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Herodotus · Histories §5.87.1-5.87.3

Death of the Sole Athenian Survivor and Dress Reform

Passage 856 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Relates how the sole Athenian survivor of the expedition was stabbed to death by the wives of the fallen soldiers upon his return, and how the Athenians subsequently changed women's attire to the pinless Ionian style as a consequence.

§5.87.1λέγεται μέν νυν ὑπʼ Ἀργείων τε καὶ Αἰγινητέων τάδε, ὁμολογέεται δὲ καὶ ὑπʼ Ἀθηναίων ἕνα μοῦνον τὸν ἀποσωθέντα αὐτῶν ἐς τὴν Ἀττικὴν γενέσθαι·
Now, these things are told by the Argives and the Aeginetans, and it is also agreed by the Athenians that only one single man of them was saved and returned to Attica.
§5.87.2πλὴν Ἀργεῖοι μὲν λέγουσι αὐτῶν τὸ Ἀττικὸν στρατόπεδον διαφθειράντων τὸν ἕνα τοῦτον περιγενέσθαι, Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ τοῦ δαιμονίου· περιγενέσθαι μέντοι οὐδὲ τοῦτον τὸν ἕνα, ἀλλʼ ἀπολέσθαι τρόπῳ τοιῷδε.
Except that the Argives say this one man survived when they themselves destroyed the Attic army, while the Athenians say it was due to the divine power; however, they say that not even this one man survived, but perished in the following manner.
κομισθεὶς ἄρα ἐς τὰς Ἀθήνας ἀπήγγελλε τὸ πάθος· πυθομένας δὲ τὰς γυναῖκας τῶν ἐπʼ Αἴγιναν στρατευσαμένων ἀνδρῶν, δεινόν τι ποιησαμένας κεῖνον μοῦνον ἐξ ἁπάντων σωθῆναι, πέριξ τὸν ἄνθρωπον τοῦτον λαβούσας καὶ κεντεύσας τῇσι περόνῃσι τῶν ἱματίων εἰρωτᾶν ἑκάστην αὐτέων ὅκου εἴη ὁ ἑωυτῆς ἀνήρ.
Having returned to Athens, he reported the disaster; and the wives of the men who had campaigned against Aegina, deeming it a terrible thing that he alone of them all was saved, surrounded this man and, pricking him with the brooches of their garments, each of them asked him where her own husband was.
§5.87.3καὶ τοῦτον μὲν οὕτω διαφθαρῆναι, Ἀθηναίοισι δὲ ἔτι τοῦ πάθεος δεινότερόν τι δόξαι εἶναι τὸ τῶν γυναικῶν ἔργον.
And so, they say, this man was destroyed in this way, and to the Athenians the deed of the women seemed to be something even more terrible than the disaster itself.
ἄλλῳ μὲν δὴ οὐκ ἔχειν ὅτεῳ ζημιώσωσι τὰς γυναῖκας, τὴν δὲ ἐσθῆτα μετέβαλον αὐτέων ἐς τὴν Ἰάδα· ἐφόρεον γὰρ δὴ πρὸ τοῦ αἱ τῶν Ἀθηναίων γυναῖκες ἐσθῆτα Δωρίδα, τῇ Κορινθίῃ παραπλησιωτάτην·
Having no other means by which they could punish the women, they changed their dress to the Ionian style; for before this, the wives of the Athenians wore Dorian dress, very similar to the Corinthian.
μετέβαλον ὦν ἐς τὸν λίνεον κιθῶνα, ἵνα δὴ περόνῃσι μὴ χρέωνται.
They changed, therefore, to the linen chiton, so that they might not use brooches.

Notes

  1. 5.87.2τοῦ δαιμονίου — The genitive of 'divine power'. It can be interpreted as a genitive absolute with an omitted participle (such as διαφθειράντος, parallel to διαφθειράντων in the previous clause), meaning 'the divine power having destroyed them', or as a genitive of cause, meaning 'due to the divine power'. In either case, it represents the Athenian view attributing the disaster to supernatural forces rather than human action.
  2. 5.87.2εἰρωτᾶν — This infinitive (to ask), rather than a historical infinitive, is part of the accusative-and-infinitive construction (indirect discourse) depending on the implied main verb λέγουσι (they say), with τὰς γυναῖκας (the women) as its subject accusative. The subsequent infinitives διαφθαρῆναι, δόξαι, and ἔχειν function in the same manner, maintaining the narrative of reported speech until Herodotus switches back to the indicative with μετέβαλον.
  3. 5.87.3οὐκ ἔχειν ὅτεῳ ζημιώσωσι — οὐκ ἔχειν (to have no means) is an infinitive of indirect discourse. The following relative pronoun in the dative ὅτεῳ combined with the subjunctive ζημιώσωσι (they might punish) functions as a relative clause of purpose (or a deliberative subjunctive in a relative clause), meaning 'having no other means by which they could punish the women'.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §5.87.1-5.87.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.87.1-5.87.3

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