Linguistics Into Interpretation: Speeches of War in Herodotus VII 5 & 8-18 9004114556, 9789004114555

Table of contents :
LINGUISTICS INTO INTERPRETATION: SPEECHES OF WAR IN HERODOTUS VII 5 & 8- I 8
CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction
Abbreviations & Bibliography
Conspectus Siglorum
Comparatio Hude-Rosen
Text & Translation of Herodotus VII 5 & 8-18
Speeches of War in Herodotus:
Leading up to the first speech (1-5.1)
First speech of Mardonius (5.2-3)
Xerxes persuaded (6-8.1)
First speech of Xerxes (8 a-6)
Second speech of Mardonius (9)
First speech of Artabanus (10)
Second speech of Xerxes (11)
First speech of the Dream (12)
Third speech of Xerxes (13)
Second speech of the Dream (14)
Fourth speech of Xerxes (15)
Second speech of Artabanus (16)
Third speech of the Dream (17)
Fifth speech of Xerxes (18)
Appendix: Dionysius of Halicarnassus
De Demosthenis dictione 41
Index of Passages Cited
Index of Greek Words
Analytical Index
SUPPLEMENTS TO MNEMOSYNE

Citation preview

LINGUISTICS INTO INTERPRETATION

MNEMOSYNE BIBLIOTHECA CLASSICA BATAVA COLLEGERUNT

JI\!. BREMER· L.F.JANSSEN · H. PINKSTER H. \\'. PLEKET • C.J. RUIJGH • P.H. SCHRIJVERS BIBLIOTHECAE FASCICULOS EDENDOS CURAVIT C.J. RUIJGH, KLASSIEK SEMINARIUI\I, OUDE TURFMARKT 129, AMSTERDAM

SUPPLEMENTUM CENTESIMUM NONAGESIMUM QUINTUM

JOHANNES M. VAN OPHUIJSEN AND

PETER STORK

LINGUISTICS INTO INTERPRETATION

LINGUISTICS INTO INTERPRETATION SPEECHES OF WAR IN HERODOTUS VII

5

&

8- I 8

BY

JOHANNES M. VAN OPHUIJSEN AND

PETER STORK

BRILL LEIDEN · BOSTON · KOLN 1999

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ophuijsen, J. M. van, 1953Linguistics into interpretation : speeches of war in Herodotus VII 5 & 8-18 / by Johannes M. van Ophuijsen and Peter Stork. p. cm. - (Mnemosyne, bibliotheca classica Batava. Supplementum, ISSN O169-0985 ; 195) Includes bibliographical references and index. English and Greek. ISBN 9004114556 (cloth : alk. paper) I. Herodotus-Literary style. 2. Herodotus. History Book 7. 3. Speeches, addresses, etc., Greek-history and criticism. 4. Greece-History-Persian Wars, 500-449 B.C.-Literature and the wars. 5. Speech in literature. 6. War in literature. I. Stork, Peter. II. Herodotus. History. Book 7. English and Greek. Selections. III. Title. IV. Series. PA4007.066 1999 938'.03-dc21 99-23081 CIP

Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme [Mnemosyne / Supplementum] Mnemosyne : bibliotheca classica Batava. Supplementum. - Leiden ; Boston ; Kiiln : Brill Friiher Schriftenreihe Teilw. u.d.T.: Mnemosyne / Supplements Reihe Supplementum zu: Mnemosyne

195. Ophuijsen, Johannes M. van: Linguistics into interpretation. 1999

Ophuijsen, Johannes M. van: Linguistics into interpretation : speeches of war in Herodotus VII 5 & 8 - 18 / Johannes M. van Ophuijsen and Peter Stork. - Leiden ; Boston ; Kiiln : Brill, 1999 (Mnemosyne : Supplementum ; 195) ISBN 90---04-11455-6

ISSN O169-8958 ISBN 90 04 11455 6 © Copyright 1999 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands All rights reserved. No part ef this publication mqy be reproduced, translated, stored in a retriRval .rystem, or transmitted in any farm or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission .from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items far internal or personal use is granted by Brill provided that the appropriate fees are paid direct!)> to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910 Danvers 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS

CONTENTS

Preface ........................................................................................ Introduction ... ... .. .. .. .. .. ... ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..... ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .... . Abbreviations & Bibliography ... .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. ... .. .. .. .. Conspectus Siglorum . .. ... .... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... ... .. .. .. .. .. ... .. ... .. .. ... .. .... . Comparatio Hude-Rosen ..........................................................

vu IX

xi xix XXI

Text & Translation of Herodotus VII 5 & 8-18

xxm

Speeches of War in Herodotus: Leading up to the first speech (1-5 .1) .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. First speech of Mardonius (5.2-3) ........................................ Xerxes persuaded (6-8.1) ...................................................... First speech of Xerxes (8) .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. . Second speech of Mardonius (9) .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. First speech of Artabanus (10) .............................................. Second speech of Xerxes (11) ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... ... .. ... .. .. First speech of the Dream (12) ............................................ Third speech of Xerxes (13) ................................................ Second speech of the Dream (14) .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. ... .. .. ... .. . Fourth speech of Xerxes (15) .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. .. ... .. .. .. ... ... .. .. .. .. .. . Second speech of Artabanus (16) .... .... ...... .. .......... .... ...... .... Third speech of the Dream (17) .. .. ... .. ... .. ... .. .. ... .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. . Fifth speech of Xerxes (18) .. ............ .... ............ ...... ..............

