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Herodotus · Histories §7.159.1

Syagros Rejecting Gelon's Claim to Command

Passage 1222 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Syagros, outraged by Gelon's demand, flatly refuses to hand over Spartan leadership, stating that if Gelon wishes to help, he must submit to Lacedaemonian command, or else not help at all.

§7.159.1ταῦτα ἀκούσας οὔτε ἠνέσχετο ὁ Σύαγρος εἶπέ τε τάδε. ἦ κε μέγʼ οἰμώξειε ὁ Πελοπίδης Ἀγαμέμνων πυθόμενος Σπαρτιήτας τὴν ἡγεμονίην ἀπαραιρῆσθαι ὑπὸ Γέλωνός τε καὶ Συρηκοσίων.
On hearing this, Syagros could not contain himself and spoke as follows: "Indeed, greatly would Pelopid Agamemnon groan if he learned that the Spartans have been deprived of their leadership by Gelon and the Syracusans!
ἀλλὰ τούτου μὲν τοῦ λόγου μηκέτι μνησθῇς, ὅκως τὴν ἡγεμονίην τοι παραδώσομεν, ἀλλʼ εἰ μὲν βούλεαι βοηθέειν τῇ Ἑλλάδι, ἴσθι ἀρξόμενος ὑπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων· εἰ δʼ ἄρα μὴ δικαιοῖς ἄρχεσθαι, σὺ δὲ μηδὲ βοήθεε.
Therefore, do not mention this proposal anymore—that we will hand over the leadership to you—but if you wish to help Greece, know that you will be ruled by the Lacedaemonians; but if you do not think it right to be ruled, then do not even help."

Notes

  1. §7.159.1ἦ κε μέγʼ οἰμώξειε — An allusion to (or parody of) Nestor's words in Iliad 7.125: "Indeed, greatly would the old horseman Peleus groan..." (ἦ κε μέγ᾽ οἰμώξειε γέρων ἱππηλάτα Πηλεύς). The particle κε is the Epic/Ionic equivalent of Attic ἄν, used here with the optative οἰμώξειε to express a potential or hypothetical situation ("would groan").
  2. §7.159.1ἀπαραιρῆσθαι — Perfect passive infinitive of ἀπαιρέω (to deprive, take away). Since the active voice takes a double accusative (depriving someone of something), in the passive construction, the person deprived (Σπαρτιήτας) becomes the subject of the infinitive (in the accusative due to indirect discourse), while the thing taken away (τὴν ἡγεμονίην) remains in the accusative case.
  3. §7.159.1ἴσθι ἀρξόμενος — The imperative ἴσθι (2nd person singular of οἶδα, "to know") combined with the future passive participle ἀρξόμενος (from ἄρχω, "to rule, lead"; here passive, "to be ruled"). The verb οἶδα takes a supplementary participle rather than an infinitive to express intellectual realization or acknowledgment of a fact. Literally, "know yourself as one who is going to be ruled by the Lacedaemonians."
  4. §7.159.1σὺ δὲ μηδὲ βοήθεε — The conjunction δέ placed at the beginning of the main clause following a conditional clause (εἰ δʼ ἄρα...) is an instance of the "apodotic δέ". It serves to emphasize the subject of the main clause (σὺ) and marks a sharp contrast with the preceding conditional clause.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.159.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.159.1

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