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Histories

§9.1.1

Mardonius' Advance from Thessaly to Athens

Upon learning of the Athenian refusal, Mardonius marches hastily from Thessaly to Athens, recruiting locals along the way, while the Thessalian leaders continue to support the Persian advance.

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§9.1.1

Μαρδόνιος δέ, ὥς1 οἱ2 ἀπονοστήσας Ἀλέξανδρος τὰ παρὰ Ἀθηναίων ἐσήμηνε, ὁρμηθεὶς ἐκ Θεσσαλίης ἦγε τὴν στρατιὴν σπουδῇ ἐπὶ τὰς Ἀθήνας. ὅκου δὲ ἑκάστοτε γίνοιτο,3 τούτους παρελάμβανε. τοῖσι δὲ Θεσσαλίης ἡγεομένοισι οὔτε τὰ πρὸ τοῦ πεπρηγμένα μετέμελε οὐδὲν4 πολλῷ τε μᾶλλον ἐπῆγον τὸν Πέρσην, καὶ συμπροέπεμψέ τε Θώρηξ ὁ Ληρισαῖος Ξέρξην φεύγοντα καὶ τότε ἐκ τοῦ φανεροῦ παρῆκε Μαρδόνιον ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα.

​Mardonius, when Alexander on his return had reported to him the answer from the Athenians, set out from Thessaly and led his army with haste against Athens. Wherever he came at any time, he took these people along with him. As for the leaders of Thessaly, they did not at all regret what they had done before, but all the more egged on the Persian; and Thorax of Larissa, who had accompanied Xerxes in his flight, now also openly let Mardonius pass into Greece.

Syntax notes4 items
  1. 9.1.1ὥς

    The conjunction ὡς (when) written with an accent. It frequently appears as a temporal conjunction in Ionic prose, particularly in Herodotus.

  2. 9.1.1οἱ

    The dative of the third-person singular pronoun (indirect reflexive/non-reflexive use of οὗ, οἷ, ἕ). Here it refers to Mardonius, the subject of the main clause, meaning 'to him.'

  3. 9.1.1ὅκου δὲ ἑκάστοτε γίνοιτο

    The combination of the relative adverb ὅκου (the Ionic form of ὅπου) and the optative γίνοιτο (third-person singular second aorist optative of γίγνομαι) expresses a past general or iterative condition ('whenever he came,' 'wherever he might be'). This corresponds to the imperfect verb παρελάμβανε in the main clause.

  4. 9.1.1τοῖσι δὲ Θεσσαλίης ἡγεομένοισι οὔτε τὰ πρὸ τοῦ πεπρηγμένα μετέμελε οὐδὲν

    The construction of the impersonal verb μετέμελε (imperfect of μεταμέλει). The person who regrets is in the dative (τοῖσι ... ἡγεομένοισι), and the cause of regret is expressed by the nominative subject (the neuter plural substantivized participle τὰ ... πεπρηγμένα), modified by the adverbial οὐδέν ('not at all'). It means 'to the leaders of Thessaly what had been done before caused no regret at all,' i.e., 'they did not regret their past actions at all.'

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
  • 2026-09-21 AI review — note 1
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:9.1.1