Humanitext Reader

Aeschines · Letters §9.1-9.2

Land Purchase in Amos and Longing for Home

Passage 9 of 14 · Greek

Summary

After arriving in Physcus and recovering from an asthmatic fit, the author inspects and purchases an estate in Amos, planning to build a modest farmhouse while lamenting the loss of his beloved home city.

§9.1Περαιωθεὶς ἐπὶ Φύσκον, ἡσυχάσας ἐκείνην τὴν ἡμέραν, οὐχ ὑπʼ ἀργίας, ἀλλὰ μηκυνεῖν ἔδοξεν ἡ περὶ τὸ ἄσθμα νόσος, ὡς τὴν νύκτα ἐνέδωκε καὶ ῥᾴων ἐγενόμην, βαδίσας εἰς τὴν ʼʼΑμὸν ἐπεῖδον τὰ χωρία.
Having crossed over to Physcus, I rested for that day, not out of laziness, but because my asthmatic illness seemed likely to linger; however, when it relented in the night and I felt better, I walked to Amos and inspected the estate.
καί μοι ἔδοξε καλὰ μὲν ἄλλως καὶ ποικίλα εἶναι τὰ χωρία (καὶ γὰρ ἐλαιῶν φυτὰ ἥν πολλὰ καὶ ἄμπελοι συχναὶ καὶ σπόριμα πλείονα καὶ νομαὶ καλαί), ἐπαύλιον δὲ οὐδὲ μέτριον, ἀλλὰ πάντα ἐρείπια.
And the estate seemed to me to be otherwise beautiful and diverse (for there were many olive plants, numerous vines, plenty of arable land, and fine pastures), but there was not even a decent farm building, but all was in ruins.
§9.2ἐδέξατο δʼ ἡμᾶς ὁ Μυωνίδης φιλανθρώπως σφόδρα.
Myonides received us very hospitably.
τὰ μέντοι χωρία δυοῖν ταλάντων ἐπριάμην, καὶ νῦν ἐπαύλιόν τι μηχανῶμαι τοιοῦτον, οἷον ἂν μηχανῴμην ἐγὼ κεκτημένος βραχέα καὶ μέλλων ὅμως οἰκεῖν ἐνθάδε, μὰ τοὺς θεοὺς οὐχ ἡδέως στερόμενος τῆς ἐμαυτοῦ πόλεως, καὶ μάλιστα τοιαύτης, ἐν δύναιτο ἄν τις ἧττον ἀλγεῖν ὑπολαμβάνων οἰκεῖν.
However, I bought the estate for two talents, and now I am planning such a farm building as I might build for myself, possessing little but intending nevertheless to dwell here—by the gods, not gladly deprived of my own city, and especially of one such that in it, by conceiving that one dwells there, one might suffer the least.
ἔρρωσο.
Farewell.

Notes

  1. §9.1μηκυνεῖν ἔδοξεν — This is a personal construction of ἔδοξε with the subject ἡ... νόσος, rather than an impersonal construction. The infinitive μηκυνεῖν is used intransitively to mean 'to linger' or 'to drag on.'
  2. §9.1ἐνέδωκε — An intransitive use of the otherwise transitive verb ἐνδίδωμι, here meaning 'to relent,' 'to abate,' or 'to give in,' commonly used of diseases or weather.
  3. §9.2ἐν — Although the manuscript reading has only the preposition ἐν, it is most naturally understood as a corruption or omission of ἐν ᾗ ('in which'), referring back to the feminine singular antecedent τοιαύτης (and τῆς ἐμαυτοῦ πόλεως).
  4. §9.2ὑπολαμβάνων οἰκεῖν — The participle ὑπολαμβάνων ('conceiving' or 'assuming') is followed by the complementary infinitive οἰκεῖν ('to dwell'). The phrase means 'by imagining that one dwells there.'

Cite this passage

Aeschines, Letters §9.1-9.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0026.tlg004.humanitext-grc1:9.1-9.2

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