Euenius · lines 33–40
Herodotus describes the sacred flock of Apollonia and the men who guard it; this year it is Euenius' turn · Tales from Herodotus · GCSE Greek · OCR J292/02
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SubjectObjectVerbGenitiveDativePrepositionConjunctionAdverb
Greek
English
33ἔστιν ἐν τῇ Ἀπολλωνίᾳ ἱερὰ ἡλίου πρόβατα, ἃ τὰς
34μὲν ἡμέρας βόσκεται παρὰ ποταμόν τινα, τὰς δὲ νύκτας
35ᾑρημένοι ἄνδρες, οἱ πλούτῳ τε καὶ γένει δοκιμώτατοι
36τῶν ἀστῶν, φυλάττουσιν ἐνιαυτὸν ἕκαστος·
In Apollonia there are sheep sacred to the Sun. By day they graze beside a river; by night they are guarded by men chosen from the citizens most distinguished for wealth and birth, each man serving for a year.
36περὶ πολλοῦ
37γὰρ δὴ ποιοῦνται οἱ Ἀπολλωνιᾶται τὰ πρόβατα ταῦτα
38ἐκ θεοπροπίου τινός·
For the Apollonians set great store by these sheep because of an oracle.
38ἐν δὲ ἄντρῳ αὐλίζονται ἀπὸ τῆς
39πόλεως ἑκάς.
They spend the night in a cave a long way from the town.
39ἔνθα δὴ τότε ὁ Εὐήνιος οὗτος ᾑρημένος
40ἐφύλαττε.
It was there, at that time, that this Euenius, having been chosen, was keeping guard.
Style notes this section · 13Word order · 2Repetition and structure · 3Word choice · 5Imagery and tone · 1Grammar · 2
33
ἔστινEmphatic position
there are
The verb comes first, as in a description of a place, so the reader knows Herodotus has stepped aside from his main story to tell a tale.
33
ἱερὰ ἡλίουEmphasis
sacred to the Sun
The sheep are called sacred before we are even told they are sheep, so the reader knows from the start that harming them will be serious.
33–34
τὰς μὲν ἡμέρας … τὰς δὲ νύκταςContrast (μέν ... δέ)
by day … by night
The balanced phrases divide the flock's day in two, which shows a careful routine that runs round the clock.
34–38
βόσκεται … φυλάττουσιν … ποιοῦνται … αὐλίζονταιPresent tense
graze … guard … set store by … spend the night
The custom is described in the present, as if it still goes on, so the reader feels Apollonia is a real place they could visit.
34
παρὰ ποταμόν τιναVivid detail
beside a river
A calm picture of sheep grazing by a river, which makes the slaughter to come all the more shocking.
35–39
ᾑρημένοι … ᾑρημένοςPolyptoton
chosen … chosen
The same verb appears for the guards and for Euenius, which reminds the reader that he is one of the chosen elite.
35
πλούτῳ τε καὶ γένειPairing
in wealth and birth
Linking the two with τε καί shows that the guards must be both rich and well born, so guarding the flock is an honour.
35
δοκιμώτατοιSuperlative
most distinguished
Only the very best citizens are chosen, which shows how much the flock matters to the city.
36–37
περὶ πολλοῦ γὰρ δὴ ποιοῦνταιEmphasis
they set great store by
The idiom, strengthened by δή, stresses how highly the Apollonians value the flock, so the reader expects them to react strongly to any loss.
38
ἐκ θεοπροπίου τινόςForeshadowing
because of an oracle
The flock is tied to the gods from the start, which hints that the gods will step in later in the story.
38–39
ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως ἑκάςEmphatic position
a long way from the town
Far away comes at the end of the sentence, so the reader notices how isolated the cave is, a place where something could go wrong unseen.
39
ἔνθα δὴ τότεEmphasis
there, at that time
Two adverbs and δή pin down one place and one moment, so the reader knows the description is over and the story is starting.
40
ἐφύλαττεChange of tense
was keeping guard
After a run of present tenses the imperfect marks the move from custom to event, so the reader feels the story begin.
