To remind you of the background: Kleostratos has taken his loyal slave Daos with him while he is serving as a mercenary in Lycia. Initially the army is succesful and Kleostratos acquires a large amount of plunder. He then orders Daos to take the loot home
Is esential for Meanader to get Daos away from the main camp to the coast (but no further) before the battle that is about to ensue for 3 reasons.
The loot must remain safe.
Daos must be far enough away for him not to witness what actually happens to Kleostratos.
He must not get so far away (by setting sail for instance) that he can't easily return to the site of the battle and so discover the battered shield of Kleostratos held by a bloated unrecognizable body that he takes to be Kleostratos.
It is in the following sentence he does it:
Daos is speaking this is lines 40-47:
ἐγὼ μὲν ἐξώρμων ἕωθεν, ᾗ δ' ἐγὼ ἀπῇρον ἡμέρᾳ λαθόντες τοὺς σκοποὺς τοὺς ἡμετέρους οἱ βάρβαροι λόφον τινα ἐπίπροσθ' ἔχοντες ἔμενον, αὐτομόλων τινῶν πεπυσμένοι τὴν δύναμις ἐσκεδασμένην – ὡς δ' ἐγένεθ' ἑσπέρα κατὰ σκηνάς θ' ἅπαν ἦν τὸ στρατόπεδον ἔκ τε χώρας ἄφθονα ἅπαντ' ἐχούσης, οἷον εἰκὸς γίνεται - ἐβρύαζον οἱ πλεῖστοι.
This is my attempt at a translation:
I on the one hand was setting out in the morning, on the other hand as I was departing on that day, escaping the notice of our scouts, the barbarians occupying a place behind a hill were waiting having learnt from certain deserters that the force was scattered; as it became night all the army was distributed among the tents having in abundance all the things from the region it was possible to happen the probable; the majority took to reveling.
First the elisons. What does "ἐπίπροσθ' " of "λόφον τινα ἐπίπροσθ' " expand to? And what does "θ' " "κατὰ σκηνάς θ' " expand to?
I get that ἐγένεθ expands to ἐγένετο.
Then there is ἐξώρμων and ἀπῇρον. I'm not sure my problem is the aspect as I have indicated in the subject line. If the setting out and departing refers to setting sail then it is clear that the imperfect is the only choice. It is clear that Daos has not set sail when survivors from the battle start arriving on the coast having fled from the inland camp. However, I'm fairly certain that what is described is Daos setting out from the inland camp and the departing is his journey from the camp and this is being done simultaneously with the quiet preparations of the enemy. Hence something of the sense "While I was heading towards the coast the enemy were gathering their forces for the attack."
But the construction is a bit more complicated than that.
First off the setting out is clearly a completed action so it might be expected that it would be in the aorist. Of course, Menander isn't at this stage focused on whether Daos actually completes the journey. As a process setting out and departing is what Daos is doing to fill in the time while the enemy ominously build up their forces. Hence making the journey to the coast imperfect draws the focus onto the enemy's preparations so leading us to expect the coming defeat. But then I would have expected ἐξώρμων and ἀπῇρον to be bracketed together. Instead using a μεν - δε contrast ἀπῇρον is bracketed instead with the enemies preparation for the attack.
It is at this point when I almost feel that I understand the sentence I feel it sliding away from me.
EDIT
ἕωθεν now inserted. A thank you to mwh for spotting that I'd missed it out.