Philistus Still Kopff, E Christian Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Fall 1976; 17, 3; ProQuest pg. 220

Philistus Still 
E. Christian Kopff 

A GRBS 17 (1976) 23-30 I collected various difficulties experi­
enced by scholars with Thucydides 7.42.3 and suggested what 
I took to be the most economical solution to those difficulties. 

Matthew W. Dickie, without proposing a new solution to the dilem­
mas of the passage, defends its authenticity by referring to 6.63.2 
and Demosthenes' opinion that follows the parenthesis. I dealt with 
both passages at p.29 n.15. The correct but insufficient view that an 
army is most frightening on its arrival Thucydides attributes to the 
Syracusan mob and to Demosthenes, the foolish and the reckless, 
both on the eve of defeat. The passage I bracketed would have attrib­
uted the view to Thucydides himself. 

Other objections follow. 

(1) "The real problem of 7.42.3 is" the suggestion "that the first 
Athenian attack on Syracuse came after the winter spent at Catana . 
. . . There is no reason at all to think that Philistus believed that the 
Athenians did not attack Syracuse until the spring of 414 B.C. In 
short, ... " my solution "simply transfers the problem from Thucyd­
ides to Philistus" (Dickie, pp.217f). We know that Philistus differed 
from Thucydides on material points (pp.27-28). We do not know 
that the quotations would have been a contradiction in his anti­
Nician account. The remarks may have been spoken in direct dis­
course by Demosthenes, Menander or Euthydemus; the latter two 
are important figures in Philistus' account but are hardly mentioned 
by Thucydides. 

(2) Ka2 av'T~C following the bracketed passage means "he too," and 
by implying a reference to someone other than Demosthenes who 
was most frightening on arrival, the phrase protects the parenthesis 
(Dickie p.218). "Denniston was once heard saying to a pupil, <Kai of 
course can mean "and" '." (C. M. Bowra, Memories [Cambridge (Mass.) 
1967] 256). It can also mean <also' or <too'; see GP2 289-94. "Hence, by 
an easy transition, the sense of addition sometimes recedes into the 
background, while the sense of climax predominates, a ladder of which 

220 



221 PHILISTUS STILL 

only the top rung is clearly seen. <Even' then passes into <actually', 
and Kat is little more than a particle of emphasis, like 8~. As such, 
it precedes, and emphasizes, various parts of speech" (GP2 316-17). 
Kai ai'TtJc need mean nothing more than <he himself'. (If taken 
closely with fen [GP2 326-27], it could mean <actually was most 
frightening'.) There is a link and contrast with the Nicias of the 
previous clause, but this in no way protects the parenthesis. The 
parallelism of expression in the two passages is as well explained by 
considering the bracketed passage to be an intrusive marginal note, 
and this explanation also solves the substantive difficulties of the 
passage. 

(3) The parenthesis is necessary because "as it stands, it is by no 
means clear what is supposed to have happened to Nicias" (Dickie 
p.21S). Thucydides' description of the Sicilian Expedition is one of the 
masterpieces of Greek prose. Few readers will need to be reminded at 
Book 7 chapter 47 "what is supposed to have happened to Nicias." If 
any do need reminding, they surely do not require a summary at once 
incomplete, misleading and in direct contradiction to Thucydides' 
account both on points of fact and of interpretation. 

The simplest and most economical explanation of the problems 
of 7.42.3 remains the intrusion of a marginal quotation of Philistus. 

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO 

June, 1976