Notes on the text 3
33
Ἀπολλωνία, -ας, ἡApollonia
Apollonia
A colony of Corinth and Corcyra on the Adriatic, in modern Albania. In his fuller account Herodotus says the river the sheep graze beside flows down from Mount Lakmon to the sea near the harbour of Oricum.
37
Ἀπολλωνιᾶται, -ῶν, οἱThe Apollonians
the Apollonians
The people of Apollonia. The ending -ιᾶται is a common way of forming the name of a city's citizens.
39
Εὐήνιος, -ου, ὁEuenius
Euenius
Known only from this story. Herodotus tells it because Euenius' son Deiphonus served as seer to the Greek fleet at Mycale in 479 BC.
Questions to think about · 2
- Why might Herodotus describe the custom of guarding the flock in such detail before telling us anything about Euenius?
- What does the choice of guards tell you about how the Apollonians regard the sheep?
Why this story? background
The tale of Euenius comes in Book 9 of the Histories, in the middle of the campaign of 479 BC. Before the battle of Mycale, fought on the coast of Asia Minor opposite Samos, the sacrifices for the Greek fleet were made by a seer called Deiphonus, and Herodotus stops to explain who Deiphonus' father was and how the family came by its gift of prophecy. The story has nothing to do with the war. It is there because Herodotus thinks it worth telling, and because it says something about how gods deal with men.
Apollonia and its sacred flock background
Apollonia was a Greek city near the Adriatic coast, in what is now Albania, founded around 600 BC by colonists from Corinth and Corcyra. Many Greek sanctuaries kept animals that belonged to a god: they could not be sold, eaten or used like ordinary livestock, and harming them was an offence against the god himself. This flock belongs to Helios, the Sun, who had less of a cult of his own than the Olympian gods; but Greek audiences knew another sacred flock of the Sun from Book 12 of the Odyssey, where Odysseus' starving crew kill and eat the Sun's cattle and are all destroyed for it.
Vocabulary in this section · 44 wordsVocabulary tester
εἰμί be; (first in its sentence) there is, there are
ἐν (+ dat.) in, on, at
ὁ, ἡ, τό the
Ἀπολλωνία, -ας, ἡ Apollonia
ἱερός, -ά, -όν sacred, holy
ἥλιος, -ου, ὁ sun
πρόβατα, -ων, τά flock of sheep, sheep
ὅς, ἥ, ὅ who, which
μέν on the one hand
ἡμέρα, -ας, ἡ day
βόσκομαι graze, feed
παρά (+ acc.) beside, along
ποταμός, -οῦ, ὁ river
τις, τι a certain, some
δέ and, but
νύξ, νυκτός, ἡ night
αἱρέω take; (middle) choose; (passive) be chosen
ἀνήρ, ἀνδρός, ὁ man
πλοῦτος, -ου, ὁ wealth
τε … καί both … and
καί and
γένος, -ους, τό race, family, lineage
δόκιμος, -ον notable, honoured, esteemed
ἀστός, -οῦ, ὁ citizen, townsman
φυλάττω guard
ἐνιαυτός, -οῦ, ὁ year
ἕκαστος, -η, -ον each, every
περί (+ gen.) about; περὶ πολλοῦ ποιέομαι = value highly
πολύς, πολλή, πολύ much
γάρ for
δή indeed, in truth
ποιέω do, make; (middle, with περὶ πολλοῦ) value
Ἀπολλωνιᾶται, -ῶν, οἱ the Apollonians
οὗτος, αὕτη, τοῦτο this
ἐκ (+ gen.) out of, from; here, as a result of
θεοπρόπιον, -ου, τό prophecy, oracle
ἄντρον, -ου, τό cave
αὐλίζομαι be penned, lodge at night
ἀπό (+ gen.) from, away from
πόλις, -εως, ἡ city
ἑκάς far, far away
ἔνθα there
τότε then, at that time
Εὐήνιος, -ου, ὁ Euenius