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Herodotus · Histories §8.24.1-8.24.2

Xerxes' Concealment of Persian Casualties at Thermopylae

Passage 1326 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

King Xerxes buries most of his fallen soldiers at Thermopylae to conceal the heavy casualties, and sends a herald to the fleet inviting anyone who wishes to come and witness how he fights against the Greeks.

§8.24.1ἐνθαῦτα δὲ τούτων ἐόντων, Ξέρξης ἑτοιμασάμενος τὰ περὶ τοὺς νεκροὺς ἔπεμπε ἐς τὸν ναυτικὸν στρατὸν κήρυκα, προετοιμάσατο δὲ τάδε·
While they were there, Xerxes, having made arrangements regarding the dead, sent a herald to the fleet; but he had first made the following preparations.
ὅσοι τοῦ στρατοῦ τοῦ ἑωυτοῦ ἦσαν νεκροὶ ἐν Θερμοπύλῃσι (ἦσαν δὲ καὶ δύο μυριάδες), ὑπολιπόμενος τούτων ὡς χιλίους, τοὺς λοιποὺς τάφρους ὀρυξάμενος ἔθαψε, φυλλάδα τε ἐπιβαλὼν καὶ γῆν ἐπαμησάμενος, ἵνα μὴ ὀφθείησαν ὑπὸ τοῦ ναυτικοῦ στρατοῦ.
Of those of his own army who were dead at Thermopylae (and they were as many as twenty thousand), he left about a thousand of them, and as for the rest, he dug trenches and buried them, laying leaves over them and heaping up earth, so that they might not be seen by the men of the fleet.
§8.24.2ὡς δὲ διέβη ἐς τὴν Ἱστιαίην ὁ κῆρυξ, σύλλογον ποιησάμενος παντὸς τοῦ στρατοπέδου ἔλεγε τάδε. ἄνδρες σύμμαχοι, βασιλεὺς Ξέρξης τῷ βουλομένῳ ὑμέων παραδίδωσι ἐκλιπόντα τὴν τάξιν καὶ ἐλθόντα θεήσασθαι ὅκως μάχεται πρὸς τοὺς ἀνοήτους τῶν ἀνθρώπων, οἳ ἤλπισαν τὴν βασιλέος δύναμιν ὑπερβαλέεσθαι.
When the herald crossed over to Histiaea, he called a gathering of the whole camp and spoke as follows: "Allies, King Xerxes permits any of you who wishes to leave his post and come to see how he fights against those foolish men who expected to surpass the power of the King."

Notes

  1. §8.24.1ἐνθαῦτα δὲ τούτων ἐόντων — Genitive absolute construction. ἐνθαῦτα corresponds to Attic ἐνταῦθα, and ἐόντων to ὄντων, both reflecting Ionic dialectal forms. The referent of τούτων is the Persian fleet or the general situation mentioned in the preceding text.
  2. §8.24.2τῷ βουλομένῳ ὑμέων παραδίδωσι ἐκλιπόντα τὴν τάξιν καὶ ἐλθόντα θεήσασθαι — The verb παραδίδωσι is used in the sense of 'permits/grants,' taking a dative (τῷ βουλομένῳ ὑμέων, 'anyone of you who wishes') and an infinitive (θεήσασθαι, 'to see'). The participles ἐκλιπόντα and ἐλθόντα, which function as the subject of the infinitive, are put in the accusative instead of agreeing with the dative τῷ βουλομένῳ, a common attraction to the accusative subject of an infinitive.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §8.24.1-8.24.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.24.1-8.24.2

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