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Herodotus · Histories §8.95.1

Aristides' Slaughter of the Persians on Psyttalea

Passage 1403 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Describes how Aristides, during the confusion of the Battle of Salamis, landed Athenian hoplites stationed on the shore onto the island of Psyttalea and slaughtered all the Persian troops there.

§8.95.1Ἀριστείδης δὲ ὁ Λυσιμάχου ἀνὴρ Ἀθηναῖος, τοῦ καὶ ὀλίγῳ τι πρότερον τούτων ἐπεμνήσθην ὡς ἀνδρὸς ἀρίστου, οὗτος ἐν τῷ θορύβῳ τούτῳ τῷ περὶ Σαλαμῖνα γενομένῳ τάδε ἐποίεε· παραλαβὼν πολλοὺς τῶν ὁπλιτέων οἳ παρατετάχατο παρὰ τὴν ἀκτὴν τῆς Σαλαμινίης χώρης, γένος ἐόντες Ἀθηναῖοι, ἐς τὴν Ψυττάλειαν νῆσον ἀπέβησε ἄγων, οἳ τοὺς Πέρσας τοὺς ἐν τῇ νησῖδι ταύτῃ κατεφόνευσαν πάντας.
Aristides the son of Lysimachus, an Athenian, whom I mentioned also a little before this as a most excellent man—he, in this confusion that arose around Salamis, did as follows: taking many of the hoplites who had been stationed along the shore of the territory of Salamis, being Athenians by birth, he brought them and landed them on the island of Psyttalea, and they slaughtered all the Persians who were on that islet.

Notes

  1. §8.95.1Ἀριστείδης ... οὗτος — The subject `Ἀριστείδης` is introduced at the beginning, followed by an intervening relative clause `τοῦ ... ἐπεμνήσθην`, and is then picked up again by the demonstrative pronoun `οὗτος`. This is a form of anacoluthon used for emphasis and structural clarity.
  2. §8.95.1τοῦ — The relative pronoun `τοῦ` (equivalent to Attic `οὗ`) refers to the antecedent `Ἀριστείδης`. It is in the genitive case because the verb `ἐπεμνήσθην` (passive aorist of `μνάομαι`, "to mention") governs the genitive.
  3. §8.95.1παρατετάχατο — An Ionic third-person plural pluperfect passive form with the ending `-ατο` (corresponding to Attic `-ντο` for consonant-stem verbs), equivalent to `παρατεταγμένοι ἦσαν` ("had been stationed").
  4. §8.95.1ἀπέβησε — While `ἀποβαίνω` usually means "to disembark" (intransitive), here the first (weak) aorist `ἀπέβησε` is used transitively ("to land someone, put ashore"), taking the object `πολλοὺς`. It is distinguished from the intransitive second aorist `ἀπέβη`.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §8.95.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.95.1

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