- 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-grc2:8.4.1-8.4.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-07
Terrified by the immense size of the Persian fleet, the Greeks plan to retreat from Artemisium, but the Euboeans bribe Themistocles with thirty talents to ensure the fleet stays and fights off their shores.
τότε δὲ οὗτοι οἱ καὶ ἐπʼ Ἀρτεμίσιον Ἑλλήνων ἀπικόμενοι ὡς εἶδον νέας τε πολλὰς καταχθείσας ἐς τὰς Ἀφέτας καὶ στρατιῆς ἅπαντα πλέα, ἐπεὶ αὐτοῖσι παρὰ δόξαν τὰ πρήγματα τῶν βαρβάρων ἀπέβαινε ἤ ὡς αὐτοὶ κατεδόκεον,1 καταρρωδήσαντες δρησμὸν ἐβουλεύοντο ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀρτεμισίου ἔσω ἐς τὴν Ἑλλάδα.
But at that time, these of the Greeks who had actually arrived at Artemisium, when they saw many ships brought to anchor at Aphetae and everything full of troops, since the affairs of the barbarians were turning out contrary to their expectation and worse than they themselves had anticipated, became terrified and began to plan a retreat from Artemisium into the interior of Greece.
γνόντες δὲ σφέας οἱ Εὐβοέες ταῦτα βουλευομένους ἐδέοντο Εὐρυβιάδεω προσμεῖναι χρόνον ὀλίγον, ἔστʼ ἂν αὐτοὶ τέκνα τε καὶ τοὺς οἰκέτας ὑπεκθέωνται. ὡς δʼ οὐκ ἔπειθον,2 μεταβάντες τὸν Ἀθηναίων στρατηγὸν πείθουσι Θεμιστοκλέα ἐπὶ μισθῷ τριήκοντα ταλάντοισι, ἐπʼ ᾧ τε καταμείναντες πρὸ τῆς Εὐβοίης ποιήσονται3 τὴν ναυμαχίην.
The Euboeans, realizing that they were planning these things, begged Eurybiades to remain for a little time, until they themselves could evacuate their children and households. Since they could not persuade him, they turned instead to the Athenian general and persuaded Themistocles with a fee of thirty talents, on the condition that they should remain and fight the sea battle in front of Euboea.
- 8.4.1παρὰ δόξαν ... ἤ ὡς αὐτοὶ κατεδόκεον
Since the prepositional phrase παρὰ δόξαν ('contrary to expectation') carries a comparative force, it is followed by the conjunction ἤ and a subordinate clause introduced by ὡς ('as they themselves had anticipated'), creating a double comparison: 'contrary to expectation and more than they had thought.'
- 8.4.2ὡς δʼ οὐκ ἔπειθον
The verb ἔπειθον is in the imperfect tense, functioning as a conative imperfect (an attempted but unsuccessful action). Thus, it is correctly translated as 'since they could not persuade him' or 'since they failed to persuade him.'
- 8.4.2ἐπʼ ᾧ τε ... ποιήσονται
The conditional expression ἐπʼ ᾧ τε ('on the condition that') usually takes an infinitive, but here it is followed by the future indicative (ποιήσονται) to indicate a definite agreement or a future certainty: 'on the condition that they would (surely) fight.'