Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §6.105.1-6.105.3

Mission of Phidippides and Encounter with Pan

Passage 1011 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The Athenian generals send the runner Phidippides to Sparta, who encounters the god Pan on his way; Pan questions why the Athenians neglect him despite his goodwill, leading them to later establish his sanctuary under the Acropolis.

§6.105.1καὶ πρῶτα μὲν ἐόντες ἔτι ἐν τῷ ἄστεϊ οἱ στρατηγοὶ ἀποπέμπουσι ἐς Σπάρτην κήρυκα Φειδιππίδην Ἀθηναῖον μὲν ἄνδρα, ἄλλως δὲ ἡμεροδρόμην τε καὶ τοῦτο μελετῶντα·
And first of all, while they were still in the city, the generals sent to Sparta as a messenger Phidippides, an Athenian man, who was moreover a long-distance runner and trained in this very thing.
τῷ δή, ὡς αὐτός τε ἔλεγε Φειδιππίδης καὶ Ἀθηναίοισι ἀπήγγελλε, περὶ τὸ Παρθένιον ὄρος τὸ ὑπὲρ Τεγέης ὁ Πὰν περιπίπτει·
To him, as Phidippides himself said and reported to the Athenians, Pan encountered near Mount Parthenium, which is above Tegea.
§6.105.2βώσαντα δὲ τὸ οὔνομα τοῦ Φειδιππίδεω τὸν Πᾶνα Ἀθηναίοισι κελεῦσαι ἀπαγγεῖλαι, διʼ ὅ τι ἑωυτοῦ οὐδεμίαν ἐπιμελείην ποιεῦνται ἐόντος εὐνόου Ἀθηναίοισι καὶ πολλαχῇ γενομένου σφι ἤδη χρησίμου, τὰ δʼ ἔτι καὶ ἐσομένου.
And Pan, calling out Phidippides by name, ordered him to report to the Athenians, asking why they paid no attention to him, although he was well-disposed to the Athenians and had already been useful to them in many ways, and would be so in the future as well.
§6.105.3καὶ ταῦτα μὲν Ἀθηναῖοι, καταστάντων σφι εὖ ἤδη τῶν πρηγμάτων, πιστεύσαντες εἶναι ἀληθέα ἱδρύσαντο ὑπὸ τῇ ἀκροπόλι Πανὸς ἱρόν, καὶ αὐτὸν ἀπὸ ταύτης τῆς ἀγγελίης θυσίῃσι ἐπετείοισι καὶ λαμπάδι ἱλάσκονται.
And the Athenians, when their affairs had already been well established, believing these things to be true, established a sanctuary of Pan under the Acropolis, and since that message they propitiate him with annual sacrifices and a torch.

Notes

  1. 6.105.1τῷ δή — Used as a relative pronoun (derived from a demonstrative), referring back to Φειδιππίδην. The dative case is governed by the subsequent verb περιπίπτει.
  2. 6.105.2κελεῦσαι — An infinitive in indirect discourse, continued from the reported speech context of the preceding clause (ὡς αὐτός τε ἔλεγε). Its subject accusative is τὸν Πᾶνα, with which the participle βώσαντα agrees.
  3. 6.105.2τὰ δʼ ἔτι καὶ ἐσομένου — ἐσομένου is a future genitive participle agreeing with ἑωυτοῦ, coordinate with the preceding ἐόντος and γενομένου. τὰ δʼ is an adverbial accusative meaning 'as for the rest' or 'in the future.'

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §6.105.1-6.105.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.105.1-6.105.3

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