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Herodotus · Histories §5.121.1

Carian Night Ambush and Destruction of the Persians

Passage 897 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Relates how the Carians ambushed and annihilated the Persian forces by night on the road to Pedasa, killing their generals, under the leadership of Heraclides of Mylasa.

§5.121.1μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο τὸ τρῶμα ἀνέλαβόν τε καὶ ἀνεμαχέσαντο οἱ Κᾶρες·
After this defeat, the Carians recovered themselves and fought back.
πυθόμενοι γὰρ ὡς στρατεύεσθαι ὁρμέαται οἱ Πέρσαι ἐπὶ τὰς πόλις σφέων, ἐλόχησαν τὴν ἐν Πηδάσῳ ὁδόν, ἐς τὴν ἐμπεσόντες οἱ Πέρσαι νυκτὸς διεφθάρησαν καὶ αὐτοὶ καὶ οἱ στρατηγοὶ αὐτῶν Δαυρίσης καὶ Ἀμόργης καὶ Σισιμάκης·
For when they learned that the Persians were preparing to march against their cities, they laid an ambush on the road to Pedasa; and the Persians, falling into it by night, were utterly destroyed, both the men themselves and their generals Daurises, Amorges, and Sisimaces.
σὺν δέ σφι ἀπέθανε καὶ Μύρσος ὁ Γύγεω.
Along with them died also Myrsus, son of Gyges.
τοῦ δὲ λόχου τούτου ἡγεμὼν ἦν Ἡρακλείδης Ἰβανώλλιος ἀνὴρ Μυλασσεύς.
The leader of this ambush was Heraclides, son of Ibanollis, a man of Mylasa.

Notes

  1. §5.121.1ἀνέλαβόν τε καὶ ἀνεμαχέσαντο — A combination of two verbs. ἀνέλαβον is used intransitively without a reflexive pronoun to mean 'recovered themselves,' while ἀνεμαχέσαντο means 'fought back to retrieve a defeat.' Their juxtaposition emphasizes the swiftness of their recovery and counterattack.
  2. §5.121.1ὁρμέαται — An Ionic form of ὥρμηνται, the third-person plural perfect middle/passive of ὁρμάω ('to set in motion, start'). The perfect tense here denotes a present state of preparation or eagerness ('are prepared to march'), taking the infinitive στρατεύεσθαι.
  3. §5.121.1ἐς τὴν ἐμπεσόντες — The preposition ἐς combined with the relative pronoun τὴν (referring back to τὴν ... ὁδόν, 'the road'). Governed by the participle ἐμπεσόντες ('having fallen into'), it carries the double meaning of physically entering the road and falling into the ambush laid upon it.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §5.121.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.121.1

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