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Herodotus · Histories §7.181.1-7.181.3

Valiance of Pytheas and Persian Admiration

Passage 1244 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Pytheas, a marine on the Aeginetan ship, fought bravely until he was hacked to pieces as his ship was captured. The Persians, impressed by his valor, spared his life and treated him with great care to show him to their army, while treating the other captives as slaves.

§7.181.1ἡ δὲ Αἰγιναίη, τῆς ἐτριηράρχεε Ἀσωνίδης, καὶ τινά σφι θόρυβον παρέσχε, Πυθέω τοῦ Ἰσχενόου ἐπιβατεύοντος, ἀνδρὸς ἀρίστου γενομένου ταύτην τὴν ἡμέρην·
On the other hand, the Aeginetan ship, which Asonides commanded, caused them some confusion, as Pytheas, the son of Ischenoos, was serving as a marine on board, a man who proved himself the bravest on that day.
ὃς ἐπειδὴ ἡ νηῦς ἡλίσκετο ἐς τοῦτο ἀντεῖχε μαχόμενος ἐς ὃ κατεκρεουργήθη ἅπας.
When the ship was being captured, he held out fighting until he was entirely hacked to pieces.
§7.181.2ὡς δὲ πεσὼν οὐκ ἀπέθανε ἀλλʼ ἦν ἔμπνοος, οἱ Πέρσαι, οἵ περ ἐπεβάτευον ἐπὶ τῶν νεῶν, διʼ ἀρετὴν τὴν ἐκείνου περιποιῆσαί μιν περὶ πλείστου ἐποιήσαντο, σμύρνῃσί τε ἰώμενοι τὰ ἕλκεα καὶ σινδόνος βυσσίνης τελαμῶσι κατειλίσσοντες· §7.181.3καί μιν, ὡς ὀπίσω ἀπίκοντο ἐς τὸ ἑωυτῶν στρατόπεδον, ἐπεδείκνυσαν ἐκπαγλεόμενοι πάσῃ τῇ στρατιῇ περιέποντες εὖ.
When he fell but did not die, still having breath in him, the Persians who were serving as marines on the ships, because of his valor, made it of the utmost importance to keep him alive, treating his wounds with myrrh and wrapping them with bandages of fine linen; and when they returned to their own camp, they displayed him to the whole army, admiring him and treating him well.
τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους τοὺς ἔλαβον ἐν τῇ νηὶ ταύτῃ περιεῖπον ὡς ἀνδράποδα.
But the others whom they captured in this ship, they treated as slaves.

Notes

  1. §7.181.1Πυθέω τοῦ Ἰσχενόου ἐπιβατεύοντος — A genitive absolute construction consisting of the Ionic genitive Πυθέω (nominative Πυθέης) and the present participle ἐπιβατεύοντος. In this context, it explains the cause or background of why the Aeginetan ship caused confusion to the Persians.
  2. §7.181.1ἐς τοῦτο ... ἐς ὃ — A correlative construction meaning "to such a point... until." The subsequent ἐς ὃ functions conjunctionally as "until," indicating the limit to which he continued to resist until he was completely hacked to pieces.
  3. §7.181.2περιποιῆσαί μιν περὶ πλείστου ἐποιήσαντο — The idiom περὶ πλείστου ποιοῦμαι ("to value highly, make of the utmost importance") followed by the infinitive of purpose περιποιῆσαι ("to keep alive, preserve"). μιν is the Ionic third-person singular accusative pronoun (equivalent to αὐτόν), serving as the object of the infinitive. The whole phrase means "they made it of the utmost importance to keep him alive."

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.181.1-7.181.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.181.1-7.181.3

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