herodotus

army are not guilty of any share in my calamity, and that they wouldgladly give me proof of this. He bids me therefore either do this or,if not, he desires himself to choose thirty myriads from the army andto deliver over to me Hellas reduced to subjection; and he bids mewithdraw with the rest of the army to my own abode. Do thou therefore,as thou didst well advise about the sea-fight which was fought, urgingthat we should not bring it on, so also now advise me which of thesethings I shall do, that I may succeed in determining well." 102. Hethus consulted her, and she spoke these words: "O king, it is hard forme to succeed in saying the best things when one asks me for counsel;yet it seems good to me at the present that thou shouldest retire backand leave Mardonios here, if he desires it and undertakes to do this,together with those whom he desires to have: for on the one hand if hesubdue those whom he says that he desires to subdue, and if thosematters succeed well which he has in mind when he thus speaks, thedeed will after all be thine, master, seeing that thy slaves achievedit: and on the other hand if the opposite shall come to pass of thatwhich Mardonios intends, it will be no great misfortune, seeing thatthou wilt thyself remain safe, and also the power in those parts[67]which concerns thy house:[68] for if thou shalt remain safe with thyhouse, many contests many times over repeated will the Hellenes haveto pass through for their own existence.[69] Of Mardonios however, ifhe suffer any disaster, no account will be made; and if the Hellenesconquer they gain a victory which is no victory, having destroyed onewho is but thy slave. Thou however wilt retire having done that forwhich thou didst make thy march, that is to say, having deliveredAthens to the fire."103. With this advice Xerxes was greatly delighted, since shesucceeded in saying that very thing which he himself was meaning todo: for not even if all the men and all the women in the world hadbeen counselling him to remain, would he have done so, as I think, somuch had he been struck with terror. He commended Artemisia thereforeand sent her away to conduct his sons to Ephesos, for there werecertain bastard sons of his which accompanied him. 104. With thesesons he sent Hermotimos to have charge of them, who was by race ofPedasa and was in the estimation of the king second to none of theeunuchs. [Now the Pedasians dwell above Halicarnassos, and at thisPedasa a thing happens as follows:--whenever to the whole number ofthose who dwell about this city some trouble is about to come within acertain time, then the priestess of Athene in that place gets a longbeard; and this has happened to them twice before now. 105. Of thesePedasians was Hermotimos.][70] And this man of all persons whom weknow up to this time obtained the greatest revenge for a wrong done tohim. For he had been captured by enemies and was being sold, andPanionios a man of Chios bought him, one who had set himself to gain