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Herodotus · Histories §7.117.1-7.117.2

Death and Heroic Worship of Artachaies

Passage 1180 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

While in Acanthus, Artachaies, the giant overseer of the canal, dies of illness and is buried with great honors by Xerxes and the army; the Acanthians continue to sacrifice to him as a hero.

§7.117.1ἐν Ἀκάνθῳ δὲ ἐόντος Ξέρξεω συνήνεικε ὑπὸ νούσου ἀποθανεῖν τὸν ἐπεστεῶτα τῆς διώρυχος Ἀρταχαίην, δόκιμον ἐόντα παρὰ Ξέρξῃ καὶ γένος Ἀχαιμενίδην, μεγάθεΐ τε μέγιστον ἐόντα Περσέων (ἀπὸ γὰρ πέντε πηχέων βασιληίων ἀπέλειπε τέσσερας δακτύλους) φωνέοντά τε μέγιστον ἀνθρώπων, ὥστε Ξέρξην συμφορὴν ποιησάμενον μεγάλην ἐξενεῖκαί τε αὐτὸν κάλλιστα καὶ θάψαι· ἐτυμβοχόεε δὲ πᾶσα ἡ στρατιή.
While Xerxes was in Acanthus, it happened that Artachaies, the overseer of the canal, died of an illness; he was highly esteemed by Xerxes and an Achaemenid by birth, and was the tallest of the Persians (for he fell short of five royal cubits by only four fingers) and had the loudest voice of all men. Consequently, Xerxes, considering this a great misfortune, carried him out to burial with the greatest magnificence and buried him; and the entire army heaped up a mound for his tomb.
§7.117.2τούτῳ δὲ τῷ Ἀρταχαίῃ θύουσι Ἀκάνθιοι ἐκ θεοπροπίου ὡς ἥρωι, ἐπονομάζοντες τὸ οὔνομα.
To this Artachaies the Acanthians, in accordance with an oracle, offer sacrifice as to a hero, calling upon his name.

Notes

  1. §7.117.1συνήνεικε — The Ionic third-person singular aorist active form of συμφέρω (Attic συνήνεγκε). Used impersonally here in the sense of 'it happened that...' or 'it turned out that...', taking the accusative and infinitive construction τὸν ἐπεστεῶτα... ἀποθανεῖν as its subject.
  2. §7.117.1ἀπέλειπε — The third-person singular imperfect of ἀπολείπω. Used intransitively here in the sense of 'to fall short of'. Coupled with the preposition ἀπό, it describes how much the subject's height fell short of the standard (five cubits) by a specific measure (four fingers).
  3. §7.117.2ἐπονομάζοντες τὸ οὔνομα — The transitive verb ἐπονομάζω combined with the cognate accusative τὸ οὔνομα ('the name'). A participle phrase indicating that they perform the ritual while 'calling upon his name' or invoking him by name during the sacrifice.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.117.1-7.117.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.117.1-7.117.2

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