Charles D. Morris, Commentary on Thucydides Book 1

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Meanwhile the Spartans demand the banishment of the descendants of those who had incurred pollution in the matter of Cylon's attempted usurpation. Narration of this event.

ἐπρεσβεύοντο: impf. as introducing the negotiations, which, with various digressions, occupy c. 126-138.

ὅτι μεγίστη πρόφασις: the strongest possible excuse. Cf. c. 141. 4.

ἐσακούσωσι: cf. c. 82. 11.

πρῶτον μέν: the correl. to this is ὕστερον δέ in c. 139. 3.

τὸ ἄγος ἐλαύνειν: a formula. Cf. c. 127. 1; 128. 2; 135. 3; ii.13.9; Soph. O. T. 97, μίασμα ἐλαύνειν. τὸ ἄγος=τοὺς ἐναγεῖς, i.e. τοὺς ἐκγόνους τῶν δρασάντων τὸ ἄγος.

τῆς θεοῦ : sc. τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς.

Κύλων ἦν : for the abrupt form of the commencement, see on c. 24. 1; for the fact, cf. Hdt. v. 71. The ancient rhetoricians, admiring the clearness of this narration, said of this writer, λέων ἐγέλασεν ἐνταῦθα. Schol.—Ὀλυμπιονίκης: probably Ol. 35, B.C. 640; his attempt on the Acropolis, Ol. 42, B.C. 612. ἀνήρ may belong to either the preceding or following word (cf. Hdt. v. 71), but the latter is more likely since Ὀλυμπιονίκης often stands abs. Cf. Plat. Rep. 465 d.

τῶν πάλαι: cf. ii.35.17.

Θεαγένους: on him, see Arist. Pol. viii.4.5 (1505 a, 24); Rhet. i.2.19; Grote, III. chap. 9, p. 43; Curtius, Hist. of Greece, I. p. 305. He was contemporary with Periander of Corinth.

χρωμένῳ: here only in Thuc. for inquiring of an oracle, and rare in Attic (Aeschin. 111. 124), but freq. in Hdt.: i. 46; 47; 53; 85; iii. 57; iv. 150; 151; 157; vii. 141; 220. For this we have ἐπερωτᾶν in c. 25. 3; 118. 20.— 10. τῇ μεγίστῃ: for the art., cf. c. 23. 16.

ἐπῆλθον: the plur. with the name of the festival, perhaps as including a number of spectacles. So v.75.8, Καρνεῖα ἐτύγχανον ὄντα. But the sing. also occurs where merely a date is given, v.49.1; viii.9.3. Kühn. 365 b.—τὰ ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ: Schol., τοῦτο προσέθηκεν, ἐπειδὴ ἔστιν Ὀλύμπια καὶ ἐν Μακεδονίᾳ καὶ ἐν Ἀθήναις.

ὡς ἐπὶ τυραννίδι : the personal end indicated by these words is expressed in Hdt. v. 71, ἐπὶ τυραννίδι ἐκόμησε, in the verb.

ἑαυτῷ τι προσήκειν: had some special reference to him. Cf. ii.29.10; v.66.18.—Ὀλύμπια νενικηκότι: cf. Arist. Rhet. i.2.13; ἀναιρεῖν, Hdt. vi. 36; κρατεῖν καὶ ἐστέφθαι, Lucian. de merc. cond. 13; Olympia coronari, Hor. Epist. i.1.50.

εἴρητο: had been designated, was meant.

οὔτε...κατενόησε : for the tense, cf. c. 66. 9; he had not gone on and considered.—τε...οὐκ : for οὔτε because the neg. belongs closely to the verb, “would not make plain.” See on c. 5. 14.

Διάσια: cf. Ar. Nub. 408, 864; celebrated in Anthesterion, Febr. A. Mommsen, Heortol. p. 19.

Μειλιχίου: mentioned by Arist. de Mund. 7, among the general epithets of Zeus. Xen. An. vii.8.4; Pausan. i.37.4.—πανδημεί: as a general festival of the people, not in all demes. C. Wachsmuth, Rhein. Mus. 23, p. 178, note 31.

θύματα ἐπιχώρια: Schol., τινὰ πέμματα εἰς ζῴων μορφὰς τετυπωμένα. Kr. regards πολλοὶ . . . ἐπιχώρια as a gloss. This is not unlikely; but the addition more probably begins at ἔξω τῆς πόλεως. See App.

ἐπ᾽ αὐτούς: sc. τοὺς ἀμφὶ Κύλωνα.

ἐπιγιγνομένου : being spent over the siege. Cf. iv.26.11, ὁ χρόνος παρὰ λόγον ἐπιγιγνόμενος.

