previous next


δύο καί can hardly be right, as the number is repeatedly given as 40, e.g. cc. 25 and 29, and the suggestion that the two Lesbian triremes (cc. 4 and 5) are here ineluded is not probable. Rather than suppose that a eommentator wrongly added in the two Peloponnesian ships mentioned in cc. 5, 4 and 25, 1, I prefer to think we have a confusion as the outcome of mistaking μ᾽ (40) for β᾽ (2).

ἄρχοντα . . προστάξαντες is a phrase in Thuc. for appointment to a special command, and even the order is exactly as in VII. 19: so ἄρχοντα for ἔχοντα is a certain correction.

ναύαρχος means that he held the annual office of high admiral.

ἀμφοτέρωθεν—through the dispatch of the ships and the invasion.

ταῖς ναυσὶν . . καταπλεούσαις—the transl. ‘send out a fleet against the ships sailing to M.’ is impossible, because (1) the partic. cannot be attributive unless ναυσίν is placed after Μυτιλήνην, and (2) ἐπιβοηθεῖν+dat.=‘hasten to help.’ Hence either we must alter the text—Steup brackets καταπλεούσαις —or, better, render ‘when they were sailing.’ So Stahl refers ταῖς ν. καταπλεούσαις to the Athenians and renders ‘sail with their ships to M. and come to help,’ as if we had καταπλέοντες.


Cleomenes and Pleistoanax were sons of the famous Pausanias. In 445 B.C., when Euboea and Megara revolted from Athens, Pleistoanax had invaded Attica, but had retreated when Pericles returned from Euboea: he was exiled for this, and his young son Pausanias reigned in his stead.

νεωτέρου ‘too young.’ The

δέ after πατρός is not justified by the constr., since no description of Cleomenes has preceded; hence Krüger suggests that ἐπίτροπος has fallen out after ἔτι. There may, however, be a slight anacoluthon.


[καὶ]εἴ τι . is clearly added as an explanation to τὰ . . τετμημένα.

μετὰ τὴν δευτέραν—i.e. that of 430 B.C., see last n. on c. 1. The present invasion is the fourth.


ἐπιμένοντες—equivalent to προσδοκῶντες, hence fut. infin.: the aor. inf. in c. 2 expresses result, not expectation; cf. Soph. Trach. 1176 μὴ ἐπιμεῖναι τοὐμὸν ὀξῦναι στόμα.

ἐπεξῆλθον with τέμνοντες, ‘pressed forward with,’ not ‘over-ran.’

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide References (6 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (6):
    • Thucydides, Histories, 3.1
    • Thucydides, Histories, 3.2
    • Thucydides, Histories, 3.25
    • Thucydides, Histories, 3.4
    • Thucydides, Histories, 7.19
    • Sophocles, Trachiniae, 1176
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: