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Πυθέω—Ionic gen. of Πύθης. Cf. Τηρέω below. εἶχε—sc. γυναῖκα. Cf. Andoc. I. 50 ὃς ἔχει σου τὴν ἀδελφήν. Σιτάλκης—see c. 95-102. πρόξενον—their representative in the kingdom of the Odrysae.
Τὴν μεγάλην βασίλειαν—the great kingdom existing in 431. ἐπὶ πλεῖον τῆς ἄλλης—there are several ways of explaining this. The old rendering was ‘made it more powerful than the rest of Thrace,’ but this strains ἐπὶ πλεῖον. The others are (1) ‘extended his kingdom over a great part of Thrace,’ (2) ‘established it over a greater territory than the rest of Thrace comprised,’ i.e. it included more than half of Thrace, (3) ‘formed it on a larger scale than the rest of Thraee.’ Probably (2) is right; I. 9, 3, 71, 3 are similar.
Προσήκει οὐδέν—at a time when Athens was trying to form a conneetion with Thrace, it was natural that people should try to eonneet Athenian history with Thraeian. τὸ ἔργον—a hint at the murder of Itys by Procne and Philomela. Ovid, Met. VI. 620. For the attitude of Thuc. towards these myths, see Grote I. p. 389. πολλοῖς—the ordinary prose rule for the agent with perf. pass, which Thuc. generally follows, is that the dat. is used when the subject is nonpersonal: when the subject is a person, ὑπὸ and gen. is invariably used. ἐν ἀηδόνος μνήμῃ—‘in referenees to the nightingale.’ εἰκὸς δὲ—for this argument cf. c. 11, 8. It was used only by orators and historians: philosophers laughed at it. κῆδος—an Ionie word for ‘a connexion by marriage,’ found in Herod., Tragedy and late writers. διὰ τοσούτου— ‘at so short a distance.’ Cf. c. 12, 1. πολλῶν ἡμερῶν— depends on ὁδοῦ, see c. 13, 7.
Τὰ ἐπὶ Θ—the Chalcidian towns, which were causing much anxiety at the time. Περδίκκαν—he had acted against Athens in the matter of Potidaea. I. 57-62. ξυνελεῖν— ‘to help to establish their influence over.’
Τε—‘and so.’ ἐποίησε—contrast with ἐποιήσαντο in 4 above. Σάδοκον—this presentation of the freedom of Athens amused and disgusted many. See Aristoph. Acharn. 141. Ἀθηναῖον—Muller-Strubing places καὶ Σάδοκον . .Ἀθηναῖον after ξύμμαχον ἐποιήσαντο above, on the ground that Thuc. could not say that an Abderite made a man a citizen: but it is plain that Thuc. refers to formalities earried out by the Proxenus when a member of his state was made a citizen of the state of which he was Proxenus. (So μυεῖν, ‘to initiate’ into the mysteries, a privilege belonging to the Eumolpidae, and Ceryees is used inexaetly of the man who introduces a candidate for initiation. Cf. [Dem.] 59, 21, Andoc. 1, 132.
Ξυνεβίβασε—a great gain to Athens. Cf. Intr. p. lxviii. Θέρμην—eaptured by Athens in 432. I. 61, 2. τ᾽—‘and so.’ Φορμίωνος—he had gone with reinforeements to Potidaea in 432. See c. 2, 1. He had been Strategus in the Samian War, and again held offiee in 430 and 429. I. 64, 117; e. 69, 80, 102.
Οὕτω μὲν—the usual way in whieh Thue. summarises and dismisses a subject to pass to another. Cf. e. 4, 9, 15, 20.
Commentary on Thucydides Book 2. E.C. Marchant. London. MacMillan & Company. 1891.
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