Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §6.1.1-6.1.2

Athenian designs on Sicily and the island's size

Passage 617 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The Athenians planning a massive expedition to Sicily are described as being ignorant of its true size and population, alongside geographical details about the island's circumference and proximity to the mainland.

§6.1.1τοῦ δ’ αὐτοῦ χειμῶνος Ἀθηναῖοι ἐβούλοντο αὖθις μείζονι παρασκευῇ τῆς μετὰ Λάχητος καὶ Εὐρυμέδοντος ἐπὶ Σικελίαν πλεύσαντες καταστρέψασθαι, εἰ δύναιντο, ἄπειροι οἱ πολλοὶ ὄντες τοῦ μεγέθους τῆς νήσου καὶ τῶν ἐνοικούντων τοῦ πλήθους καὶ Ἑλλήνων καὶ βαρβάρων, καὶ ὅτι οὐ πολλῷ τινὶ ὑποδεέστερον πόλεμον ἀνῃροῦντο ἢ τὸν πρὸς Πελοποννησίους. §6.1.2Σικελίας γὰρ περίπλους μέν ἐστιν ὁλκάδι οὐ πολλῷ τινὶ ἔλασσον ἢ ὀκτὼ ἡμερῶν, καὶ τοσαύτη οὖσα ἐν εἰκοσισταδίῳ μάλιστα μέτρῳ τῆς θαλάσσης διείργεται τὸ μὴ ἤπειρος εἶναι·

In the same winter, the Athenians wished to sail again to Sicily with a larger force than that under Laches and Eurymedon and, if they could, to conquer it, the majority of them being ignorant of the size of the island and the multitude of its inhabitants, both Greeks and barbarians, and that they were undertaking a war not much smaller than that against the Peloponnesians. For the voyage around Sicily takes, for a merchant vessel, not much less than eight days, and though being of such a size, it is separated by a stretch of sea of about twenty stades in width from being mainland.

Notes

6.1.1ἄπειροι οἱ πολλοὶ ὄντες — A participle construction in which the nominative adjective ἄπειροι and the participle ὄντες modify the subject οἱ πολλοὶ. It functions as a concessive ('although the majority were ignorant') or circumstantial clause in relation to the main verb ἐβούλοντο.
6.1.1καὶ ὅτι — The conjunction καὶ connects the preceding genitive noun phrases with this ὅτι-clause as parallel complements of the adjective ἄπειρος. While it is unusual for an adjective to govern a ὅτι-clause directly, it indicates the object of their ignorance.
6.1.2τὸ μὴ ἤπειρος εἶναι — An articular infinitive in the accusative with the negative μὴ following the verb of separating (διείργεται). It expresses the result or prevention: 'so as not to be mainland' or 'from being mainland.'

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §6.1.1-6.1.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.1.1-6.1.2

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