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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §6.73.1-6.73.2

Election of Syracusan Generals and Envoys to Sparta

Passage 689 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Following Hermocrates' advice, the Syracusans elected three generals including him, and sent envoys to Sparta and Corinth to urge them to join the war against Athens.

§6.73.1καὶ οἱ Συρακόσιοι αὐτοῦ ἀκούσαντες ἐψηφίσαντό τε πάντα ὡς ἐκέλευε καὶ στρατηγὸν αὐτόν τε εἵλοντο τὸν Ἑρμοκράτη καὶ Ἡρακλείδην τὸν Λυσιμάχου καὶ Σικανὸν τὸν Ἐξηκέστου, τούτους τρεῖς,
And the Syracusans, having heard him, voted for everything just as he urged, and chose as generals Hermocrates himself, Heracleides the son of Lysimachus, and Sicanus the son of Execestus, these three.
§6.73.2καὶ ἐς τὴν Κόρινθον καὶ ἐς τὴν Λακεδαίμονα πρέσβεις ἀπέστειλαν, ὅπως ξυμμαχία τε αὐτοῖς παραγένηται καὶ τὸν πρὸς Ἀθηναίους πόλεμον βεβαιότερον πείθωσι ποιεῖσθαι ἐκ τοῦ προφανοῦς ὑπὲρ σφῶν τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους, ἵνα ἢ ἀπὸ τῆς Σικελίας ἀπαγάγωσιν αὐτοὺς ἢ πρὸς τὸ ἐν Σικελίᾳ στράτευμα ἧσσον ὠφελίαν ἄλλην ἐπιπέμπωσιν.
They also sent envoys to Corinth and Lacedaemon, so that an alliance might be made with them, and that they might persuade the Lacedaemonians to wage the war against the Athenians more resolutely and openly on their behalf, in order that the Athenians might either withdraw their forces from Sicily or send less other reinforcement to the army in Sicily.

Notes

  1. 6.73.1αὐτοῦ ἀκούσαντες — The verb ἀκούω takes the genitive (αὐτοῦ) when it means "to listen to someone." The participle ἀκούσαντες expresses an action prior to the main verb.
  2. 6.73.2πείθωσι ποιεῖσθαι ... τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους — The subjunctive πείθωσι (introduced by the purpose clause with ὅπως) takes an accusative subject (τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους) and an infinitive (ποιεῖσθαι), forming the construction "persuade the Lacedaemonians to make/wage..." The middle infinitive ποιεῖσθαι here means "to wage" or "to carry on" (war).
  3. 6.73.2ἵνα ἢ ἀπὸ τῆς Σικελίας ἀπαγάγωσιν αὐτοὺς — The subject of the third-person plural verbs in the purpose clause introduced by ἵνα (ἀπαγάγωσιν, ἐπιπέμπωσιν) is best understood as the Athenians (οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι) from the context. In this interpretation, the accusative αὐτούς refers to the Athenian forces already in Sicily.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §6.73.1-6.73.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.73.1-6.73.2

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