Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §9.115.1

Persians and Locales Gather in Fortified Sestos

Passage 1570 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

As the Athenians besiege Sestos, people from the surrounding areas and the Persian Oeobazus, who had brought the bridge cables, gather in Sestos because of its strong fortifications.

§9.115.1ἐς δὲ τὴν Σηστὸν ταύτην, ὡς ἐόντος ἰσχυροτάτου τείχεος τῶν ταύτῃ, συνῆλθον, ὡς ἤκουσαν παρεῖναι τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐς τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον, ἔκ τε τῶν ἀλλέων τῶν περιοικίδων, καὶ δὴ καὶ ἐκ Καρδίης πόλιος Οἰόβαζος ἀνὴρ Πέρσης, ὃς τὰ ἐκ τῶν γεφυρέων ὅπλα ἐνθαῦτα ἦν κεκομικώς.
Into this Sestos, as it was the strongest fortress in these parts, they gathered when they heard that the Greeks were present in the Hellespont, both from the other neighboring places, and especially from the city of Cardia, Oeobazus, a Persian, who had brought thither the cables of the bridges.
εἶχον δὲ ταύτην ἐπιχώριοι Αἰολέες, συνῆσαν δὲ Πέρσαι τε καὶ τῶν ἄλλων συμμάχων συχνὸς ὅμιλος.
Local Aeolians held this city, but there were also with them Persians and a great crowd of the other allies.

Notes

  1. §9.115.1ὡς ἐόντος ἰσχυροτάτου τείχεος — Genitive absolute with the conjunction ὡς, with the subject (αὐτοῦ, referring to Sestos) omitted. ὡς expresses a subjective or alleged reason ("on the ground that...", "as being...").
  2. §9.115.1τὰ ἐκ τῶν γεφυρέων ὅπλα — The noun ὅπλα (plural of ὅπλον), which usually means "arms" or "weapons", is used here in the sense of "tackle", "cables", or "ropes" used for ships or bridges.
  3. §9.115.1συνῆλθον — Although the verb is in the third-person plural, the only explicitly named subject is the singular proper noun Οἰόβαζος (Oeobazus). The plural verb is used because the action implies multiple people gathering from the surrounding areas, among whom Oeobazus is specifically highlighted.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §9.115.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:9.115.1

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.