- 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-grc2:7.10.1
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
After Mardonius finishes his flattering speech, the other Persians remain silent, and Artabanus, the king's uncle, steps forward to speak.
Μαρδόνιος μὲν τοσαῦτα ἐπιλεήνας1 τὴν Ξέρξεω γνώμην ἐπέπαυτο· σιωπώντων δὲ τῶν ἄλλων Περσέων καὶ οὐ τολμώντων γνώμην ἀποδείκνυσθαι ἀντίην τῇ προκειμένῃ, Ἀρτάβανος ὁ Ὑστάσπεος, πάτρως ἐὼν Ξέρξῃ, τῷ2 δὴ καὶ πίσυνος ἐὼν ἔλεγε τάδε.
Mardonius, having thus smoothed over the opinion of Xerxes, ceased speaking. But while the other Persians remained silent and did not dare to express an opinion contrary to the one proposed, Artabanus the son of Hystaspes, who was an uncle to Xerxes, relying on this very fact, spoke as follows.
- 7.10.1ἐπιλεήνας
The participle ἐπιλεήνας (from ἐπιλεαίνω, aorist active participle) literally means 'smoothing over' or 'polishing,' used here metaphorically to describe flattering or glossing over Xerxes' opinion to make it more agreeable.
- 7.10.1τῷ
The dative τῷ is taken as a demonstrative pronoun (neuter singular) referring back to the fact of him being the king's uncle (πάτρως ἐὼν), serving as the complement to the adjective πίσυνος ('relying on, trusting in'). It could also be interpreted as a relative pronoun (masculine singular) referring to Xerxes ('relying on him/his favor'), but the former better emphasizes his confidence derived from his familial status.