δύο δὲ τούτων τῶν τριηκοσίων λέγεται Εὔρυτόν τε καὶ Ἀριστόδημον, παρεὸν αὐτοῖσι ἀμφοτέροισι κοινῷ λόγῳ χρησαμένοισι ἢ ἀποσωθῆναι ὁμοῦ ἐς Σπάρτην, ὡς μεμετιμένοι γε ἦσαν ἐκ τοῦ στρατοπέδου ὑπὸ Λεωνίδεω καὶ κατεκέατο ἐν Ἀλπηνοῖσι ὀφθαλμιῶντες ἐς τὸ ἔσχατον, ἢ εἴ γε μὴ ἐβούλοντο νοστῆσαι, ἀποθανεῖν ἅμα τοῖσι ἄλλοισι, παρεόν σφι τούτων τὰ ἕτερα ποιέειν οὐκ ἐθελῆσαι ὁμοφρονέειν, ἀλλὰ γνώμῃ διενειχθέντας Εὔρυτον μέν, πυθόμενον τῶν Περσέων τὴν περίοδον, αἰτήσαντά τε τὰ ὅπλα καὶ ἐνδύντα ἄγειν ἑωυτὸν κελεῦσαι τὸν εἵλωτα ἐς τοὺς μαχομένους, ὅκως δὲ αὐτὸν ἤγαγε, τὸν μὲν ἀγαγόντα οἴχεσθαι φεύγοντα, τὸν δὲ ἐσπεσόντα ἐς τὸν ὅμιλον διαφθαρῆναι, Ἀριστόδημον δὲ λιποψυχέοντα λειφθῆναι.
εἰ μέν νυν ἢ μοῦνον Ἀριστόδημον ἀλγήσαντα ἀπονοστῆσαι ἐς Σπάρτην ἢ καὶ ὁμοῦ σφεων ἀμφοτέρων τὴν κομιδὴν γενέσθαι, δοκέειν ἐμοί, οὐκ ἄν σφι Σπαρτιήτας μῆνιν οὐδεμίαν προσθέσθαι· νυνὶ δὲ τοῦ μὲν αὐτῶν ἀπολομένου, τοῦ δὲ τῆς μὲν αὐτῆς ἐχομένου προφάσιος οὐκ ἐθελήσαντος δὲ ἀποθνήσκειν, ἀναγκαίως σφι ἔχειν μηνῖσαι μεγάλως Ἀριστοδήμῳ.
Two of these three hundred, it is said, namely Eurystos and Aristodemos, who, if they had made agreement with one another, might either have come safe home to Sparta together (seeing that they had been dismissed from the camp by Leonidas and were lying at Alpenoi with disease of the eyes, suffering extremely), or again, if they had not wished to return home, they might have been slain together with the rest,—when they might, I say, have done either one of these two things, would not agree together; but the two being divided in opinion, Eurystos, it is said, when he was informed that the Persians had gone round, asked for his arms and having put them on ordered his Helot to lead him to those who were fighting; and after he had led him thither, the man who had led him ran away and departed, but Eurystos plunged into the thick of the fighting, and so lost his life: but Aristodemos was left behind fainting. Now if either Aristodemos had been ill alone, and so had returned home to Sparta, or the men had both of them come back together, I do not suppose that the Spartans would have displayed any anger against them; but in this case, as the one of them had lost his life and the other, clinging to an excuse which the first also might have used, had not been willing to die, it necessarily happened that the Spartans had great indignation against Aristodemos.
οἳ μέν νυν οὕτω σωθῆναι λέγουσι Ἀριστόδημον ἐς Σπάρτην καὶ διὰ πρόφασιν τοιήνδε, οἳ δὲ ἄγγελον πεμφθέντα ἐκ τοῦ στρατοπέδου, ἐξεὸν αὐτῷ καταλαβεῖν τὴν μάχην γινομένην οὐκ ἐθελῆσαι, ἀλλʼ ὑπομείναντα ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ περιγενέσθαι, τὸν δὲ συνάγγελον αὐτοῦ ἀπικόμενον ἐς τὴν μάχην ἀποθανεῖν.
Some say that Aristodemos came safe to Sparta in this manner, and on a pretext such as I have said; but others, that he had been sent as a messenger from the camp, and when he might have come up in time to find the battle going on, was not willing to do so, but stayed upon the road and so saved his life, while his fellow-messenger reached the battle and was slain.
