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Herodotus · Histories §5.120.1

Milesian Relief and Second Defeat of the Carians

Passage 896 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

While the Carians are debating whether to retreat or surrender, the Milesians and their allies arrive to help; they decide to fight again but suffer an even greater defeat by the Persians, with the Milesians taking the heaviest casualties.

§5.120.1βουλευομένοισι δέ σφι ταῦτα παραγίνονται βοηθέοντες Μιλήσιοί τε καὶ οἱ τούτων σύμμαχοι·
While they were deliberating on these matters, the Milesians and their allies arrived to help them.
ἐνθαῦτα δὲ τὰ μὲν πρότερον οἱ Κᾶρες ἐβουλεύοντο μετῆκαν, οἳ δὲ αὖτις πολεμέειν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἀρτέοντο.
Then the Carians abandoned what they had previously been deliberating, and prepared to fight again from the beginning.
καὶ ἐπιοῦσί τε τοῖσι Πέρσῃσι συμβάλλουσι καὶ μαχεσάμενοι ἐπὶ πλέον ἢ πρότερον ἑσσώθησαν· πεσόντων δὲ τῶν πάντων πολλῶν μάλιστα Μιλήσιοι ἐπλήγησαν.
And they engaged the Persians as they advanced, and having fought, they were defeated even more severely than before; although many fell in total, the Milesians were the hardest hit.

Notes

  1. §5.120.1βουλευομένοισι δέ σφι ταῦτα — The dative pronoun σφι agrees with the present participle βουλευομένοισι, functioning as a dative of time or interest ("while they were deliberating on these things"), immediately followed by the main verb παραγίνονται.
  2. §5.120.1τὰ μὲν πρότερον οἱ Κᾶρες ἐβουλεύοντο — The article/relative pronoun τὰ serves as the object of ἐβουλεύοντο within the relative clause. The entire clause functions as the direct object of the main verb μετῆκαν (third-person plural aorist of μεθίημι).
  3. §5.120.1πεσόντων δὲ τῶν πάντων πολλῶν — Genitive absolute construction. τῶν πάντων functions adverbially or restrictively as "in total" or "overall," with πολλῶν as the subject of the participle πεσόντων (aorist participle of πίπτω), meaning "although many fell in total."

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §5.120.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.120.1

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