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Herodotus · Histories §8.68.1

The Generals Urge Battle and Artemisia Speaks

Passage 1373 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

When Mardonius goes around asking each commander about the sea-fight, everyone else favors engaging in battle, while Artemisia is about to express a different opinion.

§8.68.1ἐπεὶ δὲ περιιὼν εἰρώτα ὁ Μαρδόνιος ἀρξάμενος ἀπὸ τοῦ Σιδωνίου, οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι κατὰ τὠυτὸ γνώμην ἐξεφέροντο κελεύοντες ναυμαχίην ποιέεσθαι, Ἀρτεμισίη δὲ τάδε ἔφη.
When Mardonius went around and questioned them, beginning with the Sidonian, the others expressed their opinion to the same effect, urging that they should engage in a sea-fight; but Artemisia said as follows:

Notes

  1. §8.68.1ἀρξάμενος ἀπὸ τοῦ Σιδωνίου — The aorist middle participle ἀρξάμενος is used idiomatically to mean "beginning with." Here, τοῦ Σιδωνίου refers to the "king of Sidon" mentioned in the preceding section (8.67.2).
  2. §8.68.1κατὰ τὠυτὸ — An Ionic dialectal form where κατὰ τὸ αὐτό is contracted by crasis, meaning "in the same way" or "unanimously."
  3. §8.68.1γνώμην ἐξεφέροντο — The imperfect middle ἐξεφέροντο expresses that they were bringing forward or expressing their opinions one after another, or progressively.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §8.68.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.68.1

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