- 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-grc2:9.2.1-9.2.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
As Mardonius' army reaches Boeotia, the Thebans attempt to stop him and suggest that he halt his march, bribe the leading men of the Greek cities, and conquer Greece without fighting by sowing internal division.
ἐπεὶ δὲ πορευόμενος γίνεται ὁ στρατὸς ἐν Βοιωτοῖσι, οἱ Θηβαῖοι κατελάμβανον1 τὸν Μαρδόνιον καὶ συνεβούλευον αὐτῷ λέγοντες ὡς οὐκ εἴη χῶρος ἐπιτηδεότερος ἐνστρατοπεδεύεσθαι ἐκείνου, οὐδὲ ἔων ἰέναι ἑκαστέρω, ἀλλʼ αὐτοῦ ἱζόμενον ποιέειν ὅκως2 ἀμαχητὶ τὴν πᾶσαν Ἑλλάδα καταστρέψεται.
When the army on its march arrived in Boeotia, the Thebans tried to detain Mardonius and advised him, saying that there was no place more suitable than that to encamp, and they would not let him go further, but urged him to settle there and manage so that he might subdue the whole of Greece without a battle.
κατὰ μὲν γὰρ τὸ ἰσχυρὸν Ἕλληνας ὁμοφρονέοντας, οἵ περ καὶ πάρος ταὐτὰ ἐγίνωσκον, χαλεπὰ εἶναι3 περιγίνεσθαι καὶ ἅπασι ἀνθρώποισι· εἰ δὲ ποιήσεις τὰ ἡμεῖς παραινέομεν, ἔφασαν λέγοντες, ἕξεις ἀπόνως πάντα τὰ ἐκείνων ἰσχυρὰ βουλεύματα·
For they said that, by force of arms, it was difficult even for all mankind to overcome the Greeks when they were of one mind, who even before had held the same views. “But if you do what we advise,” they said, “you will without trouble master all their strong counsels.
πέμπε χρήματα ἐς τοὺς δυναστεύοντας ἄνδρας ἐν τῇσι πόλισι, πέμπων δὲ τὴν Ἑλλάδα διαστήσεις· ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ τοὺς μὴ τὰ σὰ φρονέοντας ῥηιδίως μετὰ τῶν στασιωτέων καταστρέψεαι.
Send money to the men who hold power in the cities, and by sending it you will divide Greece; then, with the help of those of your faction, you will easily subdue those who are not of your mind.”
- 9.2.1κατελάμβανον
Imperfect tense. Here it has a conative force ('tried to detain' or 'kept urging to stay'), indicating an ongoing attempt to influence Mardonius.
- 9.2.1ποιέειν ὅκως
The infinitive ποιέειν expresses their advice in indirect speech, and when combined with ὅκως (Ionic for ὅπως) followed by the future indicative (καταστρέψεται), it forms a construction meaning 'to manage/see to it that...'
- 9.2.2χαλεπὰ εἶναι
An impersonal construction with the neuter plural adjective (χαλεπά being equivalent to the singular χαλεπόν) followed by the infinitive, here reported in indirect speech with εἶναι. Ἕλληνας functions as the object of περιγίνεσθαι, which exceptionally takes an accusative here instead of the usual genitive.