- 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-grc2:9.86.1-9.86.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
After burying their dead at Plataea, the Greeks marched to Thebes to demand the surrender of the pro-Persian leaders. When the Thebans refused, the Greeks laid siege to the city, devastating the countryside and attacking the walls.
ὡς δʼ ἄρα ἔθαψαν τοὺς νεκροὺς ἐν Πλαταιῇσι οἱ Ἕλληνες, αὐτίκα βουλευομένοισί σφι ἐδόκεε1 στρατεύειν ἐπὶ τὰς Θήβας καὶ ἐξαιτέειν αὐτῶν τοὺς μηδίσαντας, ἐν πρώτοισι δὲ αὐτῶν Τιμηγενίδην καὶ Ἀτταγῖνον, οἳ ἀρχηγέται ἀνὰ πρώτους ἦσαν· ἢν δὲ μὴ ἐκδιδῶσι, μὴ ἀπανίστασθαι2 ἀπὸ τῆς πόλιος πρότερον ἢ ἐξέλωσι.3
Now when the Greeks had buried their dead at Plataea, they immediately resolved upon consultation to march against Thebes and demand the surrender of those who had sided with the Medes, and among the first of them Timegenidas and Attaginus, who were their chief leaders; and if the Thebans should not deliver them up, they resolved not to withdraw from the city until they had captured it.
ὡς δέ σφι ταῦτα ἔδοξε, οὕτω δὴ ἑνδεκάτῃ ἡμέρῃ ἀπὸ τῆς συμβολῆς ἀπικόμενοι ἐπολιόρκεον Θηβαίους, κελεύοντες ἐκδιδόναι τοὺς ἄνδρας· οὐ βουλομένων δὲ τῶν Θηβαίων ἐκδιδόναι, τήν τε γῆν αὐτῶν ἔταμνον καὶ προσέβαλλον πρὸς τὸ τεῖχος.
When this was resolved, they accordingly arrived on the eleventh day after the battle and besieged the Thebans, demanding that they deliver up the men; but as the Thebans were unwilling to deliver them up, they laid waste their land and made assaults upon the wall.
- 9.86.1βουλευομένοισί σφι ἐδόκεε
The impersonal verb ἐδόκεε ("it seemed good") takes the dative pronoun σφι and the agreeing present participle βουλευομένοισί, indicating the process of collective deliberation: "it seemed good to them upon consultation" or "they resolved upon deliberating."
- 9.86.1ἢν δὲ μὴ ἐκδιδῶσι, μὴ ἀπανίστασθαι
The protasis ἢν δὲ μὴ ἐκδιδῶσι ("if they should not deliver them up") is followed by the negative infinitive μὴ ἀπανίστασθαι ("not to withdraw") in the apodosis, which depends on the main verb ἐδόκεε expressing their collective resolve.
- 9.86.1πρότερον ἢ ἐξέλωσι
The conjunction phrase πρότερον ἤ ("before") combined with the preceding negative infinitive μὴ ἀπανίστασθαι yields the meaning "not to withdraw until..." The verb ἐξέλωσι is the aorist active subjunctive 3rd person plural of ἐξαιρέω ("to capture"), used here without ἄν, which is characteristic of Ionic prose.