Herodotus, Histories, ed. A.D. Godley, 2.141.5

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[5] Their enemies came there, too, and during the night were overrun by a horde of field mice¹ that gnawed quivers and bows and the handles of shields, with the result that many were killed fleeing unarmed the next day.

Histories. Herodotus. ed. A.D. Godley. Cambridge. 1920-1925.

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Current edition Perseus

Histories (English) (Herodotus. Godley, Alfred Denis, translator. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, Ltd., 1920-1925 (printing). (Modernized by Perseus.))

Editions (1)

Ἱστορίαι Perseus (Herodotus. Godley, Alfred Denis, editor. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, Ltd., 1920-1925 (printing).) — 2.141.5 focus

[5] ἐνθαῦτα ἀπικομένοισι¹ τοῖσι ἐναντίοισι αὐτοῖσι ἐπιχυθέντας νυκτὸς μῦς ἀρουραίους κατὰ μὲν φαγεῖν τοὺς φαρετρεῶνας αὐτῶν κατὰ δὲ τὰ τόξα, πρὸς δὲ τῶν ἀσπίδων τὰ ὄχανα, ὥστε τῇ ὑστεραίῃ φευγόντων σφέων γυμνῶν πεσεῖν πολλούς.

Notes on the current edition

Histories

1. This is Hdt.'s version of the Jewish story of the pestilence which destroyed the Assyrian army before +Jerusalem [35.233,31.766] (inhabited place), Jerusalem, Israel, Asia Jerusalem . Mice are a Greek symbol of pestilence; it is Apollo Smintheus (the mouse god) who sends and then ends the plague in Hom. Il. 1 . It has long been known that rats are carriers of the plague.

Herodotus Histories 2.141.5

ed. A.D. Godley

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