Hide browse bar Your current position in the text is marked in blue. Click anywhere in the line to jump to another position:
chapter:
chapter 1-4chapter 1chapter 2chapter 3chapter 4chapter 5,6chapter 5chapter 6chapter 7chapter 8-11chapter 8chapter 8Achapter 8Bchapter 8Cchapter 8Dchapter 9chapter 9Achapter 9Bchapter 9Cchapter 10chapter 10Achapter 10Bchapter 10Cchapter 10Echapter 10Fchapter 10Gchapter 10Hchapter 11chapter 12-18chapter 12chapter 13chapter 14chapter 15chapter 16chapter 15Achapter 15Bchapter 15Cchapter 18chapter 19-25chapter 19chapter 20chapter 21chapter 22chapter 23chapter 24chapter 25chapter 26-32chapter 26chapter 27chapter 28chapter 30chapter 31chapter 32chapter 33-7chapter 33chapter 34chapter 35chapter 36chapter 37-43chapter 37chapter 38chapter 39chapter 40chapter 41chapter 42chapter 43chapter 44-56chapter 44chapter 45chapter 46chapter 49chapter 50chapter 51chapter 52chapter 53chapter 54chapter 55chapter 56chapter 57-60chapter 57chapter 58chapter 59chapter 60chapter 61-99chapter 61chapter 62chapter 63chapter 64chapter 65chapter 66chapter 67chapter 68chapter 69chapter 70chapter 71chapter 72chapter 73chapter 74chapter 75chapter 76chapter 77chapter 78chapter 79chapter 80chapter 81chapter 82chapter 83chapter 84chapter 85chapter 86chapter 87chapter 89chapter 90chapter 91chapter 92chapter 93chapter 94chapter 95chapter 96chapter 97chapter 98chapter 99chapter 100-8chapter 100chapter 101chapter 102chapter 103chapter 104chapter 105chapter 106chapter 107chapter 108-26chapter 108chapter 109chapter 110chapter 111chapter 112chapter 113chapter 114chapter 115chapter 116chapter 117chapter 118chapter 119chapter 120chapter 121chapter 122chapter 123chapter 124chapter 126chapter 127chapter 128-30chapter 128chapter 129chapter 130chapter 131-7chapter 131chapter 132chapter 133chapter 134chapter 135chapter 136chapter 137chapter 138-44chapter 139chapter 140chapter 141chapter 142chapter 143chapter 144chapter 145-7chapter 145chapter 146chapter 147chapter 148-52chapter 148chapter 149chapter 150chapter 151chapter 152chapter 153-67chapter 153chapter 154chapter 155chapter 156chapter 157chapter 158chapter 159chapter 160chapter 161chapter 162chapter 163chapter 164chapter 165chapter 166chapter 167chapter 168-71chapter 168chapter 169chapter 170chapter 171chapter 172-4chapter 172chapter 173chapter 174chapter 175-8chapter 175chapter 176chapter 177chapter 178chapter 179-95chapter 179chapter 180chapter 181chapter 183chapter 184chapter 185chapter 186chapter 187chapter 188chapter 189chapter 190chapter 191chapter 192chapter 193chapter 194chapter 195chapter 196-8chapter 196chapter 197chapter 198-201chapter 198chapter 199chapter 200chapter 201chapter 202-7chapter 202chapter 203chapter 204chapter 205chapter 206chapter 207chapter 208-9chapter 208chapter 209chapter 210-12chapter 210chapter 211chapter 212chapter 213-25chapter 213chapter 214chapter 215chapter 216chapter 217chapter 218chapter 219chapter 220chapter 221chapter 222chapter 223chapter 224chapter 225chapter 226-33chapter 226chapter 228chapter 229chapter 231chapter 233chapter 234-9chapter 234chapter 235chapter 236chapter 237chapter 238chapter 239
This text is part of:
Τρηχίς is used by H. for the city elsewhere (ch. 199, 201, and probably 203. 2), but here for the country Trachinia (ch. 199, 201; viii. 31), as also in viii. 21. 1, 66. 1; and Thuc. iv. 78, v. 12, 51. τῆς ἄλλης. By an idiomatic compression the ‘narrowest part’ is included in the rest of the country with which it is really contrasted. Cf. Tac. Agr. 34 ‘ceterorum Britannorum fugacissimi’ and Milton's ‘fairest of her daughters Eve’. Though there is a verbal contradiction in saying ‘the pass through Trachis where narrowest is fifty feet broad, yet this is not the narrowest point but before and behind where it is only some six feet’, the meaning is pretty clear. Herodotus is first describing the best known and most defensible part of the pass, ‘the Middle Gate,’ near the Phocian wall (inf.), and the little hill where the last stand was made (ch. 225), which was about fifty feet wide; and then inconsistently adds further statements as to the western and eastern gates, in front of and behind the pass proper, where there was in his day but just room for the road. [Macan's suggestion that H. meant by ἡ διὰ Τρηχῖνος ἔσοδος the entirely different pass up the gorge of the Asopus into Doris (cf. viii. 31 n.; vii. 199 n.) is impossible.] H. here gives us in broad outline a general description, reserving details for ch. 198-200, chapters which should be studied in connexion with this. But the main points are here. The pass between mountain and sea has at either end an extremely narrow gate; the western gate, however, near Anthela, could be easily turned by crossing a projecting spur of the mountain, the eastern near Alpeni (ch. 216) is clearly behind the Greek position. In the three miles between them lay a double amphitheatre contracting about halfway at the Middle Gate; this is the true Thermopylae where are the hot springs and the Phocian wall (cf. 241 n.). For a full description cf. Grundy, p. 284 f.
The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.
Purchase a copy of this text (not necessarily the same edition) from Amazon.com
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.