οἱ δὲ ἐκ Μυκάλης ὁρμηθέντες Ἕλληνες ἐπʼ Ἑλλησπόντου πρῶτον μὲν περὶ Λεκτὸν ὅρμεον, ὑπὸ ἀνέμων ἀπολαμφθέντες, ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ ἀπίκοντο ἐς Ἄβυδον καὶ τὰς γεφύρας εὗρον διαλελυμένας, τὰς ἐδόκεον εὑρήσειν ἔτι ἐντεταμένας, καὶ τούτων οὐκ ἥκιστα εἵνεκεν ἐς τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον ἀπίκοντο.
τοῖσι μέν νυν ἀμφὶ Λευτυχίδην Πελοποννησίοις ἔδοξε ἀποπλέειν ἐς τὴν Ἑλλάδα, Ἀθηναίοισι δὲ καὶ Ξανθίππῳ τῷ στρατηγῷ αὐτοῦ ὑπομείναντας πειρᾶσθαι τῆς Χερσονήσου. οἳ μὲν δὴ ἀπέπλεον, Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ ἐκ τῆς Ἀβύδου διαβάντες ἐς τὴν Χερσόνησον Σηστὸν ἐπολιόρκεον.
Now the Hellenes who had set forth from Mycale to the Hellespont first moored their ships about Lecton, being stopped from their voyage by winds; and thence they came to Abydos and found that the bridges had been broken up, which they thought to find still stretched across, and on account of which especially they had come to the Hellespont. So the Peloponnesians which Leotychides resolved to sail back to Hellas, while the Athenians and Xanthippos their commander determined to stay behind there and to make an attempt upon the Chersonese. Those then sailed away, and the Athenians passed over from Abydos to the Chersonese and began to besiege Sestos.
ἐς δὲ τὴν Σηστὸν ταύτην, ὡς ἐόντος ἰσχυροτάτου τείχεος τῶν ταύτῃ, συνῆλθον, ὡς ἤκουσαν παρεῖναι τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐς τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον, ἔκ τε τῶν ἀλλέων τῶν περιοικίδων, καὶ δὴ καὶ ἐκ Καρδίης πόλιος Οἰόβαζος ἀνὴρ Πέρσης, ὃς τὰ ἐκ τῶν γεφυρέων ὅπλα ἐνθαῦτα ἦν κεκομικώς. εἶχον δὲ ταύτην ἐπιχώριοι Αἰολέες, συνῆσαν δὲ Πέρσαι τε καὶ τῶν ἄλλων συμμάχων συχνὸς ὅμιλος.
To this town of Sestos, since it was the greatest stronghold of those in that region, men had come together from the cities which lay round it, when they heard that the Hellenes had arrived at the Hellespont, and especially there had come from the city of Cardia Oiobazos a Persian, who had brought to Sestos the ropes of the bridges. The inhabitants of the city were Aiolians, natives of the country, but there were living with them a great number of Persians and also of their allies.
ἐτυράννευε δὲ τούτου τοῦ νομοῦ Ξέρξεω ὕπαρχος Ἀρταΰκτης, ἀνὴρ μὲν Πέρσης, δεινὸς δὲ καὶ ἀτάσθαλος, ὃς καὶ βασιλέα ἐλαύνοντα ἐπʼ Ἀθήνας ἐξηπάτησε, τὰ Πρωτεσίλεω τοῦ Ἰφίκλου χρήματα ἐξ Ἐλαιοῦντος ὑπελόμενος.
ἐν γὰρ Ἐλαιοῦντι τῆς Χερσονήσου ἐστὶ Πρωτεσίλεω τάφος τε καὶ τέμενος περὶ αὐτόν, ἔνθα ἦν χρήματα πολλὰ καὶ φιάλαι χρύσεαι καὶ ἀργύρεαι καὶ χαλκὸς καὶ ἐσθὴς καὶ ἄλλα ἀναθήματα, τὰ Ἀρταΰκτης ἐσύλησε βασιλέος δόντος. λέγων δὲ τοιάδε Ξέρξην διεβάλετο.
