Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War 2.102

[1] The same winter, after the fleet of the Peloponnesians was dissolved, the Athenians that were at Naupactus under the conduct of Phormio sailed along the coast to Astacus and, disbarking, marched into the inner parts of Acarnania. He had in his army four hundred men of arms that he brought with him in his galleys and four hundred more Messenians. With these he put out of Stratus, Coronta, and other places all those whose fidelity he thought doubtful. And when he had restored Cynes the son of Theolytus to Coronta, they returned again to their galleys.

[2] For they thought they should not be able to make war against the Oeniades (who only of all Acarnania are the Athenians' enemies) in respect of the winter. For the river Achelöus, springing out of the mountain Pindus and running through Dolopia, and through the territories of the Agraeans and the Amphilochians, and through most part of the champaign of Acarnania, passing above by the city of Stratus, and falling into the sea by the city of the Oeniades, which also it moateth about with fens, by the abundance of water maketh it hard lying there for an army in time of winter.

[3] Also most of the islands Echinades lie just over against Oenia, hard by the mouth of Achelöus. And the river, being a great one, continually heapeth together the gravel, insomuch that some of those islands are become continent already; and the like in short time is expected by the rest.

[4] For not only the stream of the river is swift, broad, and turbidous, but also the islands themselves stand thick, and, because the gravel cannot pass, are joined one to another, lying in and out, not in a direct line nor so much as to give the water his course directly forward into the sea. These islands are all desert and but small ones.

[5] It is reported that Apollo by his oracle did assign this place for an habitation to Alcmaeon the son of Amphiareus, at such time as he wandered up and down for the killing of his mother, telling him that he should never be free from the terrors that haunted him till he had found out and seated himself in such a land as when he slew his mother, the sun had never seen nor was then land because all other lands were polluted by him. Hereupon being at a nonplus, as they say, with much ado he observed this ground congested by the river Achelöus and thought there was enough cast up to serve his turn already since the time of the slaughter of his mother, after which it was now a long time that he had been a wanderer.

[6] Therefore, seating himself in the places about the Oeniades, he reigned there and named the country after the name of his son Acarnas. Thus goes the report, as we have heard it concerning Alcmaeon.

[1] In the course of this winter, after the dispersion of the Peloponnesian fleet, the Athenians in Naupactus , under Phormio, coasted along to Astacus , and disembarked, and marched into the interior of Acarnania with four hundred Athenian heavy infantry and four hundred Messenians. After expelling some suspected persons from Stratus, Coronta, and other places, and restoring Cynes, son of Theolytus, to Coronta, they returned to their ships,

[2] deciding that it was impossible in the winter season to march against Oeniadae, a place which, unlike the rest of Acarnania , had been always hostile to them; for the river Achelous flowing from Mount Pindus through Dolopia and the country of the Agraeans and Amphilochians and the plain of Acarnania , past the town of Stratus in the upper part of its course, forms lakes where it falls into the sea round Oeniadae, and thus makes it impracticable for an army in winter by reason of the water.

[3] Opposite to Oeniadae lie most of the islands called Echinades, so close to the mouths of the Achelous that that powerful stream is constantly forming deposits against them, and has already joined some of the islands to the continent, and seems likely in no long while to do the same with the rest.

[4] For the current is strong, deep, and turbid, and the islands are so thick together that they serve to imprison the alluvial deposit and prevent its dispersing, lying, as they do, not in one line, but irregularly, so as to leave no direct passage for the water into the open sea.

[5] The islands in question are uninhabited and of no great size. There is also a story that Alcmaeon, son of Amphiaraus, during his wanderings after the murder of his mother was bidden by Apollo to inhabit this spot, through an oracle which intimated that he would have no release from his terrors until he should find a country to dwell in which had not been seen by the sun; or existed as land at the time he slew his mother; all else being to him polluted ground.

[6] Perplexed at this, the story goes on to say, he at last observed this deposit of the Achelous, and considered that a place sufficient to support life upon, might have been thrown up during the long interval that had elapsed since the death of his mother and the beginning of his wanderings. Settling, therefore, in the district round Oeniadae, he founded a dominion, and left the country its name from his son Acarnan. Such is the story we have received concerning Alcmaeon.

