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Herodotus · Histories §9.47.1

The Greek Redeployment and the Persian Countermove

Passage 1502 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

As the Spartans and Athenians begin to exchange their positions, Mardonius moves the Persians accordingly. Upon realizing the enemy's countermove, Pausanias leads the Spartans back to their original position, and Mardonius follows suit.

§9.47.1ὡς δʼ ἤρεσκε ἀμφοτέροισι ταῦτα, ἠώς τε διέφαινε καὶ διαλλάσσοντο τὰς τάξις.
As this pleased both parties, dawn began to break and they started to exchange their positions.
γνόντες δὲ οἱ Βοιωτοὶ τὸ ποιεύμενον ἐξαγορεύουσι Μαρδονίῳ.
But the Boeotians, noticing what was being done, reported it to Mardonius.
ὃ δʼ ἐπείτε ἤκουσε, αὐτίκα μετιστάναι καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπειρᾶτο, παράγων τοὺς Πέρσας κατὰ τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους.
When he heard this, he immediately attempted to change his own position too, leading the Persians opposite the Lacedaemonians.
ὡς δὲ ἔμαθε τοῦτο τοιοῦτο γινόμενον ὁ Παυσανίης, γνοὺς ὅτι οὐ λανθάνει, ὀπίσω ἦγε τοὺς Σπαρτιήτας ἐπὶ τὸ δεξιὸν κέρας· ὣς δὲ οὕτως καὶ ὁ Μαρδόνιος ἐπὶ τοῦ εὐωνύμου.
But when Pausanias learned that this was happening in this way, realizing that he was not going unnoticed, he led the Spartans back to the right wing; and in just the same way Mardonius also went back to the left.

Notes

  1. 9.47.1γνόντες — The subject is οἱ Βοιωτοὶ. The aorist participle denotes an action prior to or serving as the occasion for the main verb ἐξαγορεύουσι.
  2. 9.47.1ὅτι οὐ λανθάνει — The verb λανθάνω means 'to escape notice'. Here, in the third person singular present indicative, its subject is Pausanias himself, meaning 'that he was not going unnoticed (by Mardonius).' Despite the main clause being in the past tense (ἦγε), the present tense is retained in the ὅτι-clause to reflect the original moment of realization (represented present).
  3. 9.47.1ὣς δὲ οὕτως — Unlike the conjunction ὡς ('as/when'), the accented ὣς is a demonstrative adverb meaning 'thus' (= οὕτως). Its juxtaposition with the synonymous οὕτως expresses a strong emphasis, meaning 'in just the same way.'
  4. 9.47.1ἐπὶ τοῦ εὐωνύμου — The verb ἦγε ('led') from the preceding clause is omitted, and κέρως ('wing') is ellipted after εὐωνύμου. The preposition ἐπί with the genitive indicates direction ('toward').

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §9.47.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:9.47.1

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