Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §9.6.1

Athenian Evacuation to Salamis and Embassy to Sparta

Passage 1459 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The Athenians evacuate to Salamis due to Peloponnesian delays and the Persian advance into Boeotia, and send messengers to Lacedaemon to protest and deliver a warning.

§9.6.1ἐς δὲ τὴν Σαλαμῖνα διέβησαν οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ὧδε.
The Athenians crossed over to Salamis in the following manner.
ἕως μὲν προσεδέκοντο ἐκ τῆς Πελοποννήσου στρατὸν ἥξειν τιμωρήσοντά σφι, οἳ δὲ ἔμενον ἐν τῇ Ἀττικῇ· ἐπεὶ δὲ οἳ μὲν μακρότερα καὶ σχολαίτερα ἐποίεον, ὁ δὲ ἐπιὼν καὶ δὴ ἐν τῇ Βοιωτίῃ ἐλέγετο εἶναι, οὕτω δὴ ὑπεξεκομίσαντό τε πάντα καὶ αὐτοὶ διέβησαν ἐς Σαλαμῖνα, ἐς Λακεδαίμονά τε ἔπεμπον ἀγγέλους ἅμα μὲν μεμψομένους τοῖσι Λακεδαιμονίοισι ὅτι περιεῖδον ἐμβαλόντα τὸν βάρβαρον ἐς τὴν Ἀττικὴν ἀλλʼ οὐ μετὰ σφέων ἠντίασαν ἐς τὴν Βοιωτίην, ἅμα δὲ ὑπομνήσοντας ὅσα σφι ὑπέσχετο ὁ Πέρσης μεταβαλοῦσι δώσειν, προεῖπαί τε ὅτι εἰ μὴ ἀμυνεῦσι Ἀθηναίοισι, ὡς καὶ αὐτοί τινα ἀλεωρὴν εὑρήσονται.
As long as they expected that an army would come from the Peloponnese to aid them, they remained in Attica; but when the Peloponnesians delayed and acted too slowly, while the invading enemy was already reported to be in Boeotia, they then evacuated all their property and themselves crossed over to Salamis. At the same time, they sent messengers to Lacedaemon, partly to reproach the Lacedaemonians because they had allowed the barbarian to invade Attica instead of meeting him in Boeotia along with themselves, and partly to remind them of all that the Persian had promised to give them if they changed sides, and to warn them beforehand that if they did not help the Athenians, they themselves would also find some means of safety.

Notes

  1. §9.6.1οἳ δὲ — The particle δέ marks the apodosis corresponding to the protasis introduced by ἕως μὲν, while οἳ acts as a demonstrative pronoun referring to the Athenians.
  2. §9.6.1προεῖπαί — An infinitive of purpose depending on the main verb ἔπεμπον (they sent), standing in parallel with the two preceding future participles (μεμψομένους and ὑπομνήσοντας) to express the final purpose of the embassy.
  3. §9.6.1ὅτι εἰ μὴ ἀμυνεῦσι Ἀθηναίοισι, ὡς καὶ αὐτοί τινα ἀλεωρὴν εὑρήσονται — A pleonastic repetition of declarative conjunctions. Following the insertion of the conditional clause (εἰ μὴ...), the conjunction ὡς is redundantly introduced before the apodosis of the indirect discourse which started with ὅτι.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §9.6.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:9.6.1

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.