Voiceless Victims, Memorable Deaths in Herodotus

Author(s): Ove Strid

Source: The Classical Quarterly , Dec., 2006, New Series, Vol. 56, No. 2 (Dec., 2006), pp.
393-403
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.com/stable/4493425

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Classical Quarterly 56.2 393-403 (2006) Printed in Great Britain 393
doi: 10.1017/S0009838806000401

VOICELESS VICTIMS, MEMORABLE DEATHS IN

HERODOTUS

Herodotus covers a vast repertoire of atrocities. When Ap

Eumenides (179-90), tells the Erinyes to leave his temple, he says t
fitting for them, places where there are beheadings, gouging out o
boys, mutilation, stoning, impalement. The atrocities mentioned b
be found in Herodotus, and more besides. In this article, I shall
examples of the items in Apollo's list. Sections 1.1-6 correspond
list, with the modification that impalement is replaced by a more
crucifixion.' There is a basic pattern here: the victims are no
lamenting or complaining but remain silent, while Herodotus h
words of empathy on them. Obviously, we can look upon and
different ways, and we can try to find specific reasons for each
approach to these cases will be to bring out what Herodotus pre
section II, I will consider some further cases, including deaths in
Boedeker's and Darbo-Peschanski's explanations of Herodotus' re
the subjective aspect of death.2

1.1

Herodotus relates how after the defeat at Salamis Xerxes marched to the Hellespont
and then proceeded to Sardis (8.113ff.). But there is also another report, he says
(8.118), according to which Xerxes crossed from Eion on the Strymon to Asia in a
Phoenician ship. A storm arose and the ship was in danger. The captain, asked by
Xerxes if there was any means by which they could be saved, answered that there was
none, save one, that they dispose of the many people on deck. Then, at the king's
request, the Persians on deck jumped overboard and the ship was saved and came to
Asia. As soon as Xerxes had gone ashore, he presented the captain with a golden
crown for having saved the king's life, and then had his head cut off for having put so
many Persians to death: 60rT tiv E~LaWaE autAE'os' ?iv bvyx`v, wop'iaaaO0a~ XpvUO
oTEcvLV OTO'V KV/Epv T7r7v, 'OTL 86E\ IJEpEOv 7W ro,,oS JaTTdEAE, a7TOETOLEtV -TVV
KE/aAT7qv avTOt).
Herodotus adds (8.119) that this version of Xerxes' return to Asia is not credible:

OVTOS c\Ao ,AE'yETcEaL A6'yos 7rEpt 0 ,.Ep?Ew VOUTOV, o3v(apo.Js E/OLyE 7LUTro,
OVT'E JAAws o OvrTE rT HTEpWa rooV oro id7Oog. He argues that if the captain really gave
Xerxes the answer he is supposed to have given, Xerxes would no doubt have let the
Persians on deck go below and instead thrown overboard an equal number of the

1 For a survey of the forms of physical violence in the Histories, see R. Rollinger, 'Herodotus,
human violence and the ancient Near East', in V. Karageorghis and I. Taifacos (edd.), The World
of Herodotus (Nicosia, 2004), 121-50. Rollinger regards impaling and crucifying as one category,
since the use of the Greek terms is not entirely clear.
2 D. Boedeker, 'Pedestrian fatalities: the prosaics of death in Herodotus', in P. Derow and R.
Parker (edd.), Herodotus and his World: Essays from a Conference in Memory of George Forrest
(Oxford, 2003), 17-36, and C. Darbo-Peschanski, 'La vie des morts: representations et fonctions
de la mort et des morts dans les Histoires d'Herodote', AION 10 (1988), 41-51.

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394 0. STRID

Phoenician rowers. No, H

returned to Asia by road
of the version he finds
details-the storm, the f
king's request, the Persia
into the sea, the reward
missing: any word or rea
is a voiceless victim. The
reward and punishment.
Here a matter, often c
questions that are connec
What did the story say t
readers? Let us begin wi
scholars today and yes of
cowardice and stupidity
generosity and cruelty'.3
Xerxes 'rewards and pun
Xerxes' contradictory na
(magnificence and weakn
crowning and decapitat
Tyrann'.5 To Benardete,
The story, Benardete say
rule, to repay what is ow
Returning to the secon
answers. Something of
tentatively answering th
expect that the answer, t
the other two questions
slightly changed so that w
that case, too, various a
mutually exclusive.7 One
extraordinary form and c
also to the stories to be
exceptional in respect of
well. The marvellous, w
accumulates in the Histor

