Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §7.146.1-7.146.3

Capture of Greek Spies and Their Release by Xerxes

Passage 1209 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Spies sent to Asia by the Greek allies are captured in Sardis and sentenced to death, but Xerxes intervenes, ordering his guards to show them the entire Persian army and send them home unharmed.

§7.146.1ὡς δὲ ταῦτα σφι ἔδοξε, καταλυσάμενοι τὰς ἔχθρας πρῶτα μὲν κατασκόπους πέμπουσι ἐς τὴν Ἀσίην ἄνδρας τρεῖς.
When these things were resolved upon by them, they put an end to their enmities, and first of all sent three men to Asia as spies.
οἳ δὲ ἀπικόμενοί τε ἐς Ξάρδις καὶ καταμαθόντες τὴν βασιλέος στρατιήν, ὡς ἐπάιστοι ἐγένοντο, βασανισθέντες ὑπὸ τῶν στρατηγῶν τοῦ πεζοῦ στρατοῦ ἀπήγοντο ὡς ἀπολεόμενοι.
These men, having arrived at Sardis and having made themselves thoroughly acquainted with the King's army, were discovered, and after being tortured by the generals of the land army, were being led away to be put to death.
§7.146.2καὶ τοῖσι μὲν κατεκέκριτο θάνατος, Ξέρξης δὲ ὡς ἐπύθετο ταῦτα, μεμφθεὶς τῶν στρατηγῶν τὴν γνώμην πέμπει τῶν τινας δορυφόρων, ἐντειλάμενος, ἢν καταλάβωσι τοὺς κατασκόπους ζῶντας, ἄγειν παρʼ ἑωυτόν.
And indeed, sentence of death had been passed upon them, but when Xerxes heard of this, he disapproved of the judgment of the generals, and sent some of his bodyguards, commanding them to bring the spies before him if they should find them still alive.
§7.146.3ὡς δὲ ἔτι περιεόντας αὐτοὺς κατέλαβον καὶ ἦγον ἐς ὄψιν τὴν βασιλέος, τὸ ἐνθεῦτεν πυθόμενος ἐπʼ οἷσι ἦλθον, ἐκέλευε σφέας τοὺς δορυφόρους περιάγοντας ἐπιδείκνυσθαι πάντα τε τὸν πεζὸν στρατὸν καὶ τὴν ἵππον, ἐπεὰν δὲ ταῦτα θηεύμενοι ἔωσι πλήρεες, ἀποπέμπειν ἐς τὴν ἂν αὐτοὶ ἐθέλωσι χώρην ἀσινέας.
When they found them still surviving and brought them into the King's presence, he then, having inquired for what purpose they had come, commanded the bodyguards to lead them around and show them all the land army and the cavalry, and when they had seen these to their hearts' content, to send them away unharmed to whatever country they themselves might wish.

Notes

  1. 7.146.1ὡς ἀπολεόμενοι — The conjunction ὡς combined with the future middle/passive participle ἀπολεόμενοι (Ionic form from ἀπόλλυμι) expresses the intention or purpose of the action ('to be put to death', 'on the point of being destroyed').
  2. 7.146.2μεμφθεὶς τῶν στρατηγῶν τὴν γνώμην — μεμφθεὶς is an aorist passive participle (with active meaning from the deponent verb μέμφομαι), and the genitive τῶν στρατηγῶν is a possessive genitive modifying the noun τὴν γνώμην. The verb μέμφομαι takes the accusative of the object of blame (here, τὴν γνώμην).
  3. 7.146.3ἐς τὴν ἂν αὐτοὶ ἐθέλωσι χώρην — A relative general clause consisting of the relative pronoun τήν (acting as the relative pronoun ἥν in the Ionic dialect) followed by ἄν and the subjunctive ἐθέλωσι. It expresses indefinite generality: 'to whatever country they themselves might wish.' The antecedent χώρην is incorporated into the relative clause.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.146.1-7.146.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.146.1-7.146.3

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.