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Herodotus · Histories §5.94.1-5.94.2

Hippias' Retreat to Sigeum and War with Mytilene

Passage 870 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

After the failure of the attempt to restore the tyranny, Hippias declined offered territories and withdrew to Sigeum, where a long-standing territorial conflict persisted between the Athenians and the Mytilaeneans.

§5.94.1οὕτω μὲν τοῦτο ἐπαύσθη.
In this way, then, this attempt was brought to an end.
Ἱππίῃ δὲ ἐνθεῦτεν ἀπελαυνομένῳ ἐδίδου μὲν Ἀμύντης ὁ Μακεδόνων βασιλεὺς Ἀνθεμοῦντα, ἐδίδοσαν δὲ Θεσσαλοὶ Ἰωλκόν.
To Hippias, as he departed thence, Amyntas the king of the Macedonians offered Anthemus, and the Thessalians offered Iolcus.
ὁ δὲ τούτων μὲν οὐδέτερα αἱρέετο, ἀνεχώρεε δὲ ὀπίσω ἐς Σίγειον, τὸ εἷλε Πεισίστρατος αἰχμῇ παρὰ Μυτιληναίων, κρατήσας δὲ αὐτοῦ κατέστησε τύραννον εἶναι παῖδα τὸν ἑωυτοῦ νόθον Ἡγησίστρατον, γεγονότα ἐξ Ἀργείης γυναικός, ὃς οὐκ ἀμαχητὶ εἶχε τὰ παρέλαβε παρὰ Πεισιστράτου.
He, however, accepted neither of these, but withdrew backward to Sigeum, which Peisistratus had taken by force of arms from the Mytilaeneans, and having gained possession of it, he established his own natural son Hegesistratus, born of an Argive woman, to be tyrant; and he did not hold what he had received from Peisistratus without fighting.
§5.94.2ἐπολέμεον γὰρ ἔκ τε Ἀχιλληίου πόλιος ὁρμώμενοι καὶ Σιγείου ἐπὶ χρόνον συχνὸν Μυτιληναῖοί τε καὶ Ἀθηναῖοι, οἳ μὲν ἀπαιτέοντες τὴν χώρην, Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ οὔτε συγγινωσκόμενοι ἀποδεικνύντες τε λόγῳ οὐδὲν μᾶλλον Αἰολεῦσι μετεὸν τῆς Ἰλιάδος χώρης ἢ οὐ καὶ σφίσι καὶ τοῖσι ἄλλοισι, ὅσοι Ἑλλήνων συνεπρήξαντο Μενέλεῳ τὰς Ἑλένης ἁρπαγάς.
For the Mytilaeneans and the Athenians waged war for a long time, starting from the city of Achilleium and from Sigeum respectively—the former demanding back the territory, while the Athenians did not agree to this but demonstrated by argument that the Aeolians had no more right to the territory of Ilium than they themselves and the rest of the Greeks who had joined with Menelaus in avenging the rape of Helen.

Notes

  1. §5.94.1ἐδίδου... ἐδίδοσαν — Conative use of the imperfect tense, indicating that they "offered" or "tried to give," rather than actually giving.
  2. §5.94.2μετεὸν — Accusative absolute of the impersonal verb μέτεστι ("to have a share/right in"). The dative Αἰολεῦσι denotes the possessor ("for the Aeolians"), and the genitive τῆς Ἰλιάδος χώρης denotes the object. It functions here as an indirect statement dependent on ἀποδεικνύντες.
  3. §5.94.2ἢ οὐ — A redundant negative οὐ after the comparative particle ἢ ("than"). This construction is common in Greek after comparative expressions that contain a negative concept (here, οὐδὲν μᾶλλον "no more than"). The negative οὐ should not be translated as a double negative in English.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §5.94.1-5.94.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.94.1-5.94.2

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