- 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-grc2:8.110.1-8.110.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Themistocles persuades the Athenians to abandon the pursuit and once again sends his servant Sicinnus as a messenger to King Xerxes to claim that he had prevented the Greeks from pursuing the Persian fleet and destroying the bridges, thereby securing the king's retreat.
Θεμιστοκλέης μὲν ταῦτα λέγων διέβαλλε, Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ ἐπείθοντο· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ καὶ πρότερον δεδογμένος εἶναι σοφὸς ἐφάνη ἐὼν1 ἀληθέως σοφός τε καὶ εὔβουλος, πάντως ἕτοιμοι ἦσαν λέγοντι πείθεσθαι.
Themistocles, by saying this, was deceiving them, and the Athenians were persuaded; for as he had even before been thought to be wise, and now had shown himself to be truly wise and prudent, they were in every way ready to obey him when he spoke.
ὡς δὲ οὗτοί οἱ ἀνεγνωσμένοι ἦσαν,2 αὐτίκα μετὰ ταῦτα ὁ Θεμιστοκλέης ἄνδρας ἀπέπεμπε ἔχοντας πλοῖον, τοῖσι ἐπίστευε σιγᾶν ἐς πᾶσαν βάσανον ἀπικνεομένοισι3 τὰ αὐτὸς ἐνετείλατο βασιλέι φράσαι· τῶν καὶ Σίκιννος ὁ οἰκέτης αὖτις ἐγένετο· οἳ ἐπείτε ἀπίκοντο πρὸς τὴν Ἀττικήν, οἳ μὲν κατέμενον ἐπὶ τῷ πλοίῳ, Σίκιννος δὲ ἀναβὰς παρὰ Ξέρξην ἔλεγε τάδε.
And when these had been persuaded by him, immediately after this Themistocles sent away in a boat men whom he trusted to keep silence even when subjected to every kind of torture, to tell the king what he himself had charged them to say; of whom his servant Sicinnus was again one. When these had arrived at Attica, the others remained on board the vessel, but Sicinnus went up to Xerxes and spoke as follows:
ἔπεμψέ με Θεμιστοκλέης ὁ Νεοκλέος, στρατηγὸς μὲν Ἀθηναίων ἀνὴρ δὲ τῶν συμμάχων πάντων ἄριστος καὶ σοφώτατος, φράσοντά τοι ὅτι Θεμιστοκλέης ὁ Ἀθηναῖος, σοὶ βουλόμενος ὑπουργέειν, ἔσχε τοὺς Ἕλληνας τὰς νέας βουλομένους διώκειν καὶ τὰς ἐν Ἑλλησπόντῳ γεφύρας λύειν. καὶ νῦν κατʼ ἡσυχίην πολλὴν κομίζεο. οἳ μὲν ταῦτα σημήναντες ἀπέπλεον ὀπίσω.
”Themistocles, the son of Neocles, general of the Athenians and of all the allies the best and wisest man, has sent me to tell you that Themistocles the Athenian, wishing to do you a service, has held back the Greeks who wished to pursue your ships and to destroy the bridges on the Hellespont; and now you may journey back in all security.” Having delivered this message, they sailed back.
- 8.110.1δεδογμένος εἶναι … ἐφάνη ἐὼν
The contrast between δεδογμένος εἶναι (thought to be, describing reputation) and ἐφάνη ἐὼν (the verb φαίνομαι with the participle, indicating actual fact clear to all) highlights the transition of the Athenians' perception of Themistocles from mere reputation to confirmed reality.
- 8.110.2ἀνεγνωσμένοι ἦσαν
The verb ἀναγιγνώσκω, which usually means 'to read' in Attic prose, is frequently used by Herodotus in the Ionic sense of 'to persuade' (synonymous with ἀναπείθω). Here it is in the pluperfect passive (ἀνεγνωσμένοι ἦσαν), with the dative οἱ acting as the agent or the dative of interest ('by him').
- 8.110.2τοῖσι ἐπίστευε σιγᾶν ἐς πᾶσαν βάσανον ἀπικνεομένοισι
toîsi is the relative pronoun (Ionic form for hoîs), serving as the dative object of episteye. The present participle apikneoménoisi agrees in case with it, functioning circumstantially with a concessive force ('even when coming to every kind of torture').