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Plutarch · Life of Eumenes §19.1-19.2

Execution of Eumenes and the Silver Shields' Fate

Passage 19 of 19 · Greek

Summary

Antigonus decided to execute Eumenes by starving him, but had him dispatched during a sudden breaking of camp, returning his ashes to his family. The betrayers, the Silver Shields, were subsequently punished by being sent to Arachosia to be destroyed.

§19.1τὸ δὲ οὖν ἔδοξε τῷ Ἀντιγόνῳ τὸν Εὐμενῆ κτείνειν, ἐκέλευσεν ἀὐτοῦ τὴν τροφὴν ἀφελεῖν.
At any rate, when Antigonus resolved to kill Eumenes, he ordered his food to be withdrawn.
καὶ δύο μὲν ἡμέρας ἢ τρεῖς ἄσιτος οὕτω προσήγετο πρὸς τὴν τελευτήν.
And so for two or three days, without food, he was brought near to his end.
αἰφνίδιον δὲ ἀναζυγῆς γενομένης εἰσπέμψαντες ἄνθρωπον ἀποσφάττουσιν αὐτόν.
But when there was a sudden breaking of camp, they sent in a man and dispatched him.
τὸ δὲ σῶμα τοῖς φίλοις παραδοὺς ὁ Ἀντίγονος ἐπέτρεψε καῦσαι καὶ τὰ λείψανα συνθέντας εἰς ἀργυρᾶν ὑδρίαν κομίζειν, ἀποδοθησόμενα τῇ γυναικὶ καὶ τοῖς παισίν.
Antigonus, handing over the body to Eumenes' friends, permitted them to burn it and, having gathered the remains into a silver urn, to carry them away, to be restored to his wife and children.
§19.2οὕτω δὲ ἀποθανόντος Εὐμενοῦς οὐκ ἐπʼ ἄλλῳ τινὶ τὴν τιμωρίαν ἐποιήσατο τῶν προδόντων αὐτὸν ἡγεμόνων καὶ στρατιωτῶν τὸ δαιμόνιον, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸς Ἀντίγονος προβαλόμενος ὡς ἀσεβεῖς καὶ θηριώδεις τοὺς ἀργυράσπιδας παρέδωκε Σιβυρτίῳ τῷ διοικοῦντι τὴν Ἀραχωσίαν, πάντα τρόπον ἐκτρῖψαι καὶ καταφθεῖραι κελεύσας, ὅπως μηδεὶς αὐτῶν εἰς Μακεδονίαν ἄπεισι μηδὲ ὄψεται τὴν Ἑλληνικὴν θάλατταν.
Eumenes having died in this manner, the deity did not entrust the punishment of the commanders and soldiers who had betrayed him to anyone else, but Antigonus himself, rejecting the Silver Shields as impious and beast-like, delivered them to Sibyrtius, the governor of Arachosia, ordering him to wear them out and destroy them in every way, so that not one of them should return to Macedonia or behold the Grecian sea.

Notes

  1. §19.1τὸ δὲ οὖν ἔδοξε — The phrase τὸ δέ acts as an introductory connective (equivalent to 'And so' or 'But anyway') transitioning to the main action, where ἔδοξε governs the infinitive κτείνειν with τῷ Ἀντιγόνῳ as the dative of agent/experiencer.
  2. §19.2οὐκ ἐπʼ ἄλλῳ τινὶ τὴν τιμωρίαν ἐποιήσατο [...] τὸ δαιμόνιον — The subject is τὸ δαιμόνιον placed at the end of the clause, and the verb is ἐποιήσατο. The prepositional phrase ἐπʼ ἄλλῳ τινί means 'by means of/depending on someone else.' The structure contrasts 'not through anyone else' (οὐκ ἐπʼ ἄλλῳ τινὶ) with 'but Antigonus himself' (ἀλλʼ αὐτὸς Ἀντίγονος), where Antigonus becomes the divine instrument of punishment, leading to the finite verb παρέδωκε.
  3. §19.2πάντα τρόπον ἐκτρῖψαι καὶ καταφθεῖραι κελεύσας — The participle κελεύσας (having ordered) agrees with the main subject Ἀντίγονος. The infinitives ἐκτρῖψαι (to wear out/destroy) and καταφθεῖραι (to ruin) function as complementary infinitives governed by κελεύσας, with their implied subject being the dative indirect object Σιβυρτίῳ.

Cite this passage

Plutarch, Life of Eumenes §19.1-19.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg041.humanitext-grc2:19.1-19.2

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