3 S. Flory, The Archaic Smi

other stories in the Historie
I. J. F. de Jong, and H. van
4 H. R. Immerwahr, Form
5 W. Aly, Volksmdirchen,
1921), 87. Cf. D. Lateiner, T
6 S. Benardete, Herodotean
7 Flory (n. 3), 54ff., discuss
true, the other dramatic but
motifs and so Herodotus ad
captain's reward contains,
Persians, and life in general'
8 As to Herodotus' predil
influences of folktales and a

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 MEMORABLE DEATHS IN HERODOTUS 395

1.2

The Thracian king of the Bisaltae and Crestonia, Herodotus tells us in 8.116,
committed a monstruous deed (i'pyov lrrEpqvCs). The king, who refused to submit to
Xerxes, had forbidden his six sons to serve in the Persian army attacking Greece. The
sons disobeyed him and joined the expedition. Herodotus suggests they did so from a

desire to see the war: -4 JAAows aLt Ov~ds EyE"vEro BE" OEaaOLt 7Tv -rrOAEVtov. When all
six returned safe and sound, the father punished them for their disobedience by
gouging out their eyes: ETTEL C' VEXPrpluav daovEEs 7vIE9s c iE EOVTE, E E?pUE
a-dijv 06 "ra ip r70To 0aAptovis 'td r)Tv a lr5v ralrVTv. The sons are voiceless
victims. It is the form of punishment that interests Herodotus. We notice that he has
suggested a cause of the disobedience which is in keeping with the punishment: the
desire to see the war matches the gouging out of the eyes. This, Herodotus concludes,
was the payment they received: KaL o ro70t ' v roOTroV 7 V ao00v iAa/3ov.9

1.3

The story of the vengeance of Hermotimus from Pedasa is told in 8.104-6.

Panionius, a man from Chios, made his living by castrating boys and selling them in
Sardis or Ephesus. One of the boys treated in this way was Hermotimus. He was sent
together with other gifts to the Persian king and came to be most highly valued of all
the eunuchs by Xerxes. Once, when Hermotimus had gone on business to Atarneus,
he happened to meet Panionius, and he lured him, by making false promises, into
settling in Atarneus with his wife and children. Then, having Panionius and his four
sons in his power, he could have his revenge.'0
Panionius is characterized by Herodotus as making his living from very unholy
deeds: Trmv 6rlv KOaTEUT7arTO ar' 7 pyOv d'VOULtwTd77w. When Hermotimus has got
hold of Panionius, he addresses him with similar words: 'S2 T6vircwv v8p v Jvpd S r

dAUTa'7' dr'' ipywCv voaUtWrdrc v T~V ov KT-rgT EVE. To Hermotimus it is clear that
it is the gods who have led Panionius into his hands. You thought, he says to
Panionius, that what you did would escape the notice of the gods, but they have
justly delivered you, who have done unholy things, into my hands, so you cannot
complain of the vengeance which I will take on you: E~dKEES "TE EOUS A-UE V ota
TEhreXave TOTE, OH er E TOtis VTa i asfolla, 0ws PvoUtKatc XpEiO-EVoL, cvrrityayov thE

XEtpa TcL E/.lS,

The revenge COUTE GE
Hermotimus /?17is/.JaGo0aL
takes as follows.T'77V -Tr EisEOforced
Panionius TOt E'O pEV77V
to cut 3K7rV.11
off the

extraordinary and marvellous things, things which cause Herodotus to marvel, in the
ethnographical and geographical sections, cf. H. Barth, 'Zur Bewertung und Auswahl des Stoffes
durch Herodot (Die Begriffe thoma, thomazo, thomasios und thomastos)', Klio 50 (1968),
93-110, and W M. Bloomer, 'The superlative Nomoi of Herodotus's Histories', ClAnt 12 (1993),
30-50.

