Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §9.113.1-9.113.2

Masistes's Flight to Bactria and His Death

Passage 1568 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Masistes, seeing his wife's mutilation, flees to Bactria with his sons to instigate a revolt, but Xerxes dispatches an army that overtakes and kills them all on the way.

§9.113.1ὁ δὲ Μασίστης οὐδέν κω ἀκηκοὼς τούτων, ἐλπόμενος δέ τί οἱ κακὸν εἶναι, ἐσπίπτει δρόμῳ ἐς τὰ οἰκία.
But Masistes, having heard nothing of these things as yet, but expecting that some evil had befallen him, rushed running into his house.
ἰδὼν δὲ διεφθαρμένην τὴν γυναῖκα, αὐτίκα μετὰ ταῦτα συμβουλευσάμενος τοῖσι παισὶ ἐπορεύετο ἐς Βάκτρα σύν τε τοῖσι ἑωυτοῦ υἱοῖσι καὶ δή κου τισὶ καὶ ἄλλοισι ὡς ἀποστήσων νομὸν τὸν Βάκτριον καὶ ποιήσων τὰ μέγιστα κακῶν βασιλέα·
Having seen his wife mutilated, immediately after this, having consulted with his sons, he set out for Bactra with his own sons and indeed, I suppose, certain others, intending to cause the Bactrian province to revolt and to do the greatest of evils to the king.
§9.113.2τά περ ἂν καὶ ἐγένετο, ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκέειν, εἴ περ ἔφθη ἀναβὰς ἐς τοὺς Βακτρίους καὶ τοὺς Σάκας· καὶ γὰρ ἔστεργόν μιν καὶ ἦν ὕπαρχος τῶν Βακτρίων.
Which indeed would have happened, as it seems to me, if he had succeeded in going up to the Bactrians and the Sacae first; for indeed they loved him, and he was the governor of the Bactrians.
ἀλλὰ γὰρ Ξέρξης πυθόμενος ταῦτα ἐκεῖνον πρήσσοντα, πέμψας ἐπʼ αὐτὸν στρατιὴν ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ κατέκτεινε αὐτόν τε ἐκεῖνον καὶ τοὺς παῖδας αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν στρατιὴν τὴν ἐκείνου.
But, since Xerxes learned that he was doing these things, sending an army against him, he killed along the road both him himself, and his children, and his army.
κατὰ μὲν τὸν ἔρωτα τὸν Ξέρξεω καὶ τὸν Μασίστεω θάνατον τοσαῦτα ἐγένετο.
In connection with the love of Xerxes and the death of Masistes, such were the things that happened.

Notes

  1. 9.113.1οἱ — Dative singular of the indirect reflexive pronoun ἑοῦ (Ionic form). Here it refers to the subject of the main clause, Masistes himself, functioning as a dative of interest/reference.
  2. 9.113.1ὡς ἀποστήσων — The conjunction ὡς combined with the future active participle ἀποστήσων (from ἀφίστημι). It expresses the subjective intention or purpose of the subject ('intending to cause to revolt').
  3. 9.113.2τά περ ἂν καὶ ἐγένετο ... εἴ περ ἔφθη — A contrary-to-fact conditional sentence. The apodosis has the relative pronoun τά περ as subject with ἂν + aorist indicative (ἐγένετο), and the protasis consists of εἴ περ + aorist indicative (ἔφθη), representing a past unreal condition.
  4. 9.113.2ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκέειν — An idiomatic use of the absolute infinitive. Used parenthetically to qualify or limit the speaker's statement ('as it seems to me', 'in my opinion').
  5. 9.113.2ἔφθη ἀναβάς — A supplementary participle construction with the verb φθάνω (to anticipate, do beforehand) and the aorist participle ἀναβάς (from ἀναβαίνω), expressing the idea of doing something first or before someone else.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §9.113.1-9.113.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:9.113.1-9.113.2

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.