Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §8.40.1-8.40.2

The Greek Fleet at Salamis and the Athenian Evacuation

Passage 1342 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

At the request of the Athenians, the Greek fleet puts in at Salamis. The Athenians find that their expectation of Peloponnesian defense in Boeotia has failed, forcing them to evacuate their families and deliberate on their next steps.

§8.40.1ὁ δὲ Ἑλλήνων ναυτικὸς στρατὸς ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀρτεμισίου Ἀθηναίων δεηθέντων ἐς Σαλαμῖνα κατίσχει τὰς νέας.
The Greek naval force, at the request of the Athenians, held its course from Artemisium and brought its ships to anchor at Salamis.
τῶνδε δὲ εἵνεκα προσεδεήθησαν αὐτῶν σχεῖν πρὸς Σαλαμῖνα Ἀθηναῖοι, ἵνα αὐτοὶ παῖδάς τε καὶ γυναῖκας ὑπεξαγάγωνται ἐκ τῆς Ἀττικῆς, πρὸς δὲ καὶ βουλεύσωνται τὸ ποιητέον αὐτοῖσι ἔσται.
The Athenians requested them to put in at Salamis for this reason, so that they themselves might evacuate their children and wives from Attica, and furthermore might deliberate on what was to be done.
ἐπὶ γὰρ τοῖσι κατήκουσι πρήγμασι βουλὴν ἔμελλον ποιήσασθαι ὡς ἐψευσμένοι γνώμης. §8.40.2δοκέοντες γὰρ εὑρήσειν Πελοποννησίους πανδημεὶ ἐν τῇ Βοιωτίῃ ὑποκατημένους τὸν βάρβαρον, τῶν μὲν εὗρον οὐδὲν ἐόν, οἳ δὲ ἐπυνθάνοντο τὸν Ἰσθμὸν αὐτοὺς τειχέοντας, ὡς τὴν Πελοπόννησον περὶ πλείστου τε ποιευμένους περιεῖναι καὶ ταύτην ἔχοντας ἐν φυλακῇ, τὰ ἄλλα δὲ ἀπιέναι.
For in the face of the present state of affairs, they were about to hold a council, as men who had been deceived in their expectations. For they had expected to find the Peloponnesians waiting in full force in Boeotia to block the barbarian, but they found nothing of the kind; instead, they learned that they were walling off the Isthmus, as they regarded the survival of the Peloponnese of the highest importance and kept it under guard, while letting all the rest go.
ταῦτα πυνθανόμενοι οὕτω δὴ προσεδεήθησαν σφέων σχεῖν πρὸς τὴν Σαλαμῖνα.
On learning this, they accordingly requested them to put in at Salamis.

Notes

  1. §8.40.1Ἀθηναίων δεηθέντων — A genitive absolute construction with the Athenians as the logical subject, expressing cause or reason ("since the Athenians requested").
  2. §8.40.1τὸ ποιητέον αὐτοῖσι ἔσται — An indirect question clause, where the verbal adjective ποιητέον (expressing obligation) is combined with the dative of agent αὐτοῖσι (= αὐτοῖς) and the future copula ἔσται, meaning "what would have to be done by them."
  3. §8.40.1ὡς ἐψευσμένοι γνώμης — ὡς with the participle (perfect middle-passive of ψεύδω) expresses the subjective state of the subject ("as men who had been disappointed in their expectation"). The genitive γνώμης is a genitive of separation, indicating deviation or being cut off from one's opinion or expectation.
  4. §8.40.2τῶν μὲν εὗρον οὐδὲν ἐόν — The genitive relative pronoun τῶν is neuter plural, referring back to the expectation of finding the Peloponnesians waiting in Boeotia. The object of εὗρον is οὐδὲν ἐόν ("nothing being so"), with ἐόν (Ionic present participle of εἰμί) serving as a predicative participle.
  5. §8.40.2τὰ ἄλλα δὲ ἀπιέναι — The infinitive ἀπιέναι here is the present active infinitive of ἀπίημι ("to let go", "to abandon"), rather than of ἄπειμι ("to go away"). It stands in contrast to the preceding construction, indicating that they were planning to "let all other things go" (i.e., abandon the rest of Greece outside the Peloponnese).

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §8.40.1-8.40.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.40.1-8.40.2

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.