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τὸ Πλημμύριον— “the A. fleet was now . . . in the north-western corner of the harbour, near the swamp of Lysimeleia . . . Now that the Syr. were beginning to stir by sea, such a position gave them no command of the harbour in general. . . . Everything now had to come by sea, at a great disadvantage, as long as the A. had no command of the mouth of the harbour. . . . N. therefore determined to occupy Plemmyrion.” Freeman . ἀντιπέρας—the view from it takes in the whole extent of Ortygia and Achradina. ῥᾷον—ῥᾴων would be expected; but ἡ ἐσκομιδὴ ἔσται is treated as passive of τὴν ἐσκομιδὴν ποιήσομαι, so that ἔσται would more naturally be γενήσεται, as in II. 18 χαλεπῶς ἡ ἀνάστασις ἐγίγνετο. Cf. c. 28.1 (γίγνεται and ἐστὶ are frequently qualified by an adv. in such phrases as κακῶς γίγνεται = it turns out badly for; so that ῥᾷον here is not opposed to Gk. idiom.) δι᾽ ἐλάσσονος—local, as in δι᾽ ὀλίγου 36, 5; at a shorter distance from the Syracusan fleet. πρὸς τῷ λιμένι—cf. VIII. 94 τοῦ πολέμου . . . πρὸς τῷ λιμένι ὄντος, of a battle close to Peiraeus. The phrase means near the mouth of the harbour. The fleet would now be drawn up just inside the harbour, and there would be less danger of disasters like that related in c. 3.5 when provisions were to be brought in. ἐκ μυχοῦ—the north-western corner, close to the point at which the double wall touched the harbour τὰς ἐπαναγωγὰς—putting out against an enemy; ἐπαγωγή, conveyance of provisions, as c. 24. ποιήσεσθαι—see index, s. v. ποιεῖσθαι. ἤν τι . . . κινῶνται—the full sentence is εἰ τειχισθείη, ἐφαίνετο οὐκ . . . ποιήσεσθαι, ἤν τι ναυτικῷ κ.; hence there are two protases, both of which, in the recta, are subj. with ἤν. In these cases, the first protasis is the principal condition, the second the subordinate. Cf. Andoc. I. 149 ἐὰν τοῖς ἐχθροῖς πεισθῆτε, οὐδ᾽ ἂν ὑστέρῳ χρόνῳ ὑμῖν μεταμελήσῃ, οὐδὲν ἔτι πλέον ποιήσετε. κινῶνται—(1) sc. οἱ Συρακόσιοι. Thuc. changes the subject more rapidly than we should do. Cf. II. 3 ὅπως μὴ προσφέρωνται (οἱ Πλαταιῆς) καὶ σφίσιν ἐκ τοῦ ἴσου γίγνωνται (οἱ Θηβαῖοι), (2) passive voice, as usual with verbs used reflexively, the purely reflexive use of the mid. being quite rare. Cf. v. 8 ὡς εἶδε κινουμένους τοὺς Ἀθηναίους. προσεῖχέ τε—in fact he was now disposed to give more attention to naval warfare. ἐπειδὴ—in temporal sentences where the indic. was used in the Recta, it is always retained in the Obliqua. ἧκεν—cf. c. 1.4.
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