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Herodotus · Histories §8.93.1-8.93.2

Valorous Fighters and the Pursuit of Artemisia

Passage 1401 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

In the battle of Salamis, the Aeginetans won the highest renown, followed by the Athenians, with Polycritus, Eumenes, and Ameinias praised as outstanding individuals, the last of whom eagerly pursued Artemisia. The Athenians, outraged by a woman leading an expedition against them, had offered a high reward for her capture, but she successfully escaped.

§8.93.1ἐν δὲ τῇ ναυμαχίῃ ταύτῃ ἤκουσαν Ἑλλήνων ἄριστα Αἰγινῆται, ἐπὶ δὲ Ἀθηναῖοι, ἀνδρῶν δὲ Πολύκριτός τε ὁ Αἰγινήτης καὶ Ἀθηναῖοι Εὐμένης τε ὁ Ἀναγυράσιος καὶ Ἀμεινίης Παλληνεύς, ὃς καὶ Ἀρτεμισίην ἐπεδίωξε.
In this sea-fight, the Aeginetans won the highest renown among the Greeks, and next to them the Athenians; and among individuals, Polycritus the Aeginetan, and of the Athenians, Eumenes of Anagyrus and Ameinias of Pallene, who was the one that pursued Artemisia.
εἰ μέν νυν ἔμαθε ὅτι ἐν ταύτῃ πλέοι Ἀρτεμισίη, οὐκ ἂν ἐπαύσατο πρότερον ἢ εἷλέ μιν ἢ καὶ αὐτὸς ἥλω.
If Ameinias had indeed known that Artemisia was sailing in that ship, he would not have ceased before he had either captured her or had been captured himself.
§8.93.2τοῖσι γὰρ Ἀθηναίων τριηράρχοισι παρεκεκέλευστο, πρὸς δὲ καὶ ἄεθλον ἔκειτο μύριαι δραχμαί, ὃς ἄν μιν ζωὴν ἕλῃ· δεινὸν γάρ τι ἐποιεῦντο γυναῖκα ἐπὶ τὰς Ἀθήνας στρατεύεσθαι.
For orders had been given to the Athenian trierarchs, and moreover a prize of ten thousand drachmas was offered for whoever should take her alive; for they felt it a great outrage that a woman should march in arms against Athens.
αὕτη μὲν δή, ὡς πρότερον εἴρηται, διέφυγε· ἦσαν δὲ καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι, τῶν αἱ νέες περιεγεγόνεσαν, ἐν τῷ Φαλήρῳ.
She indeed, as has been said before, escaped; and the others whose ships had survived were also at Phalerum.

Notes

  1. §8.93.1ἤκουσαν — The verb ἀκούω (to hear) is used with the adverb ἄριστα to mean 'to have the best reputation' or 'to be best spoken of', equivalent to the Latin expression bene audire.
  2. §8.93.1εἰ μέν νυν ἔμαθε ... οὐκ ἂν ἐπαύσατο — A past counterfactual conditional sentence. The protasis has εἰ with the indicative aorist (ἔμαθε) and the apodosis has ἄν with the indicative aorist (ἐπαύσατο), expressing what would have happened in the past contrary to the actual facts.
  3. §8.93.2ὃς ἄν μιν ζωὴν ἕλῃ — A conditional relative clause containing the relative pronoun ὅς with the particle ἄν and the aorist subjunctive ἕλῃ, meaning 'whoever should take her alive'.
  4. §8.93.2δεινὸν γάρ τι ἐποιεῦντο γυναῖκα ... στρατεύεσθαι — The accusative and infinitive clause (γυναῖκα ... στρατεύεσθαι, 'that a woman should campaign') is used as the object of the expression δεινὸν ποιοῦμαι (to regard as terrible, intolerable, or a great outrage).

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §8.93.1-8.93.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.93.1-8.93.2

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