Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §7.27.1-7.27.2

Hospitality and Offer of War Funds by Pythius

Passage 1090 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Pythius, a wealthy Lydian residing in Celaenae, entertains Xerxes and his entire army and offers to provide funds for the war. When Xerxes inquires about his identity, his courtiers explain that Pythius is the incredibly wealthy man who previously gifted Darius the golden plane-tree and vine.

§7.27.1ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ πόλι ὑποκατήμενος Πύθιος ὁ Ἄτους ἀνὴρ Λυδὸς ἐξείνισε τὴν βασιλέος στρατιὴν πᾶσαν ξεινίοισι μεγίστοισι καὶ αὐτὸν Ξέρξην, χρήματά τε ἐπαγγέλλετο βουλόμενος ἐς τὸν πόλεμον παρέχειν.
In this city, Pythius, the son of Atys, a Lydian, residing there, entertained the whole army of the king with the greatest hospitality, as well as Xerxes himself, and offered to provide money, wishing to contribute it for the war.
§7.27.2ἐπαγγελλομένου δὲ χρήματα Πυθίου, εἴρετο Ξέρξης Περσέων τοὺς παρεόντας τίς τε ἐὼν ἀνδρῶν Πύθιος καὶ κόσα χρήματα ἐκτημένος ἐπαγγέλλοιτο ταῦτα.
When Pythius offered the money, Xerxes asked the Persians who were present who among men Pythius was, and possessing how much wealth he made these offers.
οἳ δὲ εἶπαν ὦ βασιλεῦ, οὗτος ἐστὶ ὅς τοι τὸν πατέρα Δαρεῖον ἐδωρήσατο τῇ πλατανίστῳ τῇ χρυσέῃ καὶ τῇ ἀμπέλῳ· ὃς καὶ νῦν ἐστι πρῶτος ἀνθρώπων πλούτῳ τῶν ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν μετὰ σέ.
And they said: "O king, this is the one who presented your father Darius with the golden plane-tree and the vine; and who even now is the first of men in wealth among those whom we know, after you."

Notes

  1. 7.27.1ὑποκατήμενος — Present middle participle of the verb ὑποκάθημαι (to sit below, wait, reside). Here it can be interpreted either as Pythius 'residing' in Celaenae or 'waiting' for the Persian army, carrying the nuance of being prepared for their arrival.
  2. 7.27.2τίς τε ἐὼν ἀνδρῶν — An indirect question phrase consisting of the interrogative pronoun τίς, the partitive genitive ἀνδρῶν (of men), and the present participle ἐών (Ionic form of ὤν). It expresses a strong inquiry into his identity and who he actually was.
  3. 7.27.2ὅς τοι τὸν πατέρα Δαρεῖον ἐδωρήσατο τῇ πλατανίστῳ τῇ χρυσέῃ... — The verb δωρέομαι (to present, gift) takes an accusative of the person and a dative of the thing. Here, τὸν πατέρα Δαρεῖον is the accusative and τῇ πλατανίστῳ... is the dative. The clitic pronoun τοι (2nd person singular dative) functions as a dative of interest or possession, modifying 'your father'.
  4. 7.27.2τῶν ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν — The relative pronoun τῶν should grammatically be in the accusative case (οὕς) as the direct object of the transitive verb ἴδμεν (1st person plural Ionic form of οἶδα). However, it has been attracted into the genitive case (attraction) by its antecedent ἀνθρώπων.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.27.1-7.27.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.27.1-7.27.2

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