- 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-grc2:6.29.1-6.29.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
In the battle of Malene in Atarneus, the Greek army is defeated by the Persian cavalry. Overtaken during his flight, Histiaeus reveals his identity in Persian, hoping for the king's mercy.
ἐζωγρήθη δὲ ὁ Ἱστιαῖος ὧδε. ὡς ἐμάχοντο οἱ Ἕλληνες τοῖσι Πέρσῃσι ἐν τῇ Μαλήνῃ τῆς Ἀταρνείτιδος χώρης, οἳ μὲν1 συνέστασαν χρόνον ἐπὶ πολλόν, ἡ δὲ ἵππος ὕστερον ὁρμηθεῖσα ἐπιπίπτει τοῖσι Ἕλλησι. τό τε δὴ ἔργον τῆς ἵππου τοῦτο ἐγένετο, καὶ τετραμμένων τῶν Ἑλλήνων ὁ Ἱστιαῖος ἐλπίζων οὐκ ἀπολέεσθαι ὑπὸ βασιλέος διὰ τὴν παρεοῦσαν ἁμαρτάδα2 φιλοψυχίην τοιήνδε τινὰ ἀναιρέεται·
And Histiaeus was taken alive in this way. As the Greeks were fighting with the Persians at Malene in the region of Atarneus, they held their ground for a long time, but the cavalry, charging later, fell upon the Greeks. This indeed was the achievement of the cavalry, and when the Greeks were turned to flight, Histiaeus, hoping that he would not be put to death by the king because of his present offense, showed the following love of life:
ὡς3 φεύγων τε κατελαμβάνετο ὑπὸ ἀνδρὸς Πέρσεω καὶ ὡς καταιρεόμενος ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ ἔμελλε συγκεντηθήσεσθαι, Περσίδα γλῶσσαν μετεὶς4 καταμηνύει ἑωυτὸν ὡς εἴη5 Ἱστιαῖος ὁ Μιλήσιος.
as he was being overtaken in his flight by a Persian, and as he was being pinned down by him and was about to be run through, he spoke in the Persian tongue and revealed himself, saying that he was Histiaeus the Milesian.
- 6.29.1οἳ μὲν
It refers to the infantry among 'the Greeks' (οἱ Ἕλληνες), in contrast with the following 'the cavalry' (ἡ δὲ ἵππος).
- 6.29.1διὰ τὴν παρεοῦσαν ἁμαρτάδα
'Because of his present offense' might seem contradictory as a reason for not being executed, but it implies that Histiaeus expected the King to spare him despite this current rebellion, owing to his past great services to the King.
- 6.29.2ὡς φεύγων τε κατελαμβάνετο ... καὶ ὡς ...
The temporal conjunction ὡς ('when') is repeated in two parallel clauses connected by τε ... καὶ ... (κατελαμβάνετο and ἔμελλε), vividly depicting the urgency of the situation.
- 6.29.2Περσίδα γλῶσσαν μετεὶς
μετείς is the aorist active participle of μεθίημι (to let go, utter). Literally 'having let loose the Persian tongue,' meaning he started speaking in Persian to make himself understood immediately.
- 6.29.2ὡς εἴη
The optative εἴη (present optative 3rd sg. of εἰμί) is used in the indirect discourse introduced by ὡς. Since the main verb καταμηνύει is a historical present, the optative of indirect discourse is triggered as if the main verb were in a past tense.