- 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-grc2:1.139.1
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-31
Describes a unique feature of Persian names (that they all end in the same letter) which the Persians themselves do not realize but is known to the Greeks.
καὶ τόδε ἄλλο σφι ὧδε συμπέπτωκε γίνεσθαι, τὸ1 Πέρσας μὲν αὐτοὺς λέληθε, ἡμέας μέντοι οὔ· τὰ οὐνόματά σφι ἐόντα2 ὅμοια τοῖσι σώμασι καὶ τῇ μεγαλοπρεπείῃ τελευτῶσι πάντα ἐς τὠυτὸ γράμμα, τὸ Δωριέες μὲν σὰν καλέουσι, Ἴωνες δὲ σίγμα· ἐς τοῦτο διζήμενος3 εὑρήσεις τελευτῶντα τῶν Περσέων τὰ οὐνόματα, οὐ τὰ μὲν τὰ δʼ οὔ, ἀλλὰ πάντα ὁμοίως.
And this other thing has also happened to coincide for them in this way, which has escaped the notice of the Persians themselves, but not us:their names, which are suited to their bodies and their magnificence, all end in the same letter,which the Dorians call san and the Ionians sigma.If you search, you will find that the names of the Persians end in this letter, not some of them and others not, but all of them alike.
- 1.139.1τὸ
An article or pronoun introducing an appositive clause that specifically explains the preceding pronominal expression tóde allo.
- 1.139.1ἐόντα
The neuter plural present participle of the verb eimi (corresponding to Attic onta in the Ionic dialect), agreeing with the subject ta ounomata.
- 1.139.1διζήμενος
The present participle of the verb dizēmai ('to seek, search'), here functioning conditionally ('if you search').