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Herodotus · Histories §8.14.1-8.14.2

Arrival of Athenian Reinforcements and Attack on Cilician Ships

Passage 1316 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Encouraged by the arrival of Athenian reinforcements and the news of the Persian fleet's destruction off Euboea, the Greeks launch a successful dusk attack on Cilician ships before returning to Artemisium.

§8.14.1οὗτοι μέν νυν περὶ τὰ Κοῖλα τῆς Εὐβοίης διεφθείροντο· οἱ δʼ ἐν Ἀφέτῃσι βάρβαροι, ὥς σφι ἀσμένοισι ἡμέρη ἐπέλαμψε, ἀτρέμας τε εἶχον τὰς νέας καί σφι ἀπεχρᾶτο κακῶς πρήσουσι ἡσυχίην ἄγειν ἐν τῷ παρεόντι.
These men, then, were destroyed around the "Hollows" of Euboea; but the barbarians at Aphetae, when to their joy the day dawned, kept their ships quiet, and since they were in a bad way, it was enough for them to remain inactive for the present.
τοῖσι δε Ἕλλησι ἐπεβοήθεον νέες τρεῖς καὶ πεντήκοντα Ἀττικαί.
Meanwhile, fifty-three Attic ships came to reinforce the Greeks.
§8.14.2αὗταί τε δή σφεας ἐπέρρωσαν ἀπικόμεναι καὶ ἅμα ἀγγελίη ἐλθοῦσα, ὡς τῶν βαρβάρων οἱ περιπλέοντες τὴν Εὔβοιαν πάντες εἴησαν διεφθαρμένοι ὑπὸ τοῦ γενομένου χειμῶνος.
Both the arrival of these ships and, at the same time, the coming of a message that all of the barbarians sailing around Euboea had been destroyed by the storm that had occurred, encouraged them.
φυλάξαντες δὴ τὴν αὐτὴν ὥρην, πλέοντες ἐπέπεσον νηυσὶ Κιλίσσῃσι· ταύτας δὲ διαφθείραντες, ὡς εὐφρόνη ἐγίνετο, ἀπέπλεον ὀπίσω ἐπὶ τὸ Ἀρτεμίσιον.
Waiting for the same hour as before, they sailed out and fell upon some Cilician ships; and having destroyed them, as darkness came on, they sailed back to Artemisium.

Notes

  1. 8.14.1ὥς σφι ἀσμένοισι ἡμέρη ἐπέλαμψε — An idiomatic expression meaning "to their joy, the day dawned." The dative pronoun `σφι` and the dative adjective `ἀσμένοισι` ('glad') function together as a dative of interest/reference, expressing the attitude of the persons affected by the action of the verb.
  2. 8.14.1κακῶς πρήσουσι — An intransitive use of the verb `πράσσω` (Ionic `πρήσσω`) with the adverb `κακῶς`, meaning 'to be in a bad way' or 'to suffer.' It is a present participle in the dative plural, modifying the preceding pronoun `σφι`.
  3. 8.14.2αὗται... ἀπικόμεναι καὶ ἅμα ἀγγελίη ἐλθοῦσα... ἐπέρρωσαν — Although the grammatical subjects are 'these ships' (`αὗται`) and 'a message' (`ἀγγελίη`), accompanied by their respective participles `ἀπικόμεναι` and `ἐλθοῦσα`, they function semantically as nominal clauses ('the arrival of these ships' and 'the arrival of the message') serving as the subjects of the verb `ἐπέρρωσαν` ('encouraged').

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §8.14.1-8.14.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.14.1-8.14.2

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