Charles F. Smith, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 3

---

The attack on Naupactus fails, because Demosthenes throws Acarnanian reinforcements into the town. Eurylochus then turns, at the request of the Ambraciots, against the Amphilochian Argos.

κατέθετο: sc. Εὐρύλοχος, c. 101. 2. See on c. 28. 14.—

Κυτίνιον: see on c. 95. 5; i. 107. 5.—4.

Οἰνεῶνα . . . καὶ Εὐπάλιον: the reverse of the geographical order. See on c. 29. 6. For the former place, see on c. 95. 16; 98. 17; for the latter, c. 96. 7.—

αὐτῶν: for the part. gen., cf. 101. 5 τῶν Λοκρῶν, 86. 10 τῆς Ἰταλίας Λοκροὶ μὲν κτἑ.

καὶ . . . προσβεβοηθηκότες: supplementary addition to γενόμενοι ἐν τῇ Ναυπακτίᾳ (sc. οἱ ξὺν Εὐρυλόχῳ). The pf. partic. has reference to the union already effected before the entry into the territory of Naupactus. The undeniable harshness of the const. involved in joining by means of καὶ . . . ἅμα a second subject to one merely implied in an appositive partic. (γενόμενοι) would be removed by assuming, with Steup (Quaest. Thuc. p. 50 sq.), that αὐτοί has been lost before καὶ οἱ. Cf. iv. 90. 2; 131. 1. —6.

ἤδη προσβεβοηθηκότες: cf. c. 6. 10.—7.

Μολύκρειον: cf. ii. 84. 28, —8.

τὴν Κορινθίων μὲν ἀποικίαν kte(.: concerning Potidaea, cf. i. 56. 6.—

ὑπήκοον: sc. πόλιν. Doubtless to be construed subst., as ξυμμαχίδα, ii. 2 11, and ξύμμαχον, v. 35. 2.

ὁ Ἀθηναῖος: the mention of Demosthenes among the distant ξύμμαχοι causes the addition of the ἐθνικόν.—10. μετὰ τὰ ἐκ τῆς Αἰτωλίας: for μετὰ τὰ ἐν τῇ Αἰτωλίᾳ, with reference to the retreat, c. 98. Cf. iv. 81. 9 ἐς τὸν μετὰ τὰ ἐκ Σικελίας πόλεμον, vi. 89. 5 περὶ τὴν ἐκ Ηύλου ξυμφοράν, viii. 2. 1 πρὸς τὴν ἐκ τῆς Σικελίας . . . κακοπραγίαν. Kr. Spr. 50, 8, 13. For the attraction of the prep., see also on c. 5. 1.—

περὶ Ναύπακτον: c. 98. 26.—11.

τοῦ στρατοῦ: the gen. with προαισθόμενος, as with the simple verb. See on i. 57. 14. G. 1102; H. 742.—

περὶ αὐτῆς: sc. τῆς Ναυπάκτου, as viii. 93. 17 ἐφοβεῖτο περὶ τοῦ πολιτικοῦ. Elsewhere περί after verbs of fear takes the dat. See on i. 60. 3.— 12.

χαλεπῶς διὰ τὴν . . . ἀναχώρησιν: Inserted almost parenthetically. As to the matter, cf. c. 95. § 1.

ἐπὶ τῶν νεῶν: can refer only to ships of the Acarnanians, for the thirty Athenian ships, which Dem. had commanded in the spring and summer, had returned to Athens (c. 98. 25), and the twenty mentioned c. 105. 15 sailed later. The fifteen Corcyraean ships (c. 94. 8), to which Müller-Strübing refers (Aristoph. etc. p. 491 N.), had also returned home (c. 95. 15). That the Acarnanians possessed ships is, with their extensive coast, altogether probable, even though there be a lack of good harbours. Since these ships are not mentioned before, and their number cannot have been great (cf. ii. 9. § 4, 5), Steup proposes ἐπί τινων νεῶν, comparing, for the order of the words, iv. 76. 5; viii. 32. 12.—

περιεποίησαν: cf. ii. 25. 13.—15.

δεινὸν γὰρ ἦν: sc. before aid came. δεινόν, as in iv. 75. 7; vii. 25. 31.

ἐσεληλυθυῖαν: the pf. partic. emphasizes the fact that it was now too late for an attack.—19.

Αἰολίδα: this ancient name of the district is not found elsewhere in ancient writers, but is supported by Strabo's remark (p. 464 c), τὴν Ηλευρωνίαν ὑπὸ Κουρήτων οἰκουμένην Αἰολεῖς ἐπελθόντες ἀφείλοντο. Cf. also the remark of Hesychius, ἡ γὰρ Καλυδὼν Αἰολὶς ἐκαλεῖτο. See Niebuhr, Vortr. etc. p. 146; Bursian i. p. 130. On the text, see App.— 20.

Καλυδῶνα καὶ Πλευρῶνα: see Bursian i. p. 129 ff.—21.

Πρόσχιον: on the site of the Homeric Pylene (B 639). Bursian i. p. 131.

Ἄργει τε . . . καὶ Ἀκαρνανίᾳ: the Ambraciots recur to their plans of the year 430 and 429 B.C. Cf. ii. 68, and 80-82.—24.

καὶ Ἀκαρνανίᾳ ἅμα, λέγοντες kte(.: so with Bk., Pp., and Kr., not καὶ Ἀκαρνανίᾳ, ἅμα λέγοντες κτἑ., since ἅμα would be out of place in a statement of the means by which the Ambraciots persuaded Eurylochus over to their plans, whereas the correlation τε, καὶ ἅμα occurs often in Thuc. (c. 40. 17; v. 69. 4; vi. 15. 8; vii. 19. 3). Cf. ii. 80. § 1, where the const. πείθουσι. . ., λέγοντες ὅτι occurs in a similar passage.— 25.

πᾶν τὸ ἠπειρωτικὸν kte(.: similar promises were made ii. 80. § 1. τὸ ἠπειρωτικόν, as in c. 94. 18.—

ξύμμαχον καθεστήξει: see on c. 37. 13.

τοὺς Αἰτωλοὺς ἀφείς: thus abandoning the enterprise undertaken at their instance. Cf. c. 7. 13; ii. 78. 3; v. 75. 2. The Locrians also (cf. c. 101. § 2) seem to have been dismissed at that time by Eurylochus. —28.

ἕως . . . δέοι βοηθεῖν: “until the right moment should have come to lend aid,” which is expressed by the aor. partic. ἐκστρατευσαμένοις, “when the Ambraciots should have taken the field.” This occurs c. 105. 1, Ἀμπρακιῶται . . . ἐκστρατεύονται ἐπὶ Ἄργος. For the opt., see GMT. 614; H. 921. —

περὶ τὸ Ἄργος: const. with βοηθεῖν.