- 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-grc2:8.67.1-8.67.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Xerxes goes down to the fleet at Phalerum and convenes the commanders of various nations according to their rank to ask them, through Mardonius, whether they should engage in a sea-fight.
ἐπεὶ ὦν ἀπίκατο ἐς τὰς Ἀθήνας πάντες οὗτοι πλὴν Παρίων ʽΠάριοι δὲ ὑπολειφθέντες ἐν Κύθνῳ ἐκαραδόκεον τὸν πόλεμον κῇ ἀποβήσεται,1 οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ ὡς ἀπίκοντο2 ἐς τὸ Φάληρον, ἐνθαῦτα κατέβη αὐτὸς Ξέρξης ἐπὶ τὰς νέας, ἐθέλων σφι συμμῖξαί τε καὶ πυθέσθαι τῶν ἐπιπλεόντων τὰς γνώμας.
So when all these had arrived at Athens, except for the Parians (for the Parians, having been left behind in Cythnus, were watching to see how the war would turn out), and when the rest had arrived at Phalerum, then Xerxes himself went down to the ships, wishing to confer with them and to learn the opinions of those who were sailing on them.
ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀπικόμενος προΐζετο, παρῆσαν μετάπεμπτοι οἱ τῶν ἐθνέων τῶν σφετέρων τύραννοι καὶ ταξίαρχοι ἀπὸ τῶν νεῶν, καὶ ἵζοντο ὥς σφι βασιλεὺς ἑκάστῳ τιμὴν ἐδεδώκεε, πρῶτος μὲν ὁ Σιδώνιος βασιλεύς, μετὰ δὲ ὁ Τύριος, ἐπὶ δὲ ὧλλοι. ὡς δὲ κόσμῳ ἐπεξῆς ἵζοντο, πέμψας Ξέρξης Μαρδόνιον εἰρώτα ἀποπειρώμενος ἑκάστου εἰ ναυμαχίην ποιέοιτο.3
And when he had arrived and taken his seat, the tyrants of their respective nations and the commanders of the ships, having been summoned, were present; and they sat down according as the king had given honor to each of them: first the king of Sidon, and next the king of Tyre, and then the others. When they were seated in order, one after another, Xerxes sent Mardonius and questioned them, testing each one as to whether they should engage in a sea-fight.
- 8.67.1τὸν πόλεμον κῇ ἀποβήσεται
An example of prolepsis (anticipation), where 'the war' (τὸν πόλεμον in the accusative), which logically should be the subject of the indirect question κῇ ἀποβήσεται ('how it would turn out'), is anticipated as the direct object of the main verb ἐκαραδόκεον.
- 8.67.1ἐπεὶ ὦν ἀπίκατο... οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ ὡς ἀπίκοντο
The temporal clause introduced by ἐπεὶ (with the subject πάντες οὗτοι) is followed, after a parenthetical statement, by another temporal clause ὡς ἀπίκοντο with οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ as its subject. Both temporal clauses lead to the main verb κατέβη.
- 8.67.2εἰ ναυμαχίην ποιέοιτο
An indirect question where the verb is in the optative of indirect discourse (ποιέοιτο, 3rd sing. pres. middle optative, Ionic form) because it depends on the past-tense main verb εἰρώτα (imperfect). The original direct question would have used a deliberative subjunctive or a future indicative.
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
- 2026-09-21 AI review — source 1