Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §7.165.1

The Carthaginian Invasion and Gelon's Inaction

Passage 1228 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

According to the residents of Sicily, Gelon was prevented from helping the Greeks because Terillus, expelled from Himera, brought a massive Carthaginian army to Sicily.

§7.165.1λέγεται δὲ καὶ τάδε ὑπὸ τῶν ἐν τῇ Σικελίῃ οἰκημένων, ὡς ὅμως καὶ μέλλων ἄρχεσθαι ὑπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων ὁ Γέλων ἐβοήθησε ἂν τοῖσι Ἕλλησι, εἰ μὴ ὑπὸ Θήρωνος τοῦ Αἰνησιδήμου Ἀκραγαντίνων μουνάρχου ἐξελασθεὶς ἐξ Ἱμέρης Τήριλλος ὁ Κρινίππου τύραννος ἐὼν Ἱμέρης ἐπῆγε ὑπʼ αὐτὸν τὸν χρόνον τοῦτον Φοινίκων καὶ Λιβύων καὶ Ἰβήρων καὶ Λιγύων καὶ Ἐλισύκων καὶ Σαρδονίων καὶ Κυρνίων τριήκοντα μυριάδας καὶ στρατηγὸν αὐτῶν Ἀμίλκαν τὸν Ἄννωνος, Καρχηδονίων ἐόντα βασιλέα, κατὰ ξεινίην τε τὴν ἑωυτοῦ ὁ Τήριλλος ἀναγνώσας καὶ μάλιστα διὰ τὴν Ἀναξίλεω τοῦ Κρητίνεω προθυμίην, ὃς Ῥηγίου ἐὼν τύραννος τὰ ἑωυτοῦ τέκνα δοὺς ὁμήρους Ἀμίλκᾳ ἐπῆγε ἐπὶ τὴν Σικελίην τιμωρέων τῷ πενθερῷ· Τηρίλλου γὰρ εἶχε θυγατέρα Ἀναξίλεως, τῇ οὔνομα ἦν Κυδίππη.
And the following is also said by those who dwell in Sicily: that Gelon, even though he was likely to be ruled by the Lacedaemonians, would nevertheless have helped the Greeks, had not Terillus, the son of Crinippus, who was tyrant of Himera, having been expelled from Himera by Theron, the son of Ainesidemos, sole ruler of the Acragantines, brought at this very same time thirty tens of thousands of Phoenicians, Libyans, Iberians, Liguyans, Elisycoi, Sardonians, and Cyrnians, and as their general Amilcas, the son of Annon, who was king of the Carthaginians. Terillus had persuaded him both through his own guest-friendship and especially through the zeal of Anaxilaus, the son of Cretines, who, being tyrant of Rhegium, had given his own children as hostages to Amilcas and brought him against Sicily to avenge his father-in-law; for Anaxilaus had the daughter of Terillus as wife, whose name was Cydippe.
οὕτω δὴ οὐκ οἷόν τε γενόμενον βοηθέειν τὸν Γέλωνα τοῖσι Ἕλλησι ἀποπέμπειν ἐς Δελφοὺς τὰ χρήματα.
Thus, as Gelon became unable to help the Greeks, he sent the money to Delphi.

Notes

  1. §7.165.1ἐβοήθησε ἂν ... εἰ μὴ ... ἐπῆγε — A past contrafactual (unreal) conditional sentence. The protasis (εἰ μὴ ... ἐπῆγε) uses the imperfect indicative (denoting ongoing action or attempt at the time), while the apodosis (ἐβοήθησε ἂν) uses the aorist indicative with the particle ἄν, expressing 'he would have helped, if ... had not brought'.
  2. §7.165.1ἀποπέμπειν — An infinitive depending on the introductory verb λέγεται. While the first part of the sentence was introduced by the ὡς clause (with finite verbs), the syntax shifts after several parenthetical insertions to an indirect speech infinitive construction (τὸν Γέλωνα ... ἀποπέμπειν) at the end (anacoluthon).

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.165.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.165.1

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.