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Herodotus · Histories §7.9B.1-7.9B.2

Mardonius' Criticism of Greek Warfare on Plains

Passage 1060 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Mardonius criticizes the Greeks' foolish method of waging war on flat plains with mutual destruction, pointing out that during his march to Macedonia they did not even dare to think of fighting.

§7.9B.1καίτοι γε ἐώθασι Ἕλληνες, ὡς πυνθάνομαι, ἀβουλότατα πολέμους ἵστασθαι ὑπό τε ἀγνωμοσύνης καὶ σκαιότητος.
And yet indeed, the Greeks are accustomed, as I learn, to wage wars most foolishly out of both ignorance and folly.
ἐπεὰν γὰρ ἀλλήλοισι πόλεμον προείπωσι, ἐξευρόντες τὸ κάλλιστον χωρίον καὶ λειότατον, ἐς τοῦτο κατιόντες μάχονται, ὥστε σὺν κακῷ μεγάλῳ οἱ νικῶντες ἀπαλλάσσονται· περὶ δὲ τῶν ἑσσουμένων οὐδὲ λέγω ἀρχήν· ἐξώλεες γὰρ δὴ γίνονται·
For when they declare war on each other, having found the fairest and flattest place, they go down into this and fight, so that the victors depart with great loss; and about the defeated, I do not speak at all in the first place, for they are utterly destroyed.
§7.9B.2τοὺς χρῆν ἐόντας ὁμογλώσσους κήρυξί τε διαχρεωμένους καὶ ἀγγέλοισι καταλαμβάνειν τὰς διαφορὰς καὶ παντὶ μᾶλλον ἢ μάχῃσι·
These men, being of the same language, ought to have settled their differences by employing heralds and messengers, and by any means rather than battles.
εἰ δὲ πάντως ἔδεε πολεμέειν πρὸς ἀλλήλους, ἐξευρίσκειν χρῆν τῇ ἑκάτεροι εἰσὶ δυσχειρωτότατοι καὶ ταύτῃ πειρᾶν.
But if it was absolutely necessary to war against one another, they ought to have found out where each was most difficult to defeat, and there make trial.
τρόπῳ τοίνυν οὐ χρηστῷ Ἕλληνες διαχρεώμενοι, ἐμέο ἐλάσαντος μέχρι Μακεδονίης γῆς, οὐκ ἦλθον ἐς τούτου λόγον ὥστε μάχεσθαι.
Therefore, since the Greeks employ a practice that is not good, when I marched as far as the land of Macedonia, they did not even come to the point of fighting.

Notes

  1. §7.9B.1ἀρχήν — The accusative ἀρχήν used with the negative οὐδέ functions adverbially to mean "at all" or "in the first place." Here it means "I do not speak of the defeated at all in the first place."
  2. §7.9B.2τοὺς χρῆν — The relative pronoun τούς (referring to the Greeks) functions as the subject accusative of the infinitive καταλαμβάνειν governed by the impersonal past verb χρῆν ("it behoved", "ought to have"). The participle ἐόντας agrees in case and number with τούς.
  3. §7.9B.2τῇ ἑκάτεροι εἰσὶ δυσχειρωτότατοι — The relative adverb τῇ means "where" or "in what way," introducing an indirect question clause. ἑκάτεροι means "each of the two parties," referring to both opposing Greek sides.
  4. §7.9B.2ἐς τούτου λόγον ὥστε μάχεσθαι — The noun λόγος here means "reckoning," "consideration," or "account." Together with the genitive demonstrative τούτου, it means "to the consideration of this." The ὥστε clause limits it, meaning they did not even come "to such a state/thought of mind as to fight."

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.9B.1-7.9B.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.9B.1-7.9B.2

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