9 On this use of 1LU0o6S cf. J. Gould, 'Give and take in Herodotus', in id., Myth, Ritual,
Memory, and Exchange: Essays in Greek Literature and Culture (Oxford, 2001), 283-303, at 297.
10 S. Hornblower, 'Panionios of Chios and Hermotimos of Pedasa (Hdt. 8.104-6)', in P.
Derow and R. Parker (edd.), Herodotus and his World. Essays from a Conference in Memory of
George Forrest (Oxford, 2003), 37-57, construes Panionius as a representative of Ionianism. He is
a 'signifier' for the archetypal Chians who subjugated the Carians and Lelegians. Hermotimus,
the Carian/Lelegian, takes revenge. Cf. on the other hand H. Erbse, Studien zum Verstandnis
Herodots (Berlin, 1992), 95: 'Das ist zweifellos eine wahre Geschichte. Herodot erzihlt sie mit
Genugtuung, weil sie ein musterhafter Beleg fiir seine Teleologie ist.'
" Cobet's lEtI0/EaOatL (adopted by Hude, but not Rosen) is not necessary.

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 396 0. STRID

testicles/genitals12 of h

7jVayKa~?ETo HavtwvtOS g-cTv twvoV V 7Tacowv, TECaEpwv o EyOVTWV, T" atoota

a~rOat~tLmV, cL/KC-O/tzEVO~ UE E'7TOLEE TaoTa. aO'TOV TE, WS r avTa Epyaa'uTO, Ot
7TaESES cvayKaSo/.LEvot aTrETatcLvov.
Panionius, together with his sons, meets with retribution, but Herodotus is not
interested in representing their reactions. What interests him is the form and extent of
Hermotimus' vengeance. At the very beginning of the story, Herodotus announces

that Hermotimus had the fullest vengeance of all men he knew: [LEYt('a TILCS "8rq
StKrlOE VTt EyEVE70 7TaV7LT ' TW)V T l - EiS L,'LEV.13 And Herodotus concludes by saying
that in this way vengeance and Hermotimus overtook Panionius: HavLdvwov EPEv

vvv orw 7rTEpLAOE 4' riE KtS KacL 'Epd7TOS.14 Braund notes that the story of
Hermotimus illustrates Herodotus' concern for remarkable reciprocity.15

1.4

Cutting off ears and nose was a common punishment in the Oriental monarchies.16
Herodotus' stories involving this kind of mutilation are set in Egypt and Persia.
Herodotus tells us about Apries (2.161-3). With the exception of his ancestor
Psammetichus, Apries was the most fortunate of Egyptian kings up to then. He
reigned for twenty-five years. But it was fated that ill should befall him (EJr-L 8E o0
EEE KaKWS YEVIEaC). Apries had sent an army against Cyrene, but it suffered a
crushing defeat. The surviving soldiers and the friends of those who were killed rose
in rebellion, thinking that Apries had deliberately sent them to certain destruction in
order to rule more securely over the rest of the Egyptians. Apries sent Amasis to try to
persuade the rebels to surrender. But Amasis was offered the throne by the rebels and
made preparations to lead them against Apries. Now Apries sent Patarbemis, an
esteemed Egyptian, with orders to bring back Amasis alive into his presence.
Patarbemis failed to do so, and on his return to Apries without Amasis, the king was
so enraged with him that he ordered that his nose and ears be cut off: 7TEptTra[LEv

7TpoUTrdaL av rov rd E rTa KaC 7rTv ~va. Herodotus then, without wasting any
words on the victim, turns to the extraordinary consequences of this outrage. He says
that the Egyptians, who had been loyal to the king, seeing a most esteemed
countryman so maltreated, immediately defected and went over to Amasis. Later on

12 Hornblower (n. 10), 41-2, argues that drordo-tLvEwL rd altSoa implies an amputation of the
whole genital area as opposed to 'KT LVEtw, the normal word for 'castrate'.
13 On Herodotus' search for the superlative, see Bloomer (n. 8). Pheretima's revenge, on the
other hand, is not kEyloarGr but excessive and therefore she is punished by the gods (4.202-5).
Taking revenge for the killing of her son, she empaled the men responsible for the killing round
the walls of Barca and she cut off their wives' breasts and stuck them on the wall. She died an evil
death, seething with worms while she was still alive, Herodotus says and he adds: odS glpa

