- Source
- Herodotus. Godley, Alfred Denis, editor. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, Ltd., 1920-1925 (printing).
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.105.1-1.105.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-30
The Scythians marching toward Egypt are turned back by King Psammetichus, but on their return, some of them plunder the temple at Ascalon, resulting in a divine curse of the "female disease" upon them and their descendants.
ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ ἤισαν ἐπʼ Αἴγυπτον. καὶ ἐπείτε ἐγένοντο ἐν τῇ Παλαιστίνῃ Συρίῃ, Ψαμμήτιχος σφέας Αἰγύπτου βασιλεὺς ἀντιάσας δώροισί τε καὶ λιτῇσι ἀποτράπει τὸ προσωτέρω μὴ πορεύεσθαι.1
From there they marched against Egypt. And when they came to Palestine in Syria, Psammetichus, the king of Egypt, met them and, with gifts and entreaties, turned them back from advancing any further.
οἳ δὲ ἐπείτε ἀναχωρέοντες ὀπίσω ἐγένοντο τῆς Συρίης ἐν Ἀσκάλωνι πόλι, τῶν πλεόνων Σκυθέων παρεξελθόντων ἀσινέων,2 ὀλίγοι τινὲς αὐτῶν ὑπολειφθέντες ἐσύλησαν τῆς οὐρανίης Ἀφροδίτης τὸ ἱρόν.
When they, in their retreat, arrived at the city of Ascalon in Syria, while the greater part of the Scythians passed by without doing any harm, a few of them who were left behind plundered the temple of Heavenly Aphrodite.
ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο τὸ ἱρόν, ὡς ἐγὼ πυνθανόμενος εὑρίσκω, πάντων ἀρχαιότατον ἱρῶν ὅσα ταύτης τῆς θεοῦ· καὶ γὰρ τὸ ἐν Κύπρῳ ἱρὸν ἐνθεῦτεν ἐγένετο, ὡς αὐτοὶ Κύπριοι λέγουσι, καὶ τὸ ἐν Κυθήροισι Φοίνικές εἰσὶ οἱ ἱδρυσάμενοι ἐκ ταύτης τῆς Συρίης ἐόντες.
This temple, as I learn by inquiry, is the oldest of all the temples of this goddess; for the temple in Cyprus also had its origin from there, as the Cyprians themselves say, and the one in Cythera was founded by Phoenicians who came from this part of Syria.
τοῖσι δὲ τῶν Σκυθέων συλήσασι τὸ ἱρὸν τὸ ἐν Ἀσκάλωνι καὶ τοῖσι τούτων αἰεὶ ἐκγόνοισι ἐνέσκηψε ὁ θεὸς θήλεαν νοῦσον· ὥστε ἅμα λέγουσί τε οἱ Σκύθαι διὰ τοῦτο σφέας νοσέειν, καὶ ὁρᾶν3 παρʼ ἑωυτοῖσι τοὺς ἀπικνεομένους ἐς τὴν Σκυθικὴν χώρην ὡς διακέαται4 τοὺς καλέουσι Ἐνάρεας οἱ Σκύθαι.
Upon those Scythians who plundered the temple in Ascalon, and upon their descendants forever, the deity inflicted the “female disease”; so that the Scythians not only say themselves that they are sick for this reason, but those who visit the Scythian land can also see among them how they are affected, whom the Scythians call Enareis.
- 1.105.1τὸ προσωτέρω μὴ πορεύεσθαι
The infinitive phrase with the negative particle μὴ following the verb of prevention (ἀποτράπει), acting as a redundant negative.
- 1.105.2τῶν πλεόνων Σκυθέων παρεξελθόντων ἀσινέων
Genitive absolute construction. The genitive plural adjective ἀσινέων (from ἀσινής) agrees with the logical subject τῶν πλεόνων Σκυθέων and functions predicatively to mean "without doing harm."
- 1.105.4ὥστε ἅμα λέγουσί τε ... καὶ ὁρᾶν
In the consecutive clause introduced by ὥστε, there is an asymmetrical construction combining the indicative λέγουσι in the first part and the infinitive ὁρᾶν in the second. The logical subject of ὁρᾶν is the following accusative phrase τοὺς ἀπικνεομένους ("those who arrive").
- 1.105.4ὡς διακέαται
Ionic dialectal form of the third-person plural present middle/passive ending (-αται), corresponding to the Attic διακεῖνται (from διακεῖμαι, "to be in a certain state").