Herodotus · Histories §4.127.1-4.127.4

Idanthyrsus's Defiant Reply and Terms for Battle

Passage 691 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The Scythian king Idanthyrsus replies to Darius that they do not fight because they have no cities or fields to lose, but would do so if their ancestral graves were violated. He acknowledges only Zeus and Hestia as his masters and mockingly rejects Darius.

§4.127.1πρὸς ταῦτα ὁ Σκυθέων βασιλεὺς Ἰδάνθυρσος λέγει τάδε. οὕτω τὸ ἐμὸν ἔχει, ὦ Πέρσα.

To this the Scythian king Idanthyrsus replied as follows: "My situation is like this, O Persian.

ἐγὼ οὐδένα κω ἀνθρώπων δείσας ἔφυγον οὔτε πρότερον οὔτε νῦν σὲ φεύγω, οὐδέ τι νεώτερον εἰμὶ ποιήσας νῦν ἢ καὶ ἐν εἰρήνῃ ἐώθεα ποιέειν.

I have never fled from any man out of fear before, nor do I now flee from you; nor am I doing anything newer now than what I was accustomed to do also in peace.

§4.127.2ὅ τι δὲ οὐκ αὐτίκα μάχομαι τοι, ἐγὼ καὶ τοῦτο σημανέω.

As to why I do not immediately fight you, I will explain this too.

ἡμῖν οὔτε ἄστεα οὔτε γῆ πεφυτευμένη ἐστί, τῶν πέρι δείσαντες μὴ ἁλῷ ἢ καρῇ ταχύτερον ἂν ὑμῖν συμμίσγοιμεν ἐς μάχην.

We have neither cities nor cultivated land, for fear of which—lest they be captured or ravaged—we might more quickly join battle with you.

εἰ δὲ δέοι πάντως ἐς τοῦτο κατὰ τάχος ἀπικνέεσθαι, τυγχάνουσι ἡμῖν ἐόντες τάφοι πατρώιοι·

But if it should be absolutely necessary to come to this quickly, we happen to have the tombs of our ancestors.

§4.127.3φέρετε, τούτους ἀνευρόντες συγχέειν πειρᾶσθε αὐτούς, καὶ γνώσεσθε τότε εἴτε ὑμῖν μαχησόμεθα περὶ τῶν τάφων εἴτε καὶ οὐ μαχησόμεθα.

Come, find these and try to destroy them, and you shall know then whether we will fight with you for the tombs or whether we will not fight.

πρότερον δέ, ἢν μὴ ἡμέας λόγος αἱρέῃ, οὐ συμμίξομεν τοι.

But before that, unless some reason leads us to do so, we will not join battle with you.

§4.127.4ἀμφὶ μὲν μάχῃ τοσαῦτα εἰρήσθω, δεσπότας δὲ ἐμοὺς ἐγὼ Δία τε νομίζω τὸν ἐμὸν πρόγονον καὶ Ἱστίην τὴν Σκυθέων βασίλειαν μούνους εἶναι.

So much for the battle; but as for my masters, I consider Zeus my ancestor and Hestia the queen of the Scythians to be the only ones.

σοὶ δὲ ἀντὶ μὲν δώρων γῆς τε καὶ ὕδατος δῶρα πέμψω τοιαῦτα οἷα σοὶ πρέπει ἐλθεῖν, ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ ὅτι δεσπότης ἔφησας εἶναι ἐμός, κλαίειν λέγω. τοῦτο ἐστὶ ἡ ἀπὸ Σκυθέων ῥῆσις.

And to you, instead of gifts of earth and water, I will send such gifts as are fit for you to receive; and in return for your saying that you are my master, I tell you to weep." This is the speech of the Scythians.

Notes

127.1οὕτω τὸ ἐμὸν ἔχει — A phrase combining the substantivized neuter singular pronoun τὸ ἐμὸν ('my affair', 'my situation') as the subject with the verb ἔχει used intransitively to mean 'to be in a certain state', meaning 'my situation is thus' or 'this is my way'.
127.1νεώτερον εἰμὶ ποιήσας — A periphrastic construction combining the copula εἰμί and the aorist participle ποιήσας. Semantically it functions like a perfect tense ('I have not done'), emphasizing the contrast with past habitual actions.
127.2δείσαντες μὴ ἁλῷ ἢ καρῇ — Following the participle of fearing δείσαντες ('fearing'), the conjunction μή introduces subjunctive verbs (ἁλῷ and καρῇ, both aorist passive subjunctives) to form a noun clause meaning 'lest they be captured or ravaged'.
127.2τυγχάνουσι ἡμῖν ἐόντες — The verb τυγχάνω combined with the nominative participle ἐόντες (Ionic form of εἰμί) expresses 'happen to be/have', with the dative ἡμῖν functioning as a dative of possession ('we happen to have').
127.3ἢν μὴ ἡμέας λόγος αἱρέῃ — An idiomatic use of the verb αἱρέω in the sense of 'reason or argument convinces/prevails upon (someone)'. Literally, 'unless reason should take/convince us'.
127.4κλαίειν λέγω — A Greek idiomatic expression meaning literally 'I tell you to weep', used to express strong rejection, defiance, or a curse ('go weep', 'go hang').

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §4.127.1-4.127.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.127.1-4.127.4

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