- 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-grc2:1.183.1-1.183.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-02
The author describes the lower temple within the sanctuary in Babylon, including its golden statue of Zeus, two altars with distinct sacrificial rules, and a massive solid gold statue that Xerxes later seized.
ἔστι δὲ τοῦ ἐν Βαβυλῶνι ἱροῦ1 καὶ ἄλλος κάτω νηός, ἔνθα ἄγαλμα μέγα τοῦ Διὸς ἔνι κατήμενον χρύσεον, καὶ οἱ2 τράπεζα μεγάλη παρακέεται χρυσέη, καὶ τὸ βάθρον οἱ καὶ ὁ θρόνος χρύσεος ἐστί· καὶ ὡς ἔλεγον οἱ Χαλδαῖοι, ταλάντων ὀκτακοσίων χρυσίου πεποίηται ταῦτα.
In the sanctuary in Babylon there is also another temple below, where there is a great seated golden statue of Zeus, and a great golden table stands beside it, and its pedestal and throne are also of gold; and as the Chaldeans used to say, these are made of eight hundred talents of gold.
ἔξω δὲ τοῦ νηοῦ βωμός ἐστι χρύσεος, ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἄλλος βωμὸς μέγας, ἐπʼ οὗ θύεται τὰ τέλεα τῶν προβάτων· ἐπὶ γὰρ τοῦ χρυσέου βωμοῦ οὐκ ἔξεστι θύειν ὅτι μὴ3 γαλαθηνὰ μούνα, ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ μέζονος βωμοῦ καὶ καταγίζουσι λιβανωτοῦ χίλια τάλαντα ἔτεος ἑκάστου οἱ Χαλδαῖοι τότε ἐπεὰν τὴν ὁρτὴν ἄγωσι τῷ θεῷ τούτῳ. ἦν δὲ ἐν τῷ τεμένεϊ τούτῳ ἔτι τὸν χρόνον ἐκεῖνον καὶ ἀνδριὰς δυώδεκα πηχέων χρύσεος στερεός·
Outside the temple there is a golden altar, and there is also another great altar, upon which full-grown sheep are sacrificed; for upon the golden altar it is not permitted to sacrifice any but sucklings only, and upon the larger altar the Chaldeans even burn a thousand talents of frankincense every year at the time when they celebrate the festival for this god. There was also in this sacred precinct still at that time a statue of solid gold twelve cubits high;
ἐγὼ μέν μιν οὐκ εἶδον, τὰ δὲ λέγεται ὑπὸ Χαλδαίων, ταῦτα λέγω. τούτῳ τῷ ἀνδριάντι Δαρεῖος μὲν ὁ Ὑστάσπεος ἐπιβουλεύσας οὐκ ἐτόλμησε λαβεῖν, Ξέρξης δὲ ὁ Δαρείου ἔλαβε καὶ τὸν ἱρέα ἀπέκτεινε ἀπαγορεύοντα μὴ κινέειν4 τὸν ἀνδριάντα. τὸ μὲν δὴ ἱρὸν τοῦτο οὕτω κεκόσμηται, ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἴδια ἀναθήματα πολλά.
I indeed did not see it, but I tell what is said by the Chaldeans. Darius the son of Hystaspes, having designs upon this statue, did not dare to take it, but Xerxes the son of Darius took it and killed the priest who forbade him to move the statue. This sanctuary, then, is thus adorned, and there are also many private offerings.
- 1.183.1τοῦ ἐν Βαβυλῶνι ἱροῦ
The genitive "τοῦ... ἱροῦ" functions as a genitive of the whole (partitive genitive) or possession in relation to the subsequent phrase "ἄλλος κάτω νηός" ("another temple below belonging to the sanctuary in Babylon").
- 1.183.1οἱ
The third-person singular dative pronoun (the Ionic form equivalent to Attic αὐτῷ), here functioning as a dative of possession referring to the statue of Zeus ("beside it / for it").
- 1.183.2ὅτι μὴ
An idiomatic phrase meaning "except" or "save only." It follows the negative verb "οὐκ ἔξεστι" ("it is not permitted") to specify the single exception ("except sucklings only").
- 1.183.3ἀπαγορεύοντα μὴ κινέειν
The participle "ἀπαγορεύοντα" ("forbidding") is followed by the infinitive "κινέειν" with the negative particle "μή". This is a redundant negative typical after verbs of preventing or forbidding; the phrase translates to "forbidding [him] to move" (and not "forbidding not to move").