δέσποτα, ἔστι οἶκος ἀνδρὸς Ἕλληνος ἐνθαῦτα, ὃς ἐπὶ γῆν σὴν στρατευσάμενος δίκης κυρήσας ἀπέθανε· τούτου μοι δὸς τὸν οἶκον, ἵνα καί τις μάθῃ ἐπὶ γῆν τὴν σὴν μὴ στρατεύεσθαι. ταῦτα λέγων εὐπετέως ἔμελλε ἀναπείσειν Ξέρξην δοῦναι ἀνδρὸς οἶκον, οὐδὲν ὑποτοπηθέντα τῶν ἐκεῖνος ἐφρόνεε. ἐπὶ γῆν δὲ τὴν βασιλέος στρατεύεσθαι Πρωτεσίλεων ἔλεγε νοέων τοιάδε· τὴν Ἀσίην πᾶσαν νομίζουσι ἑωυτῶν εἶναι Πέρσαι καὶ τοῦ αἰεὶ βασιλεύοντος. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐδόθη, τὰ χρήματα ἐξ Ἐλαιοῦντος ἐς Σηστὸν ἐξεφόρησε, καὶ τὸ τέμενος ἔσπειρε καὶ ἐνέμετο, αὐτός τε ὅκως ἀπίκοιτο ἐς Ἐλαιοῦντα ἐν τῷ ἀδύτῳ γυναιξὶ ἐμίσγετο. τότε δὲ ἐπολιορκέετο ὑπὸ Ἀθηναίων οὔτε παρεσκευασμένος ἐς πολιορκίην οὔτε προσδεκόμενος τοὺς Ἕλληνας, ἀφύκτως δέ κως αὐτῷ ἐπέπεσον.
And of the province Artaÿctes was despot, as governor under Xerxes, a Persian, but a man of desperate and reckless character, who also had practised deception upon the king on his march against Athens, in taking away from Elaius the things belonging to Protesilaos the son of Iphiclos. For at Elaius in the Chersonese there is the tomb of Protesilaos with a sacred enclosure about it, where there were many treasures, with gold and silver cups and bronze and raiment and other offerings, which things Artaÿctes carried off as plunder, the king having granted them to him. And he deceived Xerxes by saying to him some such words as these: “Master, there is here the house of a man, a Hellene, who made an expedition against thy land and met with his deserts and was slain: this man’s house I ask thee to give to me, that every one may learn not to make expeditions against thy land.” By saying this it was likely that he would easily enough persuade Xerxes to give him a man’s house, not suspecting what was in his mind: and when he said that Protesilaos had made expedition against the land of the king, it must be understood that the Persians consider all Asia to be theirs and to belong to their reigning king. So when the things had been given him, he brought them from Elaius to Sestos, and he sowed the sacred enclosure for crops and occupied it as his own; and he himself, whenever he came to Elaius, had commerce with women in the inner cell of the temple. And now he was being besieged by the Athenians, when he had not made any preparation for a siege nor had been expecting that the Hellenes would come; for they fell upon him, as one may say, inevitably.
ἐπεὶ δὲ πολιορκεομένοισί σφι φθινόπωρον ἐπεγίνετο, καὶ ἤσχαλλον οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ἀπό τε τῆς ἑωυτῶν ἀποδημέοντες καὶ οὐ δυνάμενοι ἐξελεῖν τὸ τεῖχος, ἐδέοντό τε τῶν στρατηγῶν ὅκως ἀπάγοιεν σφέας ὀπίσω, οἳ δὲ οὐκ ἔφασαν πρὶν ἢ ἐξέλωσι ἢ τὸ Ἀθηναίων κοινόν σφεας μεταπέμψηται· οὕτω δὴ ἔστεργον τὰ παρεόντα.
