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Herodotus · Histories §9.50.1

Greek Generals' Council on Water and Food Shortages

Passage 1505 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

As the Gargaphian spring is choked and the Greek army suffers from water shortage, the generals gather at the right wing with Pausanias. They face further severe difficulties, including a lack of provisions and their servants being blocked from returning.

§9.50.1τούτου δὲ τοιούτου γινομένου οἱ τῶν Ἑλλήνων στρατηγοί, ἅτε τοῦ τε ὕδατος στερηθείσης τῆς στρατιῆς καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς ἵππου ταρασσομένης, συνελέχθησαν περὶ αὐτῶν τε τούτων καὶ ἄλλων, ἐλθόντες παρὰ Παυσανίην ἐπὶ τὸ δεξιὸν κέρας.
This being the case, the generals of the Greeks, since the army was deprived of water and harassed by the cavalry, gathered together at the right wing to Pausanias to consult about these very matters and other things.
ἄλλα γὰρ τούτων τοιούτων ἐόντων μᾶλλον σφέας ἐλύπεε· οὔτε γὰρ σιτία εἶχον ἔτι, οἵ τε σφέων ὀπέωνες ἀποπεμφθέντες ἐς Πελοπόννησον ὡς ἐπισιτιεύμενοι ἀπεκεκληίατο ὑπὸ τῆς ἵππου, οὐ δυνάμενοι ἀπικέσθαι ἐς τὸ στρατόπεδον.
For other problems, in addition to these being as they were, distressed them even more; for they no longer had provisions, and their servants, who had been sent to the Peloponnese to obtain food, had been shut out by the cavalry, unable to return to the camp.

Notes

  1. §9.50.1τούτων τοιούτων ἐόντων — Genitive absolute construction. The participle `ἐόντων` is the Ionic form of `ὄντων`. It refers back to the preceding circumstances (water deprivation and cavalry attacks), meaning "while these things were in such a state" (i.e., in addition to these difficulties).
  2. §9.50.1ἀπεκεκληίατο — Third-person plural pluperfect indicative passive of `ἀποκλείω` (to shut out). This is an Ionic form; the third-person plural passive ending `-ντο` becomes `-ατο` when following a vowel, resulting in `-ίατο` instead of the Attic `-ηντο` (which would be `ἀπεκέκλειντο` in this case).

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §9.50.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:9.50.1

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