94-97

Digression on the Plataians, 94–106. The aim of this section is to contrast the worthy grant of citizenship to the Plataians, who risked their lives on behalf of the Athenians, with the usurpation of citizen rights by those who didn’t deserve them. In this section, Apollodoros draws heavily on Thucydides (History of the Peloponnesian War 2.2–6) with occasional deviations, most of which serve either to condense the narrative or to paint the Plataians in a flattering light. For a detailed account of how Apollodoros’ account is both similar to and different from Thucydides’, see Kapparis 1999 ad loc. 94–103.

The Plataians helped the Athenians during the Persian Wars at the Battle of Marathon, and assisted both the Athenians and the Spartans when Xerxes invaded Greece ten years later. The Spartan king Pausanias, however, inscribed a monument to Apollo in which he took sole credit for the Greeks’ victories at Salamis and Plataia. 

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Πλαταιῆς = Πλαταιεῖς, “the men of Plataea,” a city in Boiotia, near Thebes

Μαραθωνάδε: “to Marathon.” Marathon is a city 26 miles north of Athens. The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BCE, where the Athenians (with the help of the Plataians) defeated the Persians and drove them from Greece (at least until the Persian king Xerxes invaded in 480). The name was later borrowed by the founders of the modern Olympics for the well-known footrace, drawing on a mythologized version of these events. [map]

Ἐρετρίας: Eretria is a city in Euboia. Along with Athens, it was targeted by the Persian king Darius because these two cities had given aid to the Ionian Greek cities of Asia Minor when they (unsuccessfully) revolted in 499 BCE.

ἐβοήθησαν: ”came to your aid” < βοηθέω

Δαρείου: King Darius I, a.k.a. Darius the Great

Εὔβοιαν ὑφ’ ἑαυτῷ ποιησάμενος: ”having put Euboia under him," i.e. subjugating Euboia

ἀπέβη εἰς τὴν χώραν: “disembarked (from his ships) into (our) territory,” i.e., Attica, after crossing the strait from Euboia. ἀπέβη < ἀπο-βαίνω

δυνάμει < δύναμις: “forces for war,” i.e., army (LSJ I.3). According to Herodotus 6.95, the fleet sent by Darius consisted of 600 triremes.

ἐπόρθει: ”began to plunder” < πορθέω; inchoative imperfect, denoting the beginning of an action (S. 1900)

αὐτῶν: the Plataians

τῇ ποικίλῃ στοᾷ: the Stoa Pokile, or Painted Stoa, was built in the first half of the fifth century in the north part of the Agora (reconstruction drawing).

γραφή: “picture,” “painting,” in this case one of the large wall frescoes that gave the Painted Stoa its name

δεδήλωκεν: “shows, depicts,” pf. with present meaning marking an enduring result (S. 1946)

ὡς ἕκαστος...τάχους εἶχεν: “as much as each man abounded in speed,” i.e., as fast as each man could go, at full speed; ἔχω + gen.: “to be well off for, abound in” (LSJ B.II.2.b)

γέγραπται < γράφω: the subject is (the understood) ἕκαστος.

οἱ…ἔχοντες: if the text is secure (a disputed point), this must stand in apposition to ἕκαστος.

τὰς κυνᾶς τὰς Βοιωτίας: the distinctive Boiotian helmet was lightweight and allowed for good visibility. A fourth century BCE example can be seen in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

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Ξέρξου ἰόντος ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα: Xerxes, king of Persia, was the son of Darius I. He invaded Greece in 480 BCE.

μηδισάντων < μηδίζω: i.e., going over to the Persian side

ἐτόλησαν: supply as subject the Plataians.

Λεωνίδου: Leonidas was a famous Spartan general.

Θερμοπύλαις: the Battle of Thermopylai took place in 480 BCE. While it saw a Persian victory, the Greeks (led by Leonidas) performed remarkably well. Apollodoros may be making up the Plataians’ involvement in the battle; at any rate, Herodotus does not mention their participation (Hdt. 7.202, 222).

τῷ βαρβάρῳ ἐπιόντι: dative governed by παραταξάμενοι, “drawn up against”

oἰκεῖα: “their own, belonging to them”

ὑπῆρχεν < ὑπάρχω, “to exist”

Ἀρτεμισίῳ: the Battle of Artemision was a series of naval engagements fought in 480 BCE.

Σαλαμῖνι: the Battle of Salamis, fought in 480 BCE, saw a decisive victory for the Greeks. According to Herodotus, the Plataians did not participate in this battle (Hdt. 8.44.1).

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τὴν τελευταίαν μάχην Πλαταιᾶσι: the Battle of Plataia (479 BCE) was another Greek victory. Πλαταιᾶσι = “at Plataia,” locative (S. 341)

κατέθηκαν...εἰς κοινόν: “deposited for public use,” as if the Plataians had won the victory as a gift to all the other Greeks. In fact, the Spartans had a key role, including overall command under Pausanias. According to Herodotus 9.28-29, the Athenians sent 8,000 hoplites, led by Aristides, along with 600 Plataian exiles.

Παυσανίας ὁ Λακεδαιμονίων βασιλεύς: in fact, he was regent of Leonidas’ son, who was too young to be king.

ὑβρίζειν ἐνεχείρει: “set out to insult,” referring to the events described in the next section. ἐνεχείρει < ἐγχειρέω

οὐκ ἠγάπα: “was not content”

ἠξιώθησαν: “were considered worthy of,” i.e., “were given”

ἡγεμονίας: “supreme command,” genitive governed by ἠξιώθησαν

ἡ πόλις: Athens

τῇ…ἀληθείᾳ: “in truth”

ἡγεῖτο: “led,” esp. at the crucial naval battles of Artemision and Salamis. ἡγέομαι = “to be leader for someone (+ dat.) in something (+ gen.)”

φιλοτιμίᾳ: dative of respect, “in ambition,” i.e., in asserting leadership at the Battle of Plataia

Λακεδαιμονίοις: dative governed by ἠναντιοῦτο < ἐναντιόομαι; the subject of ἠναντιοῦτο is Athens

ἵνα μὴ φθονηθῶσιν: “so that they (the Athenians) would not become the objects of ill-will.” Athenian self-restraint is juxtaposed with the arrogance of the Spartan Pausanias. φθονηθῶσιν < φθονέω, aor. pass. subj. 3 pl.

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ἐφ’ οἷς: that is, the honors accorded to the Spartans

φυσηθείς < φυσάω

ἀριστεῖον: take as predicate

ἀπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων: i.e., from the spoils of the barbarians

ὤλεσε < ὄλλυμι

Φοίβῳ: i.e., Apollo

ὡς...ὄντος: ὡς + ptc. = “as if” (LSJ C.I.1)

αὑτοῦ: reflexive pronoun, possessive genitive; note the predicate position.