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καὶ αὐτοῖς.—the incident as related inevitably reminds us of a Greek tragedy—e.g. the Persae.

τῶν νεκρῶν οὓς ἀπέκτειναν—cf. II. 52 νεκροὶ ἑπ᾽ ἀλλήλοις ἀποθνῄσκοντες.

ξυνεξῇσαν—‘tried to depart with them.’


τὸ πάθος—‘the catastrophe’ of Idomene.

τῶν μετὰ σφῶν—i.e. that they had belonged to those who had fought with his own comrades—i.e. with the body that escaped over the border.


θαυμάζοι . . τεθνᾶσιν—the change of mood from opt. to indic. has nothing to do with the sense: it is purely styhstic Cf. c. 22, 8.

αὖ—‘for his part.’

τῶν ἐν Ἰδομεναῖς—edd. compare II. 34 τοὺς ἐν Μαραθῶνι where, however, ἐν should prob. be omitted (see Neil on Aristoph. Eq. 785). In most cases a partic. is expressed; but ‘those of Idomenae’ is, of course, sufficient.

τὰ ὅπλα ταυτί—the omission of the nnmber—διακοσίων—here appears to be impossible: ‘these are not the arms, then,’ would be natural, were it not for the contrast following. The schol. already did not find διακοσίων in the text.


μαχομένων—imperf.; cf. c. 62, 5.

εἴπερ γε—‘yes if,’ taking up τῶν . . ἐστίν, exactly as in dramatic dialogue the retort is apt to catch up the question. (I have put a note of interrogation at ἐστίν in place of the usual full stop, because the remark seems to be a query as well as a denial: ‘then they are not . . ?’)

ἀλλ᾽ ἡμεῖς γε—‘nay, but we.’

καὶ μὲν δὴ . . γε—‘why I assure you it was with these’; for the particles cf. Plato, Symp. 197 Α καὶ μὲν δὴ τήν γε τῶν ζῳων ποίησιν.


πάθος—‘this disaster was the worst that . . ’ The number of days is three. The qualifications are very precise, and suggest that Thuc. is conscious that other events might be suggested.

κατὰ τὸν τόλεμον τόνδε—many think that only the Ten Years' (Archidamian) war is meant. It is impossible to attain certainty on the question. If Thuc. wrote this soon after the event, the expression is quite natural.

ἄπιστον—pred. not to γενέσθαι, but to λέγεται γενέσθαι together, i.e. ‘the total that it is said to have amounted to is incredible.’

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hide References (3 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (3):
    • Aristophanes, Knights, 785
    • Thucydides, Histories, 2.34
    • Thucydides, Histories, 2.52
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