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Herodotus · Histories §7.35.1-7.35.3

Xerxes Punishing the Hellespont and Executing the Overseers

Passage 1098 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Upon learning that the bridges were destroyed, Xerxes in a rage orders the Hellespont to be scourged and fettered, while commanding the execution of the bridging overseers.

§7.35.1ὡς δʼ ἐπύθετο Ξέρξης, δεινὰ ποιεύμενος τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον ἐκέλευσε τριηκοσίας ἐπικέσθαι μάστιγι πληγὰς καὶ κατεῖναι ἐς τὸ πέλαγος πεδέων ζεῦγος.
When Xerxes heard of this, he was full of wrath and ordered that the Hellespont be scourged with three hundred lashes, and that a pair of fetters be thrown into the sea.
ἤδη δὲ ἤκουσα ὡς καὶ στιγέας ἅμα τούτοισι ἀπέπεμψε στίξοντας τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον.
I have even heard that he sent branders along with them to brand the Hellespont.
§7.35.2ἐνετέλλετο δὲ ὦν ῥαπίζοντας λέγειν βάρβαρά τε καὶ ἀτάσθαλα· ὦ πικρὸν ὕδωρ, δεσπότης τοι δίκην ἐπιτιθεῖ τήνδε, ὅτι μιν ἠδίκησας οὐδὲν πρὸς ἐκείνου ἄδικον παθόν.
And he charged those who were scourging it to utter barbarous and arrogant words: "O bitter water, our master lays this punishment upon you, because you have wronged him when you suffered no wrong from him.
καὶ βασιλεὺς μὲν Ξέρξης διαβήσεταί σε, ἤν τε σύ γε βούλῃ ἤν τε μή· σοὶ δὲ κατὰ δίκην ἄρα οὐδεὶς ἀνθρώπων θύει ὡς ἐόντι καὶ θολερῷ καὶ ἁλμυρῷ ποταμῷ. §7.35.3τήν τε δὴ θάλασσαν ἐνετέλλετο τούτοισι ζημιοῦν καὶ τῶν ἐπεστεώτων τῇ ζεύξι τοῦ Ἑλλησπόντου ἀποταμεῖν τὰς κεφαλάς.
And King Xerxes will cross you, whether you will or no; it is with justice, after all, that no man offers sacrifice to you, since you are a turbid and briny river." So he commanded that the sea should be punished in this way, and that the overseers of the bridging of the Hellespont should have their heads cut off.

Notes

  1. 7.35.1δεινὰ ποιεύμενος — Ionic form of δεινὸν ποιέομαι, meaning "to take it ill, to be highly incensed". Here used as a circumstantial participle expressing his emotional state.
  2. 7.35.1ἐπικέσθαι — Second aorist infinitive of ἐπικνέομαι ("to reach, inflict blows"), dependent on ἐκέλευσε. It takes the accusative of target (τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον) and the cognate/result accusative of the blows (τριηκοσίας πληγάς), meaning "to inflict three hundred lashes upon the Hellespont".
  3. 7.35.2ῥαπίζοντας — Present participle accusative plural of ῥαπίζω ("to lash, scourge"). It acts as the subject of the infinitive λέγειν within an accusative-and-infinitive construction dependent on ἐνετέλλετο ("he commanded those who were lashing [the sea] to say...").
  4. 7.35.2μιν — Ionic form of the third-person singular pronoun in the accusative (= αὐτόν), referring to Xerxes, serving as the direct object of ἠδίκησας.
  5. 7.35.2παθόν — Second aorist active participle (neuter singular nominative) of πάσχω ("to suffer, experience"). It agrees with the vocative address ὦ πικρὸν ὕδωρ (neuter) and expresses concession or attendant circumstance ("though having suffered no wrong").
  6. 7.35.3τοῦ Ἑλλησπόντου — Objective genitive dependent on the noun ζεύξις ("bridging, joining"), meaning "the bridging of the Hellespont".

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.35.1-7.35.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.35.1-7.35.3

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