What exactly does Thucydides mean by "stifling"?

[Dick Meehan]

Thucydidies uses a greek work (I don't read Greek) that has been translated as "stifling" since at least the time of Hobbes.

Can anyone identify the greek word for "stifling" in the passage and comment on it's implications? Purely conducive to difficult breathing without any attribution of cause? Lack of ventilation in a space? Too hot?  Thanks much for any insights.

[2.52.1] An aggravation of the existing calamity was the influx from the country into the city, and this was especially felt by the new arrivals.

[2.52.2] As there were no houses to receive them, they had to be lodged at the hot season of the year in stifling cabins, where the mortality raged without restraint.

ἐπίεσε δ᾽ αὐτοὺς μᾶλλον πρὸς τῷ ὑπάρχοντι πόνῳ καὶ ἡ ξυγκομιδὴ ἐκ τῶν ἀγρῶν ἐς τὸ ἄστυ, καὶ οὐχ ἧσσον τοὺς ἐπελθόντας. [2] οἰκιῶν γὰρ οὐχ ὑπαρχουσῶν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν καλύβαις πνιγηραῖς ὥρᾳ ἔτους διαιτωμένων ὁ φθόρος ἐγίγνετο οὐδενὶ κόσμῳ, ἀλλὰ καὶ νεκροὶ ἐπ᾽ ἀλλήλοις ἀποθνῄσκοντες ἔκειντο καὶ ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς ἐκαλινδοῦντο καὶ περὶ τὰς κρήνας ἁπάσας ἡμιθνῆτες τοῦ ὕδατος ἐπιθυμίᾳ.

[Seumas Macdonald]

The word is  πνιγηραῖς, an adjective referring to something that strangles or suffocates, related to the verb πνίγω - to strangle. It is used among some other writings to refer to suffocating from heat, tightness, and is used variously of seasons and of rooms.

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Dr. Seumas MacDhòmhnaill (Macdonald)

Patristics researcher | Language acquisition facilitator | Translator | Independent Scholar

thepatrologist.com | seumas...@gmail.com