This text is part of:
The Syracusan fleet has possession not only of the outlet but of all parts of the harbour, and the battle soon becomes general. On both sides the greatest effort and skill are put forth by the leaders as well as by the crews. 1. προεξαναγαγόμενοι: this form, which Dion. Hal. gives in quoting the passage, is here necessary. The aor. is required before ἐφύλασσον, and the simple ἐξάγεσθαι does not occur in the sense of the sailing out of ships, while several different compounds of ἀνάγεσθαι have this force: ἐξανάγεσθαι, ii.25.25; ὑπεξανάγεσθαι, iii.74.14; ἀντεπανάγεσθαι, iv.25.4. The comparison with the isolated ἐξαγωγή, Hdt. iv.179.9, which is used not of the sailing out, but of rescue from danger, is not sufficient. St., however, reads προεξαγαγόμενοι = provecti, priores vela dantes, and compares besides ἐξαγωγή in Hdt. iv.179.9, also ἐπεξάγοντα, c. 52. 8. On the freq. errors in the transcription of this and like forms, see the App. on i.29.18. καὶ πρότερον: cf. c. 52. 3. There were at that time 76.— 5. παρεβοήθει: Arn.'s reading, following Dion. Hal., for παραβοηθεῖ, παραβοηθῇ or παραβοηθοῖ of the Mss. “It is absurd to say that they stationed their ships all round the harbour in order that their land forces might aid them, when nothing had been said about the land forces.” With καὶ ἅμα therefore a second precaution is introduced independently. There is an exact parallel to this passage in ii.90.14: (ὁ Φορμίων）ἔπλει παρὰ τὴν γῆν: καὶ ὁ πεζὸς ἅμα τῶν Μεσσηνίων παρεβοήθει. The land troops stood on the shore ready to attack the ships of the Athenians wherever they might be driven to land. τοῖς Συρακοσίοις: the dat. with ἄρχειν as in i.93.11; ii.2.6; vi.54.27. G. 184, 3; H. 767; Kr. Spr. 47, 20, 2.—Σικανός: cf. c. 50. 1. —Ἀγάθαρχος: c. 25. 2. Πυθήν: c. 1. 1; vi.104.8. οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι: most Mss. and Dion. de Thuc. Iud. p. 875 read οἱ ἄλλοι Ἀθηναῖοι. St. prefixes, with a few Mss., also καί. But there is ground here neither for ἄλλοι (as in c. 61. 1) nor for καί (cf. c. 69. § 4), both of which Vat. omits. 10. τῶν τεταγμένων νεῶν πρὸς αὐτῷ: as to the position of πρὸς αὐτῷ, cf. v.112.6, τῇ μέχρι τοῦδε σῳζούσῃ τύχῃ ἐκ τοῦ θείου αὐτήν. Kr. Spr. 50, 10, 2. λύειν τὰς κλῄσεις: i.e. to break the zeugma, for the passage that had been left open (c. 69. 29) would have to be enlarged to allow the whole fleet to escape. See on c. 69. 29, and cf. c. 59. § 2. σφίσι: for αὐτοῖς, written under the influence of the preceding sent. ἦν: so Vat. correctly; the rest omit. ἐγίγνετο cannot prop. be used of the ναυμαχία πρὸς τῷ ζεύγματι, the beginning of which had been already mentioned in 10.—κατὰ τὸν λιμένα ἐγίγνετο: i.e. the sea-fight which had already begun now broke out over the whole harbour. οἵα οὐχ ἑτέρα: cf. i.23.5; viii.1.12. 16. πολλή, πολλή: cf. πολλούς, πολλούς in i.49.2, 3.—ἀπὸ τῶν ναυτῶν: on the part of the sailors, stronger than the simple gen. See on i.37.5. κελευσθείη: i.e. by the κελευσταί (40) appointed to this duty.—ἡ ἀντιτέχνησις: the art. is used since this is a recognized feature in any sea-fight. This word and ἀγωνισμός found only here in Att. οἵ τε ἐπιβάται: τε introduces the third member after ναυτῶν and κυβερνητῶν. ἐθεράπευον : curabant. τὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ καταστρώματος: the service on deck. It is subj. of λείπεσθαι. For ἀπό, see on c. 63. 9.—τῆς ἄλλης τέχνης: i.e. τῆς τῶν ναυτῶν καὶ κυβερνητῶν. πᾶς τέ τις : the resumptive τε, as with τὸ ξύμπαν, c. 49. 18; ἁπλῶς, iii.82.34; πάντι τρόπῳ, iv.48.15. For πᾶς τις, see on c. 60. 13.—ἐν ᾧ: i.e. ἐν τούτῳ ᾧ; ἐν belonging only with the implied τούτῳ and to be connected with πρῶτος φαίνεσθαι. For προστάσσεσθαι with the simple dat., cf. ii.87.31; vi.31.31; 42. 8. 24. βραχὺ ἀπέλιπον: = ὀλίγου ἐδέησαν. With simple inf. Kühn. 516, note 9 a. Cf. Hdt. vii.9.18, ὀλίγον ἀπολιπόντι . . . ἀφικέσθαι. διακόσιαι : acc. to c. 60. 21 and 2 above, the number would be 186. αἱ ἐμβολαί: most Mss. have ἐκβολαί, which does not suit the context. The ἐμβολαί are intentional attacks, προσβολαί accidental collisions (as shown by ὡς τύχοι . . . ἐπιπλέουσα) of the ships.— διὰ τὸ μὴ εἶναι...διέκπλους : i.e. on account of the impossibility of the regular manœuvres, ἀνακρούσεις (see on c. 36. 