Die Athener in Naupaktos aber unternahmen, nachdem
die Flotte der Peloponnesier sich aufgelöst hatte, im Laufe des
Winters unter Anführung des Phormio zur See einen Zug nach
Astakos, landeten, drangen mit vierhundert athenischen
Schwerbewaffneten von den Schiffen und vierhundert Mesfeniern in das
Innere des Landes, trieben in Stratos, Koronta und den andern
Plätzen diejenigen Bürger aus, denen sie nicht trauen zu dürfen
glaubten, und kehrten dann, nachdem sie den Kynes, des Theolytos
Sohn, nach Koronta zurückgeführt hatten, wieder auf ihre Schiffe
zurück. Gegen Oiniadä nämlich, welches allein unter allen
Akarnanern ihnen immer feindselig gewesen war, schien ein Zug des
vorgerückten Winters wegen nicht mehr thunlich. Denn der
Acheloos-Fluß, der vom Pindos herab durch Dolopia, das Gebiet der
Agräer und Amphilocher und die Akarnanische Ebene fließt, dann
seinen Lauf an der Stadt Stratos vorüber nimmt und bei Oiniadä
sich in's Meer ergießt, indem er rings um die Stadt Seen bildet,
macht des Wassers wegen einen Winterfeldzug schwierig. Es liegen
auch von den Echinadischen Inseln die meisten Oiniadä grade
gegenüber, dicht vor den Mündungen des Acheloos, so daß der Fluß, wenn
das Wasser groß ist, fort und fort Land anschwemmt, und einige
dieser Inseln sind bereits zum Festlande geworden, und
wahrscheinlich wird es in nicht langer Zeit allen übrigen ebenso gehen. Denn
die Strömung ist mächtig, wasserreich und schlammig, die Inseln ¹
aber liegen dicht bei einander und halten zusammen das
angeschwemmte Erdreich auf, so daß es sich nicht zerstreuen kann, weil sie
quer vor dem Flusse und nicht in einer Linie mit demselben liegen
und dem Wasser keinen graden Weg in's Meer lassen. Sie sind aber
unbewohnt und von geringem Umfange. Es wird auch erzählt, daß
Apollo dem Alkmäon, dem Sohne des Amphiaraos, als er nach
dem Morde seiner Mutter umherirrte, durch einen Orakelspruch
befohlen habe, dieses Land zu bewohnen; denn, sagte er, keine Heilung
seiner Gewissensqual gäbe es, bevor er sich nicht ein Land zur
Wohnung gefunden, welches noch nicht von der Sonne beschienen worden
und noch nicht Land gewesen sei, als er die Mutter tödtete; alle
übrige Erde sei durch ihn verunreinigt. Er aber in seiner
Drangsal, erzählen sie, fand nur mit Mühe diese Anschwemmung des
Acheloos, und es schien ihm, seitdem er nach dem Morde der Mutter
so lange umhergeirrt, genug Land angewahcsen zu sein, um als
einzelner Mann darauf wohnen zu können. So siedelte er sich denn an
und gewann die Herrschaft über die Gegend um Oiniadä und
hinterließ von seinem Sohne Akarnan dem Lande die Benennung. So wird
uns die Sage vom Alkmäon überliefert.

