Thucydides - grammar question

I am working my way through Greek Beyond GCSE and had a question about a clause in a passage (exercise 3.14). The passage is slightly simplified from the following in Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War 1.137.1:

ὁ δὲ ἀκούσας ἀνίστησί τε αὐτὸν μετὰ τοῦ ἑαυτοῦ υἱέος (ἦν γὰρ μέγιστον ἱκέτευμα τοῦτο) καὶ ὕστερον οὐ πολλῷ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς ἐλθοῦσιν καὶ πολλὰ εἰποῦσιν οὐκ ἐκδίδωσιν, ἀλλ’ ἀποστέλλει βουλόμενον ὡς βασιλέα πορευθῆναι ἐπὶ τὴν ἑτέραν θάλασσαν πεζῇ ἐς Πύδναν τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου.

The answer key to Greek Beyond GCSE translates the corresponding passage in 3.14 (identical in this respect to the original) as “as he wanted to travel to the king of Persia - to the sea on the other side.” I don’t understand why there isn’t a preposition set off by πορευθῆναι and taking as its object βασιλέα. Thanks, Peter

The preposition is ὡς. See LSJ
ὡς as a Prep., prop. in cases where the object is a person, not a place: once in Hom., ὡς αἰεὶ τὸν ὁμοῖον ἄγει θεὸς ὡς τὸν ὁμοῖον Od. 17.218 (v.l. ἐς τὸν ὁμοῖον, cf. αἶνος Ὁμηρικός, αἰὲν ὁμοῖον ὡς θεός . . ἐς τὸν ὁμοῖον ἄγει Call. Aet. 1.1.10 [Fr. 178.10 Pf.]; ἔρχεται . . ἕκαστον τὸ ὅμοιον ὡς τὸ ὅ., τὸ πυκνὸν ὡς τὸ πυκνόν κτλ. (with v.l. ἐς) Hp. Nat.Puer. 17), but possibly ὡς . . ὥς as . . so, in Od. l.c.; also in Hdt., ἐσελθεῖν ὡς τὴν θυγατέρα 2.121.εʹ: freq. in Att., ὡς Ἆγιν ἐπρεσβεύσαντο Th. 8.5, etc.; ἀφίκετο ὡς Περδίκκαν καὶ ἐς τὴν Χαλκιδικήν Id. 4.79; ἀπέπλευσαν ἐς Φώκαιαν . . ὡς Ἀστύοχον Id. 8.31; ναῦς ἐς τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον ὡς Φαρνάβαζον ἀποπέμπειν ib. 39; ὡς ἐκεῖνον πλέομεν ὥσπερ πρὸς δεσπότην Isoc. 4.121; the examples of ὡς with names of places are corrupt, e.g. ὡς τὴν Μίλητον Th. 8.36 (ἐς cod. Vat.); ὡς Ἄβυδον one Ms. in Id. 8.103; ὡς τὸ πρόσθεν Ar. Ach. 242: in S. OT 1481 ὡς τὰς ἀδελφὰς . . τὰς ἐμὰς χέρας is equiv. to ὡς ἐμὲ τὸν ἀδελφόν; in Id. Tr. 366 δόμους ὡς τούσδε house = household.

1 Like