CHAPTER LXXXIV
Ἄκανθον—Acanthus was situated on the Strymonian gulf, a short distance to the north of the point where the canal of Xerxes cut the peninsula of Athos.
τὴν Ἀνδρίων ἀποικίαν —founded in the middle of the seventh century. The def. article probably means ‘the (well-known) colony’, as in ch. 67, 4, or it may be used to distinguish the town from others of the same name. Same, Stageirus, and Argilus were Andrian colonies in the same district. Andros itself had been colonized from Eretria.
τρυγήτου—‘vintage’; it was now late in the summer.
τοῦ καρποῦ, line 7, therefore means the grapes, though by itself it more naturally denotes corn: cf.
iii. 15,
ἐν καρποῦ ξυγκομιδῇ. Note in these passages the collective use of
καρπός, like
κέραμος ch. 48, 13.
τοῦ καρποῦ τὸ δέος—a very uncommon construction for
περί τοῦ, see ch. 88, 5:
δέος, like
φόβος, usually takes gen. of the thing feared.
ἀκούσαντας βουλεύσασθαι—‘to hear him before deciding’: for plur. cf. 7, 34,
ὁ πεζὸς...βεβοηθηκότες, etc.: we should expect
ἀκούσαντες, but the acc. may be explained as referring to both parties and not only to the
πλῆθος: cf. ch. 69, 24.
καταστὰς ἐπὶ τὸ πλῆθος—‘presenting himself before the popular assembly’: cf. ch. 97, 10.
οὑδὲ ἀδύνατος—‘not a bad speaker either’, besides his other merits;
οὑδέ ‘also not’ as in ch. 48, 11.
ὡς Λακεδαιμόνιος—‘for a Lacedaemonian’; i.e. taking that into account. This is (a) a limiting use of
ὡς, showing that the main statement is modified by reference to the condition which
ὡς introduces:
Soph. O. C. 20,
μακρὸν γὰρ ὡς γέροντι προὐστάλης ὁδόν, ‘you have come a long way (not absolutely, but) for an old man’: so
vi. 20,
ὡς ἐν μιᾷ νήσῳ. Hdt. uses
ὡς εἷναι and
ὡς ἄν εἶναι in the same way, see Lidd. and Scott. So in Lat., Cic. de Sen. 4. 12, multae, ut in homine Romano, literae:
Liv. xxxii. 33, vir, ut inter Aetolos, facundus.
This usage must not be confused with its converse (b)
ὡς in the sense of ‘as being’, which introduces a general statement in accordance with a particular fact stated;
Eur. Ion, 1190,
ὁ δὲ, ὡς ἐν ἱερῷ τραφείς: so
Cic. Tusc. i. 8. 15, Epicharmi, acuti nec insulsi hominis, ut Siculi; intelligence and wit being characteristic of the Sicilian Greeks.
Both (a) and (b) come under a general head, the comparison of a particular statement with a general one introduced by
ὡς or ut. In most instances the context shows to which division a passage should be assigned, but there is at times a doubt: thus
Soph. O. T. 1078,
φρονεῖ γὰρ ὡς γυνὴ μέγα, probably belongs to (b), ‘she is proud, like a woman’; but possibly to (a), ‘her thoughts are lofty for a woman’: ib. 1118,
πιστὸς ὡς νομεύς, probably comes under (a), ‘loyal, for a herdsman’, i.e. in such things as a herdsman is capable of: see also ch. 14, 5.
Rhetorical speaking was not cultivated at Sparta, but rather a terse and pregnant form of expression; see note on ch. 17, 6: cf.
i. 84, and
Plat. Protag. 342 E. The speech here attributed to Brasidas is both forcible and politic: as Grote observes, it is especially interesting as a manifesto of the principles professed by Sparta.
