Zopyrus's Stratagem and Request to Darius — Herodotus, Histories Book 3 (3.155.1–3.155.6), Greek & English

§3.155.1

Δαρεῖος δὲ κάρτα βαρέως ἤνεικε ἰδὼν ἄνδρα δοκιμώτατον λελωβημένον, ἔκ τε τοῦ θρόνου ἀναπηδήσας ἀνέβωσέ τε καὶ εἴρετό μιν ὅστις εἴη ὁ λωβησάμενος καὶ ὅ τι ποιήσαντα.¹

Darius was extremely grieved when he saw a man of the highest repute mutilated; leaping up from his throne, he cried out and asked him who it was that had mutilated him and what he had done to deserve it.

§3.155.2

ὁ δὲ εἶπε οὐκ ἔστι οὗτος ὡνήρ, ὅτι μὴ σύ,² τῷ ἐστὶ δύναμις τοσαύτη ἐμὲ δὴ ὧδε διαθεῖναι· οὐδέ τις ἀλλοτρίων ὦ βασιλεῦ τάδε ἔργασται, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸς ἐγὼ ἐμεωυτόν, δεινόν τι ποιεύμενος Ἀσσυρίους Πέρσῃσι καταγελᾶν.

And he said, “There is no man, except you, who has so great power as to treat me thus; nor has anyone else, O king, done this, but I myself have done it to myself, because I felt it a dreadful thing that the Assyrians should laugh the Persians to scorn.”

§3.155.3

ὃ δʼ ἀμείβετο ὦ σχετλιώτατε ἀνδρῶν, ἔργῳ τῷ αἰσχίστῳ οὔνομα τὸ κάλλιστον ἔθευ, φὰς διὰ τοὺς πολιορκεομένους σεωυτὸν ἀνηκέστως διαθεῖναι. τί δʼ, ὦ μάταιε, λελωβημένου σεῦ³ θᾶσσον οἱ πολέμιοι παραστήσονται; κῶς οὐκ ἐξέπλωσας τῶν φρενῶν σεωυτὸν διαφθείρας;

Then the king answered, “O most reckless of men, you have given the fairest name to the foulest deed, saying that for the sake of those who are besieged you have inflicted an incurable mutilation upon yourself. How, O foolish man, will the enemy surrender any sooner because you have mutilated yourself? Have you not lost your senses, destroying yourself?”

§3.155.4

ὁ δὲ εἶπε εἰ μέν τοι ὑπερετίθεα τὰ ἔμελλον ποιήσειν, οὐκ ἄν με περιεῖδες· νῦν δʼ ἐπʼ ἐμεωυτοῦ βαλόμενος⁴ ἔπρηξα. ἤδη ὦν ἢν μὴ τῶν σῶν δεήσῃ, αἱρέομεν Βαβυλῶνα. ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ ὡς ἔχω αὐτομολήσω ἐς τὸ τεῖχος καὶ φήσω πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὡς ὑπὸ σεῦ τάδε ἔπαθον· καὶ δοκέω, πείσας σφέας ταῦτα ἔχειν οὕτω, τεύξεσθαι στρατιῆς.

He replied, “If I had communicated to you what I was about to do, you would not have permitted me; but now I have done it on my own counsel. Now, therefore, unless there be a failure on your part, we shall take Babylon. For I will desert to the wall just as I am, and I will say to them that I have suffered this treatment at your hands; and I think that, having persuaded them that this is indeed so, I shall obtain the command of a force.”

