- 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-grc2:1.209.1-1.209.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-02
After crossing the Araxes, Cyrus dreams of Darius, the eldest son of Hystaspes, overshadowing Asia and Europe with his wings. Interpreting this as a sign of rebellion, Cyrus sends Hystaspes back to Persia to secure and deliver his son for interrogation.
ἐπείτε δὲ ἐπεραιώθη τὸν Ἀράξεα, νυκτὸς ἐπελθούσης εἶδε ὄψιν εὕδων ἐν τῶν Μασσαγετέων τῇ χωρῇ τοιήνδε· ἐδόκεε ὁ Κῦρος ἐν τῷ ὕπνῳ ὁρᾶν τῶν Ὑστάσπεος παίδων τὸν πρεσβύτατον ἔχοντα ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων πτέρυγας καὶ τουτέων τῇ μὲν τὴν Ἀσίην τῇ δὲ τὴν Εὐρώπην ἐπισκιάζειν.1
When he had crossed the Araxes, and night came on, he saw a vision in his sleep in the land of the Massagetae as follows: Cyrus seemed to see in his sleep the eldest of the sons of Hystaspes having wings upon his shoulders, and with one of these overshadowing Asia, and with the other Europe.
Ὑστάσπεϊ δὲ τῷ Ἀρσάμεος ἐόντι ἀνδρὶ Ἀχαιμενίδῃ ἦν τῶν παίδων Δαρεῖος πρεσβύτατος, ἐὼν τότε ἡλικίην ἐς εἴκοσί κου μάλιστα ἔτεα, καὶ οὗτος κατελέλειπτο ἐν Πέρσῃσι· οὐ γὰρ εἶχέ κω ἡλικίην στρατεύεσθαι.
Now to Hystaspes, the son of Arsames, an Achaemenid, Darius was the eldest of his sons, being at that time about twenty years of age at most, and he had been left behind in Persia; for he was not yet of an age to go to war.
ἐπεὶ ὦν δὴ ἐξηγέρθη ὁ Κῦρος, ἐδίδου λόγον ἑωυτῷ περὶ τῆς ὄψιος. ὡς δέ οἱ ἐδόκεε μεγάλη εἶναι ἡ ὄψις, καλέσας Ὑστάσπεα καὶ ἀπολαβὼν μοῦνον εἶπε Ὕστασπες, παῖς σὸς ἐπιβουλεύων ἐμοί τε καὶ τῇ ἐμῇ ἀρχῇ ἑάλωκε.2 ὡς δὲ ταῦτα ἀτρεκέως οἶδα, ἐγὼ σημανέω·
When therefore Cyrus awoke, he deliberated with himself concerning the vision. And since the vision seemed to him to be of great importance, he called Hystaspes, and taking him aside alone, he said: “Hystaspes, your son has been caught plotting against me and my empire. How I know this for certain, I will explain:
ἐμεῦ θεοὶ κήδονται καί μοι πάντα προδεικνύουσι τὰ ἐπιφερόμενα. ἤδη ὦν ἐν τῇ παροιχομένῃ νυκτὶ εὕδων εἶδον τῶν σῶν παίδων τὸν πρεσβύτατον ἔχοντα ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων πτέρυγας καὶ τουτέων τῇ μὲν τὴν Ἀσίην τῇ δὲ τὴν Εὐρώπην ἐπισκιάζειν.
the gods care for me, and show me beforehand everything that is coming. Now in the night that has just passed, as I slept, I saw the eldest of your sons having wings upon his shoulders, and with one of these overshadowing Asia, and with the other Europe.
οὔκων ἐστὶ μηχανὴ ἀπὸ τῆς ὄψιος ταύτης οὐδεμία τὸ μὴ ἐκεῖνον ἐπιβουλεύειν ἐμοί·3 σύ νυν τὴν ταχίστην πορεύεο ὀπίσω ἐς Πέρσας καὶ ποίεε ὅκως, ἐπεὰν ἐγὼ τάδε καταστρεψάμενος ἔλθω ἐκεῖ, ὥς4 μοι καταστήσεις τὸν παῖδα ἐς ἔλεγχον.
Therefore, from this vision there is no possibility whatever that he is not plotting against me. Do you then go back to Persia with all speed, and see to it that, when I have conquered these regions and arrive there, you shall present your son before me for examination.”
- 1.209.1ἔχοντα... ἐπισκιάζειν
The participle ἔχοντα and the infinitive ἐπισκιάζειν are coordinate as complements of the verb of seeing ὁρᾶν. This is an irregular construction, typical of Herodotus, where a participle and an accusative-with-infinitive structure are mixed after a verb of perception.
- 1.209.3ἑάλωκε
The active perfect form of ἁλίσκομαι ('to be caught, detected'), which takes the participle ἐπιβουλεύων to express the fact that 'he has been caught in the act of plotting' (or his plotting has been surely exposed).
- 1.209.5τὸ μὴ ἐκεῖνον ἐπιβουλεύειν ἐμοί
An articular infinitive with a double negative. Following the strongly negative main clause οὔκων ἐστὶ μηχανὴ... οὐδεμία ('there is no way possible'), the construction τὸ μή + infinitive means 'that he is not plotting against me is absolutely impossible', expressing a strong certainty that he is indeed plotting.
- 1.209.5ὅκως... ὥς
In the object clause of ποιέω, the introductory conjunction ὅκως (Ionic for ὅπως) and ὥς, placed after the temporarily inserted conditional clause, are used pleonastically, both performing the same function in the sentence structure.