Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §9.83.1-9.83.2

Treasures and Unusual Bones Found by the Plataeans

Passage 1538 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Tells of the Plataeans finding treasures after the battle, and the discovery of unusual skeletal remains—such as a sutureless skull, a jaw with a single continuous bone of teeth, and the bones of a giant—as they gathered the bones.

§9.83.1ὑστέρῳ μέντοι χρόνῳ μετὰ ταῦτα καὶ τῶν Πλαταιέων εὗρον συχνοὶ θήκας χρυσοῦ καὶ ἀργύρου καὶ τῶν ἄλλων χρημάτων. §9.83.2ἐφάνη δὲ καὶ τόδε ὕστερον τούτων ἐπὶ τῶν νεκρῶν περιψιλωθέντων τὰς σάρκας· συνεφόρεον γὰρ τὰ ὀστέα οἱ Πλαταιέες ἐς ἕνα χῶρον·
In later times, however, after these events, many of the Plataeans also found chests of gold and silver and other treasures. And the following also came to light after these things, when the dead bodies were stripped of their flesh; for the Plataeans were gathering the bones into one place.
εὑρέθη κεφαλὴ οὐκ ἔχουσα ῥαφὴν οὐδεμίαν ἀλλʼ ἐξ ἑνὸς ἐοῦσα ὀστέου, ἐφάνη δὲ καὶ γνάθος κατὰ τὸ ἄνω τῆς γνάθου ἔχουσα ὀδόντας μουνοφυέας ἐξ ἑνὸς ὀστέου πάντας τούς τε προσθίους καὶ γομφίους, καὶ πενταπήχεος ἀνδρὸς ὀστέα ἐφάνη.
There was found a skull having no suture at all, but consisting of a single bone; and there also appeared a jaw which, in the upper part of the jaw, had teeth that were all of one single piece of bone, both the front teeth and the grinders; and the bones of a man five cubits high also appeared.

Notes

  1. 9.83.1τῶν Πλαταιέων ... συχνοὶ — τῶν Πλαταιέων (of the Plataeans) is a partitive genitive qualifying the subject συχνοί (many).
  2. 9.83.2περιψιλωθέντων τὰς σάρκας — περιψιλωθέντων (having been stripped) is a participle agreeing with τῶν νεκρῶν (the dead) in a genitive absolute construction (or modifying the noun under the preposition ἐπί). τὰς σάρκας (flesh) is an accusative of respect (or specification), denoting the part affected by the action of the passive participle.
  3. 9.83.2καὰ τὸ ἄνω τῆς γνάθου — The adverb ἄνω (above) with the neuter article τό functions as a noun meaning "the upper part," which is qualified by the genitive τῆς γνάθου (of the jaw), meaning "in the upper part of the jaw."

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §9.83.1-9.83.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:9.83.1-9.83.2

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