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Herodotus · Histories §8.62.1-8.62.2

Themistocles Threatens Migration to Siris

Passage 1367 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Themistocles urgently appeals to Eurybiades to remain and fight at Salamis. He warns that if the Peloponnesians retreat, the Athenians will immediately withdraw their entire fleet and migrate to Siris in Italy.

§8.62.1σημαίνων δὲ ταῦτα τῷ λόγῳ διέβαινε ἐς Εὐρυβιάδην, λέγων μᾶλλον ἐπεστραμμένα. σὺ εἰ μενέεις αὐτοῦ καὶ μένων ἔσεαι ἀνὴρ ἀγαθός· εἰ δὲ μή, ἀνατρέψεις τὴν Ἑλλάδα· τὸ πᾶν γὰρ ἡμῖν τοῦ πολέμου φέρουσι αἱ νέες.
Indicating this by his speech, he turned to Eurybiades, speaking in a more urgent manner: 'As for you, if you remain here, you will also, by remaining, show yourself a brave man; but if not, you will bring ruin upon Greece; for our ships bear the entire weight of the war for us.
ἀλλʼ ἐμοὶ πείθεο.
So, obey me.
§8.62.2εἰ δὲ ταῦτα μὴ ποιήσῃς, ἡμεῖς μὲν ὡς ἔχομεν ἀναλαβόντες τοὺς οἰκέτας κομιεύμεθα ἐς Σῖριν τὴν ἐν Ἰταλίῃ, ἥ περ ἡμετέρη τε ἐστὶ ἐκ παλαιοῦ ἔτι, καὶ τὰ λόγια λέγει ὑπʼ ἡμέων αὐτὴν δέειν κτισθῆναι· ὑμεῖς δὲ συμμάχων τοιῶνδε μουνωθέντες μεμνήσεσθε τῶν ἐμῶν λόγων.
But if you do not do this, we, just as we are, taking our households with us, will convey ourselves to Siris in Italy, which has been ours since of old, and the oracles state that it must be founded by us; and you, deprived of such allies, will remember my words.'

Notes

  1. 8.62.1διέβαινε ἐς Εὐρυβιάδην — The verb διαβαίνω literally means 'to cross over', but here it is used idiomatically to mean that Themistocles turned his speech or attention to Eurybiades (after replying to Adeimantus in the previous section).
  2. 8.62.1εἰ μενέεις αὐτοῦ καὶ μένων ἔσεαι — We interpret καὶ μένων ἔσεαι ('and by remaining you will be...') as the apodosis to the conditional clause εἰ μενέεις ('if you remain'). While some interpret the entire phrase as part of a protasis with an omitted apodosis (aposiopesis), taking ἔσεαι as the main verb of the apodosis provides a more straightforward reading.
  3. 8.62.2εἰ δὲ ταῦτα μὴ ποιήσῃς — This is a construction where the conjunction εἰ is followed directly by the subjunctive (ποιήσῃς). While Attic prose typically uses ἤν or ἐάν for the subjunctive in conditional clauses, the Ionic dialect used by Herodotus (as well as poetic language) occasionally permits εἰ with the subjunctive.
  4. 8.62.2λέγει ὑπʼ ἡμέων αὐτὴν δέειν κτισθῆναι — A nested infinitive construction. The main verb λέγει ('the oracles say') governs the accusative and infinitive clause (δέειν...), while the impersonal infinitive δέειν ('it is necessary') in turn governs the passive infinitive construction αὐτὴν κτισθῆναι ('that it be founded'). The agent of the passive infinitive κτισθῆναι is expressed by the prepositional phrase ὑπʼ ἡμέων ('by us').

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §8.62.1-8.62.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.62.1-8.62.2

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