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Herodotus · Histories §5.102.1-5.102.3

Persian Pursuit and the Battle of Ephesus

Passage 878 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Sardis is burned down along with the temple of Cybebe, and the Persian forces west of the Halys river mobilize in pursuit. They catch up with the Ionians at Ephesus and inflict a heavy defeat upon them.

§5.102.1καὶ Σάρδιες μὲν ἐνεπρήσθησαν, ἐν δὲ αὐτῇσι καὶ ἱρὸν ἐπιχωρίης θεοῦ Κυβήβης· τὸ σκηπτόμενοι οἱ Πέρσαι ὕστερον ἀντενεπίμπρασαν τὰ ἐν Ἕλλησι ἱρά.
And so Sardis was burned, and in it also a temple of Cybebe, a goddess of that country; which the Persians later used as a pretext to burn down the temples in Greece in retaliation.
τότε δὲ οἱ Πέρσαι οἱ ἐντὸς Ἅλυος ποταμοῦ νομοὺς ἔχοντες, προπυνθανόμενοι ταῦτα, συνηλίζοντο καὶ ἐβοήθεον τοῖσι Λυδοῖσι.
At that time, the Persians who held territories within the river Halys, having already heard of these things, gathered together and came to the aid of the Lydians.
§5.102.2καὶ κως ἐν μὲν Σάρδισι οὐκέτι ἐόντας τοὺς Ἴωνας εὑρίσκουσι, ἑπόμενοι δὲ κατὰ στίβον αἱρέουσι αὐτοὺς ἐν Ἐφέσῳ.
And somehow, they found that the Ionians were no longer in Sardis; but following on their tracks, they caught up with them at Ephesus.
καὶ ἀντετάχθησαν μὲν οἱ Ἴωνες, συμβαλόντες δὲ πολλὸν ἑσσώθησαν.
The Ionians drew up their lines to face them, but in the engagement they were heavily defeated.
§5.102.3καὶ πολλοὺς αὐτῶν οἱ Πέρσαι φονεύουσι ἄλλους τε ὀνομαστούς, ἐν δὲ δὴ καὶ Εὐαλκίδην στρατηγέοντα Ἐρετριέων, στεφανηφόρους τε ἀγῶνας ἀναραιρηκότα καὶ ὑπὸ Σιμωνίδεω τοῦ Κηίου πολλὰ αἰνεθέντα·
The Persians slew many of them, including other men of renown, and among them especially Eualcides, the general of the Eretrians, who had won crowns in the games and had been highly praised in song by Simonides of Ceos.
οἳ δὲ αὐτῶν ἀπέφυγον τὴν μάχην, ἐσκεδάσθησαν ἀνὰ τὰς πόλιας.
Those of them who escaped from the battle were scattered among their various cities.

Notes

  1. 5.102.1τὸ σκηπτόμενοι — The pronoun τὸ is a relative pronoun (neuter singular accusative), referring to the burning of the temple of Cybebe, or the temple itself. It serves as the direct object of the participle σκηπτόμενοι ('using as a pretext'), meaning 'using this as a pretext'. In the Ionic dialect, forms that function as definite articles in Attic (like τὸ) are frequently used as relative pronouns.
  2. 5.102.2οὐκέτι ἐόντας τοὺς Ἴωνας εὑρίσκουσι — The verb εὑρίσκουσι ('they find') is constructed with an accusative (τοὺς Ἴωνας) and a participle (ἐόντας), forming a construction denoting the perception of a state. The word ἐόντας is the Ionic present participle (masculine plural accusative) of the verb εἰμί, corresponding to ὄντας in Attic.
  3. 5.102.3ἀναραιρηκότα — This is the perfect active participle (masculine singular accusative) of the verb ἀναιρέω ('to win'), corresponding to Attic ἀνῃρηκότα. This specific form (with -αι-) is a result of Ionic psilosis (loss of aspiration) combined with elision and contraction of the vowels after the prefix ἀνά.
  4. 5.102.3οἳ δὲ αὐτῶν — The relative pronoun form οἵ, combined with the particle δέ, functions here not as a relative pronoun introducing a subordinate clause, but as a demonstrative pronoun indicating contrast ('but those of them...'), serving as the subject of the main clause. αὐτῶν is a partitive genitive meaning 'of them'.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §5.102.1-5.102.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.102.1-5.102.3

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