Herodotus · Histories §6.140.1-6.140.2

Miltiades' Conquest of Lemnos for Athens

Passage 1045 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Many years later, Miltiades successfully completed a one-day voyage from the Chersonese to Lemnos by using the Etesian winds and demanded the Pelasgians' departure. While Hephaestia complied, Myrina was besieged and eventually surrendered, bringing Lemnos under Athenian control.

§6.140.1τότε μὲν τοιαῦτα· ἔτεσι δὲ κάρτα πολλοῖσι ὕστερον τούτων, ὡς ἡ Χερσόνησος ἡ ἐπʼ Ἑλλησπόντῳ ἐγένετο ὑπὸ Ἀθηναίοισι, Μιλτιάδης ὁ Κίμωνος ἐτησιέων ἀνέμων κατεστηκότων νηὶ κατανύσας ἐξ Ἐλαιοῦντος τοῦ ἐν Χερσονήσῳ ἐς Λῆμνον προηγόρευε ἐξιέναι ἐκ τῆς νήσου τοῖσι Πελασγοῖσι, ἀναμιμνήσκων σφέας τὸ χρηστήριον, τὸ οὐδαμὰ ἤλπισαν σφίσι οἱ Πελασγοὶ ἐπιτελέεσθαι.

At that time, then, things were so; but many years after these events, when the Chersonese on the Hellespont came under the power of the Athenians, Miltiades, the son of Cimon, when the Etesian winds had set in, having accomplished the voyage by ship from Elaeus in the Chersonese to Lemnos, ordered the Pelasgians to depart from the island, reminding them of the oracle which the Pelasgians had never expected would be fulfilled for them.

§6.140.2Ἡφαιστιέες μέν νυν ἐπείθοντο, Μυριναῖοι δὲ οὐ συγγινωσκόμενοι εἶναι τὴν Χερσόνησον Ἀττικὴν ἐπολιορκέοντο, ἐς ὃ καὶ οὗτοι παρέστησαν.

Now the Hephaestians obeyed, but the Myrinaeans, not admitting that the Chersonese was Attic, were besieged, until they also surrendered.

οὕτω δὴ τὴν Λῆμνον ἔσχον Ἀθηναῖοί τε καὶ Μιλτιάδης.

In this way did the Athenians and Miltiades gain possession of Lemnos.

Notes

6.140.1ἐτησιέων ἀνέμων κατεστηκότων — Genitive absolute consisting of the noun ἀνέμων and the intransitive perfect participle κατεστηκότων. It expresses the condition where the Etesian winds (northerly summer winds of the Aegean) "had set in" (were blowing steadily). This explains how the condition previously set by the Pelasgians was fulfilled, allowing a one-day voyage from the north (Chersonese) to the south (Lemnos) using the north wind.
6.140.1ἀναμιμνήσκων σφέας τὸ χρηστήριον — A double accusative construction where the verb ἀναμιμνήσκω ("remind") governs two accusatives: the person σφέας ("them") and the thing τὸ χρηστήριον ("the oracle").
6.140.2οὐ συγγινωσκόμενοι εἶναι τὴν Χερσόνησον Ἀττικὴν — The participle συγγινωσκόμενοι (here meaning "admitting, agreeing") governs the accusative and infinitive clause εἶναι τὴν Χερσόνησον Ἀττικὴν. τὴν Χερσόνησον is the subject of the infinitive, and Ἀττικὴν is its predicate.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §6.140.1-6.140.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.140.1-6.140.2

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.