dvOpWortaL atL Arlv laXvpal rLPLwptati TPOs OECv E)ETlG0ovotL ylvovrat. Cf. N. Fisher, 'Popular
morality in Herodotus', in E. J. Bakker, I. J. E de Jong, and H. van Wees (edd.), Brill's Companion
to Herodotus (Leiden, 2002), 199-224, at 214-15.
14 For the idea of divine vengeance worked out through human agency, cf. T. Harrison,
Divinity and History.- The Religion of Herodotus (Oxford, 2000), 111-12. Cf. Aly (n. 5) at 184.
15 D. Braund, 'Herodotos on the problematics of reciprocity', in C. Gill, N. Postlethwaite and
R. Seaford (edd.), Reciprocity in Ancient Greece (Oxford, 1998), 159-80, at 166. On reciprocal
action in the Histories, cf. also J. Gould, Herodotus (London, 1989), 43-4.
16 See M. L. West, The East Face of Helicon: West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth
(Oxford, 1997), 430, and A. B. Lloyd, Herodotus, Book II: Commentary 99-182 (Leiden, 1988),
177. Cf. E. Hall, Inventing the Barbarian. Greek Self-definition through Tragedy (Oxford, 1989),
158-9, and Rollinger (n. 1), 139-43.

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 MEMORABLE DEATHS IN HERODOTUS 397

(2.169) he reports that Apries, with his foreign merce

Egyptians under Amasis. Apries was strangled to death.
The outrage against Patarbemis was the cause of Apri
man of blind over-confidence is underlined by Herodotus
defeat. Apries, Herodotus declares, is said to have been o
god could bring him down, since his power was so firmly
Intaphernes also committed outrages (3.118-19). He
conspirators who brought about the fall of the false Sm
Intaphernes, Herodotus says, committed these ou
'IvrapEpVEa Ka/TAagE 6/ptaav7TTa3E 7 d77TO0aVE^v. W
unannounced to the palace to visit Darius. But the sentry
admit him, saying that the king was in bed with a woma
Intaphernes cut off their ears and noses with his sword
noses on his horse's bridle, tied the bridle round their
7Tmua/LVEvOs ToY oaKLVaKEo 7TO-raJEL aVTCWV Ta TE T

r EpL -r XaAtvv a rov0 twrov o TEpt Tov, avxEvas~ Uqcov '

description,17 Herodotus changes the scene and goes o
sentry and the chamberlain, the voiceless victims, presen
told him, having recovered their speech, it would seem,
the way they had. The king, wasting no words on the vi
of planning an uprising and had him imprisoned, pendin
children and relatives.'8 What follows is the story of Inta
In the story of Masistes (9.107-13) there is verbal abuse
Persian defeat at Mycale, Xerxes' brother Masistes ab
general, telling him that as a general he was worse than
all manner of evil because of the harm he had done to t
worse than a woman, Herodotus adds, is the greatest
Indignant, Artayntes drew his sword to kill Masistes.
Greek, Xenagoras, who hurled Artayntes to the groun
Xenagoras the governorship of Cilicia.
On that occasion Masistes got off lightly. Nevertheles
family. Xerxes fell in love with Masistes' wife, but his
without success. He then arranged a marriage between
Masistes, believing he could seduce Masistes' wife mor
received his son's bride-whose name was Artaynte-in
wife of Masistes and loved the daughter instead.19 Howev
in the following way. Xerxes' wife Amestris gave him a
He was very pleased and put it on and then went to visit
her too, he told her to ask for anything she liked and vo

17 Herodotus seems to be alluding to the phenomenon of mas

cut off the victim's ears, nose and other extremities, strung the
round the neck and under the arm-pits of the victim, believing
vengeance from those they had killed. Cf. R. Parker, Miasma. P
Greek Religion (Oxford, 1983), 107-8, and K. Sier, Die lyrisch
Aischylos.: Text, Ubersetzung, Kommentar (Stuttgart, 1988), 164
18 On Intaphernes' mutilation of the king's servants as an act
Hybris.: A Study in the Values of Honour and Shame in Ancien
and 344.
19 Gould (n. 9) at 290 says that her name 'confusingly' is Artaynte. It is, however, a significant
name, as becomes clear as the story unfolds itself.

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 398 0. STRID

demanded. Artaynte, wh
badly (r-i 8 KaKWS yap EE
to give it to her.20 The na
but failed. Where Artaynt
demand, she brought abo
Amestris found out about
Artaynte, but thought ins
and so she plotted her de
when the king would giv
present-Masistes' wife. Xe
at the royal banquet no on
over his brother's wife to
Masistes' wife. She had he
ears, lips and tongue cut o
KVU rTpO3'aAE Ka t %iva
ad7TroErrLt_ 8aAEAvtLaa
what had been done to his
Bactriato stir up a revolt
caught Masistes and killed
Thus Herodotus gives a co
Then, without wasting wo
at revolt and the death of

