- 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-grc2:9.116.1-9.116.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
Describes how Artayctes deceived Xerxes to plunder the treasures of Protesilaus, and how he was subsequently caught unprepared and besieged by the Athenians in Sestos.
ἐτυράννευε δὲ τούτου τοῦ νομοῦ Ξέρξεω ὕπαρχος Ἀρταΰκτης, ἀνὴρ μὲν Πέρσης, δεινὸς δὲ καὶ ἀτάσθαλος, ὃς καὶ βασιλέα ἐλαύνοντα ἐπʼ Ἀθήνας ἐξηπάτησε, τὰ Πρωτεσίλεω τοῦ Ἰφίκλου χρήματα ἐξ Ἐλαιοῦντος ὑπελόμενος.
The governor of this province was Artayctes, a Persian, a dreadful and reckless man, who had even deceived the king as he was marching against Athens, carrying off from Elaeus the treasures of Protesilaus, son of Iphiclus.
ἐν γὰρ Ἐλαιοῦντι τῆς Χερσονήσου ἐστὶ Πρωτεσίλεω τάφος τε καὶ τέμενος περὶ αὐτόν, ἔνθα ἦν χρήματα πολλὰ καὶ φιάλαι χρύσεαι καὶ ἀργύρεαι καὶ χαλκὸς καὶ ἐσθὴς καὶ ἄλλα ἀναθήματα, τὰ Ἀρταΰκτης ἐσύλησε βασιλέος δόντος.1 λέγων δὲ τοιάδε Ξέρξην διεβάλετο.
For in Elaeus of the Chersonese is the tomb of Protesilaus and a sacred precinct around it, where there were many treasures, gold and silver cups, bronze, garments, and other offerings, which Artayctes plundered, the king having given them to him. He misled Xerxes by speaking as follows:
δέσποτα, ἔστι οἶκος ἀνδρὸς Ἕλληνος ἐνθαῦτα, ὃς ἐπὶ γῆν σὴν στρατευσάμενος δίκης κυρήσας ἀπέθανε· τούτου μοι δὸς τὸν οἶκον, ἵνα καί τις μάθῃ ἐπὶ γῆν τὴν σὴν μὴ στρατεύεσθαι. ταῦτα λέγων εὐπετέως ἔμελλε ἀναπείσειν Ξέρξην δοῦναι ἀνδρὸς οἶκον, οὐδὲν ὑποτοπηθέντα τῶν ἐκεῖνος ἐφρόνεε.2 ἐπὶ γῆν δὲ τὴν βασιλέος στρατεύεσθαι Πρωτεσίλεων ἔλεγε νοέων τοιάδε· τὴν Ἀσίην πᾶσαν νομίζουσι ἑωυτῶν εἶναι Πέρσαι καὶ τοῦ αἰεὶ βασιλεύοντος.3 ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐδόθη, τὰ χρήματα ἐξ Ἐλαιοῦντος ἐς Σηστὸν ἐξεφόρησε, καὶ τὸ τέμενος ἔσπειρε καὶ ἐνέμετο, αὐτός τε ὅκως ἀπίκοιτο4 ἐς Ἐλαιοῦντα ἐν τῷ ἀδύτῳ γυναιξὶ ἐμίσγετο. τότε δὲ ἐπολιορκέετο ὑπὸ Ἀθηναίων οὔτε παρεσκευασμένος ἐς πολιορκίην οὔτε προσδεκόμενος τοὺς Ἕλληνας, ἀφύκτως δέ κως αὐτῷ ἐπέπεσον.
”Master, there is here the house of a Greek man who, having marched against your land, met with justice and died. Give me this man’s house, so that anyone else may also learn not to march against your land.” By saying this, he was easily bound to persuade Xerxes to give him the man’s house, since the king suspected nothing of what he was planning. But he said that Protesilaus had marched against the king’s land with this in mind: the Persians consider all Asia to belong to themselves and to whoever is king at any time. When it was given, he carried out the treasures from Elaeus to Sestos, sowed the sacred precinct and used it for pasture, and whenever he himself arrived at Elaeus, he had intercourse with women in the innermost shrine. At this time he was being besieged by the Athenians, neither prepared for a siege nor expecting the Greeks; they fell upon him, as it were, in an inescapable way.
- 9.116.2βασιλέος δόντος
βασιλέος δόντος is a genitive absolute, showing that Artayctes' plundering of the temple was done with the permission of the king ("the king having given [it]").
- 9.116.3τῶν ἐκεῖνος ἐφρόνεε
The relative pronoun τῶν is a case of relative attraction (from τούτων ἃ), where the relative pronoun, which would normally be accusative, is attracted to the genitive case required by the governing participle ὑποτοπηθέντα.
- 9.116.3ἑωυτῶν εἶναι... καὶ τοῦ αἰεὶ βασιλεύοντος
These are possessive genitives serving as the predicate of the infinitive εἶναι, expressing the Persian claim of ownership over Asia: "to belong to themselves and to whoever is king at any time."
- 9.116.3ὅκως ἀπίκοιτο
The conjunction ὅκως (Ionic for ὅπως) followed by the optative ἀπίκοιτο (Ionic for ἀφίκοιτο) expresses a past general/iterative condition ("whenever he arrived").