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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §8.13.1

Return of the Sicilian fleet and Athenian interception

Passage 821 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Sixteen Peloponnesian ships returning from Sicily under Gylippus were intercepted near Leucas by Athenian forces, but all except one successfully escaped and reached Corinth.

§8.13.1ἀνεκομίζοντο δὲ ὑπὸ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον τοῦτον καὶ αἱ ἀπὸ τῆς Σικελίας Πελοποννησίων ἑκκαίδεκα νῆες αἱ μετὰ Γυλίππου ξυνδιαπολεμήσασαι· καὶ περὶ τὴν Λευκάδα ἀποληφθεῖσαι καὶ κοπεῖσαι ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀττικῶν ἑπτὰ καὶ εἴκοσι νεῶν, ὧν ἦρχεν Ἱπποκλῆς Μενίππου φυλακὴν ἔχων τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς Σικελίας νεῶν, αἱ λοιπαὶ πλὴν μιᾶς διαφυγοῦσαι τοὺς Ἀθηναίους κατέπλευσαν ἐς τὴν Κόρινθον.
At about this same time, the sixteen Peloponnesian ships from Sicily which had fought through the war with Gylippus were also returning home; and having been intercepted near Leucas and battered by the twenty-seven Attic ships under the command of Hippocles son of Menippus, who was keeping watch for the ships from Sicily, the rest except one escaped the Athenians and sailed into Corinth.

Notes

  1. 8.13.1αἱ ... ἑκκαίδεκα νῆες ... αἱ λοιπαὶ πλὴν μιᾶς — The subject introduced at the beginning, 'the sixteen ships' (αἱ ἑκκαίδεκα νῆες), serves as the subject of the first verb 'were returning' (ἀνεκομίζοντο). However, after the intervening participle clauses, the subject shifts to 'the rest except one' (αἱ λοιπαὶ πλὴν μιᾶς) for the final verb 'sailed into port' (κατέπλευσαν). This is an example of anacoluthon, prioritizing the logical flow of the narrative over strict grammatical consistency.
  2. 8.13.1φυλακὴν ἔχων — The phrase combining the verb ἔχω and the noun φυλακή means 'keeping guard' or 'watching for,' taking the genitive 'the ships from Sicily' (τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς Σικελίας νεῶν) as its object.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §8.13.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.13.1

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