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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §5.1.1

Expiry of the Truce and Expulsion of the Delians

Passage 501 of 917 · Greek

Summary

In the following summer, the one-year truce expires up to the Pythian games. The Athenians expel the Delians due to an ancient impurity, and the exiles settle in Adramyttium with the help of Pharnaces.

§5.1.1τοῦ δ’ ἐπιγιγνομένου θέρους αἱ μὲν ἐνιαύσιοι σπονδαὶ διελέλυντο μέχρι Πυθίων, καὶ ἐν τῇ ἐκεχειρίᾳ Ἀθηναῖοι Δηλίους ἀνέστησαν ἐκ Δήλου, ἡγησάμενοι κατὰ παλαιάν τινα αἰτίαν οὐ καθαροὺς ὄντας ἱερῶσθαι, καὶ ἅμα ἐλλιπὲς σφίσιν εἶναι τοῦτο τῆς καθάρσεως, ᾗ πρότερόν μοι δεδήλωται ὡς ἀνελόντες τὰς θήκας τῶν τεθνεώτων ὀρθῶς ἐνόμισαν ποιῆσαι.
In the following summer, the one-year truce had expired up to the Pythian games, and during the armistice the Athenians expelled the Delians from Delos, considering that they, on account of some ancient offense, were performing sacred rites while being impure, and at the same time that this was lacking to them for their purification, in which way it has been previously shown by me that they believed they had done rightly in removing the tombs of the dead.
καὶ οἱ μὲν Δήλιοι Ἀτραμύττιον Φαρνάκου δόντος αὐτοῖς ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ ᾤκησαν, οὕτως ὡς ἕκαστος ὥρμητο.
And the Delians, Pharnaces having given them Adramyttium in Asia, settled there, just as each was inclined.

Notes

  1. 5.1.1διελέλυντο μέχρι Πυθίων — The pluperfect passive of διαλύω. It indicates that the one-year truce (which had technically expired in the spring) remained dissolved (or expired) up to the time of the Pythian games, suggesting a de facto extension of the state of armistice.
  2. 5.1.1οὐ καθαροὺς ὄντας ἱερῶσθαι — The perfect infinitive of ἱεράομαι (to perform sacred rites). It forms an accusative-and-infinitive construction governed by the participle ἡγησάμενοι, with the accusative phrase οὐ καθαροὺς ὄντας (the Delians, being impure) acting as its subject.
  3. 5.1.1ἐλλιπὲς σφίσιν εἶναι τοῦτο τῆς καθάρσεως — Another infinitive clause governed by ἡγησάμενοι. The demonstrative pronoun τοῦτο (this, i.e., the expulsion of the Delians) is the subject of εἶναι. The predicate adjective ἐλλιπές (deficient) governs the genitive of separation/privation τῆς καθάρσεως (purification). σφίσιν is the dative of interest referring to the Athenians.
  4. 5.1.1ᾗ πρότερόν μοι δεδήλωται — The relative adverb ᾗ means 'in which way' or 'as'. δεδήλωται is used impersonally in the perfect passive ('as has been previously shown by me'), and the following ὡς clause introduces the contents of that previous explanation (referring to Book 3, Chapter 104).

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §5.1.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.1.1

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