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Herodotus · Histories §7.205.1-7.205.3

Succession of Leonidas and His March to Thermopylae

Passage 1268 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The circumstances under which Leonidas inherited the Spartan throne after the deaths of his two older brothers, and his march to Thermopylae with three hundred men who had children, as well as suspected Thebans.

§7.205.1διξῶν γάρ οἱ ἐόντων πρεσβυτέρων ἀδελφεῶν, Κλεομένεός τε καὶ Δωριέος, ἀπελήλατο τῆς φροντίδος περὶ τῆς βασιληίης.
For since he had two older brothers, Cleomenes and Dorieus, he had been excluded from any thought of the kingship.
ἀποθανόντος δὲ Κλεομένεος ἄπαιδος ἔρσενος γόνου, Δωριέος τε οὐκέτι ἐόντος ἀλλὰ τελευτήσαντος καὶ τούτου ἐν Σικελίῃ, οὕτω δὴ ἐς Λεωνίδην ἀνέβαινε ἡ βασιληίη, καὶ διότι πρότερος ἐγεγόνεε Κλεομβρότου· οὗτος γὰρ ἦν νεώτατος Ἀναξανδρίδεω παῖς καὶ δὴ καὶ εἶχε Κλεομένεος θυγατέρα.
But Cleomenes having died without male offspring, and Dorieus being no longer alive but having also met his end in Sicily, thus indeed the kingship devolved upon Leonidas, also because he was older than Cleombrotus; for this latter was the youngest son of Anaxandrides, and indeed he had Cleomenes' daughter as wife.
§7.205.2ὃς τότε ἤιε ἐς Θερμοπύλας ἐπιλεξάμενος ἄνδρας τε τοὺς κατεστεῶτας τριηκοσίους καὶ τοῖσι ἐτύγχανον παῖδες ἐόντες· παραλαβὼν δὲ ἀπίκετο καὶ Θηβαίων τοὺς ἐς τὸν ἀριθμὸν λογισάμενος εἶπον, τῶν ἐστρατήγεε Λεοντιάδης ὁ Εὐρυμάχου.
He then went to Thermopylae, having selected the established three hundred men and those who happened to have children; and taking them along, he arrived, and also those of the Thebans whom I mentioned when reckoning the number, of whom Leontiades, son of Eurymachus, was general.
§7.205.3τοῦδε δὲ εἵνεκα τούτους σπουδὴν ἐποιήσατο Λεωνίδης μούνους Ἑλλήνωι παραλαβεῖν, ὅτι σφέων μεγάλως κατηγόρητο μηδίζειν· παρεκάλεε ὦν ἐς τὸν πόλεμον, θέλων εἰδέναι εἴτε συμπέμψουσι εἴτε καὶ ἀπερέουσι ἐκ τοῦ ἐμφανέος τὴν Ἑλλήνων συμμαχίην.
And for this reason Leonidas made a point of taking these alone of the Greeks, because they were heavily accused of medizing; he therefore summoned them to the war, wishing to know whether they would send troops along or would openly renounce the alliance of the Greeks.
οἳ δὲ ἀλλοφρονέοντες ἔπεμπον.
And they, though harboring other thoughts, sent them.

Notes

  1. 7.205.1διξῶν γάρ οἱ ἐόντων — A genitive absolute construction containing the dative of possessor οἱ, referring to Leonidas.
  2. 7.205.1εἶχε — Although the immediately preceding clause refers to Cleombrotus, the subject of the verb εἶχε ("had [as wife]") shifts back to the main subject, Leonidas, who was married to Gorgo, the daughter of Cleomenes.
  3. 7.205.2τοῖσι ἐτύγχανον παῖδες ἐόντες — The verb τυγχάνω takes the supplementary participle ἐόντες (participle of εἰμί) to mean "happen to be." The relative (or demonstrative) dative τοῖσι functions as a dative of possessor: "those to whom there happened to be children."
  4. 7.205.2τοὺς ἐς τὸν ἀριθμὸν λογισάμενος εἶπον — The participle phrase ἐς τὸν ἀριθμὸν λογισάμενος modifies τούς, which acts as the object of εἶπον (or as a relative pronoun). This refers back to Herodotus' own mention of the Thebans when enumerating the forces in a previous section (7.202).

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.205.1-7.205.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.205.1-7.205.3

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