- 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-grc2:8.89.1-8.89.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Describes the death of the Persian general Ariabignes and many allies in the battle of Salamis, noting that while the Greeks could swim to safety, many of the barbarians drowned, and their retreat was worsened by confusion among their own rear ships.
ἐν δὲ τῷ πόνῳ τούτῳ ἀπὸ μὲν ἔθανε1 ὁ στρατηγὸς Ἀριαβίγνης ὁ Δαρείου, Ξέρξεω ἐὼν ἀδελφεός, ἀπὸ δὲ ἄλλοι πολλοί τε καὶ ὀνομαστοὶ Περσέων καὶ Μήδων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων συμμάχων, ὀλίγοι δὲ τινὲς καὶ Ἑλλήνων· ἅτε γὰρ νέειν ἐπιστάμενοι, τοῖσι αἱ νέες διεφθείροντο,2 καὶ μὴ ἐν χειρῶν νόμῳ3 ἀπολλύμενοι, ἐς τὴν Σαλαμῖνα διένεον.
And in this struggle, the general Ariabignes, son of Darius and brother of Xerxes, was killed, and also many other famous men of the Persians, Medes, and other allies, but only a few of the Greeks. For since they knew how to swim, those whose ships were destroyed, unless they perished in close combat, swam across to Salamis.
τῶν δὲ βαρβάρων οἱ πολλοὶ ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ διεφθάρησαν νέειν οὐκ ἐπιστάμενοι. ἐπεὶ δὲ αἱ πρῶται ἐς φυγὴν ἐτράποντο, ἐνθαῦτα αἱ πλεῖσται διεφθείροντο· οἱ γὰρ ὄπισθε τεταγμένοι, ἐς τὸ πρόσθε τῇσι νηυσὶ παριέναι πειρώμενοι ὡς ἀποδεξόμενοί τι4 καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔργον βασιλέι, τῇσι σφετέρῃσι νηυσὶ φευγούσῃσι περιέπιπτον.
But of the barbarians, the majority perished in the sea, since they did not know how to swim. And when the first ships turned to flight, it was then that the greatest number were destroyed; for those stationed in the rear, attempting to pass forward with their ships in order to display some deed of their own to the king, collided with their own fleeing ships.
- 8.89.1ἀπὸ μὲν ἔθανε
The preposition ἀπό is separated from the verb ἔθανε (aorist of ἀποθνῄσκω). This is an instance of tmesis (the separation of a prefix from its verb). The subsequent ἀπὸ δὲ functions in the same way, with an ellipsis of the verb ἔθανον.
- 8.89.1τοῖσι αἱ νέες διεφθείροντο
The relative pronoun in the dative case τοῖσι (Ionic dialect, corresponding to Attic οἷς) functions as a dative of possessor or reference ("those whose ships were being destroyed").
- 8.89.1ἐν χειρῶν νόμῳ
Literally "in the law of hands," this is an idiomatic phrase meaning "in close combat" or "in hand-to-hand fighting."
- 8.89.2ὡς ἀποδεξόμενοί τι
The conjunction ὡς combined with the future participle ἀποδεξόμενοι expresses subjective purpose or intention ("with the intention of showing / intending to display").