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Herodotus · Histories §7.217.1-7.217.2

The Persian Night March and the Phocian Guard

Passage 1280 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The Persian army marched along the path of Anopaea throughout the night and reached the summit at dawn, where a thousand Phocian hoplites had voluntarily undertaken the task of guarding it for Leonidas.

§7.217.1κατὰ ταύτην δὴ τὴν ἀτραπὸν καὶ οὕτω ἔχουσαν οἱ Πέρσαι, τὸν Ἀσωπὸν διαβάντες, ἐπορεύοντο πᾶσαν τὴν νύκτα, ἐν δεξιῇ μὲν ἔχοντες ὄρεα τὰ Οἰταίων, ἐν ἀριστερῇ δὲ τὰ Τρηχινίων.
Along this path, which was in such a state, the Persians, having crossed the Asopus, marched throughout the whole night, keeping the mountains of the Oetaeans on their right and those of the Trachinians on their left.
ἠώς τε δὴ διέφαινε καὶ οἳ ἐγένοντο ἐπʼ ἀκρωτηρίῳ τοῦ ὄρεος.
As dawn was beginning to break, they reached the crest of the mountain.
§7.217.2κατὰ δὲ τοῦτο τοῦ ὄρεος ἐφύλασσον, ὡς καὶ πρότερόν μοι εἴρηται, Φωκέων χίλιοι ὁπλῖται, ῥυόμενοί τε τὴν σφετέρην χώρην καὶ φρουρέοντες τὴν ἀτραπόν.
At this part of the mountain, as I have already mentioned before, a thousand hoplites of the Phocians were keeping watch, defending their own country and guarding the path.
ἡ μὲν γὰρ κάτω ἐσβολὴ ἐφυλάσσετο ὑπὸ τῶν εἴρηται· τὴν δὲ διὰ τοῦ ὄρεος ἀτραπὸν ἐθελονταὶ Φωκέες ὑποδεξάμενοι Λεωνίδῃ ἐφύλασσον.
For the pass below was guarded by those who have been mentioned, but the path through the mountain the Phocians had voluntarily undertaken to guard for Leonidas.

Notes

  1. 7.217.1καὶ οἳ — Here οἳ is not a relative pronoun but a demonstrative pronoun ('they') used as a subject, an archaic usage common in Homeric epic and Herodotus' Ionic dialect. The paratactic structure ἠώς τε ... καὶ οἳ... expresses immediate succession: 'just as dawn was breaking, they arrived...'
  2. 7.217.2ὑπὸ τῶν εἴρηται — τῶν functions as a demonstrative pronoun (the antecedent), followed by a relative clause without a relative pronoun, containing the impersonal perfect passive verb εἴρηται ('it has been spoken [of]'). The phrase means 'by those who have been mentioned [previously]'.
  3. 7.217.2ὑποδεξάμενοι Λεωνίδῃ — The participle ὑποδεξάμενοι ('having undertaken/promised') agrees with the subject (the Phocians), while the dative Λεωνίδῃ functions as a dative of advantage ('for Leonidas') or of reference/relation ('to Leonidas').

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.217.1-7.217.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.217.1-7.217.2

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