- 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-grc2:7.212.1-7.212.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-07
This chunk describes the fierce battle at Thermopylae, where Xerxes is said to have leapt from his throne in anxiety, and the organized defense of the Greeks who fought in turns, leading to the Persian retreat.
ἐν ταύτῃσι τῇσι προσόδοισι τῆς μάχης λέγεται βασιλέα θηεύμενον τρὶς ἀναδραμεῖν1 ἐκ τοῦ θρόνου δείσαντα περὶ τῇ στρατιῇ. τότε μὲν οὕτω ἠγωνίσαντο, τῇ δʼ ὑστεραίῃ οἱ βάρβαροι οὐδὲν ἄμεινον ἀέθλεον. ἅτε γὰρ ὀλίγων ἐόντων,2 ἐλπίσαντες σφέας3 κατατετρωματίσθαι τε καὶ οὐκ οἵους τε ἔσεσθαι ἔτι χεῖρας ἀνταείρασθαι συνέβαλλον.
During these assaults of the battle, it is said that the king, as he watched, leapt up three times from his throne, fearing for his army. At that time they fought in this way, but on the following day the barbarians fared no better in their contest. For, because the Greeks were few, they expected that they were already wounded and would no longer be able to raise their hands against them, and so they joined battle.
οἱ δὲ Ἕλληνες κατὰ τάξις τε καὶ κατὰ ἔθνεα κεκοσμημένοι ἦσαν, καὶ ἐν μέρεϊ ἕκαστοι ἐμάχοντο, πλὴν Φωκέων· οὗτοι δὲ ἐς τὸ ὄρος ἐτάχθησαν φυλάξοντες4 τὴν ἀτραπόν. ὡς δὲ οὐδὲν εὕρισκον ἀλλοιότερον οἱ Πέρσαι ἢ τῇ προτεραίῃ ἐνώρων, ἀπήλαυνον.
But the Greeks were marshaled by ranks and by nations, and each fought in turn, except for the Phocians; these had been stationed on the mountain to guard the path. When the Persians found nothing different from what they had seen on the previous day, they retreated.
- 7.212.1λέγεται βασιλέα ... ἀναδραμεῖν
An accusative with infinitive construction where the accusative βασιλέα acts as the subject of the infinitive ἀναδραμεῖν after the impersonal λέγεται ("it is said"). The participles θηεύμενον ("watching") and δείσαντα ("fearing") agree in gender, number, and case with the accusative subject βασιλέα.
- 7.212.1ἅτε γὰρ ὀλίγων ἐόντων
A genitive absolute construction introduced by the particle ἅτε ("since," "seeing that"), which expresses an objective, factual reason. The implied subject of ὀλίγων ("few") is the Greeks.
- 7.212.1σφέας
The accusative subject of the infinitives κατατετρωματίσθαι ("to have been wounded") and ἔσεσθαι ("to be going to be"). In Herodotus, the pronoun σφεῖς (accusative σφέας) often functions simply as a third-person plural pronoun referring to others (the Greeks), rather than being used reflexively to refer back to the subject of the main clause (the Persians).
- 7.212.2φυλάξοντες
A future active participle in the nominative plural, agreeing with the subject of ἐτάχθησαν (the Phocians). The future participle is used adverbially to express purpose ("in order to guard").