- 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-grc2:5.124.1-5.124.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
Anticipating the failure of the revolt, Aristagoras of Miletus planned his escape and consulted his allies on whether they should establish a refuge colony in Sardinia or Myrcinus.
ἁλισκομενέων δὲ τῶν πολίων, ἦν γὰρ ὡς διέδεξε1 Ἀρισταγόρης ὁ Μιλήσιος ψυχὴν2 οὐκ ἄκρος, ὃς ταράξας τὴν Ἰωνίην καὶ ἐγκερασάμενος πρήγματα μεγάλα δρησμὸν ἐβούλευε ὁρέων ταῦτα· πρὸς δέ οἱ καὶ ἀδύνατα ἐφάνη βασιλέα Δαρεῖον ὑπερβαλέσθαι·
As the cities were being captured, for Aristagoras of Miletus, as the event showed, was not a man of great courage—he, who had thrown Ionia into confusion and stirred up great trouble, was planning flight when he saw these things. Moreover, it seemed to him impossible to overcome King Darius.
πρὸς ταῦτα δὴ ὦν συγκαλέσας τοὺς συστασιώτας ἐβουλεύετο, λέγων ὡς ἄμεινον σφίσι εἴη κρησφύγετόν τι ὑπάρχον εἶναι, ἢν ἄρα ἐξωθέωνται ἐκ τῆς Μιλήτου, εἴτε δὴ ὦν ἐς Σαρδὼ ἐκ τοῦ τόπου τούτου ἄγοι3 ἐς ἀποικίην, εἴτε ἐς Μύρκινον τὴν Ἠδωνῶν, τὴν Ἱστιαῖος ἐτείχεε παρὰ Δαρείου δωρεὴν λαβών. ταῦτα ἐπειρώτα ὁ Ἀρισταγόρης.
Therefore, having called together his fellow-conspirators, he took counsel, saying that it would be better for them to have some place of refuge ready, in case they should be expelled from Miletus: whether he should lead them from this place to a colony in Sardinia, or to Myrcinus of the Edonians, which Histiaeus had been walling after receiving it as a gift from Darius. This is what Aristagoras proposed to consult them about.
- 5.124.1ὡς διέδεξε
This can be interpreted either impersonally as 'as the event showed' or with Aristagoras as the subject as 'as he showed'. The former impersonal reading fits the context better and is the standard interpretation.
- 5.124.1ψυχὴν
Accusative of respect (or specification), modifying the adjective οὐκ ἄκρος ('not of the highest degree', 'not outstanding'), meaning 'in respect of courage' or 'in spirit'. Together they mean 'not a man of courage'.
- 5.124.2ἄγοι
An optative of deliberation in indirect speech. It represents what would be a deliberative subjunctive in direct speech (ἄγωμεν 'should we lead?'), changed to the optative because it is introduced by a past-tense main verb (ἐβουλεύετο).