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Herodotus · Histories §7.94.1

Ships and Equipment of the Ionians and Their Name's Origin

Passage 1157 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The passage describes the number of ships and the equipment of the Ionians, and explains their ancient name in the Peloponnese and the origin of their current name.

§7.94.1Ἴωνες δὲ ἑκατὸν νέας παρείχοντο ἐσκευασμένοι ὡς Ἕλληνες.
The Ionians provided one hundred ships, equipped like the Greeks.
Ἴωνες δὲ ὅσον μὲν χρόνον ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ οἴκεον τὴν νῦν καλεομένην Ἀχαιίην, καὶ πρὶν ἢ Δαναόν τε καὶ Ξοῦθον ἀπικέσθαι ἐς Πελοπόννησον, ὡς Ἕλληνες λέγουσι, ἐκαλέοντο Πελασγοὶ Αἰγιαλέες, ἐπὶ δὲ Ἴωνος τοῦ Ξούθου Ἴωνες.
As long as the Ionians lived in the Peloponnese, in the land now called Achaea, and before Danaus and Xuthus arrived in the Peloponnese, as the Greeks say, they were called Pelasgian Aegialees, but they were named Ionians after Ion the son of Xuthus.

Notes

  1. 7.94.1πρὶν ἢ Δαναόν τε καὶ Ξοῦθον ἀπικέσθαι — The conjunction πρὶν ἢ ('before') is followed by the infinitive ἀπικέσθαι, with the accusative noun phrase Δαναόν τε καὶ Ξοῦθον ('Danaus and Xuthus') acting as its subject.
  2. 7.94.1ἐπὶ δὲ Ἴωνος τοῦ Ξούθου — The preposition ἐπί with the genitive can mean 'in the time of,' but here, given the context explaining the origin of the tribal name 'Ionians' (Ἴωνες) from the personal name 'Ion' (Ἴων), it is best understood as 'named after' or 'on account of.' The verb ἐκαλέοντο (or ἐκλήθησαν) is understood in the ellipsis.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.94.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.94.1

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