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Herodotus · Histories §7.26.1-7.26.3

The Army's March from Critalla and Celaenae

Passage 1089 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The land army led by Xerxes begins its march from Critalla in Cappadocia to Sardis, arriving at Celaenae, where the sources of the Maeander and Catarractes rivers and the legend of Marsyas' skin are noted.

§7.26.1ἐν ᾧ δὲ οὗτοι τὸν προκείμενον πόνον ἐργάζοντο, ἐν τούτῳ ὁ πεζὸς ἅπας συλλελεγμένος ἅμα Ξέρξῃ ἐπορεύετο ἐς Σάρδις, ἐκ Κριτάλλων ὁρμηθεὶς τῶν ἐν Καππαδοκίῃ· ἐνθαῦτα γὰρ εἴρητο συλλέγεσθαι πάντα τὸν κατʼ ἤπειρον μέλλοντα ἅμα αὐτῷ Ξέρξῃ πορεύεσθαι στρατόν.
While these men were working on the tasks assigned to them, during this same time all the land army, having assembled, was marching with Xerxes to Sardis, having set out from Critalla in Cappadocia; for it was there that all the army which was to march by land with Xerxes himself had been ordered to assemble.
§7.26.2ὃς μέν νυν τῶν ὑπάρχων στρατὸν κάλλιστα ἐσταλμένον ἀγαγὼν τὰ προκείμενα παρὰ βασιλέος ἔλαβε δῶρα, οὐκ ἔχω φράσαι· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀρχὴν ἐς κρίσιν τούτου πέρι ἐλθόντας οἶδα.
Now, which of the governors brought the most beautifully equipped army and so received from the king the promised gifts, I cannot say; for I do not even know if they ever came to a contest concerning this matter.
§7.26.3οἳ δὲ ἐπείτε διαβάντες τὸν Ἅλυν ποταμὸν ὡμίλησαν τῇ Φρυγίῃ, διʼ αὐτῆς πορευόμενοι ἀπίκοντο ἐς Κελαινάς, ἵνα πηγαὶ ἀναδιδοῦσι Μαιάνδρου ποταμοῦ καὶ ἑτέρου οὐκ ἐλάσσονος ἢ Μαιάνδρου, τῷ οὔνομα τυγχάνει ἐὸν Καταρρήκτης, ὃς ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς ἀγορῆς τῆς Κελαινέων ἀνατέλλων ἐς τὸν Μαίανδρον ἐκδιδοῖ·
And when, having crossed the river Halys, they entered Phrygia, marching through it they arrived at Celaenae, where the springs of the river Maeander well up, and of another river no smaller than the Maeander, whose name happens to be Catarractes, which rises from the very marketplace of the Celaenaeans and empties into the Maeander.
ἐν τῇ καὶ ὁ τοῦ Σιληνοῦ Μαρσύεω ἀσκὸς ἀνακρέμαται, τὸν ὑπὸ Φρυγῶν λόγος ἔχει ὑπὸ Ἀπόλλωνος ἐκδαρέντα ἀνακρεμασθῆναι.
In this marketplace is also suspended the skin of Marsyas the Silenus, which, according to the story told by the Phrygians, was flayed and hung up there by Apollo.

Notes

  1. 7.26.2ἀρχὴν — Adverbial accusative used with a negative (here οὐδέ), meaning 'at all' or 'in the first place.'
  2. 7.26.2ἐλθόντας — Supplementary participle after the verb οἶδα ('I know'), with its logical subject ('the parties involved') understood in the accusative but omitted in the clause.
  3. 7.26.3τῷ οὔνομα τυγχάνει ἐὸν — The relative pronoun τῷ (Ionic form) is a dative of possession referring to ἑτέρου (the other river). τυγχάνει ἐόν is the periphrastic construction of τυγχάνω with the participle ἐόν (Ionic for ὤν), meaning 'happens to be.'
  4. 7.26.3λόγος ἔχει — An impersonal expression meaning 'the story goes (that...)', governing an accusative with infinitive construction (τὸν ... ἐκδαρέντα ἀνακρεμασθῆναι). The relative pronoun τὸν refers back to ἀσκός (skin) and serves as the subject accusative of the passive infinitive ἀνακρεμασθῆναι.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.26.1-7.26.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.26.1-7.26.3

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