E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 6

ἔπλεον—it was a grave blunder after showing them selves at Syracuse to sail away to Segesta. Nicias now took np his own plan of action, for which see c. 47.

ἐπὶ Σελινοῦντος—they would come first to Segesta; but Stahl wrongly doubts the reading, for places are not uncommonly mentioned in Greek in the reverse order, the ultimate destination being given first: II. 7, 3; 93, 1. The opening lines of the Bacchae (13 f.) proceed on the same principle.

τὰ διάφορα—‘the points of difference.’ Thuc. says nothing further about this matter.

παραπλέοντες δ᾽ ἐν ἀριστέρα—‘coasting along S. on the left,’ i e. along the north coast. Usually ἐν ἀριστέρᾳ (δεξίᾳ) ἔχοντες, or λαβόντες, but Stahl, followed by Classen, notices that the partie. would mean that they were sailing with some other destination in view than the north coast itself.

Ἑλλὰς πόλις—for Ἑλληνίς: for this, and not Ἑλληνική, is Thuc.'s ordinary adj. with πόλις. The form Ἕλλην as an adj. can probably only be used with persons, Ἕλλην πόλεμος in II. 36 being open to doubt. The use of these forms as adj. is poetical and Ionic.

αἱροῦσιν Ὕκκαρα—‘by this time some horsemen from Segesta had come . . It was from them, doubtless, that the A. learned that the people of H. were enemies of Segesta’ (Freeman). Thuc. ‘subjoins πόλισμα Σικανικόν etc., because, from the circumstance of the town heing of Sicanian origin, it might be expected that the Hyccarines should be on friendly terms with Egesta, which was of the same origin, or nearly such’ (Bloomfield). See c. 2, 3.

αὐτοὶ δέ—the army now marches back through the heart of Sicily to Catana. They thus left room in the ships for the prisoners.

αἱ δὲ νῆες—the fleet is for a very short time divided, Nicias going on with part to the harbour of Segesta, while the other part prepares to sail for Catana. Nieias then rejoins the rest of the fleet, and with it παρῆν ἐς τὸ στράτευμα, joins the army at Catana.

περιέπλευσαν—sc. ἐς Κατάνην.

εὐθύς—without waiting for the prisoners to be got on board and for the army to start; possibly also without waiting for the fall of Hyccara. (The narrative is obscure here.)

ἀπέδοσαν—the act. (see crit. note) certainly cannot= ‘sold,’ but must mean ‘gave back’ or ‘paid’ or ‘delivered.’ Grote says it ‘seems to mean that the prisoners were handed over to their fellow-countrymen, the natural persons to negotiate for their release, upon private contract of a definite sum,’ but this does not suit παρῆν ἐς τὸ στράτευμα. Bloomfield thinks ‘exposed for sale’is a possible meaning of the active. The difficulty really comes from the obscurity of the passage that precedes. If Nicias left Hyccara before it fell, and rejoined the main fleet on the way back to Catana, ἀπέδοσαν may mean ‘they delivered the prisoners to Nicias.’ ἐγένοντο ἐξ αὐτῶν is enough to show that they were then sold.

ἐγένοντο—the plur. verb with neut. subject, not persons, appears in all MSS. only in v. 75 Καρνεῖα ἑτυγχανον όντα, v. 26 ἁμαρτήματα ἐγένοντο, and here. In I. 126 ἐπῆλθον Ὀλύμπια CEG read ἐπῆλθεν, and in II. 8 λόγια ἐγένοντο CG read ἐγένετο. ἀπέλυσαν for ἀπέδοσαν Argyriades.

τοὺς τῶν Σικελῶν ξυμμάχους—the gen. here is elearly partitive, and this is the only passage in Thuc. in which the partitive gen. is placed between art. and substantive: in all other passages that resemble this the last word is either a partic or an adj.; cf. cc. 87, 2; 102, 1. In Herod. the same order is found, almost always with adj. or partic.; the order is not found in Attic. (This passage is defended by H. Kleist, N. Jahrb. 143 p. 110, O. Diener de sermone Thuc. p. 77, and by Darpe de verb. ap. Thuc. collocat. p. 25.)

περιέπλευσαν—if this is the right word, the meaning is that the fleet again sailed along the north coast, as Freeman and Holm explain. (It is strange that apparently the whole fleet should go on such a mission. But see Intr. p. xxiii.)

Ὕβλαν—see c. 2, 5. They attempt to take the city by storm.