Achaimenes Advises Xerxes Against Dividing the Fleet — Herodotus, Histories Book 7 (7.236.1–7.236.3), Greek & English

§7.236.1

λέγει μετὰ τοῦτον Ἀχαιμένης, ἀδελφεός τε ἐὼν Ξέρξεω καὶ τοῦ ναυτικοῦ στρατοῦ στρατηγός, παρατυχών τε τῷ λόγῳ καὶ δείσας μὴ ἀναγνωσθῇ¹ Ξέρξης ποιέειν ταῦτα, ὦ βασιλεῦ, ὁρῶ σε ἀνδρὸς ἐνδεκόμενον λόγους ὃς φθονέει τοι εὖ πρήσσοντι ἢ καὶ προδιδοῖ πρήγματα τὰ σά. καὶ γὰρ δὴ καὶ τρόποισι τοιούτοισι χρεώμενοι Ἕλληνες χαίρουσι· τοῦ τε εὐτυχέειν φθονέουσι καὶ τὸ κρέσσον στυγέουσι.

After him spoke Achaimenes, who was both a brother of Xerxes and the commander of the naval fleet, having been present at the conversation and fearing lest Xerxes should be persuaded to do these things: “O king, I see that you are accepting the words of a man who envies you when you are faring well, or even betrays your affairs. For indeed, the Greeks delight in employing such characters; they envy success and hate what is superior.

§7.236.2

εἰ δʼ ἐπὶ τῇσι παρεούσῃσι τύχῃσι, τῶν² νέες νεναυηγήκασι τετρακόσιαι, ἄλλας ἐκ τοῦ στρατοπέδου τριηκοσίας ἀποπέμψεις περιπλέειν Πελοπόννησον, ἀξιόμαχοί τοι γίνονται οἱ ἀντίπαλοι· ἁλὴς δὲ ἐὼν ὁ ναυτικὸς στρατὸς δυσμεταχείριστός τε αὐτοῖσι γίνεται, καὶ ἀρχὴν οὐκ ἀξιόμαχοί τοι ἔσονται, καὶ πᾶς ὁ ναυτικὸς τῷ πεζῷ ἀρήξει καὶ ὁ πεζὸς τῷ ναυτικῷ ὁμοῦ πορευόμενος· εἰ δὲ διασπάσεις, οὔτε σὺ ἔσεαι ἐκείνοισι χρήσιμος οὔτε ἐκεῖνοι σοί.

But if, in addition to our present fortunes, in which four hundred of our ships have been wrecked, you should send away another three hundred ships from the camp to sail around the Peloponnese, the opponents will become a match for you. On the other hand, if the naval fleet remains united, it becomes difficult for them to handle, and in the first place they will not be a match for you; and the entire navy will assist the land army, and the land army will assist the navy as they march together. But if you disperse them, neither will you be useful to them, nor they to you.

§7.236.3

τὰ σεωτοῦ δὲ τιθέμενον εὖ γνώμην ἔχω³ τὰ τῶν ἀντιπολέμων μὴ ἐπιλέγεσθαι πρήγματα, τῇ τε στήσονται τὸν πόλεμον τά τε ποιήσουσι ὅσοι τε πλῆθος εἰσί. ἱκανοὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοί γε αὐτοὶ ἑωυτῶν πέρι φροντίζειν εἰσί, ἡμεῖς δὲ ἡμέων ὡσαύτως. Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ ἢν ἴωσι ἀντία Πέρσῃσι ἐς μάχην, οὐδὲν τὸ παρεὸν τρῶμα ἀκεῦνται.

My opinion is that, while arranging your own affairs well, you should not consider the affairs of the enemy—namely, where they will set up their war, what they will do, and how many they are in number. For they are sufficient to worry about themselves, and we likewise about ourselves. If the Lacedaemonians go into battle against the Persians, they will in no way heal their present wound.”

Syntax notes3 items

7.236.1ἀναγνωσθῇ
The passive aorist subjunctive of ἀναγινώσκω. Although this verb usually means 'to read', in Herodotus it frequently means 'to persuade' or 'to induce'. Here, in the passive, it takes the following infinitive ποιέειν, forming a fear clause introduced by μὴ: 'lest Xerxes should be persuaded to do these things'.
7.236.2τῶν
Feminine genitive plural relative pronoun. In this context, the antecedent is understood as the unexpressed [νεῶν] (ships), meaning 'of which [ships] four hundred have been wrecked'. While grammatically it could agree with the preceding feminine plural noun τύχῃσι (fortunes), it is far more natural to refer it to the fleet, since the subject of the relative clause is νέες (ships).
7.236.3γνώμην ἔχω
Meaning 'I hold the opinion,' this phrase essentially functions as the main verb of the sentence ('I think/propose'), taking the infinitive μὴ ἐπιλέγεσθαι (not to consider) as its object. The accusative participle τιθέμενον (arranging) at the beginning of the sentence functions as the subject/predicate of the infinitive construction with σε (understood).

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — note 1

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.236.1-7.236.3