1 2 12 13 50 77 151 172 187 19 7 203 215 261 271

Appendix: Dionysius of Halicarnassus De Demosthenis dictione 41 ..... ........ ........ ....... ................. ...........

289

Index of Passages Cited .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... ... ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... ... .. . Index of Greek Words ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... ... .. .. .. ... ... .. .. .. .. ... ... ... .. .. .. Analytical Index .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .... ... .. ... .. .. .. .... ... ... .... .. .. .

291 311 318

PREFACE

What follows has been long in the making and is indebted to many hands. Work towards a commentary on passages of direct speech in Herodotus, Book VII was begun in and around the Ancient Greek section of the Department of Classics at the University of Leiden some twenty years ago by M.L. Sicking-Meyjes, by C.MJ. Sicking, Professor (now Emeritus) of Greek, and by P. Stork, then and now Assistant Professor in the same department. The three met regularly to discuss drafts prepared by Maria Sicking and sometimes reports by Peter Stork. The commentary was always intended to be linguistic rather than historical, and to focus on issues of syntax, semantics, pragmatics and textual criticism directly relevant to interpretation, rather than of phonology, morphology, dialect, historical grammar or transmission of the text for their own intrinsic interest. From this perspective, copious notes were composed discussing most of the questions addressed by such commentators as Abicht, Van Groningen and especially Stein, parallels to nearly all of the vocabulary were investigated with the help of Powell's Lexicon, and various topics close to the research interests of the department, mostly in verbal syntax and particle usage, received especial attention. All three major clusters as well as the shorter sections of direct speech in Book VII had been covered in this way at the time of Maria Sicking's lamented death in the winter of 1986. The resulting notes, often reworked to take account of the discussions of the three collaborators, did not however constitute a manuscript that could easily be made ready for publication under the name either of the main author or of all three contributors: they contained many apen;us, but few decisions and conclusions. Both of the co-authors felt reluctant to undertake the major revisions needed. Some years later the project was restarted under a formula whereby Johannes M. Van Ophuijsen, who had rejoined the department as Assistant Professor in 1984, would revise the material with a free hand, again submitting it to the original co-authors. It soon became clear that this entailed a complete rewriting; while the original notes by Maria Sicking and Peter Stork usually provided the point of departure, all the evidence was collected and studied anew, and no previous judgments were

Vlll

PREFACE

deferred to. The resulting drafts, considerably fuller and more formal with a view to publication, were discussed by the current triumvirate in regular meetings over several years and revised accordingly. In this way the material for the first cluster of direct speech in Book VII, down to Chapter 18, had been licked into pre-publication consistency when Jan van Ophuijsen left the Department in 1995. It was at this stage that Peter Stork came back in full authorial force, amplifying and documenting as well as providing editorial matter and correcting while continuing to draw on Professor Sicking's advice. Fine-tuning was done between the two final authors in the Spring semester of 1998. After this we were allowed to profit from the expertise of Professor Emeritus CJ. Ruijgh of the University of Amsterdam, who refereed the manuscript for the series in which by his courtesy it now appears, with all the care and generosity by which he has put many others as well as us in his debt. For the shortcomings that the book as it now appears is heir to, both the ones we are aware of and those it will be for others to point out, none but we can be made responsible. Whatever it may contain of value redounds by right To the Onlie Begetter Maria Lubina Sicking nee Meyjes 1933-1986

