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Herodotus · Histories §3.71.1-3.71.5

Debate Between Darius and Otanes on Immediate Action

Passage 475 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

After the seven conspirators exchange oaths, Darius urges immediate action, threatening to denounce them himself if they delay. Otanes counsels caution and wishes to increase their numbers, but Darius counters, pressing for an instant attack.

§3.71.1συνελθόντες δὲ οὗτοι ἐόντες ἑπτὰ ἐδίδοσαν σφίσι πίστις καὶ λόγους. ἐπείτε δὲ ἐς Δαρεῖον ἀπίκετο γνώμην ἀποφαίνεσθαι, ἔλεγέ σφι τάδε. §3.71.2ἐγὼ ταῦτα ἐδόκεον μὲν αὐτὸς μοῦνος ἐπίστασθαι, ὅτι τε ὁ Μάγος εἴη ὁ βασιλεύων καὶ Σμέρδις ὁ Κύρου τετελεύτηκε· καὶ αὐτοῦ τούτου εἵνεκεν ἥκω σπουδῇ ὡς συστήσων ἐπὶ τῷ Μάγῳ θάνατον.
When these, being seven, had met together, they gave pledges and words to one another; and when it came to Darius to declare his opinion, he spoke to them as follows: "I thought that I myself alone knew these things, namely that the Magian is the one who is reigning and that Smerdis the son of Cyrus is dead; and for this very reason I have come in haste, that I might plot death for the Magian.
ἐπείτε δὲ συνήνεικε ὥστε καὶ ὑμέας εἰδέναι καὶ μὴ μοῦνον ἐμέ, ποιέειν αὐτίκα μοι δοκέει καὶ μὴ ὑπερβάλλεσθαι· οὐ γὰρ ἄμεινον. §3.71.3εἶπε πρὸς ταῦτα ὁ Ὀτάνης ὦ παῖ Ὑστάσπεος, εἶς τε πατρὸς ἀγαθοῦ καὶ ἐκφαίνειν ἔοικας σεωυτὸν ἐόντα τοῦ πατρὸς οὐδὲν ἥσσω· τὴν μέντοι ἐπιχείρησιν ταύτην μὴ οὕτω συντάχυνε ἀβούλως, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τὸ σωφρονέστερον αὐτὴν λάμβανε· δεῖ γὰρ πλεῦνας γενομένους οὕτω ἐπιχειρέειν. §3.71.4λέγει πρὸς ταῦτα Δαρεῖος ἄνδρες οἱ παρεόντες, τρόπῳ τῷ εἰρημένῳ ἐξ Ὀτάνεω εἰ χρήσεσθε, ἐπίστασθε ὅτι ἀπολέεσθε κάκιστα· ἐξοίσει γάρ τις πρὸς τὸν Μάγον, ἰδίῃ περιβαλλόμενος ἑωυτῷ κέρδεα.
But since it has come about that you also know and not I alone, it seems to me that we should act immediately and not delay; for it is not better to do so." To this Otanes said: "O son of Hystaspes, you are of a noble father, and you seem likely to show yourself in no way inferior to your father; yet do not hasten this enterprise so thoughtlessly, but rather take it in a more prudent way; for we must become more in number and only then make the attempt." To this Darius replied: "Men who are here present, if you adopt the way spoken of by Otanes, know that you will perish most miserably; for someone will report it to the Magian, seeking to gain advantage for himself privately.
§3.71.5μάλιστα μέν νυν ὠφείλετε ἐπʼ ὑμέων αὐτῶν βαλλόμενοι ποιέειν ταῦτα· ἐπείτε δὲ ὑμῖν ἀναφέρειν ἐς πλεῦνας ἐδόκεε καὶ ἐμοὶ ὑπερέθεσθε, ἢ ποιέωμεν σήμερον ἢ ἴστε ὑμῖν ὅτι ἢν ὑπερπέσῃ ἡ νῦν ἡμέρη, ὡς οὐκ ἄλλος φθὰς ἐμεῦ κατήγορος ἔσται, ἀλλά σφεα αὐτὸς ἐγὼ κατερέω πρὸς τὸν Μάγον.
Now indeed, you ought to have done this by yourselves, relying on yourselves; but since it seemed good to you to refer the matter to more, and you have communicated it to me, either let us act today, or know for yourselves that if this present day shall pass by, no other man shall prevent me and become your accuser, but I myself will denounce these things to the Magian."

Notes

  1. §3.71.1ἐς Δαρεῖον ἀπίκετο γνώμην ἀποφαίνεσθαι — Meaning 'it came to Darius' turn.' The prepositional phrase `ἐς ... ἀπικνέεσθαι` is used impersonally to mean 'to devolve upon' or 'to come to one's turn,' with the infinitive phrase `γνώμην ἀποφαίνεσθαι` ('to declare one's opinion') serving as the logical subject.
  2. §3.71.2συνήνεικε ὥστε — The impersonal aorist `συνήνεικε` (from `συμφέρω`) means 'it happened' or 'it turned out that,' and is followed by the consecutive conjunction `ὥστε` with infinitives to denote the actual outcome of the circumstances.
  3. §3.71.3εἶς — Not the numeral 'one' (`εἷς`), but the second-person singular present of the verb to be (`εἰμί`), written in the Ionic dialect with the suffix `-ς` added to the standard `εἶ` ('you are').
  4. §3.71.5ἐπʼ ὑμέων αὐτῶν βαλλόμενοι — An idiomatic expression meaning 'relying on yourselves' or 'on your own initiative.' It consists of the preposition `ἐπί` with the genitive and the middle participle of `βάλλω` (originally meaning 'to throw/put on oneself' or 'to take upon oneself').
  5. §3.71.5ὅτι ... ὡς — An anacoluthon resulting from the duplication of the introducing conjunction. After `ὅτι` introducing the object clause of `ἴστε`, a conditional clause `ἢν ὑπερπέσῃ...` is inserted, causing the writer to repeat the introducing conjunction as `ὡς` when resuming the main clause.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §3.71.1-3.71.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.71.1-3.71.5

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