Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §5.104.1-5.104.3

Onesilus and the Revolt of Cyprus

Passage 880 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Cyprus, except for Amathus, joins the revolt, led by Onesilus of Salamis, who expels his brother King Gorgus and begins a siege against the uncooperative Amathusians.

§5.104.1Κύπριοι δὲ ἐθελονταί σφι πάντες προσεγένοντο πλὴν Ἀμαθουσίων· ἀπέστησαν γὰρ καὶ οὗτοι ὧδε ἀπὸ Μήδων.
And the Cyprians all of their own free will joined them, except for the Amathusians; for these too revolted from the Medes in the following manner.
ἦ Ὀνήσιλος Γόργου μὲν τοῦ Σαλαμινίων βασιλέος ἀδελφεὸς νεώτερος, Χέρσιος δὲ τοῦ Σιρώμου τοῦ Εὐέλθοντος παῖς.
There was a certain Onesilus, a younger brother of Gorgus, the king of the Salaminians, and a son of Chersis, who was the son of Siromus, the son of Evelthon.
§5.104.2οὗτος ὡνὴρ πολλάκις μὲν καὶ πρότερον τὸν Γόργον παρηγορέετο ἀπίστασθαι ἀπὸ βασιλέος, τότε δέ, ὡς καὶ τοὺς Ἴωνας ἐπύθετο ἀπεστάναι, πάγχυ ἐπικείμενος ἐνῆγε·
This man had often before this exhorted Gorgus to revolt from the King, and at this time, when he learned that the Ionians too had revolted, he pressed him hard and urged him.
ὡς δὲ οὐκ ἔπειθε τὸν Γόργον, ἐνθαῦτά μιν φυλάξας ἐξελθόντα τὸ ἄστυ τὸ Σαλαμινίων ὁ Ὀνήσιλος ἅμα τοῖσι ἑωυτοῦ στασιώτῃσι ἀπεκλήισε τῶν πυλέων.
But when he could not persuade Gorgus, Onesilus watched for him to go out of the city of Salamis and, together with his own partisans, shut him out of the gates.
§5.104.3Γόργος μὲν δὴ στερηθεὶς τῆς πόλιος ἔφευγε ἐς Μήδους, Ὀνήσιλος δὲ ἦρχε Σαλαμῖνος καὶ ἀνέπειθε πάντας Κυπρίους συναπίστασθαι.
Gorgus, indeed, deprived of his city, fled to the Medes, while Onesilus ruled Salamis and urged all the Cyprians to join the revolt.
τοὺς μὲν δὴ ἄλλους ἀνέπεισε, Ἀμαθουσίους δὲ οὐ βουλομένους οἱ πείθεσθαι ἐπολιόρκεε προσκατήμενος.
He persuaded the others, but since the Amathusians did not wish to obey him, he sat down before their city and besieged them.

Notes

  1. §5.104.1σφι — The dative pronoun σφι ("to them") refers to the Ionians, who were mentioned in the previous chapter (5.103) as preparing for the war against the Persian King.
  2. §5.104.1ἦ Ὀνήσιλος — ἦ is the 3rd person singular imperfect of εἶναι (corresponding to Attic ἦν, common in Ionic and epic poetry), with Ὀνήσιλος as its subject. In the genealogical description, the genitive Γόργου modifies ἀδελφεὸς ("brother of Gorgus"), and the genitive Χέρσιος modifies παῖς ("son of Chersis"). This lineage traces Chersis as the father of both Gorgus and Onesilus, going back to Evelthon.
  3. §5.104.2φυλάξας ἐξελθόντα τὸ ἄστυ — The aorist active participle φυλάξας ("having watched/waited for") agrees with the subject of the main clause, Onesilus (ὁ Ὀνήσιλος). The aorist active participle ἐξελθόντα ("having gone out") is accusative masculine singular, agreeing with the preceding personal pronoun μιν (Gorgus), and functions as the complement of the action watched by Onesilus ("having watched him go out of the city").
  4. §5.104.3προσκατήμενος — The present active participle προσκατήμενος ("sitting down before/investing") modifies the main verb ἐπολιόρκεε ("was besieging"), describing the manner of the siege as a persistent blockading action (literally, "sitting down against").

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §5.104.1-5.104.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.104.1-5.104.3

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.