Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §7.173.1-7.173.4

Greek Expedition to Tempe and Their Withdrawal

Passage 1236 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The allied Greek forces are sent to the Tempe pass in Thessaly to establish a defense, but after receiving warnings from Alexander of Macedon and learning of another pass, they withdraw and return to the Isthmus.

§7.173.1ταῦτα ἔλεγον οἱ Θεσσαλοί.
The Thessalians said these things.
οἱ δὲ Ἕλληνες πρὸς ταῦτα ἐβουλεύσαντο ἐς Θεσσαλίην πέμπειν κατὰ θάλασσαν πεζὸν στρατὸν φυλάξοντα τὴν ἐσβολήν.
In response to this, the Greeks resolved to send a land army by sea to Thessaly to guard the pass.
ὡς δὲ συνελέχθη ὁ στρατός, ἔπλεε διʼ Εὐρίπου· ἀπικόμενος δὲ τῆς Ἀχαιίης ἐς Ἄλον, ἀποβὰς ἐπορεύετο ἐς Θεσσαλίην, τὰς νέας αὐτοῦ καταλιπών, καὶ ἀπίκετο ἐς τὰ Τέμπεα ἐς τὴν ἐσβολὴν ἥ περ ἀπὸ Μακεδονίης τῆς κάτω ἐς Θεσσαλίην φέρει παρὰ ποταμὸν Πηνειόν, μεταξὺ δὲ Ὀλύμπου τε ὄρεος ἐόντα καὶ τῆς Ὄσσης.
When the army was assembled, they sailed through the Euripus; and arriving at Alus in Achaea, they disembarked and marched into Thessaly, leaving their ships there, and arrived at Tempe, at the pass which leads from lower Macedonia into Thessaly along the Peneus river, being between Mount Olympus and Mount Ossa.
§7.173.2ἐνθαῦτα ἐστρατοπεδεύοντο τῶν Ἑλλήνων κατὰ μυρίους ὁπλίτας συλλεγέντες, καί σφι προσῆν ἡ Θεσσαλῶν ἵππος·
There the Greeks encamped, having assembled about ten thousand hoplites, and the Thessalian cavalry was added to them.
ἐστρατήγεε δὲ Λακεδαιμονίων μὲν Εὐαίνετος ὁ Καρήνου ἐκ τῶν πολεμάρχων ἀραιρημένος, γένεος μέντοι ἐὼν οὐ τοῦ βασιληίου, Ἀθηναίων δὲ Θεμιστοκλέης ὁ Νεοκλέος.
The commander of the Lacedaemonians was Evaenetus the son of Carenus, chosen from among the polemarchs, though not of the royal house; and of the Athenians, Themistocles the son of Neocles.
ἔμειναν δὲ ὀλίγας ἡμέρας ἐνθαῦτα· §7.173.3ἀπικόμενοι γὰρ ἄγγελοι παρὰ Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ Ἀμύντεω ἀνδρὸς Μακεδόνος συνεβούλευόν σφι ἀπαλλάσσεσθαι μηδὲ μένοντας ἐν τῇ ἐσβολῇ καταπατηθῆναι ὑπὸ τοῦ στρατοῦ τοῦ ἐπιόντος, σημαίνοντες τὸ πλῆθός τε τῆς στρατιῆς καὶ τὰς νέας.
They remained there for a few days; for messengers arriving from Alexander the son of Amyntas, a Macedonian, advised them to depart and not to remain in the pass to be trampled underfoot by the oncoming army, pointing out the multitude of both the land force and the ships.
ὡς δὲ οὗτοί σφι ταῦτα συνεβούλευον, χρηστὰ γὰρ ἐδόκεον συμβουλεύειν καί σφι εὔνοος ἐφαίνετο ἐὼν ὁ Μακεδών, ἐπείθοντο.
And since these men gave them this advice, and because they thought the advice was good and the Macedonian appeared to be well-disposed to them, they followed it.
§7.173.4δοκέειν δὲ μοι, ἀρρωδίη ἦν τὸ πεῖθον, ὡς ἐπύθοντο καὶ ἄλλην ἐοῦσαν ἐσβολὴν ἐς Θεσσαλοὺς κατὰ τὴν ἄνω Μακεδονίην διὰ Περραιβῶν κατὰ Γόννον πόλιν, τῇ περ δὴ καὶ ἐσέβαλε ἡ στρατιὴ ἡ Ξέρξεω.
But it seems to me that it was fear that persuaded them, when they learned that there was also another pass into Thessaly through upper Macedonia, by way of the Perrhaebians near the city of Gonnus, through which indeed the army of Xerxes did invade.
καταβάντες δὲ οἱ Ἕλληνες ἐπὶ τὰς νέας ὀπίσω ἐπορεύοντο ἐς τὸν Ἰσθμόν.
The Greeks then went down to their ships and marched back to the Isthmus.

Notes

  1. §7.173.1ἐόντα — A neuter plural accusative present participle, modifying its antecedent, the neuter plural noun `τὰ Τέμπεα`.
  2. §7.173.3μηδὲ μένοντας — `μηδὲ` negates the passive infinitive `καταπατηθῆναι` to introduce the warning ('not to remain and be trampled'). `μένοντας` (accusative plural masculine present participle) agrees with the implied subject of the infinitive (the Greeks).
  3. §7.173.4δοκέειν δὲ μοι — An absolute infinitive usage, inserted parenthetically to express the speaker's subjective opinion ('it seems to me').
  4. §7.173.4ἀρρωδίη ἦν τὸ πεῖθον — `τὸ πεῖθον` is a substantivized neuter singular present participle ('the persuading factor' or 'motive'), with `ἀρρωδίη` (fear) as the subject. It emphasizes that the actual driving force behind their decision was fear.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.173.1-7.173.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.173.1-7.173.4

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.