Herodotus · Histories §8.63.1

Eurybiades Decides to Remain and Fight at Salamis

Passage 1368 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Hearing Themistocles' speech, Eurybiades changes his mind out of fear of being abandoned by the Athenians, and decides to remain at Salamis to fight the naval battle.

§8.63.1ταῦτα δὲ Θεμιστοκλέος λέγοντος ἀνεδιδάσκετο Εὐρυβιάδης· δοκέειν δέ μοι, ἀρρωδήσας μάλιστα τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ἀνεδιδάσκετο, μή σφεας ἀπολίπωσι, ἢν πρὸς τὸν Ἰσθμὸν ἀγάγῃ τὰς νέας· ἀπολιπόντων γὰρ Ἀθηναίων οὐκέτι ἐγίνοντο ἀξιόμαχοι οἱ λοιποί.

While Themistocles was saying these things, Eurybiades was brought to change his mind; in my opinion, he was persuaded to change his mind chiefly because he feared the Athenians, lest they should abandon them if he should lead the ships to the Isthmus; for if the Athenians abandoned them, the rest were no longer a match for the enemy.

ταύτην δὲ αἱρέεται τὴν γνώμην, αὐτοῦ μένοντας διαναυμαχέειν.

And so he chose this opinion, to remain there and fight the battle through.

Notes

§8.63.1ἀνεδιδάσκετο — The imperfect middle/passive of ἀναδιδάσκω (to teach otherwise), used here in a passive or reflexive sense to mean 'he was brought to change his mind' or 'he let himself be persuaded'.
§8.63.1δοκέειν δέ μοι — An absolute (parenthetical) use of the infinitive, meaning 'in my opinion' or 'as it seems to me', modifying the whole statement. It is a frequent idiom in Herodotus.
§8.63.1μή σφεας ἀπολίπωσι — A fear clause introduced by μή with the subjunctive (ἀπολίπωσι) following the participle of fearing ἀρρωδήσας, expressing the apprehension 'lest they should abandon them'. The accusative pronoun σφεας (Ionic for σφᾶς) refers to Eurybiades and the other Greeks.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §8.63.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.63.1

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