E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides Book 1

λόγῳ—Steup is probably right in explaining this, not as merely pleonastic, but as a reference to the set speeches, as distinct from ‘words’ generally: hence=‘in debate.’ Note, however, the implied contrast between τὰ ἔργα τῶν λεχθέντων and τὰ ἔργα τῶν πραχθέντων, deeds of speech and of act.

6. ἐν αὐτῷ—i.e. ἐν τῷ πολεμεῖν.

7. χαλεπόν—for the implied sense ‘impossible’ Steup compares c 20. 1; 7.87. 4

9. ὧν—rel. to τῶν λεχθέντων.

ἄλλοθέν ποθεν—from the various places where they happened to be

10. ὡς δ᾽ ἂν ἐδόκουν κτλ.—I have represented the various speakers as uttering the sentiments that seemed to me appropriate to the particular occasion, while I have kept as closely as possible to the general sense of what was really said: lit. as I believed that they would have best expressed what it was necessary to say. ἄν and μάλιστα belong to εἰπεῖν ˙ ἐχομένῳ κτλ. to εἴρηται, to which ἐμοί is supplied. The order is thus awkward, but it is made easier by the preceding ἐμοί. (The sense does not allow us to connect ἐχομένῳ with ἐδόκουν）

11. τὰ δέοντα—i.e. the best arguments that could be found to support the ξύμπασα γνώμη of the speaker. (Jebb, Hellenica p. 275, thinks that Thuc. is tacitly contrasting this method with that of Herod., and, as it can scarcely be doubted that he does so in the passage that follows, this is probably true.)

[2] 14. τὰ δ᾽ ἔργα τῶν πραχθέντων—verbally this is opposed to τὴν ἀκρίβειαν τῶν λεχθέντων rather than to ὅσα λόγῳ εἶπον.

16. ἠξίωσα—thought it my business.

οὐδ᾽ ὡς ἐμοὶ ἐδόκει—in accordance with my own whims.

17. οἷς τε αὐτὸς παρῆν—i.e. (ἠξίωσα γράφειν ἐκεῖνα）οἷς: I described facts which I myself witnessed and (I described facts) after inquiring about each detail from others, thus ἐπεξελθών is parallel to οἷς αὐτὸς παρῆν, which, as Mr. Forbes says, is equivalent to αὐτὸς παραγενόμενος. (Another way is to make ἐπεξελθών govern οἶς αὐτὸς παρῆν, but this has the great disadvantage of making οἷς αὐτὸς παρῆν and παρὰ τῶν ἄλλων parallel phrases. See crit. note.)

18. ὅσον δυνατὸν ἀκριβείᾳ—for (τοσοῦτον）ὅσον (accus. δυνατὸν（ἦν）ἀ. Notice that ἀκριβείᾳ here is subjective in sense, meaning the aecuracy of Thuc, not the accuracy of the facts, as in 22.1.

[3] 21. ἑκατέρων—towards either side, objective gen. to εὐνοίας, as in 7.57. 10 Ἀθηναίων εύνοίᾳ. (Croiset connects ἑκατέρων τις, ex utrisque partibus quisque.）

ὡς ... εὐνοίας ἢ μνήμης ἔχοι—for the gen., that of the sphere in which, depending on ὡς, πῶς, ποῦ, ποῖ, and occasionally other advs. of manner, cf c. 36. 2. ἔχοι is iterative.

[4] 23 τὸ μὴ μυθῶδες—the fact that he hears no legend in my history. μἥ is here subjective, referring to what the reader will feel (The edd., as frequently in Thuc., give various explanations of this μή.)

αὐτῶν—with τὸ μὴ μ.; cf. c. 1. 2.

24. ἀτερπέστερον—less attractive.

25. τῶν γενομένων—this means the past so far as Thuc. records it, the period with which he deals; for Thuc. could not suppose that his work would be useful as a record of all past history.

τὸ σαφές—the truth, ‘the exact nature.’

26 τῶν μελλόντων κτλ.—of what is likely to be repeated at some future time with more or less exactness.

1. κρίνειν—subject τούτους. αὐτά —my history, as αὐτῶν above.

2. τε—concluding, ‘and so.’

ἀγώνισμα—the word means performance, ‘feat,’ ‘show piece,’ or ‘prize’; here of a prize composition.

ἐς τὸ παραχρῆμα ἀκούειν—for immediate hearing.