§413ἀντεῖχεν: ὡς δὲ πλῆθος ἐν στενῷ νεῶν §414ἤθροιστ᾽, ἀρωγὴ δ᾽ οὔτις ἀλλήλοις παρῆν, §415αὐτοὶ θ᾽ ὑφ᾽ αὑτῶν ἐμβόλοις χαλκοστόμοις §416παίοντ᾽, ἔθραυον πάντα κωπήρη στόλον, §417Ἑλληνικαί τε νῆες οὐκ ἀφρασμόνως §418κύκλῳ πέριξ ἔθεινον, ὑπτιοῦτο δὲ §419σκάφη νεῶν, θάλασσα δ᾽ οὐκέτ᾽ ἦν ἰδεῖν,
[Messenger] held out. But when the multitude of ships in a narrow place was gathered, and no help from one another was present, and they themselves by themselves with their bronze-mouthed rami were struck, they broke all the oared equipment, and the Greek ships not mindlessly kept striking in a circle around, and upturned were the hulls of the ships, and the sea was no longer possible to see, being full of wreckage and the slaughter of men.
§420ναυαγίων πλήθουσα καὶ φόνου βροτῶν. §421ἀκταὶ δὲ νεκρῶν χοιράδες τ᾽ ἐπλήθυον, §422φυγῇ δ᾽ ἀκόσμῳ πᾶσα ναῦς ἠρέσσετο, §423ὅσαιπερ ἦσαν βαρβάρου στρατεύματος.
And the shores and the reefs were filled with corpses, and in disorderly flight every ship was rowed, as many as belonged to the barbarian host.
§424τοὶ δ᾽ ὥστε θύννους ἤ τιν᾽ ἰχθύων βόλον §425ἀγαῖσι κωπῶν θραύμασίν τ᾽ ἐρειπίων §426ἔπαιον, ἐρράχιζον: οἰμωγὴ δ᾽ ὁμοῦ §427κωκύμασιν κατεῖχε πελαγίαν ἅλα, §428ἕως κελαινῆς νυκτὸς ὄμμ᾽ ἀφείλετο.
And they, like tunnies or some haul of fish, with fragments of oars and splinters of wrecks kept striking and hacking; and wailing together with shrieking possessed the open sea, until the eye of dark night took it away.
And the multitude of evils, not even if for ten days I should narrate them in order, could I fully tell you.
For know this well, that never in a single day did so great a number of men die.
Alas, a great sea of evils indeed has broken out upon the Persians and the whole race of barbarians.
§435εὖ νυν τόδ᾽ ἴσθι, μηδέπω μεσοῦν κακόν: §436τοιάδ᾽ ἐπ᾽ αὐτοὺς ἦλθε συμφορὰ πάθους, §437ὡς τοῖσδε καὶ δὶς ἀντισηκῶσαι ῥοπῇ.
Know this well now, that the evil is not yet halfway; such a disaster of suffering came upon them, as to weigh down twice as much as these in the balance.
§438καὶ τίς γένοιτ᾽ ἂν τῆσδ᾽ ἔτ᾽ ἐχθίων τύχη;
[Atossa] And what fortune could be more hateful than this?
Tell me what further disaster you say came upon the host, inclining the balance of evils toward the greater.
§441Περσῶν ὅσοιπερ ἦσαν ἀκμαῖοι φύσιν, §442ψυχήν τ᾽ ἄριστοι κεὐγένειαν ἐκπρεπεῖς, §443αὐτῷ τ᾽ ἄνακτι πίστιν ἐν πρώτοις ἀεί, §444τεθνᾶσιν αἰσχρῶς δυσκλεεστάτῳ μόρῳ.
[Messenger] Those of the Persians who were in the prime of nature, and best in soul, and pre-eminent in nobility, and always among the first in loyalty to the king himself, have died shamefully by a most inglorious fate.
§445οἲ ᾽γὼ τάλαινα συμφορᾶς κακῆς, φίλοι.
[Atossa] Woe is me, wretched for this evil disaster, my friends!
§446ποίῳ μόρῳ δὲ τούσδε φῂς ὀλωλέναι;
But by what fate do you say that these perished?
§447νῆσός τις ἐστὶ πρόσθε Σαλαμῖνος τόπων, §448βαιά, δύσορμος ναυσίν, ἣν ὁ φιλόχορος §449Πὰν ἐμβατεύει, ποντίας ἀκτῆς ἔπι.
[Messenger] There is an island in front of the region of Salamis, small, difficult for ships to anchor, which dance-loving Pan paces, upon the sea-coast.
§450ἐνταῦθα πέμπει τούσδ᾽, ὅπως, ὅταν νεῶν §451φθαρέντες ἐχθροὶ νῆσον ἐκσῳζοίατο, §452κτείνοιεν εὐχείρωτον Ἑλλήνων στρατόν, §453φίλους δ᾽ ὑπεκσῴζοιεν ἐναλίων πόρων, §454κακῶς τὸ μέλλον ἱστορῶν.
Thither he sends these men, so that, when the enemy, destroyed from their ships, should escape to the island, they might slay the easy prey of the Greek army, and rescue their friends from the paths of the sea, ill inquiring of the future.
ὡς γὰρ θεὸς §455ναῶν ἔδωκε κῦδος Ἕλλησιν μάχης, §456αὐθημερὸν φράξαντες εὐχάλκοις δέμας §457ὅπλοισι ναῶν ἐξέθρῳσκον: ἀμφὶ δὲ §458κυκλοῦντο πᾶσαν νῆσον, ὥστ᾽ ἀμηχανεῖν §459ὅποι τράποιντο.
