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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §6.30.1-6.30.2

Departure of the Sicilian Expedition from Piraeus

Passage 646 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The Athenian and allied forces prepare to depart for the Sicilian expedition, with the main body boarding at Piraeus and others gathering at Corcyra. The harbor is filled with crowds of citizens and foreigners offering farewells mixed with hope and grief.

§6.30.1μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα θέρους μεσοῦντος ἤδη ἡ ἀναγωγὴ ἐγίγνετο ἐς τὴν Σικελίαν.
After this, when it was already midsummer, the departure for Sicily took place.
τῶν μὲν οὖν ξυμμάχων τοῖς πλείστοις καὶ ταῖς σιταγωγοῖς ὁλκάσι καὶ τοῖς πλοίοις καὶ ὅση ἄλλη παρασκευὴ ξυνείπετο πρότερον εἴρητο ἐς Κέρκυραν ξυλλέγεσθαι ὡς ἐκεῖθεν ἁθρόοις ἐπὶ ἄκραν Ἰαπυγίαν τὸν Ἰόνιον διαβαλοῦσιν· αὐτοὶ δ’ Ἀθηναῖοι καὶ εἴ τινες τῶν ξυμμάχων παρῆσαν, ἐς τὸν Πειραιᾶ καταβάντες ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ῥητῇ ἅμα ἕῳ ἐπλήρουν τὰς ναῦς ὡς ἀναξόμενοι.
Now orders had been previously given to the majority of the allies, and to the corn-bearing merchant ships, and to the boats, and to whatever other preparation followed them, to assemble at Corcyra, so that from there they might cross the Ionian Gulf in a body to the Iapygian promontory; while the Athenians themselves, and any of the allies who were present, went down to Piraeus on an appointed day at dawn and manned the ships in order to put to sea.
§6.30.2ξυγκατέβη δὲ καὶ ὁ ἄλλος ὅμιλος ἅπας ὡς εἰπεῖν ὁ ἐν τῇ πόλει καὶ ἀστῶν καὶ ξένων, οἱ μὲν ἐπιχώριοι τοὺς σφετέρους αὐτῶν ἕκαστοι προπέμποντες, οἱ μὲν ἑταίρους, οἱ δὲ ξυγγενεῖς, οἱ δὲ υἱεῖς, καὶ μετ’ ἐλπίδος τε ἅμα ἰόντες καὶ ὀλοφυρμῶν, τὰ μὲν ὡς κτήσοιντο, τοὺς δ’ εἴ ποτε ὄψοιντο, ἐνθυμούμενοι ὅσον πλοῦν ἐκ τῆς σφετέρας ἀπεστέλλοντο.
And all the rest of the crowd in the city, so to speak, both of citizens and of strangers, went down with them, the citizens escorting each their own people, some friends, some relatives, some sons; and they went along with both hope and lamentation, thinking on the one hand of what they might acquire, and on the other hand whether they would ever see them again, considering how great a voyage they were being sent upon from their own land.

Notes

  1. §6.30.1πρότερον εἴρητο — The impersonal passive εἴρητο (had been ordered) takes the infinitive ξυλλέγεσθαι, with the preceding datives τοῖς πλείστοις... functioning as the logical agents of the infinitive. The structure means 'it had been previously ordered to the majority of the allies... to assemble.'
  2. §6.30.1ὡς ἐκεῖθεν ἁθρόοις ἐπὶ ἄκραν Ἰαπυγίαν τὸν Ἰόνιον διαβαλοῦσιν — The conjunction ὡς with the future participle διαβαλοῦσιν (and the adjective ἁθρόοις) expresses subjective purpose ('with the intention of crossing'). The participle agrees in gender, number, and case with the dative nouns τοῖς πλείστοις... at the beginning of the sentence.
  3. §6.30.2τὰ μὲν ὡς κτήσοιντο, τοὺς δ’ εἴ ποτε ὄψοιντο — Two asymmetrical clauses functioning as objects of ἐνθυμούμενοι (pondering). The former is a ὡς clause ('that they would acquire') with τὰ μὲν (neuter plural, referring to territories) as its object; the latter is an indirect question with εἰ ('whether they would ever see') featuring τοὺς δὲ (masculine plural, referring to the departing soldiers) as a proleptic object. Both optatives (κτήσοιντο, ὄψοιντο) are oblique optatives due to the historical main verbs (ἐπλήρουν, ξυγκατέβη).

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §6.30.1-6.30.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.30.1-6.30.2

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