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Herodotus · Histories §9.104.1

Betrayal of the Milesians and the Second Ionian Revolt

Passage 1559 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The Persians ordered the Milesians to guard the mountain passes for their escape and to prevent rebellion, but the Milesians betrayed them by guiding the fleeing Persians to the enemy and killing them, marking Ionia's second revolt.

§9.104.1Μιλησίοισι δὲ προσετέτακτο μὲν ἐκ τῶν Περσέων τὰς διόδους τηρέειν σωτηρίης εἵνεκά σφι, ὡς ἢν ἄρα σφέας καταλαμβάνῃ οἷά περ κατέλαβε, ἔχοντες ἡγεμόνας σώζωνται ἐς τὰς κορυφὰς τῆς Μυκάλης.
The Milesians had been ordered by the Persians to guard the passes for their safety, so that, if indeed such a thing should overtake them as actually did, they might, having guides, escape safely to the heights of Mycale.
ἐτάχθησαν μέν νυν ἐπὶ τοῦτο τὸ πρῆγμα οἱ Μιλήσιοι τούτου τε εἵνεκεν καὶ ἵνα μὴ παρεόντες ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ τι νεοχμὸν ποιέοιεν·
Now the Milesians were stationed for this task both for this reason and so that, being present in the camp, they might not make any trouble.
οἳ δὲ πᾶν τοὐναντίον τοῦ προστεταγμένου ἐποίεον, ἄλλας τε κατηγεόμενοί σφι ὁδοὺς φεύγουσι, αἳ δὴ ἔφερον ἐς τοὺς πολεμίους, καὶ τέλος αὐτοί σφι ἐγίνοντο κτείνοντες πολεμιώτατοι.
But they did the very opposite of what had been ordered, guiding those who were fleeing by other paths which indeed led to the enemy, and in the end they themselves became their bitterest enemies, killing them.
οὕτω δὴ τὸ δεύτερον Ἰωνίη ἀπὸ Περσέων ἀπέστη.
Thus indeed for the second time Ionia revolted from the Persians.

Notes

  1. §9.104.1ὡς ἢν ἄρα σφέας καταλαμβάνῃ οἷά περ κατέλαβε, ἔχοντες ἡγεμόνας σώζωνται — The conjunction ὡς introduces a purpose clause with the subjunctive σώζωνται ("so that they might save themselves"). Inside it, the conditional clause ἢν ἄρα ... καταλαμβάνῃ ("if indeed ... should overtake") is embedded. The pronoun σφέας refers to the Persians, and the parenthetical relative clause οἷά περ κατέλαβε ("such as actually did overtake") uses the indicative past tense to refer to the actual defeat currently taking place.
  2. §9.104.1φεύγουσι — This is not the third-person plural indicative of φεύγω ("they flee"), but the dative plural masculine of the present participle φεύγων ("fleeing"), agreeing with σφι ("to them," i.e., the Persians) in the previous clause. It functions as the object of the participle κατηγεόμενοι ("guiding"), which takes the dative.
  3. §9.104.1αὐτοί σφι ἐγίνοντο κτείνοντες πολεμιώτατοι — Contrast between the subject αὐτοί (the Milesians themselves) and the dative object σφι (to the Persians). The nominative participle κτείνοντες ("killing") agrees with the subject and expresses the means of their hostile action.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §9.104.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:9.104.1

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