Humanitext Reader

Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §7.39.1-7.39.2

Ariston's Stratagem to Relocate the Market

Passage 760 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The Syracusans attack the Athenians earlier the next day, and during the prolonged engagement, the Corinthian Ariston persuades the commanders to move the market to the shore so that the sailors can eat quickly and launch a surprise re-attack.

§7.39.1τῇ δ’ ὑστεραίᾳ οἱ Συρακόσιοι τῆς μὲν ὥρας πρωίτερον, τῇ δ’ ἐπιχειρήσει τῇ αὐτῇ τοῦ τε πεζοῦ καὶ τοῦ ναυτικοῦ προσέμισγον τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις, §7.39.2καὶ ἀντικαταστάντες ταῖς ναυσὶ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον αὖθις ἐπὶ πολὺ διῆγον τῆς ἡμέρας πειρώμενοι ἀλλήλων, πρὶν δὴ Ἀρίστων ὁ Πυρρίχου Κορίνθιος, ἄριστος ὢν κυβερνήτης τῶν μετὰ Συρακοσίων, πείθει τοὺς σφετέρους τοῦ ναυτικοῦ ἄρχοντας, πέμψαντας ὡς τοὺς ἐν τῇ πόλει ἐπιμελομένους, κελεύειν ὅτι τάχιστα τὴν ἀγορὰν τῶν πωλουμένων παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν μεταστῆσαι κομίσαντας, καὶ ὅσα τις ἔχει ἐδώδιμα, πάντας ἐκεῖσε φέροντας ἀναγκάσαι πωλεῖν, ὅπως αὐτοῖς ἐκβιβάσαντες τοὺς ναύτας εὐθὺς παρὰ τὰς ναῦς ἀριστοποιήσωνται, καὶ δι’ ὀλίγου αὖθις καὶ αὐθημερὸν ἀπροσδοκήτοις τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις ἐπιχειρῶσιν.
On the next day, the Syracusans, at an earlier hour of the day, and with the same manner of assault by both their land and naval forces, engaged the Athenians, and having drawn up their ships against them in the same manner, they again spent a large part of the day testing one another, until Ariston son of Pyrrhichus, a Corinthian, who was the best helmsman of those on the Syracusan side, persuaded their own naval commanders to send messengers to those in authority in the city, ordering them to move the market of provisions as quickly as possible down to the seashore, and to compel everyone to bring there and sell whatever eatables they had, so that they might disembark the sailors and have them take their midday meal immediately beside the ships, and after a short interval, on the very same day, make another attack on the Athenians when they were not expecting it.

Notes

  1. 7.39.1τῆς μὲν ὥρας πρωίτερον — The comparative adverb πρωίτερον (earlier) takes the genitive of comparison τῆς ὥρας, meaning "at an earlier hour of the day."
  2. 7.39.2πρὶν δὴ — Introducing a decisive turn in the narrative with the historical present πείθει, marking the sudden moment of change after a prolonged struggle.
  3. 7.39.2ὡς τοὺς ἐν τῇ πόλει ἐπιμελομένους — Here ὡς functions as a preposition meaning "to," used with the accusative of persons (τοὺς ἐπιμελομένους).
  4. 7.39.2πέμψαντας ... κελεύειν — The participle πέμψαντας (accusative plural) agrees with the implicit subject of the infinitive κελεύειν, which is the object of πείθει (τοὺς ἄρχοντας).
  5. 7.39.2ἀπροσδοκήτοις τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις — The adjective ἀπροσδοκήτοις is used predicatively with the dative τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις (governed by ἐπιχειρῶσιν), meaning "against the Athenians while they were not expecting it."

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §7.39.1-7.39.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.39.1-7.39.2

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.