Reginald Walter Macan, Herodotus, The Seventh, Eighth, & Ninth Books with Introduction and Commentary

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ἐκ Μυκάλης: in c. 106 supra the Greeks have been conveyed from Mykale back to Samos, and have started from Samos for the Hellespont. Moreover, it was only at Samos (according to that passage) that they had decided on their policy.

ὁρμηθέντες, of physical motion (cp. 7. 37. 6, 7).

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Λεκτόν: the position of Lekton is more nearly indicated by Thucydides 8 101. 3. It is the SW. corner of the Troad, the extreme projection of Mount Ida (as is implied even in Homer, Il. 14. 283-4), now Cape Baba, or Sta. Maria— the most westerly point of the continent of Asia.

ὅρμεον, though from another verb, is not very happy in juxtaposition. Cp. ὅρμεον ... ὁρμώμενοι 7. 22. 3, 4.

ἀπολαμφθέντες, intercepti (Valla); cp. 2. 115. Wesseling compares Livy 37. 37 Eumenes rex, conatus primo ab Hellesponto reducere classem in hiberna Elaeam, adversis deinde ventis quum aliquot diebus superare Lecton promontorium non potuisset, in terram egressus ... in castra Romana (ad caput Caici am<*>is) cum parva manu contendit. But Eumenes (in 190 B.C.) was going from the Hellespont to the Caicus; the Greeks in 479 B.C. from Samos to the Hellespont. Violent north, or west, winds would have held them up: would wind from any quarter but the south have hindered Eumenes? (Perhaps the west? ζεφύρου τε καὶ νότου εἵνεκα 7. 36 supra.）

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Ἄβυδον: cp. 8. 130, etc. As to the bridges, and the policy of going to the Hellespont, cp. c. 106 supra.

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ἔδοξε, ‘Leotychidas and his Peloponnesian following decided . .’ ἀμφί, cp. c. 69 supra; with ἔδοξε contr. ἐδόκεε c. 106 supra. Stein (ad l.) understands Thuc. 1. 90 to represent Leotychidas and the Peloponnesians as going straight home from Samos; but the case is not quite clear. Thucydides does not, indeed, expressly record the removal to the Hellespont; but neither does he expressly say that it was Samos wherefrom the Peloponnesians returned; he merely says, the Peloponnesians returned, the Athenians remained. On this point there is no contradiction between Hdt. and Thuc.

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Ἀθηναίοισι δὲ καὶ Ξανθίππῳ, ‘the Athenians and their strategos, Xanthippos,’ decided to remain and attempt the recovery of the Chersonese. Hdt. does not make clear, what Thuc. l.c. expressly records, that the new allies— οἱ ἀπ᾽ Ἰωνίας καὶ Ἑλλησπόντου ξύμμαχοι, ἤδη ἀφεστηκότες ἀπὸ βασιλέως—remained with the Athenians and assisted them. Xanthippos is here named for the first time since 8. 131 (but without his patronymic); not much credit is given him for the victory of Mykale.

αὐτοῦ: not quite strictly ‘on the spot,’ for they move across to Sestos; it refers perhaps rather to ‘the Hellespont’ than to ‘Abydos’

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ὑπομένειν has four meanings or uses in Hdt. (a) ‘To remain behind,’ as here; cp. τὸ ὑπομένον ἐν Σπάρτῃ 7. 209. (b) ‘To await, sustain, an attack,’ a defensive attitude; cp. 4. 3 οὐκ ὑπομενέουσι (as enemies, cp. 7. 101, 120, and c. 23 supra). (c) Simply ‘to await’ (as a friend), 3. 9 ὑπέμενε ἐνθαῦτα τὸν Καμβύσεω στρατόν (as friends). (d） Absolutely, ‘to abide,’ to survive; 4. 149 οὐ γὰρ ὑπέμειναν τὰ τέκνα.

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τὴν Χερσόνησον: the Chersonese ‘on the Hellespont’ last mentioned 7. 58 (cp. 7. 33. 3, where it should have been noted that the name had occurred previously c. 22. 3 without further speeification, a fact pointing to the independence of the two passages). Thucydides speaks of it always, like Hdt. here, simply as ‘the Chersonese.’ Our oldest authority for the designation ἠ Θρᾳκία Χερρόνησος appears to be Strabo 92, etc. Cp. 6. 33 supra.

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Σηστόν: last mentioned in 7. 78; cp. 7. 33. It was an old possession of the Athenians; cp. 4. 143, and 6. 34, etc. Sestos was, or was to be made, φρούριον καὶ φυλακὴ τοῦ παντὸς Ἑλλησπόντου (cp. Thue. 8. 62. 3).