- 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-grc2:8.129.1-8.129.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
During the siege of Potidaea, a massive low tide prompted the Persians to cross into Pallene, but they were destroyed by an unprecedented flood-tide. The Potidaeans attributed this to divine retribution for desecrating Poseidon's temple, an explanation with which the author agrees.
ὃ μὲν1 δὴ τοιούτῳ τρόπῳ ἐπάιστος ἐγεγόνεε· Ἀρταβάζῳ δὲ ἐπειδὴ πολιορκέοντι ἐγεγόνεσαν τρεῖς μῆνες,2 γίνεται ἄμπωτις τῆς θαλάσσης μεγάλη καὶ χρόνον ἐπὶ πολλόν. ἰδόντες δὲ οἱ βάρβαροι τέναγος γενόμενον παρήισαν ἐς τὴν Παλλήνην.
He indeed was detected in such a manner. But when three months had passed for Artabazus while he was besieging the city, there occurred a great ebb of the sea, lasting for a long time. And when the barbarians saw that a shallow water had formed, they began to cross over into Pallene.
ὡς δὲ τὰς δύο μὲν μοίρας διοδοιπορήκεσαν, ἔτι δὲ τρεῖς ὑπόλοιποι ἦσαν, τὰς διελθόντας χρῆν εἶναι ἔσω3 ἐν τῇ Παλλήνῃ, ἐπῆλθε πλημμυρὶς τῆς θαλάσσης μεγάλη, ὅση οὐδαμά κω, ὡς οἱ ἐπιχώριοι λέγουσι, πολλάκις γινομένη.4 οἱ μὲν δὴ νέειν αὐτῶν οὐκ ἐπιστάμενοι διεφθείροντο, τοὺς δὲ ἐπισταμένους οἱ Ποτιδαιῆται ἐπιπλώσαντες πλοίοισι ἀπώλεσαν.
But when they had traversed two parts of the way, and three were still remaining, which they had to cross to be inside Pallene, a great flood-tide of the sea came upon them, greater than ever before, as the locals say, though it often occurs. Those of them who did not know how to swim were drowned, and those who did know, the Potidaeans, sailing out in boats, destroyed.
αἴτιον δὲ λέγουσι Ποτιδαιῆται τῆς τε ῥηχίης καὶ τῆς πλημμυρίδος καὶ τοῦ Περσικοῦ πάθεος γενέσθαι τόδε, ὅτι τοῦ Ποσειδέωνος ἐς τὸν νηὸν καὶ τὸ ἄγαλμα τὸ ἐν τῷ προαστείῳ ἠσέβησαν οὗτοι τῶν Περσέων οἵ περ καὶ διεφθάρησαν ὑπὸ τῆς θαλάσσης· αἴτιον δὲ τοῦτο λέγοντες εὖ λέγειν ἔμοιγε δοκέουσι. τοὺς δὲ περιγενομένους ἀπῆγε Ἀρτάβαζος ἐς Θεσσαλίην παρὰ Μαρδόνιον. οὗτοι μὲν οἱ προπέμψαντες βασιλέα οὕτω ἔπρηξαν.
And the Potidaeans say that the cause of both the ebb and the flood and of the Persian disaster was this: that these of the Persians who were destroyed by the sea had committed sacrilege against the temple and the cult-image of Poseidon in the suburb. In saying that this was the cause, they seem to me to speak well. Those who survived, Artabazus led back to Thessaly to Mardonius. Thus fared these who had escorted the King.
- 8.129.1ὃ μὲν
Demonstrative pronoun referring to Timoxenus (Τιμόξεινος) from the preceding chapter.
- 8.129.1Ἀρτάβάζῳ δὲ ἐπειδὴ πολιορκέοντι ἐγεγόνεσαν τρεῖς μῆνες
The dative Ἀρτάβάζῳ and the participle πολιορκέοντι function as a dative of reference indicating the person affected by the lapse of time: "when three months had passed for Artabazus while he was besieging."
- 8.129.2τὰς διελθόντας χρῆν εἶναι ἔσω
The relative pronoun τὰς (accusative plural feminine) refers to the remaining three parts (τρεῖς [μοίρας]) and is the object of the participle διελθόντας. The participle διελθόντας (accusative plural masculine) agrees with the unexpressed subject (the Persians) of the infinitive εἶναι, which depends on the impersonal verb χρῆν.
- 8.129.2ὅση οὐδαμά κω [...] πολλάκις γινομένη
πολλάκις γινομένη is a concessive participle phrase ("although it often happens"). The whole phrase means "a flood-tide so great as had never yet occurred, although such tides happen often."