- 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-grc2:1.127.1-1.127.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-31
Under the leadership of Cyrus, the Persians rise up for independence and refuse Astyages' summons. Astyages arms the Medes and appoints Harpagus as general, but during the battle, many Medes desert to the Persians or flee.
πέρσαι μέν νυν προστάτεω1 ἐπιλαβόμενοι ἄσμενοὶ ἐλευθεροῦντο, καὶ πάλαι δεινὸν ποιεύμενοι ὑπὸ Μήδων ἄρχεσθαι. Ἀστυάγης δὲ ὡς ἐπύθετο Κῦρον ταῦτα πρήσσοντα, πέμψας ἄγγελον ἐκάλεε αὐτόν.
Thus the Persians, having obtained a leader, gladly sought to win their freedom, as they had long felt it intolerable to be ruled by the Medes. When Astyages learned that Cyrus was doing these things, he sent a messenger and summoned him.
ὁ δὲ Κῦρος ἐκέλευε τὸν ἄγγελον ἀπαγγέλλειν ὅτι πρότερον ἥξοι2 παρʼ ἐκεῖνον ἢ Ἀστυάγης αὐτὸς βουλήσεται. ἀκούσας δὲ ταῦτα ὁ Ἀστυάγης Μήδους τε ὥπλισε πάντας, καὶ στρατηγὸν αὐτῶν ὥστε θεοβλαβὴς ἐὼν3 Ἅρπαγον ἀπέδεξε, λήθην ποιεύμενος τά μιν ἐόργεε.4
But Cyrus ordered the messenger to report back that he would arrive before Astyages himself would wish him to. On hearing this, Astyages armed all the Medes, and as if blinded by a god, making light of the outrage he had committed against him, he appointed Harpagus as their general.
ὡς δὲ οἱ Μῆδοι στρατευσάμενοι τοῖσι Πέρσῃσι συνέμισγον, οἳ μέν τινὲς αὐτῶν ἐμάχοντο, ὅσοι μὴ τοῦ λόγου μετέσχον, οἳ δὲ αὐτομόλεον πρὸς τοὺς Πέρσας, οἱ δὲ πλεῖστοι ἐθελοκάκεόν τε καὶ ἔφευγον.
When the Medes marched out and engaged with the Persians, some of them fought—namely, those who had no share in the plot—while others deserted to the Persians, and the majority of them fought half-heartedly and fled.
- 1.127.1προστάτεω
Genitive object governed by the participle ἐπιλαβόμενοι (from ἐπιλαμβάνομαι, 'to lay hold of, obtain'), referring to Cyrus as their leader.
- 1.127.2ἥξοι
Future optative in the indirect discourse clause introduced by ὅτι. It is used because the governing verb of the main clause (ἐκέλευε) is in a past tense (imperfect), representing an original future indicative in direct speech.
- 1.127.2ὥστε θεοβλαβὴς ἐὼν
The particle ὥστε with the participle ἐὼν (equivalent to ἅτε or ὡς in Attic in this context) denotes a subjective view or comparison, meaning 'as if being blinded by a god.'
- 1.127.2τά μιν ἐόργεε
ἐόργεε is the pluperfect of ἔρδω ('to do'), which takes a double accusative: the relative pronoun τά (acting as the object of action) and the personal pronoun μιν (referring to Harpagus, accusative). The subject is Astyages, meaning 'the things which he (Astyages) had done to him (Harpagus).'