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Herodotus · Histories §9.56.1-9.56.2

Spartan Retreat via Hills and Athenian March

Passage 1511 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

After the Athenian messenger departs, Pausanias, believing Amompharetus will eventually follow, begins retreating with the rest of the army through the hills, while the Athenians take a different route through the plain.

§9.56.1καὶ ὃ μὲν ἀπαλλάσσετο ἐς τοὺς Ἀθηναίους· τοὺς δὲ ἐπεὶ ἀνακρινομένους πρὸς ἑωυτοὺς ἠὼς κατελάμβανε, ἐν τούτῳ τῷ χρόνῳ κατήμενος ὁ Παυσανίης, οὐ δοκέων τὸν Ἀμομφάρετον λείψεσθαι τῶν ἄλλων Λακεδαιμονίων ἀποστειχόντων, τὰ δὴ καὶ ἐγένετο, σημήνας ἀπῆγε διὰ τῶν κολωνῶν τοὺς λοιποὺς πάντας· εἵποντο δὲ καὶ Τεγεῆται.
And he departed to the Athenians; but as the dawn was overtaking them as they disputed with one another, during this time Pausanias, who had remained seated, thinking that Amompharetus would not be left behind when the other Lacedaemonians departed—which indeed also happened—gave the signal and led all the rest away through the hills; and the Tegeans also followed.
§9.56.2Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ ταχθέντες ἤισαν τὰ ἔμπαλιν ἢ Λακεδαιμόνιοι· οἳ μὲν γὰρ τῶν τε ὄχθων ἀντείχοντο καὶ τῆς ὑπωρέης τοῦ Κιθαιρῶνος φοβεόμενοι τὴν ἵππον, Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ κάτω τραφθέντες ἐς τὸ πεδίον.
The Athenians, having drawn themselves up, went in the opposite direction to the Lacedaemonians; for the latter clung to the ridges and the foothills of Cithaeron, fearing the cavalry, while the Athenians turned downward into the plain.

Notes

  1. §9.56.1τοὺς δὲ ἐπεὶ ἀνακρινομένους πρὸς ἑωυτοὺς ἠὼς κατελάμβανε — The noun ἠώς (dawn) is the subject, and the prepended accusative pronoun τούς (the Lacedaemonians) is the direct object of the transitive verb κατελάμβανε (overtook), with ἀνακρινομένους functioning as a predicative participle agreeing with τούς. Literally, 'the dawn overtook them as they were disputing with one another,' meaning 'while they were disputing, dawn broke.'
  2. §9.56.1οὐ δοκέων τὸν Ἀμομφάρετον λείψεσθαι — The combination οὐ δοκέω represents a transferred negation (equivalent to 'I do not think...'), where the negative particle οὐ syntactically modifies the participle δοκέων but semantically negates the infinitive λείψεσθαι, meaning 'thinking that Amompharetus would not be left behind.' The future infinitive λείψεσθαι is used in an intransitive or passive sense, 'to be left behind.'

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §9.56.1-9.56.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:9.56.1-9.56.2

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