Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §9.68.1

Flight of the Allies and the Cavalry's Rearguard

Passage 1523 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The author points out that the fate of the barbarians depended entirely on the Persians, as the others fled before engaging the enemy simply because they saw the Persians fleeing; he notes that only the cavalry, especially the Boeotians, protected the fleeing allies from the Greeks.

§9.68.1δηλοῖ τέ μοι ὅτι πάντα τὰ πρήγματα τῶν βαρβάρων ἤρτητο ἐκ Περσέων, εἰ καὶ τότε οὗτοι πρὶν ἢ καὶ συμμῖξαι τοῖσι πολεμίοισι ἔφευγον, ὅτι καὶ τοὺς Πέρσας ὥρων.
And it is clear to me that the entire fortune of the barbarians depended on the Persians, if indeed on that occasion these fled before they had even engaged with the enemy, because they saw the Persians also fleeing.
οὕτω τε πάντες ἔφευγον πλὴν τῆς ἵππου τῆς τε ἄλλης καὶ τῆς Βοιωτίης· αὕτη δὲ τοσαῦτα προσωφέλεε τοὺς φεύγοντας, αἰεί τε πρὸς τῶν πολεμίων ἄγχιστα ἐοῦσα ἀπέργουσά τε τοὺς φιλίους φεύγοντας ἀπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων.
In this way all were fleeing except for the cavalry, both the rest of it and the Boeotian; and this latter was of so much service to the fugitives, since it was always closest to the enemy and kept off the Greeks from their fleeing friends.

Notes

  1. §9.68.1δηλοῖ ... εἰ ... — δηλοῖ is used impersonally to mean "it is clear that...", leading the main ὅτι clause. The following εἰ clause ("if indeed..."), rather than presenting a mere hypothesis, introduces a factual premise for the argument ("since indeed...").
  2. §9.68.1πρὶν ἢ καὶ συμμῖξαι — A common classical construction of πρὶν ἤ followed by the infinitive συμμῖξαι. The inserted καί functions as an emphasizing adverb ("even"), meaning "even before they had engaged".
  3. §9.68.1τῆς ἵππου — The feminine singular noun ἵππος is used here collectively to mean "cavalry". The following phrase τῆς τε ἄλλης καὶ τῆς Βοιωτίης distinguishes and groups together the Boeotian cavalry and all the other cavalry.
  4. §9.68.1ἀπέργουσά — The present participle ἀπέργουσα ("keeping off, separating") governs the genitive τῶν Ἑλλήνων, expressing the action of protecting the retreating allies by keeping them separated from the pursuing Greeks.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §9.68.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:9.68.1

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