- 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-grc2:1.142.1-1.142.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-31
The author praises the excellent climate of Ionia and explains that the twelve Ionian cities are divided into four distinct dialect groups based on their geographical locations.
οἱ δὲ Ἴωνες οὗτοι, τῶν καὶ τὸ Πανιώνιον ἐστί, τοῦ μὲν οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῶν ὡρέων ἐν τῷ καλλίστῳ1 ἐτύγχανον ἱδρυσάμενοι2 πόλιας πάντων ἀνθρώπων τῶν ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν·3
These Ionians, to whom the Panionium also belongs, happened to have founded their cities in the finest climate and seasons of all the men whom we know.
οὔτε γὰρ τὰ ἄνω αὐτῆς χωρία τὠυτὸ ποιέει τῇ Ἰωνίῃ οὔτε τὰ κάτω οὔτε τὰ πρὸς τὴν ἠῶ οὔτε τὰ πρὸς τὴν ἑσπέρην, τὰ μὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ ψυχροῦ τε καὶ ὑγροῦ πιεζόμενα,4 τὰ δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ θερμοῦ τε καὶ αὐχμώδεος.
For neither the regions above Ionia, nor those below, nor those to the east, nor those to the west, do the same as Ionia itself; some being oppressed by cold and moisture, others by heat and drought.
γλῶσσαν δὲ οὐ τὴν αὐτὴν οὗτοι νενομίκασι, ἀλλὰ τρόπους τέσσερας παραγωγέων. Μίλητος μὲν αὐτέων πρώτη κέεται πόλις πρὸς μεσαμβρίην, μετὰ δὲ Μυοῦς τε καὶ Πριήνη.
And they do not use the same tongue, but four different dialects. Miletus indeed lies first of their cities towards the south, and after it Myus and Priene.
αὗται μὲν ἐν τῇ Καρίῃ κατοίκηνται κατὰ ταὐτὰ διαλεγόμεναι σφίσι, αἵδε δὲ ἐν τῇ Λυδίῃ, Ἔφεσος Κολοφὼν Λέβεδος Τέως Κλαζομεναὶ Φώκαια· αὗται δὲ αἱ πόλιες τῇσι πρότερον λεχθείσῃσι ὁμολογέουσι κατὰ γλῶσσαν οὐδέν, σφισι δὲ ὁμοφωνέουσι. ἔτι δὲ τρεῖς ὑπόλοιποι Ἰάδες πόλιες, τῶν αἱ δύο μὲν νήσους οἰκέαται,5 Σάμον τε καὶ Χίον, ἡ δὲ μία ἐν τῇ ἠπείρῳ ἵδρυται, Ἐρυθραί. Χῖοι μέν νυν καὶ Ἐρυθραῖοι κατὰ τὠυτὸ διαλέγονται, Σάμιοι δὲ ἐπʼ ἑωυτῶν μοῦνοι. οὗτοι χαρακτῆρες γλώσσης τέσσερες γίνονται.
These are settled in Caria, speaking the same dialect among themselves; and these in Lydia: Ephesus, Colophon, Lebedus, Teos, Clazomenae, Phocaea; these cities agree in language in nothing with those previously mentioned, but agree in speech among themselves. And there are yet three remaining Ionian cities, of which two inhabit islands, Samos and Chios, and one is established on the mainland, Erythrae. Now the Chians and Erythraeans speak according to the same dialect, but the Samians by themselves alone. These make four characters of language.
- 1.142.1τοῦ μὲν οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῶν ὡρέων ἐν τῷ καλλίστῳ
The genitives τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῶν ὡρέων depend on the substantivized neuter superlative phrase ἐν τῷ καλλίστῳ. Here, οὐρανός refers to the "sky" or "climate", and ὧραι refers to the "seasons", indicating that they founded their cities in the finest possible climate.
- 1.142.1ἐτύγχανον ἱδρυσάμενοι
The construction of τυγχάνω with a participle (ἱδρυσάμενοι) is used to express "happen to do" or simply to emphasize the actual state/fact of their having founded the cities in such a location.
- 1.142.1πάντων ἀνθρώπων τῶν ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν
The phrase πάντων ἀνθρώπων is a partitive genitive, qualifying the main subject οἱ δὲ Ἴωνες οὗτοι ("of all the men we know, these Ionians..."). Although it could theoretically be taken with the superlative καλλίστῳ ("in the finest place of all men"), it more naturally highlights the Ionians themselves in comparison with the rest of humanity.
- 1.142.2τὰ μὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ ψυχροῦ... πιεζόμενα
The neuter plural participle πιεζόμενα (present passive of πιάζω) agrees with the correlative pronouns τὰ μὲν ... τὰ δὲ, which refer back to the surrounding regions of Ionia. The preposition ὑπό with the genitive denotes the agency or cause of oppression ("oppressed by cold...").
- 1.142.4οἰκέαται
The form οἰκέαται is the Ionic third-person plural present perfect (middle/passive) ending in -αται, equivalent to Attic οἴκηνται (from οἰκέω). Here it is used transitively with the accusative νήσους, meaning "inhabit islands".