Thuc. 6.30

Greek Learning Greek
1

I am plodding laboriously through the selections of Thucydides in The Intellectual Revolution (JACT). There are a few points in the following passage that I am not sure I fully understand:

μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα θέρους μεσοῦντος ἤδη ἡ ἀναγωγὴ ἐγίγνετο ἐς τὴν Σικελίαν. τῶν μὲν οὖν ξυμμάχων τοῖς πλείστοις καὶ ταῖς σιταγωγοῖς ὁλκάσι καὶ τοῖς πλοίοις καὶ ὅση ἄλλη παρασκευὴ ξυνείπετο πρότερον εἴρητο ἐς Κέρκυραν ξυλλέγεσθαι ὡς ἐκεῖθεν ἁθρόοις ἐπὶ ἄκραν Ἰαπυγίαν τὸν Ἰόνιον διαβαλοῦσιν: αὐτοὶ δ᾽ Ἀθηναῖοι καὶ εἴ τινες τῶν ξυμμάχων παρῆσαν, ἐς τὸν Πειραιᾶ καταβάντες ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ῥητῇ ἅμα ἕῳ ἐπλήρουν τὰς ναῦς ὡς ἀναξόμενοι. [2] ξυγκατέβη δὲ καὶ ὁ ἄλλος ὅμιλος ἅπας ὡς εἰπεῖν ὁ ἐν τῇ πόλει καὶ ἀστῶν καὶ ξένων, οἱ μὲν ἐπιχώριοι τοὺς σφετέρους αὐτῶν ἕκαστοι προπέμποντες, οἱ μὲν ἑταίρους, οἱ δὲ ξυγγενεῖς, οἱ δὲ υἱεῖς, καὶ μετ᾽ ἐλπίδος τε ἅμα ἰόντες καὶ ὀλοφυρμῶν, τὰ μὲν ὡς κτήσοιντο, τοὺς δ᾽ εἴ ποτε ὄψοιντο, ἐνθυμούμενοι ὅσον πλοῦν ἐκ τῆς σφετέρας ἀπεστέλλοντο.

The clause ὅση ἄλλη παρασκευὴ ξυνείπετο seems to be an aside or a parenthetical remark. I don’t understand the switch from datives to the nominative. Is it because the ships in the dative had already received orders to sail and the “equipage” or “armament” (however παρασκευὴ is to be understood) was to follow (ξυνείπετο) later? Also, I don’t understand the condition καὶ εἴ τινες τῶν ξυμμάχων παρῆσαν. Literally, “if some of the allies were present.” Does it just mean “perhaps some the allies were there”? As always, I would be grateful for corrections and comments.

2

HI Charlie,

If you’re finding it a laborious plod perhaps you should do something more enjoyable. Reading Thucydides is certainly not a walk in the park but can be an intellectually and aesthetically rewarding experience.

But to address your queries:
ὅση ἄλλη παρασκευὴ ξυνείπετο is not an aside but is the final item in this list. ὅση is nominative not dative because it’s the subject of ξυνείπετο—lit. “as much other preparation as followed with (them),” i.e. “all the rest of the provisions that went along with them.”

καὶ εἴ τινες τῶν ξυμμάχων παρῆσαν is similar. Though framed as a conditional (“and if any of their allies were present”) εἴ τινες is effectively equivalent to οἵτινες, “those of their allies that were there” (τῶν ξυμμάχων partitive genitive). The expedition comprises the Athenians themselves (αυτοί) and whatever allies were currently at Athens.

3

Thank you very much, mwh. Perhaps, I should have said “working my way diligently” instead of “plodding laboriously.” I do enjoy an intellectual challenge, so I shall persist. I have found my studies in the JACT series very rewarding.

4

Me too Charlie. I have to work hard to read these sentences, but I enjoy it. It’s especially enjoyable when I identify a grammar matter that I had studied and then forgotten. I’m finding Louise Pratt’s The Essentials of Greek Grammar very helpful, because the table of contents is short enough for scanning. She presents, besides the grammar principles with examples, a generous display of principal parts of common verbs.