INTRODUCTION

The present work is a sustained exercise in the genre of secondary literature which aims at explaining a literary work as much as possible in and through the author's own words: the Hellenistic, Alexandrian genre of Homeron ex Homerou saphenizein or luein, except that in what follows it is not the earliest Greek poet but the earliest long Greek prose text which we have that has been made the object of a systematic effort to distill and analyse the linguistic information contained in it. More precisely, a crucial passage in direct speech by different speakers from the History of Herodotus has been scrutinised as to the linguistic characteristics relevant to its interpretation, by confronting it with the rest of the work as well as with earlier and contemporary writings. 1 This is done with the primary aim of helping to place the interpretation of a major author on the firmest ground available, the author's ipsissimi verba. Ideally, this could do more than throw light on single passages in a single author: given the familiar circularity of interpretation the result might be a reciprocal illumination between an individual context and the usage of an author, or genre, or period, as a whole. We have treated questions pertaining to our limited goal in some detail and depth, at the cost of neglecting other types of data regularly presented in works aspiring to the full status of a Commentary. Little or no information on historical grammar or dialect is supplied, and no historical comments are offered. On the other hand the kinds of question for which classical philologists have long had recourse to such commentaries as that of STEIN have usually been treated at length. It is hoped that the result, made accessible by full indexes, will prove helpful to readers of any part of Herodotus' History. Our approach to the linguistic evidence furnished by the text presupposes no theoretical orthodoxy. It is informed by early 20th century structuralism and by late 20th century pragmatics and discourse

1 Such passages in direct speech are the closest thing to spoken language in a text which is unusual, perhaps unique, in its borderline status between oral composition and literature in the narrower sense of a use of language which is intended to be communicated in written form to a public of readers.

X

INTRODUCTION

analysis, in an undogmatic way such that the study of language is kept subordinate and subservient to the interpretation of texts. A structuralist inspiration is particularly visible in our effort to resist the temptation to distinguish between discrete lexical 'meanings' of words without indicating by what syntactical or contextual features a speaker or a listener might identify the intended use of such ambiguous items, and to find unitary core connotations or clusters of connotations underlying the applicability of a word to a variety of situations and enriching its application in any particular situation. The readership to whose judgment we submit our hypotheses in this area is one of advanced students of classics who take at least a pragmatic interest in the epistemology and methodology of scholarship. 2 Although we have focused on the spoken passages contained in Book VII, chapters 8 to 18, we have added the brief narrative sections between these both in our main text, inserting occasional notes, and in the Greek text with translation which preceeds our text. We have also given a text and translation, with some notes, for chapter 5, which contains the speech of Mardonius that first triggers off the debate of 8 to 18. The Greek text is that of the Oxford edition by HuoE, with a handful of additions and modifications based on the Teubner edition by Rosen. Our translation makes few concessions to idiom or to literary sensibility; it is intended as an additional means to convey our reading of the text, rather than to be readable in its own right.

2 Our concern with distinguishing the primary linguistic evidence furnished by the text from any secondary aids is reflected in our sparing use of punctuation. Between major syntactical units we tend to adopt the least obtrusive incision that will do: we favour comma over colons and colons over periods; and in contexts where particles such as µiv and OE or conjunctions leave no doubt as to the structure, we often make do without any punctuation. But we have tried to make our Greek texts comprehensible rather than consistent.

ABBREVIATIONS

Herodotos. Fur den Schulgebrauch erklart von K. Abicht (5 Bde). Leipzig 1-11 5 1903. III-IV 3 1886. V-VI 4 1906. Vierter Band. Buch VII 4 1893. VIII-IX 4 1892 CHANTRAINE P. Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologi,que de la langue grecque. Histoire des Mots. Paris 1968-1980 COD The Concise Oiford Dictionary ef Current English. Oxford 8 1990 DENNISTON JD. Denniston, The Greek Partides, Second Edition Oxford 1954 DK Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker. Griechisch und Deutsch von H. Diels, herausgegeben von W. Kranz. Berlin 3 vols. 6 1951-1952 FGrH F. Jacoby, Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker. LeipzigLeiden 1922-1958 FRISK H. Frisk, Griechisches Etymowgisches Wtmerbuch. Heidelberg 1960-1972 VoN FRITZ K. von Fritz, Die Griechische Geschichtsschreibung. Band I Von den Arifangen bis 1hu9dides. Berlin 1967 (2 Bde) GoMME & SANDBACH Menander. A Commentary by A.W. Gomme and F.H. Sandbach. Oxford 1973 GooowIN W.W. Goodwin, Syntax ef the Moods and Tenses ef the Greek Verb. London 1889 VAN GRONINGEN Herodotus' Historiifn met Inl,eiding en Commentaar uitgegeven door B.A. van Groningen. Leiden 2 1955-1966 H.&W. A Commentary on Herodotus with Introduction and Appendices by W.W. How and J. Wells. Oxford 1912 (2 vols.) HuoE Herodoti Historiae recognovit brevique adnotatione critica instruxit Carolus Hude. Oxonii 3 1927 (2 vols.) KG R. Kuhner & B. Gerth, Auifiihrliche Grammatik der griechischen Sprache. Zweiter Tei!: Sat;;,lehre. Hannover und Leipzig 3 1898 (2 Bde) LEGRAND Herodote. Histoires. Texte etabli et traduit par Ph.-E. Legrand. Paris 1946-1954 [Livre VII 1951] (10 vols.) LSJ A Greek-English Lexicon compiled by H.G. Liddell and R. Scott. Revised and Augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones with the assistance of R. McKenzie. With a Supplement. Oxford 9 1968 MAcAN Herodotus. The fourth, fifth, & sixth books with introduction, notes, appendices, indices, maps by R.W. Macan (2 vols.). London 1895 ABicHT

