- 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-grc2:1.112.1-1.112.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-30
The herdsman's wife, moved by the beauty of the infant, begs her husband not to expose him. When he refuses, she proposes that they substitute their own stillborn child and raise the royal infant as their own.
ἅμα δὲ ταῦτα ἔλεγε ὁ βουκόλος καὶ ἐκκαλύψας ἀπεδείκνυε. ἣ δὲ ὡς εἶδε τὸ παιδίον μέγα τε καὶ εὐειδὲς ἐόν,1 δακρύσασα καὶ λαβομένη τῶν γουνάτων τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἐχρήιζε μηδεμιῇ τέχνῃ ἐκθεῖναί μιν.
And as the herdsman said this, he at the same time uncovered the child and showed him. And when she saw that the child was large and beautiful, she wept, and clasping her husband’s knees, she entreated him by no means to expose him.
ὁ δὲ οὐκ ἔφη οἷός τʼ εἶναι2 ἄλλως αὐτὰ ποιέειν· ἐπιφοιτήσειν γὰρ κατασκόπους ἐξ Ἁρπάγου ἐποψομένους, ἀπολέεσθαί τε κάκιστα ἢν μὴ σφεα ποιήσῃ. ὡς δὲ οὐκ ἔπειθε ἄρα τὸν ἄνδρα, δευτέρα λέγει ἡ γυνὴ τάδε. ἐπεὶ τοίνυν οὐ δύναμαί σε πείθειν μὴ ἐκθεῖναι, σὺ δὲ ὧδε ποίησον, εἰ δὴ πᾶσα ἀνάγκη ὀφθῆναι ἐκκείμενον. τέτοκα γὰρ καὶ ἐγώ, τέτοκα δὲ τεθνεός.
But he said he was not able to do otherwise; for, he said, inspectors would come from Harpagus to look into the matter, and he himself would perish most miserably if he should not do this. Since, then, she could not persuade her husband, the wife spoke thus for the second time: “Since, therefore, I cannot persuade you not to expose him, do you do this, if indeed there is every necessity that a child be seen exposed: for I too have given birth, and I have given birth to a dead child.
τοῦτο μὲν φέρων πρόθες, τὸν δὲ τῆς Ἀστυάγεος θυγατρὸς παῖδα ὡς ἐξ ἡμέων ἐόντα τρέφωμεν. καὶ οὕτω οὔτε σὺ ἁλώσεαι ἀδικέων3 τοὺς δεσπότας οὔτε ἡμῖν κακῶς βεβουλευμένα ἔσται· ὅ τε γὰρ τεθνεὼς βασιληίης ταφῆς κυρήσει καὶ ὁ περιεὼν οὐκ ἀπολέει τὴν ψυχήν.
Take this dead one and expose it, and let us bring up the child of Astyages’ daughter as if he were our own. And in this way, you will not be caught wronging your masters, nor will we have counselled badly for ourselves; for the dead child will obtain a royal burial, and the survivor will not lose his life.”
- 1.112.1τὸ παιδίον μέγα τε καὶ εὐειδὲς ἐόν
A participial complement structure with the participle ἐόν (Ionic form of ὄν) accompanying the object of the verb of perception ὡς εἶδε ('when she saw'), meaning 'she saw that the child was large and beautiful.' While it could be taken as an attributive participle modifying the noun, it is more naturally understood as a predicate complement describing the state of the child as observed.
- 1.112.2οὐκ ἔφη οἷός τʼ εἶναι
The negative οὐκ negates the verb ἔφη but semantically affects the infinitive phrase, meaning 'he said he was not able to...' The phrase οἷός τʼ εἶναι (Ionic for οἷός τε εἶναι) is an idiomatic expression meaning 'to be able,' here in the infinitive due to indirect discourse.
- 1.112.3οὔτε σὺ ἁλώσεαι ἀδικέων
The form ἁλώσεαι is the Ionic 2nd person singular future of ἁλίσκομαι ('to be caught, detected'), corresponding to Attic ἁλώσῃ. The verb ἁλίσκομαι used with a participle (here ἀδικέων, 'doing wrong') means 'to be caught in the act of doing wrong,' i.e., 'you will not be detected in wrongdoing against your masters.'