When however autumn came and the siege still went on, the Athenians began to be vexed at being absent from their own land and at the same time not able to conquer the fortress, and they requested their commanders to lead them away home; but these said that they would not do so, until either they had taken the town or the public authority of the Athenians sent for them home: and so they endured their present state.
οἱ δὲ ἐν τῷ τείχεϊ ἐς πᾶν ἤδη κακοῦ ἀπιγμένοι ἦσαν, οὕτω ὥστε τοὺς τόνους ἕψοντες τῶν κλινέων ἐσιτέοντο. ἐπείτε δὲ οὐδὲ ταῦτα ἔτι εἶχον, οὕτω δὴ ὑπὸ νύκτα οἴχοντο ἀποδράντες οἵ τε Πέρσαι καὶ ὁ Ἀρταΰκτης καὶ ὁ Οἰόβαζος, ὄπισθε τοῦ τείχεος καταβάντες, τῇ ἦν ἐρημότατον τῶν πολεμίων.
ὡς δὲ ἡμέρη ἐγένετο, οἱ Χερσονησῖται ἀπὸ τῶν πύργων ἐσήμηναν τοῖσι Ἀθηναίοισι τὸ γεγονὸς καὶ τὰς πύλας ἄνοιξαν. τῶν δὲ οἱ μὲν πλεῦνες ἐδίωκον, οἳ δὲ τὴν πόλιν εἶχον.
Those however who were within the walls had now come to the greatest misery, so that they boiled down the girths of their beds and used them for food; and when they no longer had even these, then the Persians and with them Artaÿctes and Oiobazos ran away and departed in the night, climbing down by the back part of the wall, where the place was left most unguarded by the enemy; and when day came, the men of the Chersonese signified to the Athenians from the towers concerning that which had happened, and opened the gates to them. So the greater number of them went in pursuit, and the rest occupied the city.
Ὀιόβαζον μέν νυν ἐκφεύγοντα ἐς τὴν Θρηίκην Θρήικες Ἀψίνθιοι λαβόντες ἔθυσαν Πλειστώρῳ ἐπιχωρίῳ θεῷ τρόπῳ τῷ σφετέρῳ, τοὺς δὲ μετʼ ἐκείνου ἄλλῳ τρόπῳ ἐφόνευσαν.
οἱ δὲ ἀμφὶ τὸν Ἀρταΰκτην ὕστεροι ὁρμηθέντες φεύγειν, καὶ ὡς κατελαμβάνοντο ὀλίγον ἐόντες ὑπὲρ Αἰγὸς ποταμῶν, ἀλεξόμενοι χρόνον ἐπὶ συχνὸν οἳ μὲν ἀπέθανον οἳ δὲ ζῶντες ἐλάμφθησαν. καὶ συνδήσαντες σφέας οἱ Ἕλληνες ἦγον ἐς Σηστόν, μετʼ αὐτῶν δὲ καὶ Ἀρταΰκτην δεδεμένον αὐτόν τε καὶ τὸν παῖδα αὐτοῦ.
Now Oiobazos, as he was escaping into Thrace, was caught by the Apsinthian Thracians and sacrificed to their native god Pleistoros with their rites, and the rest who were with him they slaughtered in another manner: but Artaÿctes with his companions, who started on their flight later and were overtaken at a little distance above Aigospotamoi, defended themselves for a considerable time and were some of them killed and others taken alive: and the Hellenes had bound these and were bringing them to Sestos, and among them Artaÿctes also in bonds together with his son.
καί τεῳ τῶν φυλασσόντων λέγεται ὑπὸ Χερσονησιτέων ταρίχους ὀπτῶντι τέρας γενέσθαι τοιόνδε· οἱ τάριχοι ἐπὶ τῷ πυρὶ κείμενοι ἐπάλλοντό τε καὶ ἤσπαιρον ὅκως περ ἰχθύες νεοάλωτοι.
