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§7.136.1-7.136.2

Spartan Envoys Refuse Prostration and Xerxes Spares Them

The Spartan envoys refuse to prostrate themselves before the Persian King in Susa and offer their lives in return for the murdered heralds, but King Xerxes generously declines to execute them.

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§7.136.1

ταῦτα μὲν Ὑδάρνεα ἀμείψαντο. ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ ὡς ἀνέβησαν ἐς Σοῦσα καὶ βασιλέι ἐς ὄψιν ἦλθον, πρῶτα μὲν τῶν δορυφόρων κελευόντων καὶ ἀνάγκην σφι προσφερόντων προσκυνέειν βασιλέα προσπίπτοντας,1 οὐκ ἔφασαν ὠθεόμενοι ὑπʼ αὐτῶν ἐπὶ κεφαλὴν ποιήσειν ταῦτα οὐδαμά· οὔτε γὰρ σφίσι ἐν νόμῳ εἶναι ἄνθρωπον προσκυνέειν οὔτε κατὰ ταῦτα ἥκειν. ὡς δὲ ἀπεμαχέσαντο τοῦτο, δεύτερά σφι λέγουσι τάδε καὶ λόγου τοιοῦδε ἐχόμενα ὦ βασιλεῦ Μήδων, ἔπεμψαν ἡμέας Λακεδαιμόνιοι ἀντὶ τῶν ἐν Σπάρτῃ ἀπολομένων κηρύκων ποινὴν ἐκείνων τίσοντας, λέγουσι δὲ αὐτοῖσι ταῦτα2 Ξέρξης ὑπὸ μεγαλοφροσύνης οὐκ ἔφη ὅμοιος ἔσεσθαι Λακεδαιμονίοισι· κείνους μὲν γὰρ συγχέαι τὰ πάντων ἀνθρώπων νόμιμα ἀποκτείναντας κήρυκας, αὐτὸς δὲ τὰ ἐκείνοισι ἐπιπλήσσει3 ταῦτα οὐ ποιήσειν, οὐδὲ ἀνταποκτείνας ἐκείνους ἀπολύσειν Λακεδαιμονίους τῆς αἰτίης.

​Thus they answered Hydarnes. From there, when they went up to Susa and came into the presence of the King, first, when the bodyguards ordered them and tried to force them to fall down and do obeisance to the King, they refused, even though they were being pushed down on their heads by them, saying they would never do this; for it was not in their custom to worship a human being, nor had they come for this purpose. Having successfully resisted this, they then spoke these words, which contained the following meaning: ”O King of the Medes, the Lacedaemonians have sent us in place of the heralds who were killed in Sparta, to pay the penalty for them.” When they said this, Xerxes, out of greatness of mind, said that he would not be like the Lacedaemonians; for while they had confounded the laws of all mankind by killing heralds, he himself would not do those very things for which he blamed them, nor would he, by killing them in return, release the Lacedaemonians from their guilt.

Syntax notes3 items
  1. 7.136.1προσπίπτοντας

    Accusative plural participle meaning "falling down". Although it refers back to the dative pronoun σφι ("to them"), it is attractionally put into the accusative case as the subject of the infinitive προσκυνέειν.

  2. 7.136.2λέγουσι δὲ αὐτοῖσι ταῦτα

    Dative expression of time/circumstance: "when they said these things". Instead of the standard genitive absolute (λέγοντων δὲ αὐτῶν), the dative is used here to indicate the circumstances under which the main action took place.

  3. 7.136.2τὰ ἐκείνοισι ἐπιπλήσσει

    τὰ functions as a relative pronoun in the Ionic dialect (equivalent to Attic ἃ), meaning "the things which he reproaches them for." The verb ἐπιπλήσσω takes a dative of the person (ἐκείνοισι) and an accusative of the thing (τὰ).

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
  • 2026-09-21 AI review — translation 1
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.136.1-7.136.2