CII. Le même hiver, après la séparation de la flotte péloponnésienne, les Athéniens qui étaient à Naupacte sous la conduite de Phormion se dirigèrent, en suivant la côte, sur Astacos ¹ . Ils pénétrèrent dans l’intérieur de l’Acarnanie avec quatre cents hoplites d’Athènes, tirés de la flotte et autant d’hoplites mes- séniens ; chassèrent de Stratos, de Corontes ² et d’autres villes ceux dont ils soupçonnaient la fidélité, ré- tablirent à Corontes Cynétas, fils de Théolytus, et retournèrent ensuite à leurs vaisseaux ; car ils ne croyaient pas possible d’attaquer en hiver les oeniades, les seuls des Acarnanes qui se fussent toujours mon- trés leurs ennemis. En effet, le fleuve Achéloüs, qui descend du Pinde à travers la Dolopie, le pays des Agréens, les Amphiloques et les plaines de l’Acarnanie, arrose Stratos dans son cours supérieur, et se jette à la mer auprès des oeniades, en formant autour de leur ville un marais dont les eaux rendent toute expédition impossible en hiver. La plupart des îles Échinades sont situées en face des oeniades, tout près de l’embouchure de l’Achéloüs. Comme le fleuve, qui est considérable, y porte de continuelles alluvions, quelques-unes d'entre elles ont été jointes au continent ; il est même à présumer qu’il en sera ainsi de toutes dans un avenir peu éloigné : le courant est rapide, abondant, chargé de limon ; les îles, par leur rapprochement, forment un obstacle qui arrête les alluvions ; car leur entre-croisement et leur disposition irrégulière ne laissent point aux eaux un écoulement direct vers la mer. Du reste, elles sont désertes et peu étendues. On dit qu’à l’époque où Aleméon, fils d’Amphiaraüs, était errant après le meurtre de sa mère, l’oracle d’Apollon les lui assigna indirectement pour demeure, en lui disant que la terre entière ayant été souillée par son crime, ses terreurs ne cesseraient pas avant qu’il eût trouvé à s’établir dans une terre qui n’eût ni vu la lumière du soleil, ni existé lorsqu’il avait tué sa mère. Longtemps il ne comprit rien à cet oracle ; mais en- fin il songea à ces alluvions de l’Achéloüs, et crut pouvoir trouver assez d’espace pour reposer son corps dans les atterrissements formés depuis qu'il avait tué sa mère ; car il y avait longtemps qu’il errait. Il s’établit dans le voisinage des oeniades, régna sur le pays et lui laissa le nom de son fils Acarnanus. Telle est la tradition que j’ai recueillie au sujet d’Alcméon.

Ce même hiver, après le licenciement de la flotte pélo-ponésienne, les Athéniens qui étaient à Naupacte mirent en mer sous le commandement de Phormion. Ils rangèrent la côte jusqu’à Astacos, prirent terre en cet endroit et pénétrèrent en Acarnanie, avec quatre cents hoplites tirés de leur flotte et quatre cents Messéniens. Ils chassèrent de Stratos, de Coronta et d’autres places les hommes d’une fidélité douteuse ; et, après avoir rétabli dans Coronta Cynès fils de Théolytos, ils regagnèrent leur bord. S’ils n’attaquèrent pas les OEniades, les seuls Acamaniens qui leur fussent toujours hostiles, c’est qu’ils ne crurent pas possible de le faire pendant l’hiver. En effet le fleuve Achéloüs, qui a sa source dans le Pinde, après avoir traversé le pays des Dolopes, des Agréens et des Amphilochiens, arrosé la plaine d’Acarnanie et baigné les murs de Stratos, se jette dans la mer non loin de la ville des OEniades et forme autour d’elle des lagunes, qui en rendent les approches impraticables en hiver. La plupart des îles Echinades sont situées en face d’OEniades, à l’embouchure de TAchéloûs, et constamment ensablées par ce grand fleuve. Aussi quelques-unes d’entre elles sont-elles déjà réunies au continent, et l’on peut prévoir qu’il en sera de même pour toutes dans un avenir peu éloigné ¹ . Le courant du fleuve est rapide, abondant et bourbeux ; les îles, par leur rapprochement, forment une barre qui arrête la vase. Comme elles s’entre-croisent et ne sont pas alignées, elles gênent l’écoulement direct du fleuve à la mer. Au surplus ces îles sont inhabitées et peu considérables.

