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Herodotus · Histories §4.84.1-4.84.2

The Petition of Oeobazus and the Execution of His Sons

Passage 648 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Oeobazus entreats Darius to leave one of his three sons behind from the campaign. Darius promises to leave all of them, which rejoices Oeobazus, but then orders his executioners to kill all the sons.

§4.84.1ἐνθαῦτα τῶν Περσέων Οἰόβαζος ἐδεήθη Δαρείου τριῶν ἐόντων οἱ παίδων καὶ πάντων στρατευομένων ἕνα αὐτῷ καταλειφθῆναι.
Then Oeobazus, one of the Persians, since he had three sons and all of them were going on the campaign, entreated Darius that one might be left behind for him.
ὁ δὲ ἔφη ὡς φίλῳ ἐόντι καὶ μετρίων δεομένῳ πάντας τοὺς παῖδας καταλείψειν.
And Darius said that, as to one who was a friend and made a moderate request, he would leave all his sons behind.
§4.84.2ὁ μὲν δὴ Οἰόβαζος περιχαρὴς ἦν, ἐλπίζων τοὺς υἱέας στρατηίης ἀπολελύσθαι.
Oeobazus then was overjoyed, hoping that his sons had been released from the campaign.
ὁ δὲ ἐκέλευσε τοὺς ἐπὶ τούτων ἐπεστεῶτας ἀποκτεῖναι πάντας τοὺς Οἰοβάζου παῖδας.
But Darius ordered those appointed over these matters to kill all the sons of Oeobazus.

Notes

  1. 4.84.1τριῶν ἐόντων οἱ παίδων — Genitive absolute construction. The third-person singular pronoun in the dative, `οἱ` (equivalent to Attic `αὐτῷ`), acts as a dative of possession with the participle `ἐόντων`, meaning "since he had three children."
  2. 4.84.1ὡς φίλῳ ἐόντι — The conjunction `ὡς` with the dative participles `ἐόντι` and `δεομένῳ` expresses the subjective reason or ground from the viewpoint of the main subject (Darius), meaning "as to one who was...". The dative case agrees with the implied indirect object (Oeobazus).
  3. 4.84.2τοὺς ἐπὶ τούτων ἐπεστεῶτας — `ἐπεστεῶτας` is the Ionic form of the perfect active participle `ἐφεστηκότας` (from `ἐφִίστημι`). Combined with the preposition `ἐπί` and the genitive `τούτων` (neuter plural, referring here to the task of execution), it means "those appointed over these matters" (i.e., the executioners).

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §4.84.1-4.84.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.84.1-4.84.2

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