1.5

An Athenian, Lycidas, was stoned by his fellow-countrymen in Salamis. Herodotus

says (9.4-5) that when Mardonius had found Attica deserted, he sent Murychides, a
man of the Hellespont, as messenger to Salamis to repeat the proposals conveyed to
the Athenians by Alexander the Macedonian. The message was delivered to the
Athenian council in Salamis, and Lycidas, who was one of the councillors, expressed
the opinion that it was best to admit the proposals and lay them before the
people-either because he had received money from Mardonius, Herodotus says, or
because he was himself of this opinion. The Athenians in the council and those
outside were so indignant that they surrounded Lycidas and stoned him to death.
Without dwelling on this, adding only that the messenger was left unhurt, Herodotus
goes on to the extraordinary sequel. The Athenian women, he says, having learnt
what had happened, went to Lycidas' house and stoned his wife and his children:
KadT aLEv AEVUcav aT-roV T'7v yvvaJtKa, KaTa 8E -ra 7KVa. The women following up
the stoning of Lycidas by stoning his whole family is the climactic point with which
the story ends.

20 On the king's robe as a symbol of the kingship, see H. Sancisi-Weerdenburg, 'Exit Atossa:
images of women in Greek historiography on Persia', in A. Cameron and A. Kuhrt (edd.), Images
of Women in Antiquity (London, 1983), 20-33, at 27-30. For the narrative pattern, see also
V. Gray, The Character of Xenophon's Hellenica (London, 1989), 15-16. On the logic of the gift,
cf. Gould (n. 9), 289-91.
21 On the theme of the vengeful queen, see Flory (n. 3), 42-6. Cf. V. Gray, 'Herodotus and the
rhetoric of otherness', AJPh 116 (1995), 185-211.
22 The story, as a pendant to the story of Gyges and Candaules, can be construed as alluding to
the murder of Xerxes later on, according to E. Wolff, 'Das Weib des Masistes', Hermes 92 (1964),
51-8.

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 MEMORABLE DEATHS IN HERODOTUS 399

1.6

Stoning and crucifixion are combined in the story of the Persian governor Artayctes
(9.116-20). Artayctes is described by Herodotus as d'rdaaAos. He had gained
control of the precinct of Protesilaus in Elaeus by tricking Xerxes, and then removed
all its treasures to Sestus and turned it over to farming. Whenever he visited Elaeus,
he would have intercourse with women in the precinct. After the defeat of the
Persians, he was taken prisoner by the Greeks. When one of the guards was roasting
salt fish and the fish began to jump as if newly caught, Artayctes took it as a portent
that applied to him. He said that Protesilaus revealed that, although dead, he still had
power from the gods to avenge himself on the man who had wronged him. Artayctes
said he was willing to pay 100 talents in compensation for what he had taken from the
precinct, and 200 talents to the Athenians, if they spared his life and the life of his
son. But Xanthippus, the Athenian commander, did not accept Artayctes' offer. He
felt the same way as the people of Elaeus who wanted revenge for Protesilaus. So they
brought Artayctes to the place where the abutment of Xerxes' bridge had
been-some say to the hill above the town of Madytus-and there they nailed him to
a plank and hung him up: cavw't 7rpo rraacaJaaVe.vrE dwKPftaaav.23 His son was
stoned to death before his eyes.
Thus, what makes Artayctes speak is the portent of the jumping fish. He interprets
the portent and tries, in vain, to bargain for his life and the life of his son. After that
he is silent. When he is crucified, Herodotus is careful to point out the place of the
crucifixion-overlooking the straits where Xerxes' army crossed into Europe-and
the fact that Artayctes' son was stoned to death before his eyes. This done, Herodotus
adds, the Athenians sailed for Greece, taking with them the cables of the bridges, with
a view to dedicating them in the temples. And nothing more, he says, happened that
year. Dewald would have liked at least a sentence from Herodotus characterizing the
Athenian behaviour at Sestus. He does not, she says, put a value, positive or negative,
on the Athenian actions.24 However, what matters to Herodotus is to give prominence
to the special form and place of the punishment: Artayctes and his son dying near or
at the very spot where Xerxes led his army into Europe. This is, so to speak, his point.
Boedeker notes that linking the execution of Artayctes with the bridgehead at Sestus
allows Herodotus 'to conclude his reconstruction of the Persian invasions with an
episode that evokes an important recurring theme: the consequences of limits violated
and natural boundaries transgressed'.25 The story of Artayctes and Protesilaus recalls
the Trojan War, Herodotus' mythological prologue, and the beginning of the enmity
between Europe and Asia.26 The story is already mentioned summarily in 7.33, as
Xerxes' first bridge is built across the Hellespont to the headland between Sestus and
Madytus. Here, Herodotus says, the Athenians under Xanthippus nailed the Persian

