- 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-grc2:8.92.1-8.92.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
During the Battle of Salamis, Polycritus of Aegina rumbles and captures a Sidonian ship, thereby rescuing the Aeginetan hero Pytheas, who had been captured and honored by the Persians. Encountering the ship of Themistocles, Polycritus taunts him regarding the previous accusations of Medism made against the Aeginetans.
ἐνθαῦτα συνεκύρεον νέες ἥ τε Θεμιστοκλέος διώκουσα νέα καὶ ἡ Πολυκρίτου τοῦ Κριοῦ ἀνδρὸς Αἰγινήτεω νηὶ ἐμβαλοῦσα Σιδωνίῃ, ἥ περ εἷλε τὴν προφυλάσσουσαν ἐπὶ Σκιάθῳ τὴν Αἰγιναίην, ἐπʼ ἧς ἔπλεε Πυθέης ὁ Ἰσχενόου, τὸν οἱ Πέρσαι1 κατακοπέντα ἀρετῆς εἵνεκα εἶχον ἐν τῇ νηὶ ἐκπαγλεόμενοι· τὸν δὴ περιάγουσα ἅμα τοῖσι Πέρσῃσι ἥλω ἡ νηῦς ἡ Σιδωνίη, ὥστε Πυθέην οὕτω σωθῆναι ἐς Αἴγιναν.
There certain ships met together: the ship of Themistocles which was pursuing a foe, and that of Polycritus, son of Crius, an Aeginetan, which had rammed a Sidonian ship. This Sidonian ship was the very one that had captured the Aeginetan guard-ship off Sciathos, on board of which Pytheas, son of Ischenous, was sailing; whom the Persians, though he was hacked to pieces, had kept on their ship, marveling at his valor. Thus, the Sidonian ship, carrying him about together with the Persians, was captured, so that Pytheas was in this way saved and returned to Aegina.
ὡς δὲ ἐσεῖδε τὴν νέα τὴν Ἀττικὴν ὁ Πολύκριτος, ἔγνω τὸ σημήιον ἰδὼν τῆς στρατηγίδος, καὶ βώσας τὸν Θεμιστοκλέα ἐπεκερτόμησε ἐς τῶν Αἰγινητέων τὸν μηδισμὸν ὀνειδίζων.2 ταῦτα μέν νυν νηὶ ἐμβαλὼν ὁ Πολύκριτος ἀπέρριψε ἐς Θεμιστοκλέα· οἱ δὲ βάρβαροι τῶν αἱ νέες περιεγένοντο, φεύγοντες ἀπίκοντο ἐς Φάληρον ὑπὸ τὸν πεζὸν στρατόν.
When Polycritus saw the Attic ship, he recognized it upon seeing the sign of the flagship, and shouting to Themistocles, he mocked him, reproaching him with the charge of Medism against the Aeginetans. These words then Polycritus, while ramming a ship, flung out at Themistocles; but those of the barbarians whose ships survived, fled and arrived at Phalerum under the protection of the land army.
- 8.92.1ἥ περ εἷλε τὴν προφυλάσσουσαν ἐπὶ Σκιάθῳ τὴν Αἰγιναίην, ἐπʼ ἧς ἔπλεε Πυθέης ὁ Ἰσχενόου, τὸν οἱ Πέρσαι...
A complex relative clause structure with multiple referents. The relative pronoun ἥ περ (feminine nominative singular) refers back to the Sidonian ship (Σιδωνίῃ). Inside its clause, the object is the Aeginetan ship (τὴν Αἰγιναίην), which then becomes the referent for the next relative pronoun ἧς (feminine genitive singular after ἐπʼ). The subject of this second clause, Pytheas (Πυθέης), is then referred to by the demonstrative pronoun τὸν (masculine accusative singular, functioning like a relative) in the subsequent clause. This complex sequence must be carefully traced to understand that Pytheas was originally on the captured Aeginetan ship, but was being kept on board the capturing Sidonian ship, which has now been captured in turn by Polycritus.
- 8.92.2ἐς τῶν Αἰγινητέων τὸν μηδισμὸν ὀνειδίζων
The preposition ἐς is connected either to the main verb ἐπεκερτόμησε (taunted) or the participle ὀνειδίζων (reproaching), indicating the direction or target of the taunt. Historically, the Athenians had previously accused the Aeginetans of 'Medism' (siding with Persia, cf. Herodotus 6.49). Therefore, Polycritus the Aeginetan is not genuinely reproaching his own people for Medism, but rather flinging the Athenians' past accusations back in Themistocles' face, ironically saying: 'Do you still accuse us Aeginetans of Medism now?'