On rapporte qu’Alcméon fils d’Amphiaraos, lorsqu’il errait après le meurtre de sa mère, reçut d’Apollon un oracle qui lui conseillait d’habiter en cet endroit, lui donnant à entendre qu’il ne serait pas délivré de ses frayeurs avant d’avoir trouvé à s’établir dans une contrée que le soleil n’éclairât pas encore et qui n’existât pas lorsqu’il avait commis son forfait et souillé le reste de la terre. Alcméon, à ce qu’on assure, fut longtemps à comprendre je sens de cet oracle. Enfin il remarqua ces allu-vions de TAchélous et pensa que, depuis le temps où il avait commis son parricide, cette terre devait avoir pris assez de consistance pour lui servir d’habitation. Il se fixa donc aux environs d’OEniades, s’y créa un royaume et donna à toute la contrée le nom de son fils Acarnan. Telle est la tradition répandue au sujet d’Alcméon.

[1] During the same winter the Athenians in Naupactus, after the Peloponnesian fleet had been disbanded, made an expedition under the command of Phormio. They first skirted the coast in the direction of Astacus, and then, disembarking, invaded the interior of Acarnania with four hundred Athenian hoplites from the ships and four hundred Messenian. And after they had expelled from Stratus, Coronta, and other places such men as were regarded as disloyal, and had restored Cynes son of Theolytus to Coronta, they returned again to their ships.

[2] For it seemed impracticable in winter to make a campaign against Oeniadae, whose inhabitants alone of the Acarnanians were always hostile; for the river Achelous, which rises in Mount Pindus and flows through the country of the Dolopians, Agraeans, and Amphilochians and then through the Acarnanian plain, passes by the city of Stratus high up the stream, but by Oeniadae empties into the sea, where it surrounds the city with marshes, thus rendering military operations there impossible in winter by reason of the water.

[3] Besides, most of the Echinades islands lie opposite to Oeniadae at no great distance from the mouths of the Achelous, so that the river, which is large, keeps making fresh deposits of silt, and some of the islands have already become part of the mainland, and probably this will happen to all of them in no great while.

[4] For the stream is wide and deep and turbid, and the islands are close together and serve to bind to one another the bars as they are formed, preventing them from being broken up, since the islands lie, not in line, but irregularly, and do not allow straight channels for the water into the open sea. These islands are uninhabited and not large.

[5] There is a story that when Alemaeon son of Amphiaraus was a wanderer after the murder of his mother, ¹ Apollo directed him by oracle to inhabit this land, intimating that he would have no release from his fears until he should find and settle in a country which at the time he killed his mother had not yet been seen by the sun, and was not even land then, for all the rest of the earth had been polluted by him.

[6] And he, in his perplexity, at last, as the story goes, observed this sand-bar formed by the Achelous, and he surmised that during the long time he had been wandering since he had slain his mother enough land would have been silted up to support life in. So he settled there in the region of Oeniadae, founded a principality, and left to the country its name Acarnania, after that of his son Acarnan. Such is the tradition which we have received concerning Alcmaeon.

[1] During this winter, after the fleet of the Peloponnesians had dispersed, the Athenians at Naupactus under the command of Phormio, after coasting along to Astacus, and there disembarking, marched into the interior of Acarnania, with four hundred heavy-armed of the Athenians from the ships and four hundred of the Messenians. From Stratus, Coronta, and some other places, they expelled certain individuals who were not thought to be true to them; and having restored Cynes son of Theolytus to Coronta, returned again to their vessels.

[2] For against the Aeniadae, who alone of the Acarnanians had always been hostile to them, they did not think it possible to march during the winter, as the river Achelous, which flows from Mount Pindus through Dolopia and the country of the Agraeans and Amphilochians and the plain of Acarnania, passing by the town of Stratus in the upper part of its course, and by Aeniadae near its mouth, forms lakes round their city, and so makes it impracticable to lead an army against it in the winter on account of the water.

[3] Opposite to Aeniadae he most of the islands called Echinades, close to the mouths of the Achelous; so that the river, being so large as it is, continually forms depositions round them, and some of the islands have been joined to the continent, as I expect will be the case with all of them in no long period of time.

