- 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-grc2:1.194.1-1.194.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-02
Describes the unique construction and navigation of the round leather boats from Armenia used for river transport to Babylon, and the system of dismantling them and returning by land with donkeys.
τὸ δὲ ἁπάντων θῶμα μέγιστόν μοι ἐστὶ τῶν ταύτῃ μετά γε αὐτὴν τὴν πόλιν, ἔρχομαι φράσων·1 τὰ πλοῖα αὐτοῖσι ἐστὶ τὰ κατὰ τὸν ποταμὸν πορευόμενα ἐς τὴν Βαβυλῶνα, ἐόντα κυκλοτερέα, πάντα σκύτινα.
And now I will proceed to tell of that which is to me the greatest wonder of this country, after the city itself. The boats they use for going down the river to Babylon are round and entirely made of leather.
ἐπεὰν γὰρ ἐν τοῖσι Ἀρμενίοισι τοῖσι κατύπερθε Ἀσσυρίων οἰκημένοισι νομέας ἰτέης ταμόμενοι ποιήσωνται, περιτείνουσι τούτοισι διφθέρας στεγαστρίδας ἔξωθεν ἐδάφεος τρόπον,2 οὔτε πρύμνην ἀποκρίνοντες οὔτε πρῴρην συνάγοντες, ἀλλʼ ἀσπίδος τρόπον κυκλοτερέα ποιήσαντες καὶ καλάμης πλήσαντες πᾶν τὸ πλοῖον τοῦτο ἀπιεῖσι κατὰ τὸν ποταμὸν φέρεσθαι, φορτίων πλήσαντες· μάλιστα δὲ βίκους φοινικηίους κατάγουσι οἴνου πλέους.
For when they have cut willow ribs in the land of the Armenians who dwell above the Assyrians, and have made the frame, they stretch watertight skins over these from the outside in the manner of a hull, neither distinguishing a stern nor drawing in a prow, but making them round like a shield; and having filled the whole boat with straw, and loaded it with cargo, they let it drift down the river. They carry down chiefly palm-wood casks full of wine.
ἰθύνεται δὲ ὑπό τε δύο πλήκτρων καὶ δύο ἀνδρῶν ὀρθῶν ἑστεώτων, καὶ ὃ μὲν ἔσω ἕλκει τὸ πλῆκτρον ὁ δὲ ἔξω ὠθέει. ποιέεται δὲ καὶ κάρτα μεγάλα ταῦτα τὰ πλοῖα καὶ ἐλάσσω· τὰ δὲ μέγιστα αὐτῶν καὶ πεντακισχιλίων ταλάντων γόμον ἔχει. ἐν ἑκάστῳ δὲ πλοίῳ ὄνος ζωὸς ἔνεστι, ἐν δὲ τοῖσι μέζοσι πλεῦνες.
The boat is steered by two paddles and two men standing upright, and one of them draws his paddle in while the other pushes it out. These boats are made both very large and smaller; and the largest of them has a cargo capacity of even five thousand talents. In each boat there is a live donkey, and in the larger ones more than one.
ἐπεὰν ὦν ἀπίκωνται πλέοντες ἐς τὴν Βαβυλῶνα καὶ διαθέωνται τὸν φόρτον, νομέας μὲν τοῦ πλοίου καὶ τὴν καλάμην πᾶσαν ἀπʼ ὦν ἐκήρυξαν,3 τὰς δὲ διφθέρας ἐπισάξαντες ἐπὶ τοὺς ὄνους ἀπελαύνουσι ἐς τοὺς Ἀρμενίους.
So when they have arrived in Babylon by water and have disposed of their cargo, they put the ribs of the boat and all the straw up for auction, but they pack the skins upon the donkeys and drive them back to the Armenians.
ἀνὰ τὸν ποταμὸν γὰρ δὴ οὐκ οἷά τε ἐστὶ πλέειν οὐδενὶ τρόπῳ ὑπὸ τάχεος τοῦ ποταμοῦ· διὰ γὰρ ταῦτα καὶ οὐκ ἐκ ξύλων ποιεῦνται τὰ πλοῖα ἀλλʼ ἐκ διφθερέων. ἐπεὰν δὲ τοὺς ὄνους ἐλαύνοντες ἀπίκωνται ὀπίσω ἐς τοὺς Ἀρμενίους, ἄλλα τρόπῳ τῷ αὐτῷ ποιεῦνται πλοῖα.
For it is by no means possible to sail up the river because of the swiftness of the stream; for this reason also they do not make their boats of wood but of skins. And when, driving their donkeys, they have come back to the Armenians, they make other boats in the same manner.
- 1.194.1ἔρχομαι φράσων
The future participle φράσων accompanying the verb of motion ἔρχομαι expresses purpose or imminent future ("I am going to tell").
- 1.194.2ἐδάφεος τρόπον
The accusative τρόπον of the noun τρόπος functions adverbially to mean "in the manner of." Here it governs the genitive ἐδάφεος (Ionian form of ἔδαφος, "bottom/hull"), meaning "in the manner of a hull" or "shaped like a bottom."
- 1.194.4ἀπʼ ὦν ἐκήρυξαν
An example of tmesis (separation) in which the conjunction ὦν (Ionian equivalent of οὖν) is inserted between the prepositional prefix ἀπό and the verb ἐκήρυξαν (from ἀποκηρύσσω, "to sell by auction"). Grammatically, it is equivalent to ἀπεκήρυξαν οὖν ("they put up for auction, therefore").