Flee or chase, the meaning of fugere?

Question

In reading Ritchie's Fabulae Faciles, I find the following passage:

Dum tamen ea geruntur, Argonautae nōn intermissō remigandī labōre mox ē cōnspectū hostium auferēbantur, neque prius fugere dēstitērunt quam ad flūmen Eridānum pervēnērunt.

Nevertheless, while doing these things, the Argonauts, not interrupting the work of rowing, soon caught sight of the enemy, and did not leave off their pursuit until they reached the river Eridanus.

What I don't understand is the form fugere. From the context, it would seem to mean chase, but the word for chase is fugo and the infinitive of fugo is fugare, not fugere. Fugere means to flee, which seems to make no sense in the context. Is this a typo or am I not understanding something?

Answer 1

Fugio, -ere always means "fleeing/avoiding/escaping." There is another, rarer 1st conjugation verb fugo which means "put to flight," but this isn't used in your example sentence.

As Sebastian notes, I think your confusion comes from a misunderstanding of an earlier part of the sentence. Though I like some of your translation choices (e.g. changing passive "geruntur" to active), I will try to make this as literal as possible so the parallels are evident:

But while those beings are being done, the Argonauts--not putting off the task of rowing--soon were carried away from the sight of the enemy, nor did they cease to flee before they arrived at the river Eridanus.

They are running away from the enemy, so the typical meaning of fugere makes a lot of sense.