T. G. Tucker, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 8

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ἐπηγγέλθησαν γάρ. αἱ σπονδαὶ of some books was not read by the Scholiast, who notes αἱ σπονδαὶ δηλόνοτι. The subject is apparently τὰ Ἴσθμια, or rather αἱ Ἰσθμιάδες σπονδαί implied in it. Cf. v. 49, λέγοντες μὴ ἐπηγγέλθαι πω ἐς Λακεδαίμονα τὰς σπονδάς. For the plural verb cf. v. 75, Κάρνεια ἐτύγχανον ὄντα; i. 126, ἐπειδὴ ἐπῆλθον Ὀλύμπια. Mr. J. Riddell referred the notion to the plurality of the spectacles. The announcement was made by σπονδοφόροι, Aesch. De F. Leg. § 302, οἱ σπονδοφόροι οἱ τὰς μυστηριωτίδας σπονδὰς ἐπαγγέλλοντες. Grote (c. lxi. note) supposes the parenthesis to imply that the invitation was in the circumstances unusual and noticeable. This does not sufficiently appear from the passage. An alternative construction is to understand οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι as the subject of ἐπηγγέλθησαν by an extension of the passive use, which use is certainly not very strict in Greek. Thus the notion ἐπαγγέλλουσιν αὐτοὺς παρεῖναι may result in a passive ἐπαγγέλλονται, ‘they have the summons conveyed to them.’ The position of the words makes rather for this rendering.

ἐθεώρουν i.e. sent θεωροί. Athens had προεδρία at these games (Plut. Thes. c. 25).

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ὑπῆγον, ‘began to draw off.’ The verb is either trans. or intrans (as here). Cf. (i.) εἰς δυσχωρίαν ὑπάγειν τοὺς πολεμίους (Xen. Cyr. i. 6, 37); (ii.) ὑπομείναντες ἐπιφερόμενον καὶ, ὅταν καιρὸς ᾖ, κόσμῳ καὶ τἁξει ὑπαγαγόντες (Thuc. iv. 126; cf. v. 10).

πέλαγος ‘the open sea,’ so πλεῖν πελάγιος frequently.

ἐπανεχώρησαν ‘withdrew to their station’ (ἐπι. ‘home’). Not as P-S, ‘retired after they had done so.’ The addition of other ships proves that they returned to port.

σφῶν not αὐτῶν, as if reflexive with ἐνόμιζον.

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ἄλλας προσπληρώσαντες ἑπτὰ καὶ τριάκοντα is the MS. reading. Jowett's note is clearly put: ‘Not “having manned in addition to the twenty-one ships, thirty-seven others,” but the Athenians, after they had returned home, manned an increased fleet (προς-) making in all thirty-seven ships.’ He admits, however, that the expression is curious, and the sense seems too much to get out of the words. προσρληροῦν is used quite naturally in vi. 104, πρὸς ταῖς σφετέραις δέκα Λευκαδίας δύο προσπληρώσαντες, and vii. 34, προσπληρώσαντες ἔτι ναῦς. The insertion of ἐς is much more reasonable than the omission of καὶ τριάκοντα. The addition of thirty-seven ships is out of the question. Comparing c. 15 and c. 20, we find that after twenty-seven ships have been withdrawn and a certain unspecified number sent in their place, there remain twenty vessels.

Πειραιὸν ‘Peiraeum’ (sc. ἄκρον). On the maps the promontory is marked as Σπείραιον from Ptolemy and Pliny, H. N. iv. 9, 2. Ptolemy's enumeration of places on the coast of the gulf (iii. 16, § 12) is Ἐπίδαυρος, Σπείραιον ἄκρον, Ἀθηναίων λιμήν, Βουκέφαλος λιμήν, Κεγχρεαί. Pliny, H. N. (loc. cit.), Spiraeum promonturium, portus Anthedon et Bucephalus et Cenchreae. Steph. Byz. gives the form Πειραῖος (sc. λιμήν). There was another place called τὸ Πείραιον in Corinth (Xen. Hell. iv. 5, 3), but in a different part. This fact and the Athenian Πειραιεύς may have caused the word to be written incorrectly. The harbour is now Frango-Porto. That Thucydides immediately calls the place a λιμήν is no argument for the masculine termination, since Φάληρον is a harbour also.

τὰ μεθόπια τῆς Ἐπιδαυρίας. καὶ τῆς Κοπινθίας is to be supplied from just above. Compare the familiar omission of one of the termini after μεταξύ, ἐν μέσῳ, etc.

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προσβαλόντων in two ways { i. καὶ ταῖς ναυσἱ κατὰ θάλασσαν, { ii. καὶ ἀποβάντων (‘and also by landing’). αὐτῶν ‘of themselves,’ i.e. the Athenians. The position guards the meaning.