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Herodotus · Histories §7.175.1-7.175.2

Decision to Defend Thermopylae and Artemisium

Passage 1238 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The Greeks gathered at the Isthmus resolve to guard the pass of Thermopylae and station their fleet at Artemisium. They only learn of the path at Thermopylae, which would later lead to their defeat, upon their arrival there.

§7.175.1οἱ δὲ Ἕλληνες ἐπείτε ἀπίκατο ἐς τὸν Ἰσθμόν, ἐβουλεύοντο πρὸς τὰ λεχθέντα ἐξ Ἀλεξάνδρου τῇ τε στήσονται τὸν πόλεμον καὶ ἐν οἵοισι χώροισι.
When the Greeks had arrived at the Isthmus, they deliberated, in view of the message delivered from Alexander, where and in what kind of places they should establish the war.
ἡ νικῶσα δὲ γνώμη ἐγίνετο τὴν ἐν Θερμοπύλῃσι ἐσβολὴν φυλάξαι· στεινοτέρη γὰρ ἐφαίνετο ἐοῦσα τῆς ἐς Θεσσαλίην καὶ ἅμα ἀγχοτέρη τῆς ἑωυτῶν·
The prevailing opinion was to guard the pass at Thermopylae; for it appeared to be narrower than the pass into Thessaly, and at the same time closer to their own territory.
§7.175.2τὴν δὲ ἀτραπόν, διʼ ἣν ἥλωσαν οἱ ἁλόντες Ἑλλήνων ἐν Θερμοπύλῃσι, οὐδὲ ᾔδεσαν ἐοῦσαν πρότερον ἤ περ ἀπικόμενοι ἐς Θερμοπύλας ἐπύθοντο Τρηχινίων.
As for the path through which those of the Greeks who were captured at Thermopylae were undone, they did not even know of its existence beforehand, until, having arrived at Thermopylae, they learned of it from the Trachinians.
ταύτην ὦν ἐβουλεύσαντο φυλάσσοντες τὴν ἐσβολὴν μὴ παριέναι ἐς τὴν Ἑλλάδα τὸν βάρβαρον, τὸν δὲ ναυτικὸν στρατὸν πλέειν γῆς τῆς Ἱστιαιώτιδος ἐπὶ Ἀρτεμίσιον.
Therefore, they resolved to guard this pass and not permit the barbarian to enter Greece, and that the naval force should sail to Artemisium in the territory of Histiaeotis.
ταῦτα γὰρ ἀγχοῦ τε ἀλλήλων ἐστὶ ὥστε πυνθάνεσθαι τὰ κατὰ ἑκατέρους ἐόντα, οἵ τε χῶροι οὕτω ἔχουσι.
For these places are close to each other, so that they could learn what was happening to each other, and the positions of the places are such.

Notes

  1. §7.175.1τῇ — A relative or interrogative adverb meaning "where" or "in what way." Here it introduces an indirect question clause, which functions as the object of the main verb `ἐβουλεύοντο`.
  2. §7.175.2τὴν δὲ ἀτραπόν — An accusative placed at the beginning of the sentence. It serves as the subject accusative of the participle `ἐοῦσαν` in the phrase `οὐδὲ ᾔδεσαν ἐοῦσαν` (they did not even know that it existed), functioning as a proleptic structure.
  3. §7.175.2πρότερον ἤ — Correlative with the negative `οὐδὲ` to express "not... before" or "only after...", a temporal restriction. It emphasizes that the Greeks only learned of the path's existence after arriving at Thermopylae.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.175.1-7.175.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.175.1-7.175.2

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