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Herodotus · Histories §7.188.1-7.188.3

Destruction of Persian Fleet by a Storm off Magnesia

Passage 1251 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The Persian naval force, which had anchored along the coast of Magnesia, was struck at dawn by a violent storm called the Hellespontian, causing many ships to be wrecked and cast ashore.

§7.188.1ὁ δὲ δὴ ναυτικὸς στρατὸς ἐπείτε ὁρμηθεὶς ἔπλεε καὶ κατέσχε τῆς Μαγνησίης χώρης ἐς τὸν αἰγιαλὸν τὸν μεταξὺ Κασθαναίης τε πόλιος ἐόντα καὶ Σηπιάδος ἀκτῆς, αἱ μὲν δὴ πρῶται τῶν νεῶν ὅρμεον πρὸς γῇ, ἄλλαι δʼ ἐπʼ ἐκείνῃσι ἐπʼ ἀγκυρέων· ἅτε γὰρ τοῦ αἰγιαλοῦ ἐόντος οὐ μεγάλου, πρόκροσσαι ὁρμέοντο ἐς πόντον καὶ ἐπὶ ὀκτὼ νέας.
As for the naval force, when it had set out and sailed, and came to land on the coast of the Magnesian territory between the city of Casthanaea and the Sepias strand, the first of the ships indeed anchored close to the land, while the others lay behind them at anchor; for since the beach was not large, they anchored in rows projecting out to sea, and eight ships deep.
§7.188.2ταύτην μὲν τὴν εὐφρόνην οὕτω, ἅμα δὲ ὄρθρῳ ἐξ αἰθρίης τε καὶ νηνεμίης τῆς θαλάσσης ζεσάσης ἐπέπεσέ σφι χειμών τε μέγας καὶ πολλὸς ἄνεμος ἀπηλιώτης, τὸν δὴ Ἑλλησποντίην καλέουσι οἱ περὶ ταῦτα τὰ χωρία οἰκημένοι.
This night indeed passed thus; but at dawn, after a calm and clear sky, the sea began to boil, and there fell upon them a great storm and a strong east wind, which the inhabitants of these parts call the Hellespontian.
§7.188.3ὅσοι μέν νυν αὐτῶν αὐξόμενον ἔμαθον τὸν ἄνεμον καὶ τοῖσι οὕτω εἶχε ὅρμου, οἳ δʼ ἔφθησαν τὸν χειμῶνα ἀνασπάσαντες τὰς νέας, καὶ αὐτοί τε περιῆσαν καὶ αἱ νέες αὐτῶν· ὅσας δὲ τῶν νεῶν μεταρσίας ἔλαβε, τὰς μὲν ἐξέφερε πρὸς Ἴπνους καλεομένους τοὺς ἐν Πηλίῳ, τὰς δὲ ἐς τὸν αἰγιαλόν· αἳ δὲ περὶ αὐτὴν τὴν Σηπιάδα περιέπιπτον, αἳ δὲ ἐς Μελίβοιαν πόλιν, αἳ δὲ ἐς Κασθαναίην ἐξεβράσσοντο·
Now those of them who perceived that the wind was rising, and whose anchorage allowed of it, succeeded in drawing up their ships before the storm came, and both they themselves and their ships survived; but as for those of the ships that were caught out at sea, some were driven against the place called Ipni in Pelion, and others onto the beach; some were wrecked around Sepias itself, and others were cast ashore at the city of Meliboea and at Casthanaea.
ἦν τε τοῦ χειμῶνος χρῆμα ἀφόρητον.
And indeed, the violence of the storm was unbearable.

Notes

  1. §7.188.2ταύτην μὲν τὴν εὐφρόνην οὕτω — A construction with the verb omitted. The accusative is an accusative of duration of time, which, combined with the adverb, briefly describes the situation ("this night indeed [passed] thus").
  2. §7.188.3τοῖσι οὕτω εἶχε ὅρμου — A clause introduced by the relative pronoun in the dative. The verb `ἔχω` with the adverb `οὕτω` is used intransitively to mean "to be in a certain state," and combined with the genitive `ὅρμου` (genitive of relation/sphere) it means "those whose state of anchorage was of such a kind (as to allow drawing up)."
  3. §7.188.3ἔφθησαν τὸν χειμῶνα ἀνασπάσαντες — A construction in which the verb `φθάνω` ("to anticipate/precede") is used with the participle `ἀνασπάσαντες` ("having drawn up") and the accusative object `τὸν χειμῶνα` ("the storm"), expressing temporal priority: "they anticipated the storm by drawing up their ships."

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.188.1-7.188.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.188.1-7.188.3

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