Charles D. Morris, Commentary on Thucydides Book 1

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αὐτοῦ: see on c. 30. 14. —τὴν διάνοιαν: power of mind directed to definite objects (cf. c. 130. 9; 132. 20; ii.20.19; iv.52.10), indications of which were in his letter. To these, and not merely to ἐνιαυτὸν ἐπισχεῖν, refer the words, ποιεῖν οὕτως.— 3. ὃν ἐπέσχε : the rel. is here not assimilated (ᾧ), in order not to obscure the expression of duration of time.

ὅσα ἐδύνατο: cf. the extravagant exaggeration of Nepos, Them. 10, “ut multo commodius dicatur apud regem verba fecisse quam hi poterant qui in Perside erant nati.”

κατενόησε: learned; usually only of the apprehension of particular things. Cf. c. 126. 17; ii.3.7; iii.66.5.

ἀφικόμενος: i.e. at the King's court.—μετὰ τὸν ἐνιαυτόν: after the year agreed upon.

γίγνεται μέγας: cf. Hdt. vi. 30.—Ἑλλήνων: Schol., Ἱστιαῖος καὶ Ἱππίας καὶ Δημάρατος καὶ ἄλλοι.

καὶ...ἐλπίδα : the art. τήν is not as in c. 132. 7 to be repeated in thought, but is omitted because its place is supplied by ἣν ὑπετίθει (see on c. 85. 1) as elsewhere by adj. and partic. with the art. Cf. c. 139. 12, ἀνδραπόδων τῶν ἀφισταμένων. See on c. 1. 6.—τοῦ Ἑλληνικοῦ: placed by prolepsis in gen. with ἐλπίδα, though in sense it is obj. of δουλώσειν. See on c. 61. 1. Kühn. 600, 5.

πεῖραν διδούς: partic. impf.; by the repeated proofs which he gave of it.

ἦν γάρ: to be joined with ἄξιος θαυμάσαι, of which βεβαιότατα . . . δηλώσας contains the justification; and so καί before διαφερόντως is intensive, as in c. 91. 3 before σαφῶς, in c. 3. 5 before πάνυ. For in fact (this is the force of the position of ἦν) Themistocles, having given the surest proofs of the strength of his native powers, was in the very highest degree worthy of admiration in that respect. To join ἦν with δηλώσας (so St. and GMT. 108, N. 6) would be contrary to the usage of Thuc., who employs only pres. or pf. partics. in periphrasis with εἶναι. Cf. c. 38. 8; 99. 7; ii.12.6; 80. 15; iii.3.1.

ἐς αὐτό: cf. c. 68. 9; 74. 3; 84. 6; 122. 20.—μᾶλλον ἑτέρου: see on c. 84. 7. —θαυμάσαι: so usually the act. inf. See Kühn. 473, note 14.

οἰκείᾳ ξυνέσει: with an intelligence all his own, inborn as well as self-cultivated. This is enforced from the negative side, οὔτε προμαθών, i.e. before his entrance into public life, οὔτε ἐπιμαθών, by which obligation to others is excluded. αὐτήν is explained by the Schol. as =τὴν ἰσχὺν τῆς φύσεως, but more probably=ξύνεσιν.

τῶν τε παραχρῆμα : = τῶν παρόντων to be construed with γνώμων as the opposite τῶν μελλόντων is with εἰκαστής, so that δἰ ἐλαχίστης βουλῆς answers to ἐπὶ πλεῖστον τοῦ γενησομένου. v. H. inserts ἦν after γνώμων.

δἰ ἐλαχίστης βουλῆς : with the shortest deliberation; διά with gen. both temporal and instrumental. Cf. viii.95.23.

γνώμων: rare for κριτής. Cf. Aesch. Ag. 1130.

εἰκαστής: only in Thuc. and late writers. See on these formations c. 70. 10. See App.—μετὰ χεῖρας: cf. Hdt. vii. 16; Aeschin. 1. 77. In Hom. χ 10, μετὰ χερσίν. From this, μεταχειρίζεσθαι.

ἔχοι...εἴη : opt. as in c. 50. 2; 99. 14.—καὶ ἐξηγήσασθαι: also to set forth, λόγοις not ἔργῳ. Cf. v.26.31; vii.50.32; in ii.60.18, ἑρμηνεῦσαι.

ἄπειρος : not so much ‘without experience’ as ‘without being in direct contact with.’— 17. οὐκ ἀπήλλακτο: litotes, he came not short of=οὐκ ἀδύνατος ἦν, and so with inf. The pf. occurs again in c. 122. 22; 143. 14; iii.63.17.—τό τε ἄμεινον: the third fact, in which τῷ ἀφανεῖ ἔτι forms the new point.

ἔτι: to be joined with ἐν τῷ ἀφανεῖ. Cf. c. 30. 20; iii.13.5; iv.26.20; vii.84.10.—τὸ ξύμπαν εἰπεῖν: cf. vii.49.18 The abs. inf. in parenthetical phrase. GMT. 100; H. 956.

φύσεως...βραχύτητι : parallel structure of clauses, though each pair has a different relation; δύναμις an essential quality, βραχύτης an accidental one.—20 οὗτος: resumes the whole personality. Cf. c. 33. 10; ii.51.8; 64. 33.—αὐτοσχεδιάζειν κτἑ.: instantly to hit upon what was needed, in act as in word. The ἑτοίμως λέγειν of the Schol. is too narrow.

καὶ ἑκούσιον: the particle connected with the fact instead of the notice of it (λέγουσί τινες).— φαρμάκῳ: for the various accounts, see Cic. Brut. 11. 43; Plut. Them. 31; Diod. xi. 58; Ar. Eq. 83.

τῇ Ἀσιανῇ: that on the Maeander (Diod. xi. 57), not that near Mt. Sipylus.— τῆς χώρας: the district belonging to the town.

δόντος βασιλέως: cf. Hdt. i. 92; vii. 135; ix. 107.—ἄρτον...οἶνον...ὄψον : these preds. attached directly to the names answer to the Eastern mode of expression; though εἰς (inserted by Cobet) is found in Plut. Them. 29; Hdt. ii. 98; Xen. An. i.4.9. Athen. i. p. 29, adds, Περκώτην καὶ τὴν Παλαίσκηψιν εἰς στρωμνὴν καὶ ἱματισμόν.

προσέφερε : rare for the simple φέρειν, corresponding to προσιέναι (ii.13.23; vii.28.30) and πρόσοδος.

πολυοινότατον : neut. adj. with name of town also in <*> 1; iv.76.15. The district is <*>

φασὶ...οἱ προσήκοντες : Thuc. evidently doubts the truth of the statement. The words of Nepos, Them. 10, “ossa eius clam in Attica ab amicis sepulta, seem to rest on a misconception of our passage.”

αὐτοῦ: ἐκείνου. See on c. 132. 31.

οὐ γὰρ ἐξῆν: cf. Xen. Hell. i.7.22.— ὡς...φεύγοντος : depending on τὰ ὀστᾶ.

τὰ κατά : with acc. of person or thing to express the connected occurrences. Cf. c. 110. 15; iii.68.7.