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Herodotus · Histories §7.224.1-7.224.2

The Fall of Leonidas and Casualties on Both Sides

Passage 1287 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Leonidas falls in the fierce battle, and Herodotus notes that he knows the names of all the three hundred Spartans. On the Persian side, many distinguished warriors, including two sons of Darius, also perish.

§7.224.1δόρατα μέν νυν τοῖσι πλέοσι αὐτῶν τηνικαῦτα ἤδη ἐτύγχανε κατεηγότα, οἳ δὲ τοῖσι ξίφεσι διεργάζοντο τοὺς Πέρσας.
By that time, the spears of most of them happened to have been broken, and they were slaying the Persians with their swords.
καὶ Λεωνίδης τε ἐν τούτῳ τῷ πόνῳ πίπτει ἀνὴρ γενόμενος ἄριστος καὶ ἕτεροι μετʼ αὐτοῦ ὀνομαστοὶ Σπαρτιητέων, τῶν ἐγὼ ὡς ἀνδρῶν ἀξίων γενομένων ἐπυθόμην τὰ οὐνόματα, ἐπυθόμην δὲ καὶ ἁπάντων τῶν τριηκοσίων.
And in this struggle Leonidas fell, having proved himself a most gallant man, and with him other notable Spartans, whose names I learned as men who had shown themselves worthy, and indeed I learned the names of all the three hundred.
§7.224.2καὶ δὴ Περσέων πίπτουσι ἐνθαῦτα ἄλλοι τε πολλοὶ καὶ ὀνομαστοί, ἐν δὲ δὴ καὶ Δαρείου δύο παῖδες Ἀβροκόμης τε καὶ Ὑπεράνθης, ἐκ τῆς Ἀρτάνεω θυγατρὸς Φραταγούνης γεγονότες Δαρείῳ.
And there fell there also many other famous Persians, and among them indeed two sons of Darius, Abrocomes and Hyperanthes, born to Darius by Phratagune, the daughter of Artanes.
ὁ δὲ Ἀρτάνης Δαρείου μὲν τοῦ βασιλέος ἦν ἀδελφεός, Ὑστάσπεος δὲ τοῦ Ἀρσάμεος παῖς· ὃς καὶ ἐκδιδοὺς τὴν θυγατέρα Δαρείῳ τὸν οἶκον πάντα τὸν ἑωυτοῦ ἐπέδωκε, ὡς μούνης οἱ ἐούσης ταύτης τέκνου.
This Artanes was the brother of King Darius and the son of Hystaspes, the son of Arsames; and when giving his daughter in marriage to Darius, he gave his whole estate as her dowry, since she was his only child.

Notes

  1. §7.224.1ἐτύγχανε κατεηγότα — The imperfect verb ἐτύγχανε is constructed with the perfect participle κατεηγότα (intransitive perfect of κατάγνυμι, 'to be broken'), forming a periphrastic construction meaning 'happened to be broken' or 'were in fact broken'.
  2. §7.224.1ὡς ἀνδρῶν ἀξίων γενομένων — The conjunction ὡς is used with the genitive participle (agreeing with the implied genitive referent of the relative pronoun τῶν), expressing a subjective reason or regard: 'as men who had proved themselves worthy'.
  3. §7.224.2ὡς μούνης οἱ ἐούσης ταύτης τέκνου — A genitive absolute construction where ταύτης is the subject, ἐούσης is the participle, and μούνης... τέκνου is the complement. The conjunction ὡς marks a subjective reason ('on the ground that'), and the third-person singular dative pronoun οἱ acts as a dative of reference or possession ('for him').

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.224.1-7.224.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.224.1-7.224.2

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