- 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-grc2:9.22.1-9.22.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
In the battle at Erythrae, the Persian cavalry commander Masistius is thrown from his horse and killed by the elite Athenian force. Although the Persian cavalry initially do not notice his death, once they learn of it, they launch a general charge to recover his body.
οὗτοι ἦσαν οἵ τε ὑποδεξάμενοι καὶ οἱ πρὸ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν παρεόντων Ἑλλήνων ἐς Ἐρυθρὰς ταχθέντες, τοὺς τοξότας προσελόμενοι. μαχομένων δὲ σφέων ἐπὶ χρόνον τέλος τοιόνδε ἐγένετο τῆς μάχης. προσβαλλούσης τῆς ἵππου κατὰ τέλεα, ὁ Μασιστίου προέχων τῶν ἄλλων ἵππος βάλλεται τοξεύματι τὰ πλευρά,1 ἀλγήσας δὲ ἵσταταί τε ὀρθὸς καὶ ἀποσείεται τὸν Μασίστιον·
These were the ones who undertook the task and who were stationed at Erythrae ahead of the other Greeks present, having taken the archers to join them. While they were fighting for some time, the end of the battle turned out as follows. As the cavalry charged by squadrons, the horse of Masistius, which was ahead of the others, was shot in the flank with an arrow, and rearing up in pain, it shook Masistius off.
πεσόντι δὲ αὐτῷ οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι αὐτίκα ἐπεκέατο. τόν τε δὴ ἵππον αὐτοῦ λαμβάνουσι καὶ αὐτὸν ἀμυνόμενον κτείνουσι, κατʼ ἀρχὰς οὐ δυνάμενοι. ἐνεσκεύαστο γὰρ οὕτω· ἐντὸς θώρηκα εἶχε χρύσεον λεπιδωτόν, κατύπερθε δὲ τοῦ θώρηκος κιθῶνα φοινίκεον ἐνεδεδύκεε. τύπτοντες δὲ ἐς τὸν θώρηκα ἐποίευν οὐδέν, πρίν γε δὴ μαθών τις τὸ ποιεύμενον παίει2 μιν ἐς τὸν ὀφθαλμόν. οὕτω δὴ ἔπεσέ τε καὶ ἀπέθανε.
When he fell, the Athenians immediately set upon him. They captured his horse and killed him as he defended himself, though at first they were unable to do so. For he was equipped in this way: inside he wore a golden scale breastplate, and over the breastplate he had put on a scarlet tunic. Striking at the breastplate, they achieved nothing, until someone, realizing what was happening, struck him in the eye. Thus indeed he fell and died.
ταῦτα δέ κως γινόμενα ἐλελήθεε τοὺς ἄλλους ἱππέας·3 οὔτε γὰρ πεσόντα μιν εἶδον ἀπὸ τοῦ ἵππου οὔτε ἀποθνήσκοντα, ἀναχωρήσιός τε γινομένης καὶ ὑποστροφῆς οὐκ ἔμαθον τὸ γινόμενον. ἐπείτε δὲ ἔστησαν, αὐτίκα ἐπόθεσαν, ὥς σφεας οὐδεὶς ἦν ὁ τάσσων μαθόντες δὲ τὸ γεγονός, διακελευσάμενοι ἤλαυνον τοὺς ἵππους πάντες, ὡς ἂν τὸν νεκρὸν ἀνελοίατο.4
But somehow these things that were happening escaped the notice of the other cavalry; for they neither saw him fall from his horse nor dying, and as a retreat and wheeling about was taking place, they did not learn what was happening. But when they halted, they immediately missed him, as there was no one to draw them up; and learning what had happened, they cheered each other on and all rode their horses forward, so that they might recover the body.
- 9.22.1βάλλεται τοξεύματι τὰ πλευρά
In relation to the passive verb βάλλεται, τὰ πλευρά (the flanks) functions as an accusative of respect (or specification), defining the specific part of the body affected by the action. τοξεύματι is a dative of instrument.
- 9.22.2πρίν γε δὴ μαθών τις τὸ ποιεύμενον παίει
Following a main clause with a negative meaning (ἐποίευν οὐδέν, 'they achieved nothing'), πρίν is used with the indicative (here the historical present παίει) to express an actual past occurrence ('until finally...'). The participle μαθών (aorist active of μανθάνω) modifies παίει and means 'realizing/understanding [the situation]'.
- 9.22.3γινόμενα ἐλελήθεε τοὺς ἄλλους ἱππέας
A construction where λανθάνω (here pluperfect ἐλελήθεε, 'to escape notice') is used with a participle (γινόμενα, from γίνομαι). Literally, 'these things happening escaped the notice of the other cavalry', meaning 'the other cavalry did not notice these things happening'.
- 9.22.3ὡς ἂν τὸν νεκρὸν ἀνελοίατο
A purpose clause introduced by ὡς ἄν with the optative mood, which is characteristic of Herodotus. The verb ἀνελοίατο is the 3rd person plural aorist middle optative of ἀναιρέω, featuring the Ionic ending -ατο (corresponding to Attic -ντο).