23 ( STV't is Reiske's conjecture for aavi&a, aavi'as. Cf. 7.33 arp acavi'a StETraaa o AEveav,
referring to the same incident (see below).
24 C. Dewald, 'Wanton kings, pickled heroes, and gnomic founding fathers: strategies of
meaning at the end of Herodotus's Histories', in D. H. Roberts, E M. Dunn and D. Fowler (edd.),
Classical Closure.: Reading the End in Greek and Latin Literature (Princeton, 1997 ), 62-82, at 71.
For various conjectures on Herodotus' attitude (approval or censure?) cf. Lateiner (n. 5), 132-3.
25 D. Boedeker, 'Protesilaos and the End of Herodotus' Histories', ClAnt 7 (1988), 30-48, at
42.

26 On ring-compositional technique at the end of the Histories, see J. Herington, 'The closure
of Herodotus' Histories', ICS 16 (1991), 149-60. Cf. Boedeker (n. 25), 42-5.

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 400 0. STRID

governor Artayctes to a
Artayctes frames the acco

II

The norm in the examples reviewed above is that the victims-no matter who they
are, whether anonymous figures or not-suffer and perish without a word, with no
reaction whatsoever. Herodotus' focus is on extraordinary forms, circumstances, and
consequences of punishment and revenge. The victims' reactions are not allowed to
divert or detract from this.
The result of this focusing is that there is no difference in Herodotus' treatment of
human and animal victims. The story about the cavalry general Pharnuches (7.88) is
illustrative. When Xerxes' army started its march on Greece, Pharnuches was left
behind because of an accident. His horse was scared when a dog ran under its feet, it
reared and threw its rider. Pharnuches threw up blood and fell ill and the illness
turned into consumption. Herodotus goes on to tell about the punishment of the
horse. He says that the servants did at once what Pharnuches ordered them to do to
the horse. They brought the horse exactly to the spot where he had thrown his master

and cut off its legs at the knees: E' 7rv Xopov v rC Tryp KaE/cLaAE 7~v SEUTOTT7jv
r7TayayOVTES , El' TOL70 yoVvatOL i7rTa/ov dT UAKEcEa.27 So the story ends, with
Herodotus saying that Pharnuches was relieved of his command.
When comparing this story with those reviewed above, we notice a striking
similarity: the interest in the punishment without concern for the victim. If the story
had been recast and the victim were a human being instead of an animal, there is no
reason to believe that Herodotus would have shown any more concern for the human
victim than he now does for the animal.
Silence is typical of the victims throughout the Histories. But what about
departures from this norm? Under what circumstances does a victim speak? Or, to put
it in another way, when are the victim's words and reactions of interest to Herodotus?
The case of Croesus (1.86-7) may provide an answer. Croesus makes himself heard
when death closes in on him. Standing on the pyre, Croesus remembers Solon's words
that not one of the living could be called happy. He sighs and three times utters
Solon's name. Then, at the request of Cyrus, he tells the story of Solon's visit to
Sardis. Cyrus, touched by the words of Croesus, changes his mind and orders that the
fire should be put out and Croesus brought down from the pyre. But the attempts to
extinguish the fire fail. Croesus, with tears, calls upon Apollo to come and save him, if
any of his gifts has pleased him, and suddenly clouds gather in the clear sky, a storm
breaks, the rain puts out the fire and Croesus is saved. So for Croesus, talking-to
himself, his captors and the god-does pay off. By making him talk, Herodotus can
add the finishing touch to the Solon-Croesus story and give an account of the miracle
of the intervention by Apollo.
Croesus is a victim that speaks and so departs from the norm. We need to see this in
perspective. The norm can actually be considered a side-effect of Herodotus' interest
in the extraordinary and marvellous. There is no place in his stories for victims
reacting, so to speak, in ordinary ways, with emotions and laments that make no
impact. To be related, the victim's reaction must be of an extraordinary kind.

27 Cf. the words of Candaules' wife (1.11): EK roi3 a?3ro Ev X O)plov Oe 6Pepp) ~irat 'O?EV 7TEp
Kat EKEVOS g/LE E7TEoE~% YU.wV.