[4] For the stream is strong, and deep, and turbid, and the islands are thick together, and mutually serve to connect the alluvium so as to prevent its being dispersed; as they lie in alternating rows, not in one line, and have no free passages for the water into the open sea. They are uninhabited, and of no great extent. ¹

[5] There is a report which I may also mention, that when Alemaeon, son of Amphiaraus, was wandering about after the murder of his mother, Apollo directed him by an oracle to inhabit this region, by suggesting to him that he would have no release from his terrors till he should discover and inhabit a country which had not yet been seen by the sun, nor existed as land, at the time he slew his mother; since all the rest of the earth was polluted to him.

[6] He was perplexed, they say, [by such a command]; but at length observed this alluvial deposition of the Achelous, and thought that enough might have been thrown up to support life during the long period that he had been a wanderer since killing his mother. Accordingly he settled in the parts about Aeniadae, and became powerful, and left the name to the country from his son Acarnan. Such is the account we have received respecting Alcmaeon.

[1] Athenienses vero, qui Naupacti erant, eadem hieme post discessum Peloponnesiorum classis, duce Phormione secundum maritimam oram advecti Astaco bellum intulerunt exscensuque ex navibus in terram facto mediterranea Acarnaniae loca petierunt, cum quadringentis suorum gravis armaturae militum classiariorum, et cum totidem Messeniis et ex Strato et Corontis aliisque oppidis eos, qui videbantur dubiae fidei homines, ejecerunt et Cynetem, Theolyti filium, in oppidum Coronta reduxerunt; quo facto ad suas naves redierunt.

[2] Nam CEniadis, qui soli omnium Acarnanum Atheniensibus perpetuo erant hostes, propter hibernum anni tempus bellum nullo modo inferri posse videbatur; Achelous enim fluvius ex monte Pindo per Dolopiam et Agraos et Amphilochos et per Acarnanicam planitiem fluens et superne juxta urbem Stratum et ubi in mare effunditur prope CEniadas, ipsam etiam urbem paludibus circumdans, facit, ut difficile sit propter aquarum copiam hieme ibi bellum gerere.

[3] Jacent autem et pleraque Echinadum insularum e regione (Eniadarum, ab Acheloi ostio non procul distantes; quamobrem hic fluvius quando magnus est, limum semper aggerit et nonnullae etiam illarum insularum factae sunt continentis pars, et credibile est ceteris quoque non admodum longo temporis progressu idem eventurum;

[4] nam et fluvii cursus est rapidus et multus et turbidus, et 'ipsae insulae sunt crebra, et limum congestum ipsae inter se eo, quod non diffunditur, cohibent^altemanter et non uno longo ordine sitae, nec rectum aquis exitum in pelagus praebentes. Sunt autem desertae, nec magnae.

[5] Fertur etiam Alcmaeoni, Amphiarai filio, quo tempore post matris caedem vagaretur, Apollo oracula, reddito praecepisse, ut hanc terram incoleret, obscure significans eum terroribus liberatum non iri, priusquam locum habitandum reperisset in ea regione, quae, quum matrem interfecit, a sole nondum conspiciebatur nec terra erat, quod omnem aliam terram polluisset.

[6] Ille vero consilii inops, ut aiunt, vix tandem advertit hanc Acheloi fluminis alluvionem, istudque solum, quod limo congesto consolidatum erat ah eo tempore, quo matre caesa non paucos annos errabat, ad sedes in eo sui corporis causa ponendas salis amplum esse videbatur. Quare quum in locis circum CEniadas sitis sedes collocasset, ibi regnavit, et ab Acarnane filio suo nomen regioni impositum reliquit. Quae igitur de Alcmaeone traduntur, haec accepimus.

