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Herodotus · Histories §8.138.1-8.138.3

The Escape of Perdiccas and the Conquest of Macedonia

Passage 1446 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The three brothers escape the king's pursuers with the help of a miraculously flooding river, settle near the gardens of Midas, and begin their conquest of Macedonia.

§8.138.1οἳ μὲν δὴ ἀπήισαν, τῷ δὲ βασιλέι σημαίνει τις τῶν παρέδρων οἷόν τι χρῆμα ποιήσειε ὁ παῖς καὶ ὡς σὺν νόῳ κείνων ὁ νεώτατος λάβοι τὰ διδόμενα.
So they departed, but one of the king's councillors explained to the king what kind of thing the boy had done, and how the youngest of them had accepted what was given with understanding.
ὁ δὲ ταῦτα ἀκούσας καὶ ὀξυνθεὶς πέμπει ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς ἱππέας ἀπολέοντας.
When the king heard this, he was enraged and sent horsemen after them to destroy them.
ποταμὸς δὲ ἐστὶ ἐν τῇ χώρῃ ταύτῃ, τῷ θύουσι οἱ τούτων τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἀπʼ Ἄργεος ἀπόγονοι σωτῆρι· §8.138.2οὗτος, ἐπείτε διέβησαν οἱ Τημενίδαι, μέγας οὕτω ἐρρύη ὥστε τοὺς ἱππέας μὴ οἵους τε γενέσθαι διαβῆναι.
Now there is a river in this country, to which the descendants of these men from Argos offer sacrifice as a savior; this river, as soon as the descendants of Temenus had crossed, flowed so great that the horsemen were unable to cross.
οἳ δὲ ἀπικόμενοι ἐς ἄλλην γῆν τῆς Μακεδονίης οἴκησαν πέλας τῶν κήπων τῶν λεγομένων εἶναι Μίδεω τοῦ Γορδίεω, ἐν τοῖσι φύεται αὐτόματα ῥόδα, ἓν ἕκαστον ἔχον ἑξήκοντα φύλλα, ὀδμῇ τε ὑπερφέροντα τῶν ἄλλων.
And they, having come to another part of Macedonia, dwelt near the gardens that are said to belong to Midas, son of Gordias, in which roses grow wild, each having sixty petals, and surpassing all others in fragrance.
§8.138.3ἐν τούτοισι καὶ ὁ Σιληνὸς τοῖσι κήποισι ἥλω, ὡς λέγεται ὑπὸ Μακεδόνων.
In these gardens Silenus also was captured, as is said by the Macedonians.
ὑπὲρ δὲ τῶν κήπων ὄρος κεῖται Βέρμιον οὔνομα, ἄβατον ὑπὸ χειμῶνος.
Above the gardens lies a mountain called Bermium, impassable because of the winter cold.
ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ ὁρμώμενοι, ὡς ταύτην ἔσχον, κατεστρέφοντο καὶ τὴν ἄλλην Μακεδονίην.
Setting out from there, once they had secured this region, they proceeded to subdue the rest of Macedonia as well.

Notes

  1. 8.138.1ὡς σὺν νόῳ κείνων ὁ νεώτατος λάβοι τὰ διδόμενα — The verb λάβοι in the indirect question introduced by ὡς is an optative of indirect discourse, triggered by the past context of the main verb (the historical present σημαίνει). κείνων is a genitive of the whole, referring back to the three brothers.
  2. 8.138.1ἀπολέοντας — The future active participle of ἀπόλλυμι, in the masculine plural accusative agreeing with the preceding noun ἱππέας, expressing purpose ('in order to destroy').
  3. 8.138.1τῷ θύουσι... σωτῆρι — τῷ is used here as a relative pronoun (an Ionic feature). σωτῆρι serves as a predicative appositive meaning 'as a savior'.
  4. 8.138.2μέγας οὕτω ἐρρύη ὥστε τοὺς ἱππέας μὴ οἵους τε γενέσθαι διαβῆναι — A result clause with ὥστε followed by an accusative (τοὺς ἱππέας) and infinitive (γενέσθαι). οἵους τε is the infinitive form of the idiom οἷός τέ εἰμι ('to be able').
  5. 8.138.3ὡς ταύτην ἔσχον — The conjunction ὡς functions temporally as 'as soon as' or 'when'. The feminine singular accusative demonstrative pronoun ταύτην refers to 'this land' (the region around the gardens) implied by the context.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §8.138.1-8.138.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.138.1-8.138.3

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