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Herodotus · Histories §4.165.1-4.165.3

Flight of Pheretime to Egypt and Plea for Vengeance

Passage 729 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

While Arcesilaus was in Barca, his mother Pheretime ruled Cyrene in his stead; upon learning of his death, she fled to Egypt and sought Aryandes' aid for vengeance.

§4.165.1ἡ δὲ μήτηρ Φερετίμη, ἕως μὲν ὁ Ἀρκεσίλεως ἐν τῇ Βάρκῃ διαιτᾶτο ἐξεργασμένος ἑωυτῷ κακόν, ἣ δὲ εἶχε αὐτὴ τοῦ παιδὸς τὰ γέρεα ἐν Κυρήνῃ καὶ τἆλλα νεμομένη καὶ ἐν βουλῇ παρίζουσα.
On the other hand, his mother Pheretime, while Arcesilaus was living in Barca, having brought disaster upon himself, herself held the privileges of her son in Cyrene, both administering the other affairs and sitting in the council.
§4.165.2ἐπείτε δὲ ἔμαθε ἐν τῇ Βάρκῃ ἀποθανόντα οἱ τὸν παῖδα, φεύγουσα οἰχώκεε ἐς Αἴγυπτον.
But when she learned that her son had died in Barca, she fled and went to Egypt.
ἦσαν γάρ οἱ ἐκ τοῦ Ἀρκεσίλεω εὐεργεσίαι ἐς Καμβύσεα τὸν Κύρου πεποιημέναι· οὗτος γὰρ ἦν ὁ Ἀρκεσίλεως ὃς Κυρήνην Καμβύσῃ ἔδωκε καὶ φόρον ἐτάξατο.
For she had the benefit of services rendered by Arcesilaus to Cambyses, the son of Cyrus; for this was the Arcesilaus who had given Cyrene to Cambyses and agreed to pay tribute.
§4.165.3ἀπικομένη δὲ ἐς τὴν Αἴγυπτον ἡ Φερετίμη Ἀρυάνδεω ἱκέτις ἵζετο, τιμωρῆσαι ἑωυτῇ κελεύουσα, προϊσχομένη πρόφασιν ὡς διὰ τὸν μηδισμὸν ὁ παῖς οἱ τέθνηκε.
Having arrived in Egypt, Pheretime sat as a suppliant to Aryandes, urging him to avenge her, putting forward the pretext that her son had been killed because of his Medism.

Notes

  1. §4.165.1ἣ δὲ — This is the demonstrative pronoun use of the relative stem with δὲ ('and she'), referring back to the main subject, Pheretime, after the temporal clause starting with ἕως.
  2. §4.165.2ἀποθανόντα — Supplementary participle serving as the object of the verb of cognition ἔμαθε ('learned'), equivalent to an indirect statement ('that her son had died').
  3. §4.165.2οἱ — Dative of advantage (or possession) belonging to the subject Pheretime, indicating that the favors done by Arcesilaus to Cambyses existed for her benefit (i.e., she could claim the credit for them).
  4. §4.165.3ὡς διὰ τὸν μηδισμὸν ὁ παῖς οἱ τέθνηκε — The ὡς clause explains the content of the pretext (πρόφασιν), expressing a subjective reason or claim made by the speaker ('on the ground that...', 'alleging that...').

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §4.165.1-4.165.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.165.1-4.165.3

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