[1] So biete ich denn, obschon ich, wie anfangs gesagt, den mächtigsten Staat vertrete, der eher zum Angriff als zur Abwehr berufen erscheint, in Erwägung der Folgen die Hand zum Nachgeben. Warum auch in thörichter Rachsucht sich selber den grössten Schaden zufügen oder in der Verblendung der Leidenschaft hinsichtlich des Schicksals, dem man nicht gebieten kann, sich ebenso als eigenen Herren dünken, wie in seinen eigenen Entschliessungen, und nicht lieber der Billigkeit sich fügen? Folget nun auch ihr meinem Beispiel, eh' ihr euch dazu vor dem Feinde, nicht mehr vor Landsleuten bequemen müsst. Denn das ist keine Schande, dem eigenen Volksgenossen sich zu fügen, nicht blos der Dorier dem Dorier, oder der Chalcidenser seinem Stammverwandten, sondern wir alle als Nachbarn, als Bewohner der einen, von der Natur umgrenzten Heimat, als Träger des gemeinsamen Namens Sikelioten. Unsere Kriege, wenn es sein soll, müssen wir fortan für uns allein führen, oder auch sie beilegen, wie es uns gemeinsam recht dünkt, wider den Fremdling aber, wenn er kommt, in vernünftiger Eintracht zusammenhalten, so gewiss die Niederlage der Einzelnen dem Ganzen Gefahr bringt; Bundesgenossen aber oder Schiedsrichter sollen nie mehr ins Land gerufen werden. Bei diesem Verfahren werden wir für jetzt Sicilien der frohen Aussicht nicht berauben, der Athener und des Bürgerkrieges mit einemmale los zu werden, und in Zukunft in unabhängiger Freiheit und vom Ausland weniger behelligt darin wohnen.

Nel medesimo inverno, licenziata che fu la flotta dei Peloponnesi, gli Ateniesi di presidio a Naupatto sotto il comando di Formione, procedendo marina marina navigarono contro Astaco ; e preso terra, si avviarono nelP interno dell' Acarnania ben quattrocento di loro con grave armatura smontati dalle navi, più quattrocento Messeni ; e cacciarono via da Strato, da Coronte e da altri luoghi la gente di cui avevan sospetto : e ricondotto a Coronte Cenete figliolo di Teolito ritornarono sulle navi; non giudicando opportuno, d’inverno com’era, portar la guerra contro gli Eniadi i soli fra gli Acarnani sempre mai loro nemici. Conciossiachè il fiume Acheloo che dal monte Pindo scorre pel paese dei Dolopi, degli Agrai, degli Amfilochi e per le pianure dell’ Acarnania, vicino alla città di Strato dalla parte che guarda terra, scaricandosi in mare presso gli Eniadi, impaluda intorno la loro città, e rende impossibile , atteso l' inondazione , il guerreggiarvi d'inverno. Anche la maggior parte dell’ isole Echinadi giacciono in faccia agli Eniadi, e non sono punto distanti dalla foce dell5 Acheloo ; cosicché questo gran fiume vi posa continuamente del fango , ed alcune di quelle Isole son divenute terraferma ; e vi è da aspettarsi che in breve tempo accada di tutte l istesso. Imperocché la corrente è rapida, grande e limacciosa , e le isole , le quali sono fitte e interriate dal loto che non potendosi spandere vi si aggruppa , vengono a congiugnersi tra loro, perchè non son disposte in fila, ma vanno intersecandosi, e cosi impediscono all’ acque di sgorgare dirittamente in mare. Sono esse disabitate e piccole , ed è fama che quando AIcmeone figliolo d’Amfiarao, uccisa la madre, andava ramingo , avesse in risposta da Apollo di dovere abitare appunto questa terra. E ciò perchè gli aveva misteriosamente significato che non avrebbe scampo da’ suoi terrori prima che avesse trovato un paese il quale, quando ammazzò la madre non fosse visto dal sole e non fosse terra; e che in quello fissasse la sua abitazione, come se tutto il restante della terra fosse stato contaminato per lui. Egli, come narrasi, non sapendo a qual partito appigliarsi, ebbe osservato queirapponimento di terra alzatovi dall’ Acheloo, e giudicò che desso, bastevole a dargli stanza, dovesse essersi formato nel lungo tempo che egli era vagabondo dopo l’uccisione della madre. Però si pose ad abitare nei luoghi circonvicini agli Euiadi, vi si fè potente, e dal suo figliolo Acarnano lasciò il cognome del paese. Tale è l' istoria che di AIcmeone si racconta.