Page:Thucydides, translated into English Vol 2.djvu/327

 70, 7i] AGONY OF THE SPECTATORS 319 fectly well that the Athenians were only eager to find some means of flight, they would themselves fly from the fugitives. While the naval engagement hung in the balance the 71 two armies on shore had great trial and ^^, , ■ , f„ f. . Fearful anxiety of the conflict of soul. The Sicilian soldier ^„e>i drawn up onshore^ was animated by the hope of increasing especially tvhen the the glory which he had already won, l><^i"^' J^'^^er^. They ° -' _ •' accompany the conflict while the invader was tormented by j^,,y/, ^^-^^ ^„^^ ,nove- the fear that his fortunes might sink mcnts of the body. At lower still. The last chance of the ^^^''s"' 'he Athenians . are driven ashore. 1 he Athenians lay in their ships, and their „,.,„y scei,tg the ships anxiety was dreadful. The fortune of lost knoiv themselves to the battle varied ; and it was not pos- ^' ^°"- ^'^' ^'''Y"' daenwmans at rylos. sible that the spectators on the shore should all receive the same impression of it. Being quite close and having different points of view, they would some of them see their own ships victorious ; their courage would then revive, and they would earnestly call upon the Gods not to take from them their hope of deliverance. But others, who saw their ships worsted, cried and shrieked aloud, and were by the sight alone more utterly unnerved than the defeated combatants themselves. Others again, who had fixed their gaze on some part of the struggle which was undecided, were in a state of excitement still more terrible ; the}^ kept swaying their bodies to and fro in an agony of hope and fear as the stubborn conflict went on and on ; for at every instant they were all but saved or all but lost. And while the strife hung in the balance 3'OU might hear in the Athenian army at once lamentation, shouting, cries of victory or defeat, and all the various sounds which are wrung from a great host, in extremity of danger. Not less agonising were the feelings of those on board. At length the Syracusans and their allies, after a protracted struggle, put the Athenians to flight, and triumphantly bearing down upon them, and encouraging one another with loud cries and exhortations, drove them