- 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-grc2:8.102.1-8.102.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Artemisia advises Xerxes to return to Persia himself and leave Mardonius in Greece with the selected troops. She argues that whether Mardonius succeeds or fails, there will be no real loss to Persia as long as the king remains safe.
ὃ μὲν ταῦτα συνεβουλεύετο, ἣ δὲ λέγει τάδε. βασιλεῦ, χαλεπὸν μὲν ἐστὶ συμβουλευομένῳ τυχεῖν τὰ ἄριστα εἴπασαν,1 ἐπὶ μέντοι τοῖσι κατήκουσι πρήγμασι δοκέει μοι αὐτὸν μέν σε ἀπελαύνειν ὀπίσω, Μαρδόνιον δέ, εἰ ἐθέλει τε καὶ ὑποδέκεται ταῦτα ποιήσειν, αὐτοῦ καταλιπεῖν σὺν τοῖσι ἐθέλει.
Thus he consulted her, and she spoke as follows: “O King, it is indeed difficult to hit upon the best advice for one who asks for it; nevertheless, in the present state of affairs, it seems to me that you yourself should march back, and that you should leave Mardonius here, if he wishes and promises to do this, with those whom he desires.
τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ ἢν καταστρέψηται τὰ φησὶ θέλειν καί οἱ προχωρήσῃ τὰ νοέων λέγει, σὸν τὸ ἔργον ὦ δέσποτα γίνεται· οἱ γὰρ σοὶ δοῦλοι κατεργάσαντο. τοῦτο δὲ ἢν τὰ ἐναντία τῆς Μαρδονίου γνώμης γένηται, οὐδεμία συμφορὴ μεγάλη ἔσται σέο τε περιεόντος καὶ ἐκείνων τῶν πρηγμάτων περὶ οἶκον τὸν σόν·2
For, on the one hand, if he subdues what he says he wants to and his plans succeed as he speaks of them, the deed, my lord, becomes yours; for it is your slaves who have accomplished it. On the other hand, if things turn out contrary to Mardonius’ expectation, it will be no great disaster as long as you survive and those affairs concerning your house remain safe.
ἢν γὰρ σύ τε περιῇς καὶ οἶκος ὁ σός, πολλοὺς πολλάκις ἀγῶνας δραμέονται περὶ σφέων αὐτῶν οἱ Ἕλληνες. Μαρδονίου δέ, ἤν τι πάθῃ, λόγος οὐδεὶς γίνεται, οὐδέ τι νικῶντες οἱ Ἕλληνες νικῶσι, δοῦλον σὸν ἀπολέσαντες· σὺ δέ, τῶν εἵνεκα3 τὸν στόλον ἐποιήσαο, πυρώσας τὰς Ἀθήνας ἀπελᾷς.
For if you survive and your house remains, the Greeks will have to run many a race many a time for their own lives. But of Mardonius, if any harm befalls him, no account is made; nor do the Greeks, if they are victorious, win any victory by destroying your slave. But you, having burned Athens, will march away having accomplished that for which you undertook the expedition.”
- 8.102.1εἴπασαν
An aorist participle in the accusative feminine singular, used with the infinitive τυχεῖν to mean 'to succeed in speaking/hitting upon.' Grammatically, while the person receiving advice is in the dative συμβουλευομένῳ (masculine/common), the subject of the infinitive (Artemisia herself) is represented by the accusative feminine singular to reflect her gender.
- 8.102.2σέο τε περιεόντος καὶ ἐκείνων τῶν πρηγμάτων περὶ οἶκον τὸν σόν
A genitive absolute construction. The first part consists of σέο (second person singular genitive, equivalent to Attic σοῦ) and the present participle περιεόντος, and the second part consists of ἐκείνων τῶν πρηγμάτων... functioning as parallel genitive subjects. It adds a circumstantial or conditional nuance to the main clause, meaning 'provided that you yourself survive and those affairs concerning your house remain secure.'
- 8.102.3τῶν εἵνεκα
A combination of the relative pronoun in the genitive plural τῶν (equivalent to Attic ὧν) and the postpositive preposition εἵνεκα (equivalent to ἕνεκα), meaning 'for the sake of which things.' The antecedent is not explicitly expressed but is contextually understood, pointing to the purpose of the campaign which is realized in the subsequent participle phrase πυρώσας τὰς Ἀθήνας (having burned Athens).