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Τοιούτῳ μὲν—the description is now concluded, the following particulars heing added as an afterthought (a) to illustrate the superstition rife at the time, (b) to indicate the locale of the plague. περιπεσόντες—cf. c. 59, 2, and the phrase, συμφορᾷ περιπεσεῖν, constantly occurring in the orators.
Ἐν—‘during,’ though κακὸν is not temporal. Cf. c. 63, 1. οἷα εἰκός—cf. c. 5, 4, and ὡς εἰκός VIII. 2, 3. ἔπους —‘verse,’ 41, 4. οἱ πρεσβύτεροι—limiting apposition. Cf. 4, 2, 11, 1, 16, 1, 21, 3. ᾁδεσθαι—c. 8, 2, 21, 3. ἥξει —common in prophecies, Eur. Sup. 1222 πικροὶ γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἥξετ᾽ ἐκτεθραμμένοι | σκύμνοι λεόντων. St. Matt. XXIV. 14 τότε ἥξει τὸ τέλος. πόλεμος καὶ λοιμὸς—there is intentional παρομοίωσις here, as often in oracles. The change of λιμὸς to λοιμὸς would be suggested by Il. 1, 61 εἰ δὴ ὁμοῦ πόλεμός τε δαμᾷ καὶ λοιμὸς Ἀχαιούς, and Hesiod, W. and D. 242 μέγ᾽ ἐπήγαγε πῆμα Κρονίων | λιμὸν ὁμοῦ καὶ λοιμόν.
Ὠνομάσθαι—‘that famine, and not pestilence had been the original word.’ (This translation is imperfect because it introduces a comparatively modern association.) ὑπὸ τῶν παλαιῶν—might have been dat. ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος—cf. ἐπὶ τῷ παρόντι c. 36, 4. The gen. is more distinctly temporal = ‘at the moment.’ πρὸς ἃ ἔπασχον—cf. VI. 34 τῶν ἀνθρώπων πρὸς τὰ λεγόμενα καὶ αἱ γνῶμαι ἵστανται. μνήμην ἐποιοῦντο— act. of μνήμη ἐγένετο in 4 below, and = ἀνεμνήσθησαν in 2. δέ γε—these particles always cap a previous statement, whether made by the speaker himself or an opponent. They are sometimes separated. καταλάβῃ—c. 18, 2.
Ὅτε—see c. 21, 1. τὸν θεόν—as Apollo was both healer and destroyer, they thought that the god was helping the enemy by sending the plague. Cf. the opening of Il. 1, and O. T. first chorus.
Περὶ μὲν οὖν—Thuc. leaves this doubtful, without expressing his own opinions: then he goes on with the facts, δὲ being equivalent to δ᾽ οὖν. ‘As concerns .., they thought that what was happening corresponded to it.’ ὅ τι ἄ. καὶ εἰπεῖν— = ὅ τι καὶ ἀ. εἰπεῖν. ταῦτα μὲν—ἐστι is regularly omitted in this phrase, as in sed haec hactenus. Cf. IV. 41, 4; VII. 87, 6.
Commentary on Thucydides Book 2. E.C. Marchant. London. MacMillan & Company. 1891.
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