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Herodotus · Histories §6.114.1

The Heroic Deaths of Callimachus and Cynegirus

Passage 1020 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The heroic deaths of notable Greeks in the Battle of Marathon are described, including the polemarch Callimachus and Cynegirus, who was struck down after his hand was severed while grasping a ship's stern.

§6.114.1καὶ τοῦτο μὲν ἐν τούτῳ τῷ πόνῳ ὁ πολέμαρχος διαφθείρεται, ἀνὴρ γενόμενος ἀγαθός, ἀπὸ δʼ ἔθανε τῶν στρατηγῶν Στησίλεως ὁ Θρασύλεω· τοῦτο δὲ Κυνέγειρος ὁ Εὐφορίωνος ἐνθαῦτα ἐπιλαμβανόμενος τῶν ἀφλάστων νεός, τὴν χεῖρα ἀποκοπεὶς πελέκεϊ πίπτει, τοῦτο δὲ ἄλλοι Ἀθηναίων πολλοί τε καὶ ὀνομαστοί.
And on one hand, in this struggle, the polemarch was slain, having proved himself a brave man, and of the generals, Stesilaus the son of Thrasylaos died; on the other hand, Cynegirus the son of Euphorion, laying hold there of the stern-ornament of a ship, fell, having his hand cut off with an axe; and on the other hand, many other well-known men of the Athenians fell likewise.

Notes

  1. §6.114.1τοῦτο μὲν ... τοῦτο δὲ ... τοῦτο δὲ — Adverbial accusative of the neuter singular demonstrative pronoun, correlating with μὲν ... δὲ ... to list items ('on the one hand ... on the other hand ...'). Here it contrasts three events: the deaths of the polemarch and Stesilaus, the death of Cynegirus, and the deaths of other notable Athenians.
  2. §6.114.1ἀπὸ δʼ ἔθανε — An instance of tmesis (separation), where the preposition ἀπό and the verb part ἔθανε of the aorist ἀπέθανε (from ἀποθνῄσκω, 'to die') are separated. The particle δʼ is inserted between them.
  3. §6.114.1τὴν χεῖρα ἀποκοπεὶς — τὴν χεῖρα is an accusative of respect (or specification) modifying the passive aorist participle ἀποκοπεὶς ('having been cut off'), meaning 'having his hand cut off' or 'cut off with respect to his hand.'

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §6.114.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.114.1

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