§3.155.5

σὺ δέ, ἀπʼ ἧς ἂν ἡμέρης ἐγὼ ἐσέλθω ἐς τὸ τεῖχος, ἀπὸ ταύτης ἐς δεκάτην ἡμέρην τῆς σεωυτοῦ στρατιῆς, τῆς οὐδεμία ἔσται ὤρη ἀπολλυμένης, ταύτης χιλίους τάξον κατὰ τὰς Σεμιράμιος καλεομένας πύλας· μετὰ δὲ αὖτις ἀπὸ τῆς δεκάτης ἐς ἑβδόμην ἄλλους μοι τάξον δισχιλίους κατὰ τὰς Νινίων καλεομένας πύλας· ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς ἑβδόμης διαλείπειν⁵ εἴκοσι ἡμέρας, καὶ ἔπειτα ἄλλους κάτισον ἀγαγὼν κατὰ τὰς Χαλδαίων καλεομένας πύλας, τετρακισχιλίους. ἐχόντων δὲ μήτε οἱ πρότεροι μηδὲν τῶν ἀμυνεύντων μήτε οὗτοι, πλὴν ἐγχειριδίων· τοῦτο δὲ ἐᾶν ἔχειν.

And do you, on the tenth day from that on which I enter the wall, take a thousand men of your army, whose loss will be of no concern to you, and post them at the gates called the gates of Semiramis; and after that, on the seventh day from the tenth, post for me another two thousand at the gates called the gates of Ninos; and from the seventh day let twenty days elapse, and then lead out and post another four thousand at the gates called the gates of the Chaldeans. But let neither the former nor these carry any defensive weapons except daggers; let them be permitted to have these.”

§3.155.6

μετὰ δὲ τὴν εἰκοστὴν ἡμέρην ἰθέως τὴν μὲν ἄλλην στρατιὴν κελεύειν πέριξ προσβάλλειν πρὸς τὸ τεῖχος, Πέρσας δέ μοι τάξον κατά τε τὰς Βηλίδας καλεομένας καὶ Κισσίας πύλας. ὡς γὰρ ἐγὼ δοκέω, ἐμέο μεγάλα ἔργα ἀποδεξαμένου, τά τε ἄλλα ἐπιτρέψονται ἐμοὶ Βαβυλώνιοι καὶ δὴ καὶ τῶν πυλέων τὰς βαλανάγρας· τὸ δὲ ἐνθεῦτεν ἐμοί τε καὶ Πέρσῃσι μελήσει τὰ δεῖ ποιέειν.

Immediately after the twentieth day, order the rest of the army to make an assault upon the wall all round, but post the Persians for me at the gates called the gates of Belos and of Cissia. For, as I think, when I have performed great deeds, the Babylonians will entrust other things to me, and especially the keys of the gates; and after that, it will be for me and the Persians to do what must be done.”

Syntax notes5 items

3.155.1ὅ τι ποιήσαντα
A participle phrase with Zopyrus (in the accusative) as its subject, meaning 'what he (Zopyrus) had done to deserve such treatment' (literally, 'having done what'). It stands in parallel with the indirect question ὅστις εἴη ὁ λωβησάμενος (who it was that had mutilated him).
3.155.2ὅτι μὴ σύ
ὅτι μή is an idiomatic expression meaning 'except' or 'save' following a negative statement (here, οὐκ ἔστι οὗτος ὡνήρ). Thus, the phrase means 'except you'.
3.155.3λελωβημένου σεῦ
A genitive absolute construction consisting of the pronoun σεῦ (the Ionic form of σοῦ) and the perfect passive participle λελωβημένου, implying a concessive or conditional sense: 'even though you have been mutilated' or 'because you have mutilated yourself'.
3.155.4ἐπʼ ἐμεωυτοῦ βαλόμενος
An idiomatic expression meaning 'on my own responsibility' or 'by my own counsel'. The middle voice participle βαλόμενος with ἐπί and the reflexive genitive ἐμεωυτοῦ means to take something upon oneself or to act on one's own decision.
3.155.5διαλείπειν
An infinitive used in an imperative sense (imperative infinitive). It appears in alternation with the imperative verb κάτισον and another imperative infinitive ἐᾶν in the same section, forming a sequence of commands.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — translation 1

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.155.1-3.155.6