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Herodotus · Histories §3.119.1-3.119.7

The Arrest of Intaphrenes and His Wife's Choice of Her Brother

Passage 523 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Suspecting a conspiracy, Darius arrests Intaphrenes and his family. Moved by the persistent laments of Intaphrenes' wife, the king allows her to save one relative, and her choice of her brother over her husband and children, supported by her reasoning, deeply impresses Darius.

§3.119.1οἳ δὲ τῷ βασιλέι δεικνύουσι ἑωυτοὺς καὶ τὴν αἰτίην εἶπον διʼ ἣν πεπονθότες εἴησαν.
They showed themselves to the King and told him the reason why they had suffered this treatment.
Δαρεῖος δὲ ἀρρωδήσας μὴ κοινῷ λόγῳ οἱ ἓξ πεποιηκότες ἔωσι ταῦτα, μεταπεμπόμενος ἕνα ἕκαστον ἀπεπειρᾶτο γνώμης, εἰ συνέπαινοι εἰσὶ τῷ πεποιημένῳ.
Darius, fearing lest the other six had done this by common agreement, summoned them one by one and tested their opinion, to see if they approved of what had been done.
§3.119.2ἐπείτε δὲ ἐξέμαθε ὡς οὐ σὺν κείνοισι εἴη ταῦτα πεποιηκώς, ἔλαβε αὐτόν τε τὸν Ἰνταφρένεα καὶ τοὺς παῖδας αὐτοῦ καὶ τοὺς οἰκηίους πάντας, ἐλπίδας πολλὰς ἔχων μετὰ τῶν συγγενέων μιν ἐπιβουλεύειν οἱ ἐπανάστασιν, συλλαβὼν δὲ σφέας ἔδησε τὴν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ.
When he had fully learned that Intaphrenes had not done this with their cooperation, he seized Intaphrenes himself, his children, and all his kinsmen, having a strong suspicion that he, with his relatives, was plotting an uprising against him; and having arrested them, he bound them for death.
§3.119.3ἡ δὲ γυνὴ τοῦ Ἰνταφρένεος φοιτῶσα ἐπὶ τὰς θύρας τοῦ βασιλέος κλαίεσκε ἂν καὶ ὀδυρέσκετο· ποιεῦσα δὲ αἰεὶ τὠυτὸ τοῦτο τὸν Δαρεῖον ἔπεισε οἰκτεῖραί μιν.
But the wife of Intaphrenes, coming repeatedly to the King's gates, would weep and lament; and by doing this constantly, she persuaded Darius to pity her.
πέμψας δὲ ἄγγελον ἔλεγε τάδε· ὦ γύναι, βασιλεύς τοι Δαρεῖος διδοῖ ἕνα τῶν δεδεμένων οἰκηίων ῥύσασθαι τὸν βούλεαι ἐκ πάντων. §3.119.4ἣ δὲ βουλευσαμένη ὑπεκρίνετο τάδε· εἰ μὲν δή μοι διδοῖ βασιλεὺς ἑνὸς τὴν ψυχήν, αἱρέομαι ἐκ πάντων τὸν ἀδελφεόν. §3.119.5πυθόμενος δὲ Δαρεῖος ταῦτα καὶ θωμάσας τὸν λόγον, πέμψας ἠγόρευε ὦ γύναι, εἰρωτᾷ σε βασιλεύς, τίνα ἔχουσα γνώμην, τὸν ἄνδρα τε καὶ τὰ τέκνα ἐγκαταλιποῦσα, τὸν ἀδελφεὸν εἵλευ περιεῖναί τοι, ὃς καὶ ἀλλοτριώτερός τοι τῶν παίδων καὶ ἧσσον κεχαρισμένος τοῦ ἀνδρός ἐστι. §3.119.6ἣ δʼ ἀμείβετο τοῖσιδε. ὦ βασιλεῦ, ἀνὴρ μέν μοι ἂν ἄλλος γένοιτο, εἰ δαίμων ἐθέλοι, καὶ τέκνα ἄλλα, εἰ ταῦτα ἀποβάλοιμι· πατρὸς δὲ καὶ μητρὸς οὐκέτι μευ ζωόντων ἀδελφεὸς ἂν ἄλλος οὐδενὶ τρόπῳ γένοιτο.
Sending a messenger, he spoke as follows: "Woman, King Darius grants you to rescue from all those who are bound one of your kinsmen, whichever you wish." She, after deliberating, answered as follows: "If indeed the King grants me the life of one, I choose my brother from among them all." Darius, on hearing this and wondering at her words, sent a messenger and said: "Woman, the King asks you: with what intent did you abandon both your husband and your children and choose that your brother should survive, who is both more of a stranger to you than your children, and less dear than your husband?" She replied as follows: "O King, another husband might be mine, if a god willed it, and other children, if I were to lose these; but since my father and mother are no longer living, another brother could in no way be born to me.
ταύτῃ τῇ γνώμῃ χρεωμένη ἔλεξα ταῦτα. §3.119.7εὖ τε δὴ ἔδοξε τῷ Δαρείῳ εἰπεῖν ἡ γυνή, καί οἱ ἀπῆκε τοῦτόν τε τὸν παραιτέετο καὶ τῶν παίδων τὸν πρεσβύτατον, ἡσθεὶς αὐτῇ, τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους ἀπέκτεινε πάντας.
Guided by this thought, I spoke these words." The woman seemed to Darius to have spoken well, and because he was pleased with her, he released to her both the brother for whom she had petitioned and the eldest of her children, but he put all the others to death.
τῶν μὲν δὴ ἑπτὰ εἷς αὐτίκα τρόπῳ τῷ εἰρημένῳ ἀπολώλεε.
Thus one of the seven perished immediately in the manner described.

Notes

  1. 3.119.1μὴ κοινῷ λόγῳ οἱ ἓξ πεποιηκότες ἔωσι ταῦτα — A clause of fear introduced by the participle ἀρρωδήσας ("fearing lest..."). The verb phrase is a periphrastic perfect subjunctive, consisting of the perfect participle πεποιηκότες and the present subjunctive ἔωσι, expressing a present apprehension about a past completed action.
  2. 3.119.2ἐλπίδας πολλὰς ἔχων μετὰ τῶν συγγενέων μιν ἐπιβουλεύειν οἱ ἐπανάστασιν — The noun ἐλπίς, which usually means "hope," here means an apprehension or suspicion of evil. The infinitive phrase ἐπιβουλεύειν ... ἐπανάστασιν (to plot an uprising) functions in apposition to or as an explanation of ἐλπίδας. The accusative pronoun μιν (Herodotus' form for αὐτόν) is the subject of the infinitive, and the dative οἱ (the indirect reflexive pronoun) refers to Darius.
  3. 3.119.3κλαίεσκε ἂν — The verb κλαίεσκε features the Ionic iterative suffix -σκε. When combined with the particle ἂν, it emphasizes a repeated or habitual action in the past ("she would weep repeatedly").
  4. 3.119.7εὖ τε δὴ ἔδοξε τῷ Δαρείῳ εἰπεῖν ἡ γυνή — The verb ἔδοξε ("seemed") is used in a personal construction with ἡ γυνή ("the woman") as its subject, complemented by the infinitive εἰπεῖν ("to speak"). Literally, "the woman seemed to Darius to have spoken well." While an impersonal interpretation is possible, the presence of the nominative subject ἡ γυνή makes the personal construction the most natural reading.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §3.119.1-3.119.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.119.1-3.119.7

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