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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §7.76.1

Nicias Encourages the Disheartened Retreating Army

Passage 797 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Seeing the dispirited state of the army during the retreat, Nicias goes along the ranks, raising his voice with great zeal to encourage and comfort the soldiers as much as possible.

§7.76.1ὁρῶν δὲ ὁ Νικίας τὸ στράτευμα ἀθυμοῦν καὶ ἐν μεγάλῃ μεταβολῇ ὄν, ἐπιπαριὼν ὡς ἐκ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων ἐθάρσυνέ τε καὶ παρεμυθεῖτο, βοῇ τε χρώμενος ἔτι μᾶλλον ἑκάστοις καθ’ οὓς γίγνοιτο ὑπὸ προθυμίας καὶ βουλόμενος ὡς ἐπὶ πλεῖστον γεγωνίσκων ὠφελεῖν τι.
And Nicias, seeing the army dispirited and in a state of great change, went along the ranks and encouraged and comforted them as well as the circumstances permitted, raising his voice still louder to each group as he came up to them out of his zeal, and wishing, by making his voice reach as far as possible, to be of some benefit.

Notes

  1. 7.76.1ὡς ἐκ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων — An idiomatic phrase meaning "as well as the present circumstances allowed" or "from what was available," expressing the idea of doing one's best under extremely difficult conditions.
  2. 7.76.1καθ’ οὓς γίγνοιτο — The optative in the relative clause expressing repeated action in past time ("whenever he came up to them").
  3. 7.76.1ὡς ἐπὶ πλεῖστον γεγωνίσκων — ὡς ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ("as far as possible") is an adverbial phrase modifying the participle γεγωνίσκων ("making one's voice reach" or "shouting aloud"), emphasizing the physical range to which Nicias wished his voice to carry.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §7.76.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.76.1

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