on the battle and thinking it better to run the risk, called them to him individually by companies, so that they might not leave their arms all together, and tried to persuade the Boeotians to go against the Athenians and join battle, speaking as follows.

Notes

  1. 4.91.1τῶν ἄλλων βοιωταρχῶν ... οὐ ξυνεπαινούντων — Genitive absolute. In this context, it is best interpreted as expressing concession ('although the other Boeotarchs did not agree').
  2. 4.91.1ἡγεμονίας οὔσης αὐτοῦ — Genitive absolute expressing cause or reason ('since the chief command was his' on that day's rotation).
  3. 4.91.1ἔπειθε — Conative imperfect ('tried to persuade' or 'endeavored to win over'). Since his speech immediately follows, the tense highlights his attempt to move the minds of the soldiers.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §4.91.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.91.1

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