Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §7.39.1-7.39.3

Xerxes' Wrath and the Execution of Pythius' Eldest Son

Passage 1102 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Xerxes, infuriated by Pythius's request, decides to spare Pythius and his other four sons due to his past services, but orders the eldest son to be cut in half, with the army marching between the two halves.

§7.39.1κάρτα τε ἐθυμώθη ὁ Ξέρξης καὶ ἀμείβετο τοῖσιδε. ὦ κακὲ ἄνθρωπε, σὺ ἐτόλμησας, ἐμεῦ στρατευομένου αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ ἄγοντος παῖδας ἐμοὺς καὶ ἀδελφεοὺς καὶ οἰκηίους καὶ φίλους, μνήσασθαι περὶ σέο παιδός, ἐὼν ἐμὸς δοῦλος, τὸν χρῆν πανοικίῃ αὐτῇ τῇ γυναικὶ συνέπεσθαι;
Xerxes became exceedingly angry and answered with these words: "You worthless man, did you dare, when I myself am marching against Greece and leading my own children, brothers, relatives, and friends, to mention your child, you who are my slave, who ought to have followed me with his whole household, including his wife herself?
εὖ νυν τόδʼ ἐξεπίστασο, ὡς ἐν τοῖσι ὠσὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων οἰκέει ὁ θυμός, ὃς χρηστὰ μὲν ἀκούσας τέρψιος ἐμπιπλεῖ τὸ σῶμα, ὑπεναντία δὲ τούτοισι ἀκούσας ἀνοιδέει.
Now, know this well, that the temper of men dwells in their ears, which, when it hears good things, fills the body with delight, but when it hears the opposite, it swells with anger.
§7.39.2ὅτε μέν νυν χρηστὰ ποιήσας ἕτερα τοιαῦτα ἐπηγγέλλεο, εὐεργεσίῃσι βασιλέα οὐ καυχήσεαι ὑπερβαλέσθαι· ἐπείτε δὲ ἐς τὸ ἀναιδέστερον ἐτράπευ, τὴν μὲν ἀξίην οὐ λάμψεαι, ἐλάσσω δὲ τῆς ἀξίης.
When you did good deeds and promised to do other such things, you could not boast of having surpassed the king in benefactions; but now that you have turned to more shameless behavior, you shall not receive the full measure of what you deserve, but less than your desert.
σὲ μὲν γὰρ καὶ τοὺς τέσσερας τῶν παίδων ῥύεται τὰ ξείνια· τοῦ δὲ ἑνός, τοῦ περιέχεαι μάλιστα, τῇ ψυχῇ ζημιώσεαι. §7.39.3ὡς δὲ ταῦτα ὑπεκρίνατο, αὐτίκα ἐκέλευε τοῖσι προσετέτακτο ταῦτα πρήσσειν, τῶν Πυθίου παίδων ἐξευρόντας τὸν πρεσβύτατον μέσον διαταμεῖν, διαταμόντας δὲ τὰ ἡμίτομα διαθεῖναι τὸ μὲν ἐπὶ δεξιὰ τῆς ὁδοῦ τὸ δʼ ἐπʼ ἀριστερά, καὶ ταύτῃ διεξιέναι τὸν στρατόν.
For you yourself and four of your sons are saved by the ties of hospitality; but as for the one, whom you cling to most of all, you shall be punished with his life." When he had answered thus, he immediately ordered those whose duty it was to do these things to find the eldest of Pythius' sons and cut him in two through the middle, and having cut him, to place the half-portions, one on the right side of the road and the other on the left, and that the army should march through between them.

Notes

  1. 7.39.1ἐμεῦ στρατευομένου αὐτοῦ — ἐμεῦ is the first-person singular genitive pronoun, and αὐτοῦ is the intensive pronoun modifying it ("I myself"). Together with the participle στρατευομένου and the following ἄγοντος, they form a genitive absolute construction. This construction is used because the subject of this clause is different from the subject of the main clause, σύ ("you").
  2. 7.39.1τὸν χρῆν — The relative pronoun τὸν is an accusative referring back to σέο παιδός ("your child") as its antecedent, serving as the subject of the following infinitive συνέπεσθαι. The impersonal verb χρῆν (Ionic for ἐχρῆν) expresses a past obligation contrary to fact ("who ought to have followed, but did not").
  3. 7.39.2τὴν μὲν ἀξίην — ἀξίην is a feminine singular accusative adjective, functioning here as a substantive with an omitted noun like δίκην ("punishment") or ζημίην ("penalty"). It serves as the direct object of the verb λάμψεαι (the Ionic form of the second-person singular future middle of λαμβάνω), meaning "the fully deserved punishment."
  4. 7.39.2τοῦ δὲ ἑνός ... τῇ ψυχῇ ζημιώσεαι — τοῦ δὲ ἑνός is a genitive placed at the beginning of the clause to introduce the topic ("as for the one"). τῇ ψυχῇ is a dative of means or price ("with his life"). ζημιώσεαι is the second-person singular future middle (Ionic form) of ζημιόω, used here in a passive sense ("you will be punished").

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.39.1-7.39.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.39.1-7.39.3

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.