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Herodotus · Histories §7.131.1

Delay in Pieria and Return of Heralds from Greece

Passage 1194 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

While Xerxes delayed in Pieria and had a third of his army clear the mountain road, the heralds sent to Greece returned, some empty-handed and others bringing earth and water.

§7.131.1ὁ μὲν δὴ περὶ Πιερίην διέτριβε ἡμέρας συχνάς· τὸ γὰρ δὴ ὄρος τὸ Μακεδονικὸν ἔκειρε τῆς στρατιῆς τριτημορίς, ἵνα ταύτῃ διεξίῃ ἅπασα ἡ στρατιὴ ἐς Περραιβούς.
He himself, then, tarried in the region of Pieria for many days; for a third part of his army was clearing the Macedonian mountain range, so that the whole army might pass through by this way into the territory of the Perrhaebians.
οἱ δὲ δὴ κήρυκες οἱ ἀποπεμφθέντες ἐς τὴν Ἑλλάδα ἐπὶ γῆς αἴτησιν ἀπίκατο οἳ μὲν κεινοί, οἳ δὲ φέροντες γῆν τε καὶ ὕδωρ.
Meanwhile, the heralds who had been sent to Greece to demand earth arrived, some empty-handed, and others bringing earth and water.

Notes

  1. §7.131.1ἔκειρε — Third-person singular imperfect active of κείρω (to shear, cut down), agreeing with the collective neuter singular subject τριτημορίς (a third part). Here it is used in the specialized sense of clearing or cutting down mountain forests to build a military road.
  2. §7.131.1ἀπίκατο — Ionic dialect form for ἀφίκατο, the third-person plural pluperfect (or perfect) middle/passive of ἀφικνέομαι (to arrive). In the Ionic dialect, the third-person plural endings -νται / -ντο after consonant stems regularly become -αται / -ατο with aspiration of the preceding stop.
  3. §7.131.1κεινοί — Ionic form of the Attic κενοί (empty, empty-handed). It should not be confused with the demonstrative pronoun ἐκεῖνοι (those men), which can be written similarly in poetry. Here it describes the heralds returning without having obtained the demanded earth and water.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.131.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.131.1

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