- Source
- Herodotus. Godley, Alfred Denis, editor. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, Ltd., 1920-1925 (printing).
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.104.1-5.104.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
Cyprus, except for Amathus, joins the revolt, led by Onesilus of Salamis, who expels his brother King Gorgus and begins a siege against the uncooperative Amathusians.
Κύπριοι δὲ ἐθελονταί σφι1 πάντες προσεγένοντο πλὴν Ἀμαθουσίων· ἀπέστησαν γὰρ καὶ οὗτοι ὧδε ἀπὸ Μήδων. ἦ Ὀνήσιλος2 Γόργου μὲν τοῦ Σαλαμινίων βασιλέος ἀδελφεὸς νεώτερος, Χέρσιος δὲ τοῦ Σιρώμου τοῦ Εὐέλθοντος παῖς.
And the Cyprians all of their own free will joined them, except for the Amathusians; for these too revolted from the Medes in the following manner. There was a certain Onesilus, a younger brother of Gorgus, the king of the Salaminians, and a son of Chersis, who was the son of Siromus, the son of Evelthon.
οὗτος ὡνὴρ πολλάκις μὲν καὶ πρότερον τὸν Γόργον παρηγορέετο ἀπίστασθαι ἀπὸ βασιλέος, τότε δέ, ὡς καὶ τοὺς Ἴωνας ἐπύθετο ἀπεστάναι, πάγχυ ἐπικείμενος ἐνῆγε· ὡς δὲ οὐκ ἔπειθε τὸν Γόργον, ἐνθαῦτά μιν φυλάξας ἐξελθόντα τὸ ἄστυ3 τὸ Σαλαμινίων ὁ Ὀνήσιλος ἅμα τοῖσι ἑωυτοῦ στασιώτῃσι ἀπεκλήισε τῶν πυλέων.
This man had often before this exhorted Gorgus to revolt from the King, and at this time, when he learned that the Ionians too had revolted, he pressed him hard and urged him. But when he could not persuade Gorgus, Onesilus watched for him to go out of the city of Salamis and, together with his own partisans, shut him out of the gates.
Γόργος μὲν δὴ στερηθεὶς τῆς πόλιος ἔφευγε ἐς Μήδους, Ὀνήσιλος δὲ ἦρχε Σαλαμῖνος καὶ ἀνέπειθε πάντας Κυπρίους συναπίστασθαι. τοὺς μὲν δὴ ἄλλους ἀνέπεισε, Ἀμαθουσίους δὲ οὐ βουλομένους οἱ πείθεσθαι ἐπολιόρκεε προσκατήμενος.4
Gorgus, indeed, deprived of his city, fled to the Medes, while Onesilus ruled Salamis and urged all the Cyprians to join the revolt. He persuaded the others, but since the Amathusians did not wish to obey him, he sat down before their city and besieged them.
- 5.104.1σφι
The dative pronoun σφι ("to them") refers to the Ionians, who were mentioned in the previous chapter (5.103) as preparing for the war against the Persian King.
- 5.104.1ἦ Ὀνήσιλος
ἦ is the 3rd person singular imperfect of εἶναι (corresponding to Attic ἦν, common in Ionic and epic poetry), with Ὀνήσιλος as its subject. In the genealogical description, the genitive Γόργου modifies ἀδελφεὸς ("brother of Gorgus"), and the genitive Χέρσιος modifies παῖς ("son of Chersis"). This lineage traces Chersis as the father of both Gorgus and Onesilus, going back to Evelthon.
- 5.104.2φυλάξας ἐξελθόντα τὸ ἄστυ
The aorist active participle φυλάξας ("having watched/waited for") agrees with the subject of the main clause, Onesilus (ὁ Ὀνήσιλος). The aorist active participle ἐξελθόντα ("having gone out") is accusative masculine singular, agreeing with the preceding personal pronoun μιν (Gorgus), and functions as the complement of the action watched by Onesilus ("having watched him go out of the city").
- 5.104.3προσκατήμενος
The present active participle προσκατήμενος ("sitting down before/investing") modifies the main verb ἐπολιόρκεε ("was besieging"), describing the manner of the siege as a persistent blockading action (literally, "sitting down against").