For when the god gave the glory of the battle of ships to the Greeks, on that very day, having fenced their bodies with well-bronzed armor, they leaped from their ships; and around they encircled the whole island, so that they were at a loss where to turn.
πολλὰ μὲν γὰρ ἐκ χερῶν §460πέτροισιν ἠράσσοντο, τοξικῆς τ᾽ ἀπὸ §461θώμιγγος ἰοὶ προσπίτνοντες ὤλλυσαν: §462τέλος δ᾽ ἐφορμηθέντες ἐξ ἑνὸς ῥόθου §463παίουσι, κρεοκοποῦσι δυστήνων μέλη, §464ἕως ἁπάντων ἐξαπέφθειραν βίον.
For many times from hands they were battered with stones, and arrows from the bowstring falling upon them destroyed them; and at last, rushing upon them with one clamor, they struck and hacked the limbs of the wretched men, until they utterly destroyed the life of all.
§465Ξέρξης δ᾽ ἀνῴμωξεν κακῶν ὁρῶν βάθος: §466ἕδραν γὰρ εἶχε παντὸς εὐαγῆ στρατοῦ, §467ὑψηλὸν ὄχθον ἄγχι πελαγίας ἁλός: §468ῥήξας δὲ πέπλους κἀνακωκύσας λιγύ, §469πεζῷ παραγγείλας ἄφαρ στρατεύματι, §470ἵησ᾽ ἀκόσμῳ ξὺν φυγῇ.
And Xerxes groaned aloud, seeing the depth of evils; for he had a seat in full view of the whole army, a high hill near the open sea; and tearing his garments and wailing shrilly, straightway giving orders to the land army, he sent them in disorderly flight.
τοιάνδε σοι §471πρὸς τῇ πάροιθε συμφορὰν στένειν πάρα.
Such a disaster is yours to groan for, in addition to the former one.
[Atossa] O hateful divinity, how indeed you have deceived of their expectations the Persians!
§474κλεινῶν Ἀθηνῶν ηὗρε, κοὐκ ἀπήρκεσαν §475οὓς πρόσθε Μαραθὼν βαρβάρων ἀπώλεσεν: §476ὧν ἀντίποινα παῖς ἐμὸς πράξειν δοκῶν §477τοσόνδε πλῆθος πημάτων ἐπέσπασεν.
And a bitter vengeance my son found from famous Athens, and those did not suffice whom Marathon formerly destroyed of the barbarians; of whom my son, thinking to exact vengeance, drew upon himself so great a multitude of sufferings.
§478σὺ δ᾽ εἰπέ, ναῶν αἳ πεφεύγασιν μόρον,
But do you say, of the ships that have escaped fate, where did you leave them?
§479ποῦ τάσδ᾽ ἔλειπες: οἶσθα σημῆναι τορῶς;
Do you know how to signal clearly?
[Messenger] The commanders of the remaining ships in haste take to flight before the wind in no good order.
§482στρατὸς δ᾽ ὁ λοιπὸς ἔν τε Βοιωτῶν χθονὶ §483διώλλυθ᾽, οἱ μὲν ἀμφὶ κρηναῖον γάνος §484δίψῃ πονοῦντες, οἱ δ᾽ ὑπ᾽ ἄσθματος κενοὶ §485διεκπερῶμεν ἔς τε Φωκέων χθόνα §486καὶ Δωρίδ᾽ αἶαν, Μηλιᾶ τε κόλπον, οὗ §487Σπερχειὸς ἄρδει πεδίον εὐμενεῖ ποτῷ: §488κἀντεῦθεν ἡμᾶς γῆς Ἀχαιίδος πέδον §489καὶ Θεσσαλῶν πόλεις ὑπεσπανισμένους §490βορᾶς ἐδέξαντ᾽: ἔνθα δὴ πλεῖστοι θάνον §491δίψῃ τε λιμῷ τ᾽: ἀμφότερα γὰρ ἦν τάδε.
But the rest of the army perished in the land of the Boeotians, some indeed around the spring's delight laboring with thirst, and others of us, empty of breath, passed through into the land of the Phocians, and the Dorian land, and the Melian gulf, where Spercheios waters the plain with friendly drink; and from there the soil of the Achaean land and the cities of the Thessalians received us, who were scantily supplied with food; there indeed the greatest number died of thirst and hunger; for both of these were present.
§492Μαγνητικὴν δὲ γαῖαν ἔς τε Μακεδόνων §493χώραν ἀφικόμεσθ᾽, ἐπ᾽ Ἀξίου πόρον, §494Βόλβης θ᾽ ἕλειον δόνακα, Πάγγαιόν τ᾽ ὄρος,
And to the Magnesian land and the country of the Macedonians we arrived, at the passage of the Axios, and the marshy reed of Bolbe, and Mount Pangaeum, the Edonian land.
§495Ἠδωνίδ᾽ αἶαν: νυκτὶ δ᾽ ἐν ταύτῃ θεὸς §496χειμῶν᾽ ἄωρον ὦρσε, πήγνυσιν δὲ πᾶν §497ῥέεθρον ἁγνοῦ Στρυμόνος.
But on this night a god raised an unseasonable winter, and froze all the stream of the holy Strymon.
And one who before believed in no gods, then prayed with supplications, worshiping earth and heaven.
And when the army ceased from calling much upon the gods, it crossed through the ice-bound passage.
And whoever of us, before the rays of the god were scattered, set forth, happens to be saved.
§504φλέγων γὰρ αὐγαῖς λαμπρὸς ἡλίου κύκλος
For the bright circle of the sun, burning with its beams,