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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §8.26.1-8.26.3

Arrival of the Peloponnesian Fleet and Alcibiades' Advice

Passage 834 of 917 · Greek

Summary

A reinforcement fleet from the Peloponnese and Sicily approaches Miletus and enters the Iasic Gulf to ascertain the situation. There, they receive news of the battle from Alcibiades, who urges them to relieve Miletus immediately.

§8.26.1ἐν τούτῳ δὲ περὶ δείλην ἤδη ὀψίαν ἀγγέλλεται αὐτοῖς τὰς ἀπὸ Πελοποννήσου καὶ Σικελίας πέντε καὶ πεντήκοντα ναῦς ὅσον οὐ παρεῖναι.
In the meantime, when it was already late in the evening, word was brought to them that the fifty-five ships from the Peloponnese and Sicily were all but present.
τῶν τε γὰρ Σικελιωτῶν, Ἑρμοκράτους τοῦ Συρακοσίου μάλιστα ἐνάγοντος ξυνεπιλαβέσθαι καὶ τῆς ὑπολοίπου Ἀθηναίων καταλύσεως, εἴκοσι νῆες Συρακοσίων ἦλθον καὶ Σελινούντιαι δύο, αἵ τε ἐκ Πελοποννήσου, ἃς παρεσκευάζοντο, ἑτοῖμαι ἤδη οὖσαι·
For of the Siceliots, chiefly through the urge of Hermocrates the Syracusan to take a hand in the destruction of the remainder of the Athenian power, twenty ships of the Syracusans came, and two of the Selinuntines; and those from the Peloponnese, which they had been preparing, were now also ready.
καὶ Θηριμένει τῷ Λακεδαιμονίῳ ξυναμφότεραι ὡς Ἀστύοχον τὸν ναύαρχον προσταχθεῖσαι κομίσαι, κατέπλευσαν ἐς Λέρον πρῶτον τὴν πρὸ Μιλήτου νῆσον·
Both fleets together, having been assigned to Therimenes the Lacedaemonian to conduct to Astyochus the admiral, sailed first into Leros, the island in front of Miletus.
§8.26.2ἔπειτα ἐκεῖθεν αἰσθόμενοι ἐπὶ Μιλήτῳ ὄντας Ἀθηναίους ἐς τὸν Ἰασικὸν κόλπον πρότερον πλεύσαντες ἐβούλοντο εἰδέναι τὰ περὶ τῆς Μιλήτου.
Then, having learned from there that the Athenians were before Miletus, they sailed first into the Iasic Gulf, wishing to know how matters stood with Miletus.
§8.26.3ἐλθόντος δὲ Ἀλκιβιάδου ἵππῳ ἐς Τειχιοῦσσαν τῆς Μιλησίας, οἷπερ τοῦ κόλπου πλεύσαντες ηὐλίσαντο, πυνθάνονται τὰ περὶ τῆς μάχης (παρῆν γὰρ ὁ Ἀλκιβιάδης καὶ ξυνεμάχετο τοῖς Μιλησίοις καὶ Τισσαφέρνει), καὶ αὐτοῖς παρῄνει, εἰ μὴ βούλονται τά τε ἐν Ἰωνίᾳ καὶ τὰ ξύμπαντα πράγματα διολέσαι, ὡς τάχιστα βοηθεῖν Μιλήτῳ καὶ μὴ περιιδεῖν ἀποτειχισθεῖσαν.
And when Alcibiades had come on horseback to Teichioussa in the Milesian territory, where they had anchored after sailing into the gulf, they learned the news of the battle (for Alcibiades had been present and fought on the side of the Milesians and Tissaphernes); and he advised them, if they did not wish to ruin their prospects in Ionia and their whole cause, to succor Miletus as quickly as possible and not to allow it to be walled in.

Notes

  1. §8.26.1ὅσον οὐ παρεῖναι — The idiom ὅσον οὐ means 'all but' or 'almost.' Here, it modifies the accusative and infinitive construction τὰς ... ναῦς ... παρεῖναι (that the ships were present), expressing the imminent arrival of the fleet.
  2. §8.26.1Ἑρμοκράτους ... ἐνάγοντος — A genitive absolute construction expressing cause: 'Hermocrates ... urging them.' The participle ἐνάγοντος takes the infinitive ξυνεπιλαβέσθαι (to take a hand in) as its object, which in turn governs the genitive τῆς ... καταλύσεως.
  3. §8.26.1προσταχθεῖσαι κομίσαι — The passive participle προσταχθεῖσαι agrees with the subject ξυναμφότεραι (both fleets, feminine plural). This is a passive transformation of an active construction where the ships are the object of the command: 'to command Therimenes to conduct the ships' becomes 'the ships having been assigned to Therimenes to conduct.' The dative Θηριμένει denotes the agent commanded, and the infinitive κομίσαι expresses the action to be performed.
  4. §8.26.3οἷπερ τοῦ κόλπου πλεύσαντες ηὐλίσαντο — οἷπερ is a relative adverb of place referring to Teichioussa, where they anchored. τοῦ κόλπου is a genitive of place, or a partitive genitive indicating the space (within the gulf) through which they sailed.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §8.26.1-8.26.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.26.1-8.26.3

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