- 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-grc2:1.172.1-1.172.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-01
On the origins and unique customs of the Caunians. It describes how they expelled foreign gods to their borders in order to worship only their ancestral deities.
οἱ δὲ Καύνιοι αὐτόχθονες δοκέειν ἐμοὶ1 εἰσί, αὐτοὶ μέντοι ἐκ Κρήτης φασὶ εἶναι. προσκεχωρήκασι δὲ γλῶσσαν2 μὲν πρὸς τὸ Καρικὸν ἔθνος, ἢ οἱ Κᾶρες πρὸς τὸ Καυνικόν (τοῦτο γὰρ οὐκ ἔχω ἀτρεκέως διακρῖναι), νόμοισι δὲ χρέωνται κεχωρισμένοισι πολλὸν τῶν τε ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων καὶ Καρῶν. τοῖσι γὰρ κάλλιστον ἐστὶ κατʼ ἡλικίην τε καὶ φιλότητα εἰλαδὸν συγγίνεσθαι ἐς πόσιν, καὶ ἀνδράσι καὶ γυναιξὶ καὶ παισί.
The Caunians, in my opinion, are autochthonous, though they themselves say they are from Crete. They have conformed in language to the Carian nation, or the Carians to the Caunian (for of this I cannot distinguish with certainty), but they practice customs very different from those of other men and of the Carians. For with them, it is considered finest to gather together by age and friendship in groups for drinking, both for men, women, and children.
ἱδρυθέντων δέ σφι ἱρῶν ξεινικῶν, μετέπειτα ὥς σφι ἀπέδοξε, ἔδοξέ δὲ τοῖσι πατρίοισι μοῦνον χέασθαι3 θεοῖσι, ἐνδύντες τὰ ὅπλα ἅπαντες Καύνιοι ἡβηδόν,4 τύπτοντες δόρασι τὸν ἠέρα, μέχρι οὔρων τῶν Καλυνδικῶν εἵποντο, καὶ ἔφασαν ἐκβάλλειν τοὺς ξεινικοὺς θεούς.
Foreign temples having been established among them, afterwards, when they changed their minds, and decided to pour libations only to their ancestral gods, all the Caunians of military age, putting on their armor, went as far as the borders of Calynda, striking the air with their spears, and said they were casting out the foreign gods.
- 1.172.1δοκέειν ἐμοὶ
An absolute or restrictive infinitive construction. It is equivalent to ὡς δοκεῖν ἐμοί, here used without ὡς to mean 'in my opinion' or 'as it seems to me'.
- 1.172.1γλῶσσαν
Accusative of specification (or respect), meaning 'in respect to language' or 'in tongue,' modifying the verb προσκεχωρήκασι.
- 1.172.2χέασθαι
Middle first aorist infinitive of χέω (to pour, pour a libation). It functions as the complementary infinitive with ἔδοξε, meaning 'to pour libations only to their ancestral gods.' Although some scholars suggest it is a scribal error for χρᾶσθαι (to worship, use), it is generally understood as referring to pouring libations.
- 1.172.2ἡβηδόν
An adverb meaning 'man by man from youth up' or 'all of military age,' indicating that the entire male citizen body of Caunus took up arms for this military-like expulsion.