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

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ἐὼν παῖς. Hdt. appears to prefer the view that Deiphonos was true son to Evenios; but there was a doubt on the subject: why? Was Deiphonos too old to be the son of Evenios, or to have been born after the date of Evenios' acquisition of μαντική? The date of the events just related is not indicated by Hdt., but the sceptical doubt as to his paternity may have been based upon chronological grounds. The doubt may have been started by rivals, diviners, Athenian or other.

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ἀγόντων Κορινθίων, Apollonia being a Korinthian colony; cp. c. 93 supra.

ἤδη δὲ ... ἤκουσα: the same formula 7. 55 supra, introducing an alternative not credited by the historian himself. The passage here looks like an addition, perhaps of later date.

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ἐπιβατεύων τοῦ Εὐηνίου οὐνόματος. Cf. 3. 63 ἐπιβατεὐων τοῦ Σμέρδιος οὐνόματος, with a slight difference, the Mage calling himself Smerdis, Deiphonos calling his father Evenios, or Evenios his father. In either case, however, there is the usurpation of a name, the usurper taking advantage of a name to get (or give himself) ‘a lift’; cp. also 6. 65 ἐπιβατεὐων τοῦ ῥἠματος.

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ἐξελάμβανε: as Blakesley (after Schweighaeuser) observes, ἐκλαμβάνειν elocare may be the correlative of ἐκδοῦναι locare; he ‘undertook’ was undertaking, to perform works (ἔργα), sc. of divination.

ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα: the preposition is eurious, suggesting ‘against,’ which would here be senseless; Schweighaeuser (Lexicon) defends it, and explains passim per Graeciam: ἀνά would be more usual, but Stein cites Homer, Od. 16. 63 “πολλὰ βροτῶν ἐπὶ ἄστεα δινηθῆναι”, etc. etc. (cp. 4. 417 ὅσσ᾽ ἐπὶ γαῖαν ἑρπετὰ γίγνονται); cp. ἐπὶ πολλόν 8. 107 supra.