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 MEMORABLE DEATHS IN HERODOTUS 401

I turn, for a comparison, to the deaths in combat. Boedeke

to the Iliad, the Histories tends to treat deaths in combat m
asks: 'Why does Herodotus consistently avoid detailed, e
treatment of combatants' deaths, especially when this appro
the Iliad?'28 She refers to Darbo-Peschanski's observation t
tends to avoid reporting the moment or process of death
subjective account from the victim's perspective. In explan
argues that Herodotus emphasizes the active role of death
effects changes and contributes to the order of the world,
view, however, Herodotus' use of death as an action does n
the subjective aspect of death in his narrative.30 She argu
between Homeric and Herodotean accounts of death in battle is in accord with
distinctions drawn by Bakhtin and his followers between 'poetic' and 'prosaic'
narratives. The 'poetic' narrative is highly unified, implicitly authoritative, forming a
closed system, 'monologic' in the sense that it does not allow for other competing
levels of discourse, while the 'prosaic' narrative is open-ended, including a play of
discourses, deploying competing perspectives, assuming a world that is de-centred,
heteroglossic. Boedeker admits that Homeric epic is not a purely 'poetic' narrative in
Bakhtin's sense, it is a polyphonic poem with varying personal perspectives. But she
insists that 'when it comes to death, the perspectives largely converge in the shared
ideology of a heroic code predicated on mortality'. It can be argued, she says, that 'the
Iliad is highly monologic in its assumption of the heroic value system'. In the
Histories, by contrast, 'deaths in combat have extraordinarily varied meanings to the
narrator and to other evaluators whose voices can be heard along with his'.
Herodotus can evoke a traditional heroic character, as with Leonidas, and praise
brave warriors, but these passages are 'part of a dialogic, almost kaleidoscopic, range
of responses to deaths in battle'.31
Boedeker remarks that the matter is complex and surely has no single explanation.
In my view, we must not overlook Herodotus' interest in the extraordinary and
marvellous. Boedeker and Darbo-Peschanski touch on this. Thus, contrasting
Herodotus' reticence concerning deaths in battle with his more extended treatment of
other kinds of deaths, Boedeker mentions the deaths of Pheretima, Cambyses,
Cleomenes, and Adrastus, and says that compared to such extraordinary deaths the
fall of a warrior might well seem ordinary.32 And Darbo-Peschanski says with
reference to 'les 6loges individuels' in 9.71-5: 'On remarquera cependant qu'H6rodote
detourne notablement la tradition epique en n'6voquant les combats particuliers

28 Boedeker (n. 2) at 21.

29 Boedeker (n. 2) at 22. Cf. Darbo-Peschanski (n. 2), 41-2: 'Or, dans les passages, pourtant
tres nombreux, oiu les Histoires font r6f6rence 'a la mort, on a du mal 'a trouver des r6cits du
moment pr6cis oiu les personnages l'6prouvent, des evocations de la mort comme passion.
Presque jamais le point de vue du r6cit n'est celui de la victime ou, plus largement, de l'objet du
proces de mort. Le mourir n'a pas de place dans le text.' Cf. also Darbo-Peschanski (n. 2) at 50:
'Ainsi, en passant sous silence l'6pisode du mourir pour s'en tenir ta l'expression de la mort
comme action et en donnant 'a celle-ci la triple fonction de contribuer 'a l'ordre du monde, a sa
destruction et 'a son r6tablissement, H6rodote met en place les l66ments d'une r6ponse originale 'a
la difficult6 qu'il semble 6prouver ta formuler ce franchissement de la limite qu'est la mort dans
son accomplissement.'
30 See Boedeker (n. 2), 22ff.
31 As for Homeric features, see also the Masistius episode in 9.22-5 (fight over the corpse and
wonder at Masistius' beauty). Cf. Aly (n. 5), 274-5.
32 Boedeker (n. 2), 22-4. Cf. Darbo-Peschanski (n. 2), 47-8.

