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Histories

§4.205.1

Pheretime's Wretched Death and Divine Retribution

The miserable death of Pheretime after her harsh revenge on the Barcaeans is described, serving as a lesson on how excessive human vengeance incurs the anger of the gods.

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§4.205.1

οὐ μὲν οὐδὲ1 ἡ Φερετίμη εὖ τὴν ζόην κατέπλεξε. ὡς γὰρ δὴ τάχιστα ἐκ τῆς Λιβύης τισαμένη τοὺς Βαρκαίους ἀπενόστησε ἐς τὴν Αἴγυπτον, ἀπέθανε κακῶς· ζῶσα γὰρ εὐλέων ἐξέζεσε,2 ὡς ἄρα3 ἀνθρώποισι αἱ λίην ἰσχυραὶ τιμωρίαι πρὸς θεῶν ἐπίφθονοι γίνονται·ἐκ μὲν δὴ Φερετίμης τῆς Βάττου τοιαύτη τε καὶ τοσαύτη τιμωρίη ἐγένετο ἐς Βαρκαίους.

​Nor indeed did Pheretime bring her life to a happy end. For as soon as she had returned to Egypt from Libya after taking her revenge on the Barcaeans, she died a miserable death; for while still alive she swarmed with maggots, as if to show that over-violent revenges taken by humans become offensive to the gods. Thus, such and so great was the revenge that came from Pheretime, the daughter of Battus, upon the Barcaeans.

Syntax notes3 items
  1. 4.205.1οὐ μὲν οὐδέ

    A strong negative connective phrase used to transition the topic from the fate of the Barcaean exiles in the previous section, meaning 'nor indeed did...'.

  2. 4.205.1εὐλέων ἐξέζεσε

    The genitive plural εὐλέων (from εὐλή, 'maggot') is used with the intransitive verb ἐξέζεσε (from ἐκζέω, 'to boil over, teem'), indicating the material or source that was swarming out of her body.

  3. 4.205.1ὡς ἄρα

    The conjunction ὡς introduces a clause explaining the lesson or result of the event ('as if to show that'), while the particle ἄρα adds a tone of natural consequence or general truth ('it turns out that', 'indeed').

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
  • 2026-09-21 AI review — note 1
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.205.1