- 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-grc2:8.15.1-8.15.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
The barbarian generals, frustrated by the damage caused by the Greek ships, initiate a battle on the third day. This naval engagement occurs simultaneously with the land battles at Thermopylae, as both sides fight to defend or control key passages.
τρίτῃ δὲ ἡμέρῃ δεινόν τι ποιησάμενοι οἱ στρατηγοὶ τῶν βαρβάρων νέας οὕτω σφι ὀλίγας λυμαίνεσθαι,1 καὶ τὸ ἀπὸ Ξέρξεω2 δειμαίνοντες, οὐκ ἀνέμειναν ἔτι τοὺς Ἕλληνας μάχης ἄρξαι, ἀλλὰ παρακελευσάμενοι κατὰ μέσον ἡμέρης ἀνῆγον τὰς νέας. συνέπιπτε δὲ ὥστε τὰς αὐτὰς ἡμέρας τάς τε ναυμαχίας γίνεσθαι ταύτας καὶ τὰς πεζομαχίας τὰς ἐν Θερμοπύλῃσι.
On the third day, the generals of the barbarians, deeming it a shameful thing that so few ships should inflict damage upon them, and fearing the consequences from Xerxes, did not wait any longer for the Greeks to begin the battle, but after encouraging one another, they put their ships to sea about midday. And it so happened that these sea-fights and the land-battles at Thermopylae took place on the very same days.
ἦν δὲ πᾶς ὁ ἀγὼν τοῖσι κατὰ θάλασσαν περὶ τοῦ Εὐρίπου, ὥσπερ τοῖσι ἀμφὶ Λεωνίδην τὴν ἐσβολὴν φυλάσσειν.3 οἳ μὲν δὴ παρεκελεύοντο ὅκως μὴ παρήσουσι4 ἐς τὴν Ἑλλάδα τοὺς βαρβάρους, οἳ δʼ ὅκως τὸ Ἑλληνικὸν στράτευμα διαφθείραντες τοῦ πόρου κρατήσουσι. ὡς δὲ ταξάμενοι οἱ Ξέρξεω ἐπέπλεον, οἱ Ἕλληνες ἀτρέμας εἶχον πρὸς τῷ Ἀρτεμισίῳ. οἱ δὲ βάρβαροι μηνοειδὲς ποιήσαντες τῶν νεῶν5 ἐκυκλοῦντο, ὡς περιλάβοιεν αὐτούς.
The whole struggle for those at sea was for the Euripus, just as it was for Leonidas and his men to guard the pass. The former, indeed, exhorted one another that they should not let the barbarians pass into Greece, while the latter did so to destroy the Greek force and gain control of the passage. When those of Xerxes sailed against them in order of battle, the Greeks remained quiet at Artemisium. But the barbarians, forming a crescent with their ships, began to encircle them, so that they might trap them.
- 8.15.1νέας οὕτω σφι ὀλίγας λυμαίνεσθαι
The accusative-and-infinitive clause has νέας οὕτω ὀλίγας ('so few ships') as its subject accusative and λυμαίνεσθαι ('to inflict damage') as the infinitive. σφι is a dative plural of the third person pronoun referring to the barbarians (the generals), serving as the object of λυμαίνεσθαι. The entire clause functions as the object of δεινόν τι ποιησάμενοι ('deeming it a shameful thing that...').
- 8.15.1τὸ ἀπὸ Ξέρξεω
The neuter singular article τὸ substantivizes the prepositional phrase ἀπὸ Ξέρξεω ('from Xerxes'). It implies an omitted noun such as 'punishment,' 'retribution,' or 'wrath' from King Xerxes, and functions as the direct object of the participle δειμαίνοντες ('fearing').
- 8.15.2ὥσπερ τοῖσι ἀμφὶ Λεωνίδην τὴν ἐσβολὴν φυλάσσειν
In connection with the main clause's structure ἦν δὲ πᾶς ὁ ἀγὼν ... ('the whole struggle was [for]...'), the infinitive φυλάσσειν ('to guard') is used in the comparison clause introduced by ὥσπερ. It functions substantively to complete the parallel: 'just as it was for Leonidas and his men to guard the pass.'
- 8.15.2ὅκως μὴ παρήσουσι
A clause introduced by ὅκως (Ionic for ὅπως) with the future indicative (παρήσουσι), denoting strong purpose, effort, or determination. Although typically dependent on verbs of effort (such as ἐπιμελέομαι), here it expresses the object and content of the exhortation in παρεκελεύοντο ('they exhorted one another').
- 8.15.2μηνοειδὲς ποιήσαντες τῶν νεῶν
τῶν νεῶν ('of the ships') is a partitive genitive, indicating that they formed a crescent shape out of or with a portion of their total fleet of ships.