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402 0. STRID

qu'apres avoir racont6 le

autant-et, le plus souv
conf6rer le Kl6os a ceux
Boedeker and Darbo-Pes
more detailed accounts
death. It is also clear that
victim/combatant if it
Boedeker and Darbo-Pes
Herodotus and Homer (f
in Herodotus. In their exp
however, the variation m
The tendencies noted i
tively are that he avoids
subjective account from
emotional, or subjective
into account and look at a
case of Callicrates (9.72)
man in the whole Greek
an arrow, while Pausania
Plataean, that what grie
deed worthy of himself,
extraordinary case. The
accomplish a deed worth
vent to his at once frustr
to dwell upon, and wha
victim's/combatant's pers
As for detailed treatmen
death of Cynegirus (6.114
Herodotus mentions Cyne
Marathon. As to the oth
otherwell-known Athen
about Callimachus avi)p
more, saying that he
fell
ship and had his hand cut

Kat i-o ro tv V TVWo6

YE7VOLEVOS &dya0os, ar
KvvE'yELpos 6 EiXopiwvos
7Tro0o7TE s rTEAKEL 7LTTE

Boedeker, who notes tha

death in battle, unless t
although the circumstanc
detail than that of Ilion
important point is that
inserts it into what is act
From Cynegirus we pr
Persian commander Art

33 Darbo-Peschanski (n. 2) a
34 Boedeker (n. 2) at 19.

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 MEMORABLE DEATHS IN HERODOTUS 403

were drawn up in battle-order, Onesilus, the king of Salami

opposite Artybius. The horse on which Artybius rode was tr
enemy soldiers and kill them with its hoofs and teeth. On
Carian armour-bearer, who thought it best that the king ta
himself would go for the horse. When Artybius came charg
him and struck, the horse reared and brought down its feet
that moment, the Carian swung his sword and cut off the fe
fell and Artybius with him. The narrator, Boedeker says
experience of death from Artybius' point of view.35 Well, he i
first and foremost about the Carian giving advice to his ma
out to be good. The Carian promises that Artybius' horse

against anybody (dycy yap 0-ro7T ro8Koal ? /LV vJp6 ETL t

ivav'iov), and the story ends with the focus on how the
promise.
As for Herodotus' interest in the extraordinary, it is very telling what kinds of death
he treats extensively. They include deaths involving barbarian nomoi, ruse and
machination, hybris, female perpetrators, as well as spectacular suicides.36 The suicide
of Adrastus (1.45) is the culmination of the tragic story of Croesus' son Atys.37
Adrastus slays himself on the tomb of Atys, whom he has accidentally killed. We hear
of the suicide in the final sentence of the story, where Herodotus, employing a
periodic structure, recapitulates the ancestry and life-history of Adrastus and conveys
his thoughts and feelings (avyywUKOvKEvo9 cvOpcr7Twv Et9vat TWov av6TOS EE
fapvavEpyopWTraTos), before revealing that he slayed himself on the tomb of Atys.
Gould notes that the effect of the recapitulation is reminiscent of the 'obituaries' of
warriors in the Iliad.38 At an earlier point, Adrastus had begged Croesus to kill him
over the dead body of Atys: E5KTKaTaaUM4L vtv KEAE{Vwv C^0 VEKpC. NOW a similar

expression, iExmKa7TaUo'/Etl 7TW) v7kP J EWVTdV, is being used in the description of his
suicide on the tomb of his victim.
To conclude, it is not appropriate to say that Herodotus avoids reporting the
moment or process of death and giving a subjective account from the victim's
perspective and avoids detailed, emotional, or subjective treatment of combatants'
deaths. Instead, we have to differentiate. Herodotus is interested in deaths and the
circumstances of death, if they are extraordinary in some way. It makes no difference
whether it is a death in combat or other kinds of death. The extraordinary element
may involve the victim's sentiments, and in that case Herodotus gives a subjective
account from the victim's perspective. Thus, what determines his choice-to focus on
a case of death or not, and to give an account from the victim's perspective or not-is
largely his interest in the extraordinary and marvellous.

Uppsala University OVE STRID

ove.strid@lingfil.uu.se

35 Boedeker (n. 2) at 20.

36 Cf. Darbo-Peschanski (n. 2), 47-8, and Boedeker (n. 2), 22-4.
37 E. Kornarou, 'The tragic Herodotus?', in V. Karageorghis and I. Taifacos (e
of Herodotus (Nicosia, 2004), 307-19, at 314, sums up the many tragic motifs
concepts of ate and nemesis, the god-sent dream which predicts a disaster
catharsis, peripeteia, tragic irony, the inadvertent crime, suicide.
38 Gould (n. 15) at 54. On the pathos of the 'obituaries' in the Iliad, cf. J. G
Life and Death (Oxford, 1980), 103-43.

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