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Herodotus · Histories §6.135.1-6.135.3

Miltiades' Retreat and the Oracle concerning Timo

Passage 1040 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Miltiades abandons the siege of Paros due to his injuries and returns home. The Parians seek oracle's approval to punish the priestess Timo, but the Pythia forbids it, stating she was merely the instrument of Miltiades' fated downfall.

§6.135.1Μιλτιάδης μέν νυν φλαύρως ἔχων ἀπέπλεε ὀπίσω, οὔτε χρήματα Ἀθηναίοισι ἄγων οὔτε Πάρον προσκτησάμενος, ἀλλὰ πολιορκήσας τε ἓξ καὶ εἴκοσι ἡμέρας καὶ δηιώσας τὴν νῆσον.
So Miltiades, being in a bad condition, sailed back home, bringing neither money to the Athenians nor having acquired Paros, but having only besieged it for twenty-six days and ravaged the island.
§6.135.2Πάριοι δὲ πυθόμενοι ὡς ἡ ὑποζάκορος τῶν θεῶν Τιμὼ Μιλτιάδῃ κατηγήσατο, βουλόμενοί μιν ἀντὶ τούτων τιμωρήσασθαι, θεοπρόπους πέμπουσι ἐς Δελφούς ὥς σφεας ἡσυχίη τῆς πολιορκίης ἔσχε·
When the Parians learned that Timo, the under-priestess of the goddesses, had guided Miltiades, they wished to punish her for this, and as soon as they had rest from the siege, they sent messengers to Delphi.
ἔπεμπον δὲ ἐπειρησομένους εἰ καταχρήσωνται τὴν ὑποζάκορον τῶν θεῶν τὴν ἐξηγησαμένην τοῖσι ἐχθροῖσι τῆς πατρίδος ἅλωσιν καὶ τὰ ἐς ἔρσενα γόνον ἄρρητα ἱρὰ ἐκφήνασαν Μιλτιάδῃ.
They sent them to ask whether they should put to death the under-priestess of the goddesses, who had shown the enemies of her country how to capture it, and had revealed to Miltiades the sacred rites forbidden to the male sex.
§6.135.3ἡ δὲ Πυθίη οὐκ ἔα, φᾶσα οὐ Τιμοῦν εἶναι τὴν αἰτίην τούτων, ἀλλὰ δεῖν γὰρ Μιλτιάδεα τελευτᾶν μὴ εὖ, φανῆναί οἱ τῶν κακῶν κατηγεμόνα.
But the Pythia would not allow it, saying that Timo was not the cause of these things, but since Miltiades was fated to come to an evil end, she had appeared to him as a guide to his misfortunes.

Notes

  1. 6.135.2ὥς — The use of ὥς (ὡς) as a temporal conjunction meaning 'as soon as,' indicating the immediate point in time when they were relieved from the siege, a usage frequent in Herodotus.
  2. 6.135.2εἰ καταχρήσωνται — A deliberative subjunctive in an indirect question introduced by `εἰ`. The verb `καταχράομαι` is used by Herodotus in the sense of 'to put to death' or 'execute'.
  3. 6.135.3δεῖν γὰρ — The infinitives `δεῖν` and `φανῆναι` are governed by `φᾶσα` in indirect discourse. The conjunction `γάρ` introduces a causal clause, but it is inserted inside the infinitive construction of the indirect speech, a characteristic Herodotean syntax where both the main statement and its explanation remain in the infinitive.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §6.135.1-6.135.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.135.1-6.135.3

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