- 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-grc2:9.40.1
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
Both armies spend another two days facing each other without initiating battle across the Asopus, while Mardonius' cavalry, led by the pro-Persian Thebans, continuously harasses the Greeks.
μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο τὸ ἔργον ἑτέρας δύο ἡμέρας1 διέτριψαν, οὐδέτεροι βουλόμενοι μάχης ἄρξαι· μέχρι μὲν γὰρ τοῦ Ἀσωποῦ ἐπήισαν οἱ βάρβαροι πειρώμενοι τῶν Ἑλλήνων, διέβαινον2 δὲ οὐδέτεροι. ἡ μέντοι ἵππος ἡ Μαρδονίου αἰεὶ προσέκειτό τε καὶ ἐλύπεε τοὺς Ἕλληνας· οἱ γὰρ Θηβαῖοι, ἅτε μηδίζοντες3 μεγάλως, προθύμως ἔφερον τὸν πόλεμον καὶ αἰεὶ κατηγέοντο μέχρι μάχης, τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ τούτου παραδεκόμενοι Πέρσαι τε καὶ Μῆδοι μάλα ἔσκον οἳ4 ἀπεδείκνυντο ἀρετάς.
After this deed, they spent another two days, neither side wishing to begin the battle; for the barbarians advanced as far as the Asopus, testing the Greeks, but neither side crossed it. However, the cavalry of Mardonius continually harassed and troubled the Greeks; for the Thebans, as they were strongly medizing, carried on the war eagerly and always led the way up to the fight, while the Persians and Medes, taking over from that point, were the ones who showed great valor.
- 9.40.1ἑτέρας δύο ἡμέρας
ἑτέρας means "other" or "additional," and along with the accusative of duration of time δύο ἡμέρας, it expresses the duration of "another two days."
- 9.40.1διέβαινον
The imperfect tense here expresses a conative attempt or the negation thereof ("neither side attempted to cross").
- 9.40.1ἅτε μηδίζοντες
The combination of the particle ἅτε with the participle μηδίζοντες indicates an objective reason or ground presented as a fact ("since they were strongly medizing").
- 9.40.1ἔσκον οἳ
The verb ἔσκον is the Ionic iterative imperfect third-person plural of εἰμί (equivalent to ἦσαν). Combined with the relative pronoun οἵ, it forms a construction meaning "they were the ones who...", emphasizing the character or role of the subject (the Persians and Medes).