τρυχόμενοι : in iv.60.13 and vii.28.23 we have the pf. partic. from stem τρυχο-; in iii.93.9 and vii.48.11 the fut. and aor. from ἐκτρυχο-: these are the only forms in Thuc. of this verb, which often occurs in Hom., the Attic poets (Soph. Aj. 604; O. T. 666; Trach. 110; Eur. Hipp. 147; Hel. 521; Ar. Pax, 989; Ach. 68), and in later writers. It is not used by Hdt., and is rare in Attic prose (Xen. Hell. v.2.4).—οἱ πολλοί: added for precision. Cf. c. 2. 24; 18. 2; 119. 5.

τοῖς ἐννέα ἄρχουσι: at their head was Megacles. Plut. Sol. 12.

αὐτοκράτορσι: with unlimited powers for this occasion; i.e. without consulting the people.— ἄριστα: a pred. adj. to an understood εἶναι with a general subj. supplied from what precedes, as is shown by vi.26.4. Cf. vi.8.15; viii.67.18.

τότε δέ: i.e. before the legislation of Solon; from which time the administrative power of the Archons gradually decreased, and was restricted chiefly to judicial functions. Schömann, Antiq. of Greece, I. p. 389. Wecklein thinks that in these words we have a correction of the statement of Hdt. v. 71, that οἱ πρυτάνιες τῶν ναυκράρων, οἵπερ ἔνεμον τότε τὰς Ἀθήνας, were charged with the repression of Cylon. Perhaps these officers may have been subordinate to the Archons, and have acted as the agents of the Archon Eponymus in this affair. So Wachsmuth, Hell. Alt. I. p. 437. Grote, III. chap. 10, p. 53.

φλαύρως εἶχον: only here in Thuc.; cf. Hdt. iii. 129. Thuc. does not use the adj. φλαῦρος, but φαῦλος, though not φαύλως.

καθίζουσιν ἱκέται : see on c. 24. 19.—τὸν βωμόν: of Athena.

ἀναστήσαντες: the regular word for this action. Cf. c. 128. 3; 137. 1; iii.28.13; 75. 16, 24.—οἱ τῶν Ἀθηναίων...τὴν φυλακήν : note the very unusual position of the part. gen. between art. and noun. See on c. 9. 4, and Kr. Spr. 47, 9, 11. The pass. subj. here from the dat. of person with act., the acc. of thing being retained. G. 197, N. 2; H. 819 b. But the acc. of thing is subj. in v.31.14.— 34. ὡς ἑώρων κτἑ.: when they saw them near death; the reason of τὸ ἀναστῆσαι being that the temple might not be polluted with corpses.

ἐφ᾽ ᾧ: see on c. 103. 2. This clause belongs to ἀναστήσαντες.

ἀπαγαγόντες : i.e. to execution. Cf. c. 128. 4; iii.68.12; Lat. ducere.

ἐπὶ τῶν σεμνῶν θεῶν: the sanctuary of the Eumenides, which lay between the Acropolis and the Areopagus. Cf. Ar. Eq. 1312, καθῆσθαί μοι δοκῶ ᾿πὶ τῶν σεμνῶν θεῶν. Probably Dobree is right in rejecting ἐν τοῖς βωμοῖς as a gloss; they fled to, not sat on, the altars (Plut. Sol. 12, τοῖς βωμοῖς προσφυγόντες).

ἐν τῇ παρόδῳ: to be connected with καθεζομένους; some on the way to execution perceived what was to be their fate, and sought safety at the altars of the Eumenides.—διεχρήσαντο: cf. iii.36.15; vi.61.17; freq. in Hdt.

ἀλιτήριοι τῆς θεοῦ: probably was the standing designation of those concerned in this crime. Cf. Ar. Eq. 445. The adj. expresses extreme outrage. Dem. XVIII. 159; Aeschin. III. 131.

τὸ γένος: chiefly the Alcmaeonidae, from Megacles who was their head.

ἤλασε: note the anaphora. Cf. c. 28. 8; 30. 17; 47. 7; ii.85.7.— Κλεομένης κτἑ.: after the fall of the Pisistratidae, he supported Isagoras against Clisthenes, the head of the Alcmaeonidae, and compelled him for a short time to flee; B.C. 508, Ol. 68. 1. Hdt. v. 70; Curtius, Hist. of Greece, I. p. 412 ff. So the στάσις here is that of the aristocratic faction.

τούς τε ζῶντας: τε connects this with the preceding, and the following καί= even. But Kr. after P. brackets ἐξέβαλον.

κατῆλθον : see on c. 113. 14.—ὕστερον: probably in the same year, B.C. 508, in consequence of the adherence of the βουλή to the constitution. Hdt. v. 72; Grote, IV. chap. 31, p. 92.