ἀπονοστήσας δὲ ἐς Λακεδαίμονα ὁ Ἀριστόδημος εἶχε ὄνειδός τε καὶ ἀτιμίην· πάσχων δὲ τοιάδε ἠτίμωτο· οὔτε οἱ πῦρ οὐδεὶς ἔναυε Σπαρτιητέων οὔτε διελέγετο. ὄνειδος δὲ εἶχε ὁ τρέσας Ἀριστόδημος καλεόμενος. ἀλλʼ ὃ μὲν ἐν τῇ ἐν Πλαταιῇσι μάχῃ ἀνέλαβε πᾶσαν τὴν ἐπενειχθεῖσαν αἰτίην·
When Aristodemos, I say, had returned home to Lacedemon, he had reproach and dishonour; and that which he suffered by way of dishonour was this,—no one of the Spartans would either give him light for a fire or speak with him, and he had reproach in that he was called Aristodemos the coward.
λέγεται δὲ καὶ ἄλλον ἀποπεμφθέντα ἄγγελον ἐς Θεσσαλίην τῶν τριηκοσίων τούτων περιγενέσθαι, τῷ οὔνομα εἶναι Παντίτην· νοστήσαντα δὲ τοῦτον ἐς Σπάρτην, ὡς ἠτίμωτο, ἀπάγξασθαι.
He however in the battle at Plataia repaired all the guilt that was charged against him: but it is reported that another man also survived of these three hundred, whose name was Pantites, having been sent as a messenger to Thessaly, and this man, when he returned back to Sparta and found himself dishonoured, is said to have strangled himself.
οἱ δὲ Θηβαῖοι, τῶν ὁ Λεοντιάδης ἐστρατήγεε, τέως μὲν μετὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἐόντες ἐμάχοντο ὑπʼ ἀναγκαίης ἐχόμενοι πρὸς τὴν βασιλέος στρατιήν· ὡς δὲ εἶδον κατυπέρτερα τῶν Περσέων γινόμενα τὰ πρήγματα, οὕτω δή, τῶν σὺν Λεωνίδῃ Ἑλλήνων ἐπειγομένων ἐπὶ τὸν κολωνόν, ἀποσχισθέντες τούτων χεῖράς τε προέτεινον καὶ ἤισαν ἆσσον τῶν βαρβάρων, λέγοντες τὸν ἀληθέστατον τῶν λόγων, ὡς καὶ μηδίζουσι καὶ γῆν τε καὶ ὕδωρ ἐν πρώτοισι ἔδοσαν βασιλέι, ὑπὸ δὲ ἀναγκαίης ἐχόμενοι ἐς Θερμοπύλας ἀπικοίατο καὶ ἀναίτιοι εἶεν τοῦ τρώματος τοῦ γεγονότος βασιλέι.
ὥστε ταῦτα λέγοντες περιεγίνοντο· εἶχον γὰρ καὶ Θεσσαλοὺς τούτων τῶν λόγων μάρτυρας· οὐ μέντοι τά γε πάντα εὐτύχησαν· ὡς γὰρ αὐτοὺς ἔλαβον οἱ βάρβαροι ἐλθόντας, τοὺς μὲν τινὰς καὶ ἀπέκτειναν προσιόντας, τοὺς δὲ πλεῦνας αὐτῶν κελεύσαντος Ξέρξεω ἔστιζον στίγματα βασιλήια, ἀρξάμενοι ἀπὸ τοῦ στρατηγοῦ Λεοντιάδεω· τοῦ τὸν παῖδα Εὐρύμαχον χρόνῳ μετέπειτα ἐφόνευσαν Πλαταιέες στρατηγήσαντα ἀνδρῶν Θηβαίων τετρακοσίων καὶ σχόντα τὸ ἄστυ τὸ Πλαταιέων.
The Thebans however, of whom the commander was Leontiades, being with the Hellenes had continued for some time to fight against the king’s army, constrained by necessity; but when they saw that the fortunes of the Persians were prevailing, then and not before, while the Hellenes with Leonidas were making their way with speed to the hillock, they separated from these and holding out their hands came near to the Barbarians, saying at the same time that which was most true, namely that they were on the side of the Medes and that they had been among the first to give earth and water to the king; and moreover that they had come to Thermopylai constrained by necessity, and were blameless for the loss which had been inflicted upon the king: so that thus saying they preserved their lives, for they had also the Thessalians to bear witness to these words. However, they did not altogether meet with good fortune, for some had even been slain as they had been approaching, and when they had come and the Barbarians had them in their power, the greater number of them were branded by command of Xerxes with the royal marks, beginning with their leader Leontiades, the same whose son Eurymachos was afterwards slain by the Plataians, when he had been made commander of four hundred Thebans and had seized the city of the Plataians.
Cite This Text