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Herodotus · Histories §7.80.1

Equipment of the Island Tribes and Mardontes

Passage 1143 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Describes the equipment of the island tribes from the Red Sea and their commander, Mardontes, who later died in the Battle of Mycale.

§7.80.1τὰ δὲ νησιωτικὰ ἔθνεα τὰ ἐκ τῆς Ἐρυθρῆς θαλάσσης ἑπόμενα, νήσων δὲ ἐν τῇσι τοὺς ἀνασπάστους καλεομένους κατοικίζει βασιλεύς, ἀγχοτάτω τῶν Μηδικῶν εἶχον ἐσθῆτά τε καὶ ὅπλα.
The island nations that followed from the Red Sea—islands in which the king settles those who are called the "transplanted"—had clothing and arms very close to those of the Medes.
τούτων δὲ τῶν νησιωτέων ἦρχε Μαρδόντης ὁ Βαγαίου, ὃς ἐν Μυκάλῃ στρατηγέων δευτέρῳ ἔτεϊ τούτων ἐτελεύτησε ἐν τῇ μάχῃ.
These islanders were commanded by Mardontes, son of Bagaeus, who, while serving as general at Mycale in the second year after these events, died in the battle.

Notes

  1. 7.80.1νήσων δὲ ἐν τῇσι — This structure "among the islands, in which..." presents the antecedent νήσων (genitive) before the relative pronoun τῇσι (Ionic dative plural, governed by the preposition ἐν). This is an irregular apposition or attraction where the antecedent is placed first in the genitive case.
  2. 7.80.1δευτέρῳ ἔτεϊ τούτων — The dative δευτέρῳ ἔτεϊ expresses the time when ("in the second year"), and the genitive τούτων serves as a genitive of comparison or reference ("after these events"). Since the Greeks counted inclusively, the "second year" from the expedition of Xerxes (480 BC) refers to the next year (479 BC), the year of the Battle of Mycale.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.80.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.80.1

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