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Herodotus · Histories §9.20.1

Masistius' Cavalry Attack on the Greek Positions

Passage 1475 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Mardonius, seeing that the Greeks do not come down to the plain, sends his entire cavalry under the command of Masistius to attack them, insulting them as women.

§9.20.1Μαρδόνιος δέ, ὡς οὐ κατέβαινον οἱ Ἕλληνες ἐς τὸ πεδίον, πέμπει ἐς αὐτοὺς πᾶσαν τὴν ἵππον, τῆς ἱππάρχεε Μασίστιος εὐδοκιμέων παρὰ Πέρσῃσι, τὸν Ἕλληνες Μακίστιον καλέουσι, ἵππον ἔχων Νησαῖον χρυσοχάλινον καὶ ἄλλως κεκοσμημένον καλῶς.
And Mardonius, seeing that the Greeks did not come down into the plain, sent against them all his cavalry, which was commanded by Masistius, a man of high repute among the Persians, whom the Greeks call Macistius; he rode a Nesaean horse with a golden bridle, and otherwise beautifully adorned.
ἐνθαῦτα ὡς προσήλασαν οἱ ἱππόται πρὸς τοὺς Ἕλληνας, προσέβαλλον κατὰ τέλεα, προσβάλλοντες δὲ κακὰ μεγάλα ἐργάζοντο καὶ γυναῖκας σφέας ἀπεκάλεον.
Thereupon, when the horsemen had ridden up to the Greeks, they made charges by squadrons, and in charging they did them great harm and called them women.

Notes

  1. §9.20.1τῆς — The relative pronoun τῆς (genitive feminine singular) has as its antecedent the feminine collective noun τὴν ἵππον (cavalry). It is in the genitive case because the verb ἱππάρχεε (to command) governs the genitive.
  2. §9.20.1ἵππον ἔχων — The participle ἔχων (having) here does not mean merely "owning" a horse, but "riding" or "being mounted on" a horse.
  3. §9.20.1σφέας — The personal pronoun σφέας (third person plural accusative, Ionic form) refers to the Greeks (τοὺς Ἕλληνας). Together with γυναῖκας, it forms a double accusative construction with the verb ἀπεκάλεον (to call someone something).

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §9.20.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:9.20.1

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