- 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-grc2:1.5.1-1.5.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
Showing the disagreement between Persians and Phoenicians over the abduction of Io, the author declines to judge the truth of these myths and decides to proceed with his narrative based on his own historical knowledge, considering both the rise and fall of human cities.
οὕτω μὲν Πέρσαι λέγουσι γενέσθαι, καὶ διὰ τὴν Ἰλίου ἅλωσιν εὑρίσκουσι σφίσι ἐοῦσαν τὴν ἀρχήν τῆς ἔχθρης τῆς ἐς τοὺς Ἕλληνας.
Thus the Persians say it happened, and because of the capture of Ilium they find that the origin of their hostility toward the Greeks lies with them.
περὶ δὲ τῆς Ἰοῦς οὐκ ὁμολογέουσι Πέρσῃσι οὕτω Φοίνικες· οὐ γὰρ ἁρπαγῇ σφέας1 χρησαμένους λέγουσι ἀγαγεῖν αὐτήν ἐς Αἴγυπτον, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἐν τῷ Ἄργεϊ ἐμίσγετο τῷ ναυκλήρῳ τῆς νέος· ἐπεὶ δʼ ἔμαθε ἔγκυος ἐοῦσα, αἰδεομένη τοὺς τοκέας οὕτω δὴ ἐθελοντήν αὐτήν τοῖσι Φοίνιξι συνεκπλῶσαι, ὡς ἂν μὴ κατάδηλος γένηται.
But concerning Io, the Phoenicians do not agree with the Persians in this way; for they say that they did not carry her off by force to Egypt, but that she had intercourse in Argos with the master of the ship; and when she realized she was pregnant, feeling shame before her parents, she thus sailed away voluntarily with the Phoenicians of her own accord, so that she might not be discovered.
ταῦτα μέν νυν Πέρσαι τε καὶ Φοίνικες λέγουσι· ἐγὼ δὲ περὶ μὲν τούτων οὐκ ἔρχομαι ἐρέων2 ὡς οὕτω ἢ ἄλλως κως ταῦτα ἐγένετο, τὸν δὲ οἶδα αὐτὸς πρῶτον ὑπάρξαντα ἀδίκων ἔργων ἐς τοὺς Ἕλληνας, τοῦτον σημήνας3 προβήσομαι ἐς τὸ πρόσω τοῦ λόγου, ὁμοίως σμικρὰ καὶ μεγάλα ἄστεα ἀνθρώπων ἐπεξιών.
Now these things the Persians and the Phoenicians say. But for my part, I am not going to say concerning these matters that they happened in this or that other way; but having pointed out the one whom I myself know to have first begun unjust deeds against the Greeks, I shall proceed forward with my narrative, traversing alike the small and great cities of men.
τὰ γὰρ τὸ πάλαι μεγάλα ἦν, τὰ πολλὰ σμικρὰ αὐτῶν γέγονε· τὰ δὲ ἐπʼ ἐμεῦ ἦν μεγάλα, πρότερον ἦν σμικρά. τὴν ἀνθρωπηίην ὤν ἐπιστάμενος εὐδαιμονίην οὐδαμὰ ἐν τὠυτῷ μένουσαν, ἐπιμνήσομαι ἀμφοτέρων ὁμοίως.
For those that were great in the past, most of them have become small; and those that were great in my time, were formerly small. Knowing, therefore, that human prosperity never remains in the same place, I shall make mention of both alike.
- 1.5.2σφέας
The third-person plural pronoun functioning as the subject of the infinitive clause. It is used reflexively to refer back to the subject of the main verb of speaking (the Phoenicians who are the subject of λέγουσι), meaning 'that they (themselves) had not carried her off'.
- 1.5.3οὐκ ἔρχομαι ἐρέων
A combination of the verb ἔρχομαι and the future participle ἐρέων. This is an idiomatic construction indicating near future or strong intention, similar to 'be going to' in English, and is thus translated as 'I am not going to say'.
- 1.5.3τὸν δὲ οἶδα αὐτὸς πρῶτον ὑπάρξαντα... τοῦτον σημήνας
The pronoun τὸν functions as a relative pronoun (or a preposed demonstrative) containing its antecedent, meaning 'the one whom I know...'. The verb οἶδα takes the participle ὑπάρξαντα as its complement (with the genitive-governing verb ὑπάρχω meaning 'to begin'). The entire content of this relative clause is then resumed by the demonstrative τοῦτον in the main clause, serving as the object of the participle σημήνας.