- 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-grc2:1.108.1-1.108.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-30
Astyages dreams that a vine from Mandane covers Asia, and in fear, he orders his faithful servant Harpagus to kill the newborn Cyrus.
συνοικεούσης δὲ τῷ Καμβύσῃ τῆς Μανδάνης, ὁ Ἀστυάγης τῷ πρώτῳ ἔτεϊ εἶδε ἄλλην ὄψιν, ἐδόκεε δέ οἱ ἐκ τῶν αἰδοίων τῆς θυγατρὸς ταύτης φῦναι ἄμπελον, τὴν δὲ ἄμπελον ἐπισχεῖν τὴν Ἀσίην πᾶσαν.
While Mandane was living with Cambyses, Astyages in the first year saw another vision; it seemed to him that a vine grew from the private parts of this daughter, and that the vine covered the whole of Asia.
ἰδὼν δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ὑπερθέμενος τοῖσι ὀνειροπόλοισι, μετεπέμψατο ἐκ τῶν Περσέων τὴν θυγατέρα ἐπίτεκα ἐοῦσαν, ἀπικομένην δὲ ἐφύλασσε βουλόμενος τὸ γενόμενον ἐξ αὐτῆς διαφθεῖραι· ἐκ γάρ οἱ τῆς ὄψιος οἱ τῶν Μάγων ὀνειροπόλοι ἐσήμαινον ὅτι μέλλοι ὁ τῆς θυγατρὸς αὐτοῦ γόνος βασιλεύσειν ἀντὶ ἐκείνου.
Having seen this and having communicated it to the dream-interpreters, he sent for his daughter from the Persians when she was near her time of delivery, and upon her arrival he kept her under guard, wishing to destroy the child that should be born of her; for the dream-interpreters of the Magi indicated to him from the vision that the offspring of his daughter was destined to reign in his stead.
ταῦτα δὴ ὦν φυλασσόμενος ὁ Ἀστυάγης, ὡς ἐγένετο ὁ Κῦρος, καλέσας Ἅρπαγον ἄνδρα οἰκήιον καὶ πιστότατόν τε Μήδων καὶ πάντων ἐπίτροπον τῶν ἑωυτοῦ, ἔλεγὲ οἱ τοιάδε.
Astyages, therefore, guarding against this, when Cyrus was born, called Harpagus, a man of his own kin and the most faithful of the Medes, and the administrator of all his affairs, and spoke to him as follows:
Ἅρπαγε, πρῆγμα τὸ ἄν τοι προσθέω,1 μηδαμῶς παραχρήσῃ, μηδὲ ἐμέ τε παραβάλῃ καὶ ἄλλους ἑλόμενος ἐξ ὑστέρης σοὶ αὐτῷ περιπέσῃς· λάβε τὸν Μανδάνη ἔτεκε παῖδα,2 φέρων δὲ ἐς σεωυτοῦ ἀπόκτεινον, μετὰ δὲ θάψον τρόπῳ ὅτεῳ αὐτὸς βούλεαι.
”Harpagus, the matter which I shall entrust to you, by no means neglect it, nor betray me and, by choosing others, bring ruin upon yourself hereafter. Take the child whom Mandane has borne, carry him to your own house and kill him, and afterwards bury him in whatever way you yourself wish.”
ὁ δὲ ἀμείβεται ὦ βασιλεῦ, οὔτε ἄλλοτε κω παρεῖδες ἀνδρὶ τῷδε3 ἄχαρι οὐδέν, φυλασσόμεθα4 δὲ ἐς σὲ καὶ ἐς τὸν μετέπειτα χρόνον μηδὲν ἐξαμαρτεῖν. ἀλλʼ εἲ τοι φίλον τοῦτο οὕτω γίνεσθαι, χρὴ δὴ τό γε ἐμὸν ὑπηρετέεσθαι ἐπιτηδέως.
And he replied: “O King, never yet at any time have you found anything displeasing in this man, and we take care not to offend against you either now or in the time to come. But if it is your pleasure that this should be done so, it is indeed necessary that my part at least should be performed dutifully.”
- 1.108.4πρῆγμα τὸ ἄν τοι προσθέω
The combination of the relative pronoun (using the demonstrative form typical of the Ionic dialect) with ἄν and the subjunctive (προσθέω) expresses a future, indefinite general condition ("whatever matter I shall entrust to you"). προσθέω is the first-person singular aorist active subjunctive of προστίθημι.
- 1.108.4τὸν Μανδάνη ἔτεκε παῖδα
Either the relative pronoun ὅν is omitted, or the antecedent παῖδα is attracted into the relative clause (Μανδάνη ἔτεκε) in an irregular word order (equivalent to τὸν παῖδα ὃν Μανδάνη ἔτεκε). It means "the child whom Mandane has borne."
- 1.108.5ἀνδρὶ τῷδε
The demonstrative pronoun ὅδε (this) is used here in place of the first-person pronoun ἐμοί (me), a usage typical of classical Greek (especially in poetry and elevated prose). It means "in this man (in me)."
- 1.108.5φυλασσόμεθα
Although first-person plural in form, it refers only to the speaker Harpagus (the "plural of majesty" or simply substituting for the first-person singular). In harmony with the preceding ἀνδρὶ τῷδε, it is used to express deference and dignity before the sovereign.