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Herodotus · Histories §8.73.1-8.73.3

The Seven Nations of the Peloponnese

Passage 1381 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The author classifies and presents the origins of the seven nations inhabiting the Peloponnese (indigenous, immigrant, or displaced) and critically points out that the remaining cities not listed among the rescuers chose to remain neutral, which in effect meant siding with the Persians.

§8.73.1οἰκέει δὲ τὴν Πελοπόννησον ἔθνεα ἑπτά.
Seven nations inhabit the Peloponnese.
τούτων δὲ τὰ μὲν δύο αὐτόχθονα ἐόντα κατὰ χώρην ἵδρυται νῦν τε καὶ τὸ πάλαι οἴκεον, Ἀρκάδες τε καὶ Κυνούριοι·
Of these, two are autochthonous and are settled now in the same place where they dwelt of old: the Arcadians and the Cynurians.
ἓν δὲ ἔθνος τὸ Ἀχαιϊκὸν ἐκ μὲν Πελοποννήσου οὐκ ἐξεχώρησε, ἐκ μέντοι τῆς ἑωυτῶν, οἰκέει δὲ τὴν ἀλλοτρίην.
One nation, the Achaean, did not depart from the Peloponnese, yet they did depart from their own land and inhabit that of others.
§8.73.2τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ ἔθνεα τῶν ἑπτὰ τέσσερα ἐπήλυδα ἐστί, Δωριέες τε καὶ Αἰτωλοὶ καὶ Δρύοπες καὶ Λήμνιοι.
The remaining four of the seven nations are immigrants: the Dorians, the Aetolians, the Dryopians, and the Lemnians.
Δωριέων μὲν πολλαί τε καὶ δόκιμοι πόλιες, Αἰτωλῶν δὲ Ἦλις μούνη, Δρυόπων δὲ Ἑρμιών τε καὶ Ἀσίνη ἡ πρὸς Καρδαμύλῃ τῇ Λακωνικῇ, Λημνίων δὲ Παρωρεῆται πάντες.
Of the Dorians, there are many famous cities; of the Aetolians, Elis alone; of the Dryopians, Hermione and Asine which is near Cardamyle in Laconia; of the Lemnians, all the Paroreatae.
§8.73.3οἱ δὲ Κυνούριοι αὐτόχθονες ἐόντες δοκέουσι μοῦνοι εἶναι Ἴωνες, ἐκδεδωρίευνται δὲ ὑπό τε Ἀργείων ἀρχόμενοι καὶ τοῦ χρόνου, ἐόντες Ὀρνεῆται καὶ οἱ περίοικοι.
The Cynurians, being autochthonous, are thought to be the only Ionians, but they have been thoroughly Dorianized under the rule of the Argives and by time, being Orneatae and perioci.
τούτων ὦν τῶν ἑπτὰ ἐθνέων αἱ λοιπαὶ πόλιες, πάρεξ τῶν κατέλεξα, ἐκ τοῦ μέσου κατέατο· εἰ δὲ ἐλευθέρως ἔξεστι εἰπεῖν, ἐκ τοῦ κατήμενοι ἐμήδιζον.
Now, of these seven nations, the remaining cities, except for those I have listed, remained neutral; and if I may speak frankly, by remaining neutral they were in fact siding with the Medes.

Notes

  1. §8.73.1οἰκέει — A third-person singular verb agreeing with the neuter plural subject ἔθνεα, in accordance with the standard rule of Greek grammar.
  2. §8.73.1ἐκ μέντοι τῆς ἑωυτῶν — The verb ἐξεχώρησε ("departed") from the preceding clause is elliptically understood here in this contrastive clause.
  3. §8.73.2Δωριέων μὲν — Genitive of possession. The existential verb εἰσί or ἔστι is omitted in this and the following parallel clauses introduced by Αἰτωλῶν, Δρυόπων, and Λημνίων.
  4. §8.73.3ὑπό τε Ἀργείων ἀρχόμενοι καὶ τοῦ χρόνου — The preposition ὑπό governs both the personal agent Ἀργείων (connected with the passive participle ἀρχόμενοι) and the impersonal cause τοῦ χρόνου, functioning as a zeugma meaning "by being ruled by the Argives and by the lapse of time."
  5. §8.73.3ἐκ τοῦ κατήμενοι — The preposition ἐκ with the neuter singular genitive article τοῦ, followed by the nominative plural participle κατήμενοι. It substantivizes the action of remaining neutral (literally, "from their sitting still"), indicating the cause or means.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §8.73.1-8.73.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.73.1-8.73.3

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