Humanitext Reader

Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §7.26.1-7.26.3

Demosthenes' Ravaging and Fortification of Laconia

Passage 747 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Demosthenes sets sail with the reinforcement army for Sicily, joins Charicles' fleet to ravage and fortify the Laconian coast, and then proceeds to Corcyra to gather more allies.

§7.26.1ὁ δὲ Δημοσθένης, ἐπεὶ ξυνελέγη αὐτῷ τὸ στράτευμα ὃ ἔδει ἔχοντα ἐς τὴν Σικελίαν βοηθεῖν, ἄρας ἐκ τῆς Αἰγίνης καὶ πλεύσας πρὸς τὴν Πελοπόννησον τῷ τε Χαρικλεῖ καὶ ταῖς τριάκοντα ναυσὶ τῶν Ἀθηναίων ξυμμίσγει, καὶ παραλαβόντες τῶν Ἀργείων ὁπλίτας ἐπὶ τὰς ναῦς ἔπλεον ἐς τὴν Λακωνικήν·
Demosthenes, when the army which he was to lead as reinforcement to Sicily had been assembled for him, set sail from Aegina and, having sailed to the Peloponnesus, joined Charicles and the thirty Athenian ships; and having taken on board their ships some hoplites of the Argives, they sailed to Laconia.
§7.26.2καὶ πρῶτον μὲν τῆς Ἐπιδαύρου τι τῆς Λιμηρᾶς ἐδῄωσαν, ἔπειτα σχόντες ἐς τὰ καταντικρὺ Κυθήρων τῆς Λακωνικῆς, ἔνθα τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνός ἐστι, τῆς τε γῆς ἔστιν ἃ ἐδῄωσαν καὶ ἐτείχισαν ἰσθμῶδές τι χωρίον, ἵνα δὴ οἵ τε Εἵλωτες τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων αὐτόσε αὐτομολῶσι καὶ ἅμα λῃσταὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ, ὥσπερ ἐκ τῆς Πύλου, ἁρπαγὴν ποιῶνται.
And first they ravaged some part of Epidaurus Limera, and then, having touched at the place opposite Cythera in Laconia, where the temple of Apollo is, they ravaged some parts of the land and fortified an isthmus-like place, in order that the Helots of the Lacedaemonians might desert thither and at the same time plunderers might make raids from it, just as they did from Pylos.
§7.26.3καὶ ὁ μὲν Δημοσθένης εὐθὺς ἐπειδὴ ξυγκατέλαβε τὸ χωρίον παρέπλει ἐπὶ τῆς Κερκύρας, ὅπως καὶ τῶν ἐκεῖθεν ξυμμάχων παραλαβὼν τὸν ἐς τὴν Σικελίαν πλοῦν ὅτι τάχιστα ποιῆται· ὁ δὲ Χαρικλῆς περιμείνας ἕως τὸ χωρίον ἐξετείχισε καὶ καταλιπὼν φυλακὴν αὐτοῦ ἀπεκομίζετο καὶ αὐτὸς ὕστερον ταῖς τριάκοντα ναυσὶν ἐπ’ οἴκου καὶ οἱ Ἀργεῖοι ἅμα.
And Demosthenes, as soon as he had helped to occupy the place, sailed on to Corcyra, so that, having taken on board the allies from there also, he might make the voyage to Sicily as quickly as possible; but Charicles waited until he had finished fortifying the place, and leaving a guard there, he himself also returned home later with the thirty ships, and the Argives with him at the same time.

Notes

  1. §7.26.1ἔδει ἔχοντα — The accusative participle ἔχοντα agrees with the omitted accusative subject (αὐτόν, referring to Demosthenes) of the impersonal verb ἔδει. The relative pronoun ὅ (with τὸ στράτευμα as antecedent) is the object of the participle ἔχοντα, meaning 'the army which he was to lead as reinforcement'. Care must be taken not to mistake the masculine accusative ἔχοντα as agreeing with the neuter antecedent τὸ στράτευμα.
  2. §7.26.1παραλαβόντες — Although the sentence begins with the singular subject ὁ δὲ Δημοσθένης, the subject shifts to the plural after the meeting with Charicles, as shown by the plural participle παραλαβόντες and the main verb ἔπλεον. This is a grammatical shift (constructio ad sensum) reflecting the combined forces of both commanders.
  3. §7.26.2ἔστιν ἃ — An idiomatic Greek phrase equivalent to 'some' (the accusative neuter plural of ἔστιν οἵ). Here it is used with the partitive genitive τῆς γῆς ('of the land'), functioning as the accusative object of the verb ἐδῄωσαν, meaning 'some parts of the land'.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §7.26.1-7.26.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.26.1-7.26.3

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.