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Herodotus · Histories §8.103.1

Xerxes Sends Artemisia to Ephesus with His Sons

Passage 1411 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Xerxes gladly accepts Artemisia's advice as it matches his own thoughts, praises her, and sends her to Ephesus with his illegitimate children.

§8.103.1ἥσθη τε δὴ τῇ συμβουλίῃ Ξέρξης· λέγουσα γὰρ ἐπετύγχανε τά περ αὐτὸς ἐνόεε.
Xerxes was indeed pleased with the advice; for she happened to speak the very things that he himself was thinking.
οὐδὲ γὰρ εἰ πάντες καὶ πᾶσαι συνεβούλευον αὐτῷ μένειν, ἔμενε ἂν δοκέειν ἐμοί· οὕτω καταρρωδήκεε.
For not even if all men and women had advised him to remain, would he have remained, in my opinion; so terrified was he.
ἐπαινέσας δὲ τὴν Ἀρτεμισίην, ταύτην μὲν ἀποστέλλει ἄγουσαν αὐτοῦ παῖδας ἐς Ἔφεσον· νόθοι γὰρ τινὲς παῖδές οἱ συνέσποντο.
Having praised Artemisia, he sent her away to take his children to Ephesus; for some of his illegitimate sons had accompanied him.

Notes

  1. §8.103.1λέγουσα γὰρ ἐπετύγχανε — The verb `ἐπιτυγχάνω` is used with the present participle `λέγουσα` to mean "to happen to do" or "to succeed in doing." It indicates that Artemisia's words hit exactly upon what Xerxes was thinking.
  2. §8.103.1ἔμενε ἂν δοκέειν ἐμοί — `ἔμενε ἄν` is the apodosis of a contrary-to-fact condition, responding to the preceding `εἰ ... συνεβούλευον` (imperfect). `δοκέειν ἐμοί` is an absolute infinitive used parenthetically to mean "in my opinion" or "as it seems to me."

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §8.103.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.103.1

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