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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §4.97.1-4.97.4

Boeotian Protests and Demands for Evacuation

Passage 462 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The Boeotians withdraw to Tanagra after post-battle procedures and plan an attack on Delium. Meanwhile, a Boeotian herald accuses the Athenians of violating Greek customs by fortifying the temple and desecrating its water, demanding their departure.

§4.97.1καὶ οἱ Βοιωτοὶ τροπαῖον στήσαντες καὶ τοὺς ἑαυτῶν ἀνελόμενοι νεκροὺς τούς τε τῶν πολεμίων σκυλεύσαντες καὶ φυλακὴν καταλιπόντες ἀνεχώρησαν ἐς τὴν Τάναγραν, καὶ τῷ Δηλίῳ ἐπεβούλευον ὡς προσβαλοῦντες.
And the Boeotians, having erected a trophy, taken up their own dead, despoiled those of the enemy, and left a garrison, withdrew to Tanagra, and began to plan to attack Delium.
§4.97.2ἐκ δὲ τῶν Ἀθηναίων κῆρυξ πορευόμενος ἐπὶ τοὺς νεκροὺς ἀπαντᾷ κήρυκι Βοιωτῷ, ὃς αὐτὸν ἀποστρέψας καὶ εἰπὼν ὅτι οὐδὲν πράξει πρὶν ἂν αὐτὸς ἀναχωρήσῃ πάλιν, καταστὰς ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ἔλεγε τὰ παρὰ τῶν Βοιωτῶν, ὅτι οὐ δικαίως δράσειαν παραβαίνοντες τὰ νόμιμα τῶν Ἑλλήνων·
From the Athenians, a herald proceeding for the dead met a Boeotian herald, who turned him back and told him that he would achieve nothing until he himself should return; and having presented himself before the Athenians, he delivered the message of the Boeotians, namely, that they had acted unjustly in transgressing the customs of the Greeks.
§4.97.3πᾶσι γὰρ εἶναι καθεστηκὸς ἰόντας ἐπὶ τὴν ἀλλήλων ἱερῶν τῶν ἐνόντων ἀπέχεσθαι, Ἀθηναίους δὲ Δήλιον τειχίσαντας ἐνοικεῖν, καὶ ὅσα ἄνθρωποι ἐν βεβήλῳ δρῶσι πάντα γίγνεσθαι αὐτόθι, ὕδωρ τε ὃ ἦν ἄψαυστον σφίσι πλὴν πρὸς τὰ ἱερὰ χέρνιβι χρῆσθαι, ἀνασπάσαντας ὑδρεύεσθαι·
For, he said, it was an established rule for all, when invading one another's territory, to keep their hands off the temples therein, whereas the Athenians had fortified Delium and were dwelling in it, and all things that men do in profane places were going on there; and they were drawing and using for common purposes the water which was untouched by them except to be used for lustral water in the sacrifices.
§4.97.4ὥστε ὑπέρ τε τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἑαυτῶν Βοιωτούς, ἐπικαλουμένους τοὺς ὁμωχέτας δαίμονας καὶ τὸν Ἀπόλλω, προαγορεύειν αὐτοὺς ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ ἀπιόντας ἀποφέρεσθαι τὰ σφέτερα αὐτῶν.
Therefore, both on behalf of the god and of themselves, the Boeotians, calling to witness the gods of their common hearths and Apollo, warned them to depart from the sanctuary and take away what belonged to them.

Notes

  1. §4.97.2πρὶν ἂν αὐτὸς ἀναχωρήσῃ πάλιν — αὐτός is an intensive pronoun referring to the subject of the main clause, the Boeotian herald himself. πρὶν ἂν with the subjunctive, following a negative main clause (οὐδὲν πράξει), expresses a conditional temporal limitation: 'until he himself should return'.
  2. §4.97.3πᾶσι γὰρ εἶναι καθεστηκός — An accusative with infinitive construction marking the beginning of indirect discourse (the herald's speech). εἶναι καθεστηκός is the infinitive form of the impersonal expression καθεστηκός ἐστι (it is established). Its logical subject is the infinitive ἀπέχεσθαι (to keep off), and ἰόντας (those who invade) serves as the accusative subject of that infinitive.
  3. §4.97.3ὕδωρ τε ὃ ἦν ἄψαυστον σφίσι πλὴν πρὸς τὰ ἱερὰ χέρνιβι χρῆσθαι — The infinitive χρῆσθαι, accompanied by πλὴν πρὸς τὰ ἱερὰ (except for use in sacred rites), limits the adjective ἄψαυστον (untouched). It yields the meaning: 'water which was untouched by them (σφίσι) except to be used (χρῆσθαι) as lustral water (χέρνιψ) for the sacrifices'.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §4.97.1-4.97.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.97.1-4.97.4

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