81.1Urbem Troiam ā Graecīs decem annōs obsessam esse satis cōnstat; dē hōc enim bellō Homērus, maximus poētārum Graecōrum, Īliadem opus nōtissimum scrīpsit.It is well known that the city of Troy was besieged by the Greeks for ten years; for Homer, the greatest of the Greek poets, wrote the Iliad, a very famous work, about this war.Note. satis cōnstat: 'it is well enough known', followed by an indirect statement: urbem … obsessam esse. decem annōs is accusative of extent of time: 'for ten years'. 81.2Trōiā tandem per īnsidiās captā, Graecī longō bellō fessī domum redīre mātūrāvērunt.When Troy had at last been taken by a trick, the Greeks, worn out by the long war, hurried to return home.Note. Trōiā … captā is an ablative absolute: 'when Troy had been taken'. 81.3Omnibus rēbus igitur ad profectiōnem parātīs nāvīs dēdūxērunt, et tempestātem idōneam nactī magnō cum gaudiō solvērunt.So, when everything was ready for departure, they launched their ships, and finding suitable weather they set sail with great joy. 81.4Erat inter prīmōs Graecōrum Ulixēs quīdam, vir summae virtūtis ac prūdentiae, quem dīcunt nōnnūllī dolum istum excōgitāsse quō Troiam captam esse cōnstat.Among the leaders of the Greeks there was a certain Ulysses, a man of the greatest courage and good sense, who some say thought up that trick by which, as is well known, Troy was taken.Note. quem dīcunt nōnnūllī dolum istum excōgitāsse: quem is the subject of the infinitive, 'who, some say, devised'. excōgitāsse is short for excōgitāvisse.
81.5Hic regnum īnsulae Ithacae obtinuerat, et paulō antequam cum reliquīs Graecīs ad bellum profectus est, puellam fōrmōsissimam, nōmine Pēnelopēn, in mātrimōnium dūxerat.He had held the kingship of the island of Ithaca, and a little before he set out for the war with the rest of the Greeks, he had married a very beautiful girl named Penelope. 81.6Nunc igitur cum iam decem annōs quasi in exsiliō cōnsūmpsisset, magnā cupiditāte patriae et uxōris videndae ārdēbat.So now, since he had already spent ten years as if in exile, he was burning with a great desire to see his country and his wife.Note. cupiditāte patriae et uxōris videndae: the gerundive agrees with the nearer noun, 'desire of seeing his country and wife'.