Humanitext Reader

Thucydides · History of the Peloponnesian War §8.99.1

Departure of the Peloponnesian Fleet under Mindarus

Passage 907 of 917 · Greek

Summary

The Peloponnesian forces in Miletus, facing a lack of maintenance, Tissaphernes' untrustworthiness, and an invitation from Pharnabazus, hastily set sail for the Hellespont under Mindarus, but are forced by a storm to put in at Icarus before reaching Chios.

§8.99.1ὑπὸ δὲ τοὺς αὐτοὺς χρόνους τοῦ θέρους τούτου καὶ οἱ ἐν τῇ Μιλήτῳ Πελοποννήσιοι, ὡς τροφήν τε οὐδεὶς ἐδίδου τῶν ὑπὸ Τισσαφέρνους τότε [ὅτε ἐπὶ τὴν Ἄσπενδον παρῄει] προσταχθέντων, καὶ αἱ Φοίνισσαι νῆες οὐδὲ ὁ Τισσαφέρνης τέως που ἧκον, ὅ τε Φίλιππος ὁ ξυμπεμφθεὶς αὐτῷ ἐπεστάλκει Μινδάρῳ τῷ ναυάρχῳ καὶ ἄλλος Ἱπποκράτης, ἀνὴρ Σπαρτιάτης καὶ ὢν ἐν Φασήλιδι, ὅτι οὔτε αἱ νῆες παρέσοιντο πάντα τε ἀδικοῖντο ὑπὸ Τισσαφέρνους, Φαρνάβαζός τε ἐπεκαλεῖτο αὐτοὺς καὶ ἦν πρόθυμος κομίσας τὰς ναῦς καὶ αὐτὸς τὰς λοιπὰς ἔτι πόλεις τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ἀρχῆς ἀποστῆσαι τῶν Ἀθηναίων, ὥσπερ καὶ ὁ Τισσαφέρνης, ἐλπίζων πλέον τι σχήσειν ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ, οὕτω δὴ ὁ Μίνδαρος πολλῷ κόσμῳ καὶ ἀπὸ παραγγέλματος αἰφνιδίου, ὅπως λάθοι τοὺς ἐν Σάμῳ, ἄρας ἀπὸ τῆς Μιλήτου ναυσὶ τρισὶ καὶ ἑβδομήκοντα ἔπλει ἐπὶ τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον (πρότερον δὲ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ θέρει τῷδε ἑκκαίδεκα ἐς αὐτὸν νῆες ἐσέπλευσαν, αἳ καὶ τῆς Χερσονήσου τι μέρος κατέδραμον)· χειμασθεὶς δὲ ἀνέμῳ καὶ ἀναγκασθεὶς καταίρει ἐς τὴν Ἴκαρον, καὶ μείνας ἐν αὐτῇ ὑπὸ ἀπλοίας πέντε ἢ ἓξ ἡμέρας ἀφικνεῖται ἐς τὴν Χίον.
About the same time of this summer, the Peloponnesians in Miletus also—since no one of those who had been commanded by Tissaphernes at the time [when he went to Aspendos] was giving them maintenance, and neither the Phoenician ships nor Tissaphernes had arrived up to that time, and Philip who had been sent with him had sent word to Mindarus the admiral, and another, Hippocrates, a Spartan who was in Phaselis, that the ships would not arrive and that they were being wronged in every way by Tissaphernes, and Pharnabazus was inviting them and was eager, if he could get the ships, himself to make the remaining cities in his own province revolt from the Athenians, just as Tissaphernes had done, hoping to gain some greater advantage from it—under these circumstances, then, Mindarus, with great order and on a sudden signal, in order to escape the notice of those in Samos, set sail from Miletus with seventy-three ships and steered for the Hellespont (previously, in this same summer, sixteen ships had sailed into it, which also overran some part of the Chersonese); but being caught by a storm of wind and forced, he put in at Icarus, and having remained there five or six days because of adverse weather, he arrived at Chios.

Notes

  1. §8.99.1οἱ ἐν τῇ Μιλήτῳ Πελοποννήσιοι — Introduced as the subject at the beginning of the sentence, but after a long causal clause (ὡς...), ὁ Μίνδαρος is introduced as the new subject governing the verb ἔπλει. This is an anacoluthon resulting from the shift of focus from the Peloponnesians as a group to their commander Mindarus.
  2. §8.99.1ὡς — A conjunction expressing cause. It governs all four parallel circumstances that follow (1. οὐδεὶς ἐδίδου..., 2. αἱ Φοίνισσαι νῆες... οὐδὲ... ἧκον, 3. ὅ τε Φίλιππος... ἐπεστάλκει..., and 4. Φαρνάβαζός τε ἐπεκαλεῖτο...), collectively leading to the action in the main clause (sailing from Miletus).
  3. §8.99.1ὥσπερ καὶ ὁ Τισσαφέρνης — Meaning 'just as Tissaphernes also (had done).' It compares Pharnabazus's ambition to make the Athenian allied cities revolt with the previous actions or attempts of Tissaphernes.

Cite this passage

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War §8.99.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.99.1

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.