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Herodotus · Histories §6.15.1-6.15.2

Valiant stand and heavy losses of the Chians at Lade

Passage 917 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

While many Ionians retreated, the Chians, who had provided a hundred ships with elite crews, remained in the sea-fight and fought bravely, suffering heavy losses.

§6.15.1τῶν δὲ παραμεινάντων ἐν τῇ ναυμαχίῃ περιέφθησαν τρηχύτατα Χῖοι ὡς ἀποδεικνύμενοί τε ἔργα λαμπρὰ καὶ οὐκ ἐθελοκακέοντες.
Of those who remained in the sea-fight, the Chians were treated most harshly, since they displayed brilliant deeds and refused to play the coward.
παρείχοντο μὲν γάρ, ὥσπερ καὶ πρότερον εἰρέθη, νέας ἑκατόν, καὶ ἐπʼ ἑκάστης αὐτέων ἄνδρας τεσσεράκοντα τῶν ἀστῶν λογάδας ἐπιβατεύοντας.
For they provided, as was also said before, one hundred ships, and on each of them forty chosen men of the citizens serving as marines.
§6.15.2ὁρέοντες δὲ τοὺς πολλοὺς τῶν συμμάχων προδιδόντας οὐκ ἐδικαίευν γίνεσθαι τοῖσι κακοῖσι αὐτῶν ὅμοιοι, ἀλλὰ μετʼ ὀλίγων συμμάχων μεμουνωμένοι διεκπλέοντες ἐναυμάχεον, ἐς ὃ τῶν πολεμίων ἑλόντες νέας συχνὰς ἀπέβαλον τῶν σφετερέων τὰς πλεῦνας.
And seeing the majority of their allies betraying them, they did not think it right to become like the cowards among them, but having been left isolated with only a few allies, they fought on, sailing through the enemy lines, until, having captured many of the enemy's ships, they lost most of their own.

Notes

  1. §6.15.1περιέφθησαν τρηχύτατα — The third-person plural aorist passive form περιέφθησαν of the verb περιέπω (to treat, handle) in the Ionic dialect, combined with the superlative adverb τρηχύτατα (most roughly, most harshly), meaning 'they were treated most harshly' or 'they suffered the most severe damage.'
  2. §6.15.1τῶν δὲ παραμεινάντων — A partitive genitive placed at the beginning of the sentence, modifying the subsequent subject Χῖοι (the Chians), serving to limit and contrast: 'Of those who remained, the Chians...'
  3. §6.15.2ἐς ὃ — An Ionic conjunction meaning 'until,' indicating a temporal limit. Used here with the subsequent aorist indicative ἀπέβαλον to show that the fighting continued up to the point where they eventually lost most of their own ships.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §6.15.1-6.15.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.15.1-6.15.2

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