- 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-grc2:8.70.1-8.70.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
The Persian fleet sails to Salamis and draws up in order, but the battle is postponed to the next day as night falls. Meanwhile, the Greeks, especially the Peloponnesians, are gripped by fear of being besieged on the island while leaving their homeland unguarded, as the barbarian land army marches toward the Peloponnese that night.
ἐπεὶ δὲ παρήγγελλον1 ἀναπλέειν, ἀνῆγον τὰς νέας ἐπὶ τὴν Σαλαμῖνα καὶ παρεκρίθησαν διαταχθέντες κατʼ ἡσυχίην. τότε μέν νυν οὐκ ἐξέχρησέ σφι ἡ ἡμέρη ναυμαχίην ποιήσασθαι· νὺξ γὰρ ἐπεγένετο· οἳ δὲ παρεσκευάζοντο ἐς τὴν ὑστεραίην.
When the order was given to set sail, they launched their ships toward Salamis and lined up, drawn up in order quietly. At that time, indeed, the day was not sufficient for them to engage in a sea-battle, for night came on; so they made preparations for the following day.
τοὺς δὲ Ἕλληνας εἶχε δέος τε καὶ ἀρρωδίη, οὐκ ἥκιστα δὲ τοὺς ἀπὸ Πελοποννήσου· ἀρρώδεον δὲ ὅτι2 αὐτοὶ μὲν ἐν Σαλαμῖνι κατήμενοι ὑπὲρ γῆς τῆς Ἀθηναίων ναυμαχέειν μέλλοιεν, νικηθέντες τε ἐν νήσῳ ἀπολαμφθέντες πολιορκήσονται, ἀπέντες τὴν ἑωυτῶν ἀφύλακτον· τῶν δὲ βαρβάρων ὁ πεζὸς ὑπὸ τὴν παρεοῦσαν νύκτα3 ἐπορεύετο ἐπὶ τὴν Πελοπόννησον.
But fear and dread held the Greeks, and not least those from the Peloponnese; they were afraid because they themselves, while staying in Salamis, were about to fight for the land of the Athenians, and if defeated, they would be cut off and besieged on an island, leaving their own land unguarded. Meanwhile, the infantry of the barbarians was marching toward the Peloponnese during that very night.
- 8.70.1παρήγγελλον
Third-person plural imperfect, used here in an impersonal or general sense ('they gave the order' or 'the order was given') without an explicit subject.
- 8.70.2ἀρρώδεον δὲ ὅτι...
The syntax inside the ὅτι clause is mixed: αὐτοὶ μὲν ... μέλλοιεν uses the optative (expressing a subjective prospect or indirect discourse), while νικηθέντες τε ... πολιορκήσονται shifts to the future indicative to emphasize the certain outcome of defeat. The active participle ἀπέντες (from ἀπίημι) refers to leaving their own land unguarded.
- 8.70.2ὑπὸ τὴν παρεοῦσαν νύκτα
The preposition ὑπό with the accusative here denotes time, meaning 'during' or 'at the approach of' the night. It is best translated as 'during the course of that night' or 'under cover of that night'.