καὶ οἳ μὲν περιχυθέντες ἐθώμαζον, ὁ δὲ Ἀρταΰκτης ὡς εἶδε τὸ τέρας, καλέσας τὸν ὀπτῶντα τοὺς ταρίχους ἔφη ξεῖνε Ἀθηναῖε, μηδὲν φοβέο τὸ τέρας τοῦτο· οὐ γὰρ σοὶ πέφηνε, ἀλλʼ ἐμοὶ σημαίνει ὁ ἐν Ἐλαιοῦντι Πρωτεσίλεως ὅτι καὶ τεθνεὼς καὶ τάριχος ἐὼν δύναμιν πρὸς θεῶν ἔχει τὸν ἀδικέοντα τίνεσθαι.
νῦν ὦν ἄποινά μοι τάδε ἐθέλω ἐπιθεῖναι, ἀντὶ μὲν χρημάτων τῶν ἔλαβον ἐκ τοῦ ἱροῦ ἑκατὸν τάλαντα καταθεῖναι τῷ θεῷ, ἀντὶ δʼ ἐμεωυτοῦ καὶ τοῦ παιδὸς ἀποδώσω τάλαντα διηκόσια Ἀθηναίοισι περιγενόμενος.
ταῦτα ὑπισχόμενος τὸν στρατηγὸν Ξάνθιππον οὐκ ἔπειθε· οἱ γὰρ Ἐλαιούσιοι τῷ Πρωτεσίλεῳ τιμωρέοντες ἐδέοντό μιν καταχρησθῆναι, καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ στρατηγοῦ ταύτῃ νόος ἔφερε. ἀπαγαγόντες δὲ αὐτὸν ἐς τὴν Ξέρξης ἔζευξε τὸν πόρον, οἳ δὲ λέγουσι ἐπὶ τὸν κολωνὸν τὸν ὑπὲρ Μαδύτου πόλιος, πρὸς σανίδας προσπασσαλεύσαντες ἀνεκρέμασαν· τὸν δὲ παῖδα ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖσι τοῦ Ἀρταΰκτεω κατέλευσαν.
Then, it is said by the men of the Chersonese, as one of those who guarded them was frying dried fish, a portent occurred as follows,—the dried fish when laid upon the fire began to leap and struggle just as if they were fish newly caught: and the others gathered round and were marvelling at the portent, but Artaÿctes seeing it called to the man who was frying the fish and said: “Stranger of Athens, be not at all afraid of this portent, seeing that it has not appeared for thee but for me. Protesilaos who dwells at Elaius signifies thereby that though he is dead and his body is dried like those fish, yet he has power given him by the gods to exact vengeance from the man who does him wrong. Now therefore I desire to impose this penalty for him, —that in place of the things which I took from the temple I should pay down a hundred talents to the god, and moreover as ransom for myself and my son I will pay two hundred talents to the Athenians, if my life be spared.” Thus he engaged to do, but he did not prevail upon the commander Xanthippos; for the people of Elaius desiring to take vengeance for Protesilaos asked that he might be put to death, and the inclination of the commander himself tended to the same conclusion. They brought him therefore to that headland to which Xerxes made the passage across, or as some say to the hill which is over the town of Madytos, and there they nailed him to boards and hung him up; and they stoned his son to death before the eyes of Artaÿctes himself.
ταῦτα δὲ ποιήσαντες ἀπέπλεον ἐς τὴν Ἑλλάδα, τά τε ἄλλα χρήματα ἄγοντες καὶ δὴ καὶ τὰ ὅπλα τῶν γεφυρέων ὡς ἀναθήσοντες ἐς τὰ ἱρά. καὶ κατὰ τὸ ἔτος τοῦτο οὐδὲν ἐπὶ πλέον τούτων ἐγένετο.
Having so done, they sailed away to Hellas, taking with them, besides other things, the ropes also of the bridges, in order to dedicate them as offerings in the temples: and for that year nothing happened further than this.
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