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Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §8.42.1-8.42.4

Naval Battle of Syme and Peloponnesian Victory

Passage 850 of 917 · Greek

Summary

Astyochus' Peloponnesian fleet engages the Athenian fleet while scattered due to bad weather. The Athenians initially gain the upper hand, but they are forced to flee when the main Peloponnesian fleet appears, allowing the Peloponnesians to unite with the ships from Caunus and erect a trophy on Syme.

§8.42.1ἐπέπλει οὖν ὥσπερ εἶχε πρὸς τὴν Σύμην ὁ Ἀστύοχος πρὶν ἔκπυστος γενέσθαι, εἴ πως περιλάβοι που μετεώρους τὰς ναῦς.
Astyochus, therefore, sailed just as he was for Syme before his approach became known, in the hope that he might somehow surprise the ships out at sea.
καὶ αὐτῷ ὑετός τε καὶ τὰ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ξυννέφελα ὄντα πλάνησιν τῶν νεῶν ἐν τῷ σκότει καὶ ταραχὴν παρέσχεν.
But rain and the cloudy weather coming from the sky caused his ships to lose their way in the dark and fell into confusion.
§8.42.2καὶ ἅμα τῇ ἕῳ διεσπασμένου τοῦ ναυτικοῦ καὶ τοῦ μὲν φανεροῦ ἤδη ὄντος τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις τοῦ εὐωνύμου κέρως, τοῦ δὲ ἄλλου περὶ τὴν νῆσον ἔτι πλανωμένου, ἐπανάγονται κατὰ τάχος ὁ Χαρμῖνος καὶ οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ἐλάσσοσιν ἢ ταῖς εἴκοσι ναυσί, νομίσαντες ἅσπερ ἐφύλασσον ναῦς τὰς ἀπὸ τῆς Καύνου ταύτας εἶναι.
At daybreak, as their fleet had been scattered, with the left wing already visible to the Athenian ships while the rest of the fleet was still straying about the island, Charminus and the Athenians put out to sea in haste with fewer than their twenty ships, thinking that these were the ships from Caunus for which they were keeping watch.
§8.42.3καὶ προσπεσόντες εὐθὺς κατέδυσάν τε τρεῖς καὶ κατετραυμάτισαν ἄλλας, καὶ ἐν τῷ ἔργῳ ἐπεκράτουν, μέχρι οὗ ἐπεφάνησαν αὐτοῖς παρὰ δόξαν αἱ πλείους τῶν νεῶν καὶ πανταχόθεν ἀπεκλῄοντο.
Falling upon them immediately, they sank three ships and damaged others, and had the advantage in the action until, contrary to their expectation, the main body of the enemy's ships appeared before them and they were being hemmed in on every side.
§8.42.4ἔπειτα δὲ ἐς φυγὴν καταστάντες ἓξ μὲν ναῦς ἀπολλύασι, ταῖς δὲ λοιπαῖς καταφεύγουσιν ἐς τὴν Τευτλοῦσσαν νῆσον, ἐντεῦθεν δὲ ἐς Ἁλικαρνασσόν.
Thereupon they were forced into flight and lost six ships, but with the remainder they escaped to the island of Teutlussa, and from there to Halicarnassus.
μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο οἱ μὲν Πελοποννήσιοι ἐς Κνίδον κατάραντες καὶ ξυμμιγεισῶν τῶν ἐκ τῆς Καύνου ἑπτὰ καὶ εἴκοσι νεῶν αὐτοῖς ξυμπάσαις πλεύσαντες καὶ τροπαῖον ἐν τῇ Σύμῃ στήσαντες πάλιν ἐς τὴν Κνίδον καθωρμίσαντο·
After this, the Peloponnesians put into Cnidus, and when the twenty-seven ships from Caunus had joined them, they sailed with their whole fleet, erected a trophy on Syme, and then returned and anchored again at Cnidus.

Notes

  1. 8.42.1εἴ πως περιλάβοι — The conjunction εἴ followed by the optative (περιλάβοι) expresses expectation, purpose, or a tentative attempt ("in the hope that... somehow", "to see if by any chance").
  2. 8.42.1τὰ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ξυννέφελα ὄντα — A nominative expression consisting of the article τὰ, the prepositional phrase ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, the adjective ξυννέφελα, and the participle ὄνta. The neuter plural is used to substantivize the abstract situation of "the cloudy weather coming from the sky."
  3. 8.42.2διεσπασμένου τοῦ ναυτικοῦ καὶ τοῦ μὲν φανεροῦ ἤδη ὄντος... τοῦ δὲ ἄλλου... πλανωμένου — Multiple genitive absolute constructions are coordinate and nested. The concrete detail of the first absolute clause, διεσπασμένου τοῦ ναυτικοῦ (the fleet having been scattered), is elaborated by the two subsequent genitive absolute clauses introduced by μὲν... δέ...: namely, "the left wing (τοῦ εὐωνύμου κέρως) being already visible" and "the rest (τοῦ ἄλλου) still straying."
  4. 8.42.2νομίσαντες ἅσπερ ἐφύλασσον ναῦς τὰς ἀπὸ τῆς Καύνου ταύτας εἶναι — The subject accusative of the infinitive εἶναι is the demonstrative pronoun ταύτας, and the predicate is τὰς ἀπὸ τῆς Καύνου [ναῦς]. The noun ναῦς, which logically serves as the antecedent, has been incorporated into the relative clause ἅσπερ ἐφύλασσον (which they were watching). The overall syntax is: "thinking that these (ταύτας) were the ships from Caunus which they were watching."

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §8.42.1-8.42.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.42.1-8.42.4

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