Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §7.212.1-7.212.2

Xerxes's Distress and the Greek Relay Defense

Passage 1275 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

This chunk describes the fierce battle at Thermopylae, where Xerxes is said to have leapt from his throne in anxiety, and the organized defense of the Greeks who fought in turns, leading to the Persian retreat.

§7.212.1ἐν ταύτῃσι τῇσι προσόδοισι τῆς μάχης λέγεται βασιλέα θηεύμενον τρὶς ἀναδραμεῖν ἐκ τοῦ θρόνου δείσαντα περὶ τῇ στρατιῇ.
During these assaults of the battle, it is said that the king, as he watched, leapt up three times from his throne, fearing for his army.
τότε μὲν οὕτω ἠγωνίσαντο, τῇ δʼ ὑστεραίῃ οἱ βάρβαροι οὐδὲν ἄμεινον ἀέθλεον.
At that time they fought in this way, but on the following day the barbarians fared no better in their contest.
ἅτε γὰρ ὀλίγων ἐόντων, ἐλπίσαντες σφέας κατατετρωματίσθαι τε καὶ οὐκ οἵους τε ἔσεσθαι ἔτι χεῖρας ἀνταείρασθαι συνέβαλλον.
For, because the Greeks were few, they expected that they were already wounded and would no longer be able to raise their hands against them, and so they joined battle.
§7.212.2οἱ δὲ Ἕλληνες κατὰ τάξις τε καὶ κατὰ ἔθνεα κεκοσμημένοι ἦσαν, καὶ ἐν μέρεϊ ἕκαστοι ἐμάχοντο, πλὴν Φωκέων· οὗτοι δὲ ἐς τὸ ὄρος ἐτάχθησαν φυλάξοντες τὴν ἀτραπόν.
But the Greeks were marshaled by ranks and by nations, and each fought in turn, except for the Phocians; these had been stationed on the mountain to guard the path.
ὡς δὲ οὐδὲν εὕρισκον ἀλλοιότερον οἱ Πέρσαι ἢ τῇ προτεραίῃ ἐνώρων, ἀπήλαυνον.
When the Persians found nothing different from what they had seen on the previous day, they retreated.

Notes

  1. §7.212.1λέγεται βασιλέα ... ἀναδραμεῖν — An accusative with infinitive construction where the accusative βασιλέα acts as the subject of the infinitive ἀναδραμεῖν after the impersonal λέγεται ("it is said"). The participles θηεύμενον ("watching") and δείσαντα ("fearing") agree in gender, number, and case with the accusative subject βασιλέα.
  2. §7.212.1ἅτε γὰρ ὀλίγων ἐόντων — A genitive absolute construction introduced by the particle ἅτε ("since," "seeing that"), which expresses an objective, factual reason. The implied subject of ὀλίγων ("few") is the Greeks.
  3. §7.212.1σφέας — The accusative subject of the infinitives κατατετρωματίσθαι ("to have been wounded") and ἔσεσθαι ("to be going to be"). In Herodotus, the pronoun σφεῖς (accusative σφέας) often functions simply as a third-person plural pronoun referring to others (the Greeks), rather than being used reflexively to refer back to the subject of the main clause (the Persians).
  4. §7.212.2φυλάξοντες — A future active participle in the nominative plural, agreeing with the subject of ἐτάχθησαν (the Phocians). The future participle is used adverbially to express purpose ("in order to guard").

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.212.1-7.212.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.212.1-7.212.2

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.