- 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-grc2:9.61.1-9.61.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
The Athenians attempt to aid the Spartans but are intercepted by pro-Persian Greeks. Left alone, the Spartans and Tegeans suffer heavy casualties from Persian arrows while waiting for favorable sacrificial omens, leading Pausanias to pray to Hera.
ταῦτα οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ὡς ἐπύθοντο, ὁρμέατο1 βοηθέειν καὶ τὰ μάλιστα ἐπαμύνειν· καί σφι ἤδη στείχουσι ἐπιτίθενται οἱ ἀντιταχθέντες Ἑλλήνων τῶν μετὰ βασιλέος γενομένων, ὥστε μηκέτι δύνασθαι βοηθῆσαι· τὸ γὰρ προσκείμενον σφέας ἐλύπεε.
When the Athenians heard this, they set out to bring help and to defend them to the utmost. But as they were already marching, those of the Greeks who had sided with the king and had been drawn up against them attacked them, so that they were no longer able to help; for the force pressing upon them harassed them.
οὕτω δὴ μουνωθέντες Λακεδαιμόνιοι καὶ Τεγεῆται, ἐόντες σὺν ψιλοῖσι ἀριθμὸν οἳ μὲν πεντακισμύριοι Τεγεῆται δὲ τρισχίλιοι (οὗτοι γὰρ οὐδαμὰ ἀπεσχίζοντο ἀπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων), ἐσφαγιάζοντο ὡς συμβαλέοντες Μαρδονίῳ καὶ τῇ στρατιῇ τῇ παρεούσῃ.
Thus left alone, the Lacedaemonians and the Tegeans, being in number, including the light-armed men, fifty thousand on the one hand, and three thousand Tegeans on the other (for these never separated themselves from the Lacedaemonians), offered sacrifices with a view to engaging Mardonius and the army which was before them.
καὶ οὐ γάρ σφι ἐγίνετο2 τὰ σφάγια χρηστά, ἔπιπτον δὲ αὐτῶν ἐν τούτῳ τῷ χρόνῳ πολλοὶ καὶ πολλῷ πλεῦνες ἐτρωματίζοντο· φράξαντες γὰρ τὰ γέρρα οἱ Πέρσαι ἀπίεσαν τῶν τοξευμάτων πολλὰ ἀφειδέως, οὕτω ὥστε πιεζομένων τῶν Σπαρτιητέων καὶ τῶν σφαγίων οὐ γινομένων ἀποβλέψαντα τὸν Παυσανίην πρὸς τὸ Ἥραιον τὸ Πλαταιέων ἐπικαλέσασθαι τὴν θεόν,3 χρηίζοντα μηδαμῶς σφέας ψευσθῆναι τῆς ἐλπίδος.
And since the omens did not turn out favorable for them, and in this meantime many of them fell and far more were wounded; for the Persians, having fenced themselves with their wicker shields, let fly showers of arrows without sparing, so that, while the Spartans were hard pressed and the omens still did not turn out favorable, Pausanias, looking away toward the Heraeum of the Plataeans, called upon the goddess, praying that they might by no means be disappointed of their hope.
- 9.61.1ὁρμέατο
The third-person plural pluperfect indicative middle/passive of ὁρμάω (or ὁρμάομαι) in the Ionic dialect, where -ατο is used instead of the standard Attic -ντο. Here it expresses that they 'were eagerly setting out' or 'had made their start' to help.
- 9.61.3καὶ οὐ γάρ σφι ἐγίνετο
The combination καὶ οὐ γάρ idiomatically introduces a negative reason ('for... not'). The imperfect verb ἐγίνετο indicates a repeated or ongoing state, showing that they offered sacrifices multiple times but the omens continuously failed to turn out favorable.
- 9.61.3ὥστε πιεζομένων τῶν Σπαρτιητέων καὶ τῶν σφαγίων οὐ γινομένων ἀποβλέψαντα τὸν Παυσανίην πρὸς τὸ Ἥραιον τὸ Πλαταιέων ἐπικαλέσασθαι τὴν θεόν
An accusative-and-infinitive construction introduced by the consecutive conjunction ὥστε showing result. The subject is the accusative τὸν Παυσανίην and the main verb is the infinitive ἐπικαλέσασθαι. The aorist participle ἀποβλέψαντα and the present participle χρηίζοντα agree in gender, number, and case with Παυσανίην (accusative masculine singular). The clauses πιεζομένων τῶν Σπαρτιητέων... are genitives absolute.