XII

ABBREVIATIONS & BIBLIOGRAPHY

Herodotus. The seventh, eighth, & ninth books with introduction, text, apparatus, commentary, appendices, indices, maps by R.W. Macan (2 vols.). London 1908 POWELL J. Enoch Powell, A uxicon to Herodotus. Cambridge 1938 [reprint Hildesheim 1977] POWELL tr. Herodotus translated by J.E. Powell. Oxford 1948 Herodotus. Historio.e edidit H.B. Rosen. Leipzig (2 Bde) RosEN 1987. 1997 CJ. Ruijgh, Scripta Minora ad Linguam Graecam perRUIJGH SM tinentia, I & IL Amsterdam 1991 & 1996 Herodoti Musae sive Historiarum libri IX edidit lohanScHWEIGHAUSER nes Schweighaeuser. Argentorati et Parisiis (6 vols.) ScHWYZER E. Schwyzer, Griechische Grammatik aef der Grundlage von Karl BT'/J{!,TTlllnns Griechischer Grammatik. Erster Band Allgemeiner Teil. Lautkhre. Wortbildung. Fkxwn. Miinchen 4 1968 ScHWYZER-DEBRUNNER E. Schwyzer, Griechische Grammatik aef der Grund/age von Karl Brugmanns Griechischer Grammatik. Zweiter Band Syntax und syntaktische Stilistik, vervollstandigt und herausgegeben von A. Debrunner. Miinchen 3 1966 DE SELINCOURT Herodotus. The Histories. Translated by Aubrey de Selincourt. Harmondsworth 1954 SMYTH H.W. Smyth, Greek Grammar, revised by G.M. Messing. Cambridge, Mass. 1956 SPA Sitzungsberichte der Preussischen Akademie der Wzssenscha.ften. Philosophisch-historische Klasse STEIN Herodotos. Erklart von H. Stein (7 Bde). Berlin I 6 1901. II 4 1881. III 3 1877. IV 4 1896. V-VI 4 1882. Vierter Band. Buch VII, mit drei Kartchen von H. Kiepert 6 1908. VIII-IX 4 1882 STORK P. Stork, Index of Verb-Forms in Herodotus on the basis of Powell's Lexicon. Groningen 1987 TrGF Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta W ACKERNAGEL J. Wackemagel, Vorlesungen iiber Syntax mit besonderer Beriicksichtigung von Griechisch, Lateinisch und Deutsch. 2 vols. Basel 2 1926. 2 1928 MAcAN

BIBLIOGRAPHY AMIGUES 1977 AVERY 1979 BAKKER 1986

Amigues, S., us Subordonnees Finales par 01tootoc; µev oi [o] Myoc; 1tEptKaU~c; [Ei'.-r1] xrop11 ouoaµa KO> 'Ao-tuayea E7tE7tOUO"l xatiiP 'tE Eµoc; A.El'l'Oµat 7tpOO"K'tTJO"Oµat E~eyevet6 oi [U7tlKOµEVOl] oµoupfouo-av oµoupfouo-av '? etc; mitoi [ye] Mi)am 7tp0El7t0>0"l 7tOA.EµEEtV MaKEOovi11c; [yijc;]

aU' nUiiA.nm xpao-0m Kata YTJV ~ [Kat] Kata xat~p aoc; Kat tote ye 'I. o M. 't. Ei E7tE0"7tE'tO PouA.EU

ROSEN

Exoieeto ayepaiv ot>toc; µev oi () )..oyoc; 7tEplKaA.A.~c; XO>Pll ouoaµa KO> 'Ao-tUµat E~EYEVEto m'.mp O"lV 7tOA.EµEtV MaKEOoviric; tot which in this context might go beyond indicating distance in

space, 'those men over there', to characterizing the Greeks as 'the others' distinct from us and Your Majesty, and so perhaps even connoting 'our adversaries'.

inap0£V't£. 2

hep 'just as': the contribution of -1tEp to this compound (34 instances in H.) ranges from (I) highlighting an element which is common to two situations (as in 1.24. 7 r1tupav11vai crept tov 'Apiova roa1tep EXCOV E~E1t1lOTJcrE 'Arion appeared as he was when he jumped out'; 2.121 o 4 autou rocr1tep dxov 1Cata1CA.18Evtac; 'reclined on the spot, as they were'; 3.86.2 rmyev6µeva ... tq> iiapdq> ... rocr1tep EiC cruv0Etou tEU yev6µeva 'happening to Dareius as if happening by some compact'; and below, 12.2 C001tEp tile; 11µEpTJ