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§9.72.1-9.72.2

Wounding and Regretful Death of Callicrates

After mentioning the most famous men at Plataea, the text describes the death of Callicrates, the most beautiful Greek of his time, who was mortally wounded by an arrow before the battle and died expressing his regret.

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§9.72.1

οὗτοι μὲν τῶν ἐν Πλαταιῇσι ὀνομαστότατοι ἐγένοντο. Καλλικράτης γὰρ ἔξω τῆς μάχης ἀπέθανε, ἐλθὼν ἀνὴρ κάλλιστος ἐς τὸ στρατόπεδον τῶν τότε Ἑλλήνων, οὐ μοῦνον αὐτῶν Λακεδαιμονίων ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων· ὅς, ἐπειδὴ ἐσφαγιάζετο Παυσανίης, κατήμενος ἐν τῇ τάξι ἐτρωματίσθη τοξεύματι τὰ πλευρά.1

​These became the most famous of those at Plataea. For Callicrates died outside the battle, having come to the camp as the most beautiful man of the Greeks of that time, not only of the Lacedaemonians themselves but also of all the other Greeks; who, while Pausanias was offering sacrifice, was wounded in the side by an arrow as he sat in the line.

§9.72.2

καὶ δὴ οἳ μὲν ἐμάχοντο, ὃ δʼ ἐξενηνειγμένος ἐδυσθανάτεέ τε καὶ ἔλεγε πρὸς Ἀρίμνηστον ἄνδρα Πλαταιέα οὐ μέλειν οἱ2 ὅτι πρὸ τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἀποθνήσκει, ἀλλʼ ὅτι οὐκ ἐχρήσατο τῇ χειρὶ καὶ ὅτι οὐδέν ἐστί οἱ ἀποδεδεγμένον ἔργον ἑωυτοῦ ἄξιον προθυμευμένου ἀποδέξασθαι.3

​And indeed, while the others were fighting, he, having been carried out, was dying a lingering death, and said to Arimnestus, a man of Plataea, that it did not grieve him that he was dying for Greece, but that he had not used his hand and that there was no deed performed by him worthy of himself, though he had been eager to perform one.

Syntax notes3 items
  1. 9.72.1τὰ πλευρά

    Accusative of specification (or respect) with the passive verb ἐτρωματίσθη ('was wounded'), specifying the part of the body affected.

  2. 9.72.2οὐ μέλειν οἱ

    Infinitive of the impersonal verb μέλει in indirect speech introduced by ἔλεγε. The dative pronoun οἱ is an indirect reflexive referring back to the subject Callicrates.

  3. 9.72.2ἑωυτοῦ ἄξιον προθυμευμένου ἀποδέξασθαι

    The genitive present participle προθυμευμένου ('being eager') agrees in gender, number, and case with the reflexive pronoun ἑωυτοῦ ('of himself'), which is governed by the adjective ἄξιον ('worthy'). The infinitive ἀποδέξασθαι depends on this construction, creating the sense 'worthy of himself who was eager to perform (a deed).'

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25)urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:9.72.1-9.72.2