Thucydides question

[Lina]

Hi all,

I have a question from a reading out of Greek Unseen Translation (the assassination of Hipparchus by Aristogiton and Harmodius).

Thucydides 6:57

...καὶ ὥσπερ εἶχον ὥρμησαν ἔσω τῶν πυλῶν, καὶ περιέτυχον τῷ Ἱππάρχῳ παρὰ τὸ Λεωκόρειον καλούμενον, καὶ εὐθὺς ἀπερισκέπτως προσπεσόντες...ἔτυπτον καὶ ἀποκτείνουσιν αὐτόν.

What is the word εἶχον supposed to mean in the context of this sentence? Possible translations for the word are "have", "possess", "be able to", but none of these seem to fit very comfortably.

[IreneY]

Hello Lina,

Actually it's an expression "ὥσπερ εἶχον", meaning "as they were" (with no preparation or anything).

[Lina]

Thanks, Irene...I was really stumped by that one!