28) and διέκπλοι. The διέκπλους was the favourite Att. manœuvre of breaking through the hostile line, and then attacking the separated portions in flank or rear. See on i.49.11. The art. is not repeated with διέκπλους, as in c. 71. 3. ἣ διὰ τὸ φεύγειν ἢ ἄλλῃ (νηὶ) ἐπιπλέουσα: co-ordination of different consts. Cf. vi.17.12, ἢ ἐκ τοῦ λέγων πείθειν ἢ στασιάζων. Kr. Spr. 59, 2, 3. 31. οἱ ἐπιβάται: wrongly suspected by Pluygers (Mnem. 11, p. 96). After the slingers and archers had sought to ward off the approaching ship, the regular ἐπιβάται, the hoplites on board, took up the battle close at hand. Cf. c. 62. 14. ἐπιβαίνειν: with the dat. only here in Thuc., elsewhere with gen. or ἐπί τι. ξυνετύγχανέ τε πολλαχοῦ: and so it happened in many places. ξυντυγχάνειν of the coincidence of several circum stances, as ξυμβαίνειν in c. 75. 7. τὰ μέν,...τὰ δέ : “on the one side, on the other side.”—ἐμβεβληκέναι: some general subj., like τινα or ἐνίους is to be supplied, to which in the second clause, before ἐμβεβλῆσθαι, the pred. αὐτούς, themselves, is added.— 34. ἐμβεβλῆσθαι: from the act. ἐμβάλλειν τινί, as in c. 34. 20. κατ᾽ ἀνάγκην: of necessity, because they could not help it. Cf. c. 57. 24.— ξυνηρτῆσθαι: Schol. συμπεπλέχθαι.— 36. τοῖς κυβερνήταις...φυλακὴν...ἐπιβουλὴν...περιεστάναι: = τοὺς κυβερνήτας ἀναγκάζεσθαι ἅμα φυλάξαι τὰς ἐπιφερομένας ναῦς, ἅμα ἐπιβουλεῦσαι ἄλλαις κτἑ. The sense is, “so that upon the pilots devolved the necessity of guarding against the one party and of attacking the other, not one by one, but on all sides at the same time.” With φυλακὴν（ἐπιβουλὴν）περιεστάναι, cf. iii.54.17, περιέστη φόβος; vi.61.18, περιεστήκει ὑποψία. μέγαν...ξυμπιπτουσῶν : placed after κτύπον (sc. ὄντα) in pred. sense. ἀποστέρησιν παρέχειν: = ἀποστερεῖν. 40. πολλή: “much and loud.” ἀφ᾽ ἑκατέρων: cf. 16, above.—τοῖς κελευσταῖς: i.e. παρὰ τῶν κελευστῶν.— 42. κατά τε τὴν τέχνην καὶ πρὸς τὴν αὐτίκα φιλονικίαν: “as their calling demanded, and from the rivalry of the moment.” τοῖς μὲν Ἀθηναίοις: obj. of ἐπιβοῶντες, which is understood also with τοῖς δὲ Συρακοσίοις (45). ἐπιβοῶντες: after τοῖς κελευσταῖς, as if οἱ κελευσταὶ παρεκελεύοντο preceded. See on c. 42. 9.— περὶ τῆς...σωτηρίας : Cl. takes with ἀντιλαβέσθαι as an emphatic circumlocution for the gen., comparing c. 66. 1; but St. rightly takes ἀντιλαβέσθαι abs., as in ii.8.3; viii.106.23. τῆς ἐς τὴν πατρίδα σωτηρίας is after the analogy of the common const., ἐς τὴν πατρίδα σῴζεσθαι. νῦν, εἴ ποτε καὶ αὖθις, προθύμως ἀντιλαβέσθαι : Cl. explains: “since the admonitory εἴ ποτε, if ever, refers to the past (cf. c. 64. 10; iv.55.12), καὶ αὖθις can be connected only with νῦν. The admonition to the Athenians is: ‘if ever before, now once again they must do everything to obtain a safe return home.’ Cf. Dem. 1. 6, τῷ πολέμῳ προσέχειν, εἴπερ ποτέ, καὶ νῦν. Quite different is the connexion in ii.48.14, where ποτε refers to the fut., ‘if the sickness should ever break out again.’” The other editt. all punctuate νῦν, εἴ ποτε καὶ αὖθις, προθύμως, i.e. now, if ever again (in the fut.), which is doubtless better. ἑκάστους: refers to the allies from the different Sicilian states. For position, see on c. 57. 46. 49. μὴ δἰ ἀνάγκην: unnecessarily. See App.—πρύμναν κρουόμενον: here “retiring from the battle.”—ἀνακαλοῦντες ὀνομαστί: see on c. 69. 10.— 51. οἰκειοτέραν: more friendly, more their own.—τῆς οὐ δἰ ὀλίγου πόνου κεκτημένης θαλάσσης: spoken in the full confidence of Athenian superiority at sea. πόνου, which is added from Vat., strengthens this effect materially. κεκτημένης is pass., as in ii.62.22. Kr. Spr. 40, s.v.; Kühn. 377, 4 a. ὑποχωροῦσιν: the correct reading from Vat. for ἀποχωροῦσιν of the other Mss. It is the prop. word for retreat before a superior force, and corresponds exactly to the πρύμναν κρουόμενον above. Cf. πρύμναν κρουόμενον ὑποχωρεῖν also in i.54.16; iii.78.12. [Ἀθηναίους]: Cl. (Attica, p. 194, 1862) considers this a gloss, contending that it weakens the effect of a contrast which is itself quite clear. Pluygers (Mnem. 11, p. 96) and St. agree. φεύγοντας φεύγουσιν: repeated to heighten the contrast.
Commentary on Thucydides Book 7. Charles F. Smith. 1886. Boston. Ginn and Company.
The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.
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.