- 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-grc2:1.75.1-1.75.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-29
Croesus, angered by Cyrus's deposition of his grandfather Astyages, marches against Persia after receiving an oracle and reaches the Halys River. Herodotus discusses the passage of the army, contesting the common Greek legend about Thales with a rational objection.
τοῦτον δὴ ὦν τὸν Ἀστυάγεα Κῦρος ἐόντα ἑωυτοῦ μητροπάτορα1 καταστρεψάμενος ἔσχε διʼ αἰτίην τὴν ἐγὼ ἐν τοῖσι ὀπίσω λόγοισι σημανέω·
Cyrus subdued and held this very Astyages, who was his own maternal grandfather, for a reason which I shall declare in the later parts of my history.
τὰ Κροῖσος ἐπιμεμφόμενος τῷ Κύρῳ2 ἔς τε τὰ χρηστήρια ἔπεμπε εἰ στρατεύηται ἐπὶ Πέρσας, καὶ δὴ καὶ ἀπικομένου χρησμοῦ κιβδήλου, ἐλπίσας πρὸς ἑωυτοῦ3 τὸν χρησμὸν εἶναι, ἐστρατεύετο ἐς τὴν Περσέων μοῖραν.
Croesus, blaming Cyrus for these things, sent to the oracles to ask if he should march against the Persians, and indeed, when an ambiguous oracle arrived, hoping that the oracle was in his favor, he marched into the territory of the Persians.
ὡς δὲ ἀπίκετο ἐπὶ τὸν Ἅλυν ποταμὸν ὁ Κροῖσος, τὸ ἐνθεῦτεν, ὡς μὲν ἐγὼ λέγω, κατὰ τὰς ἐούσας γεφύρας διεβίβασε τὸν στρατόν, ὡς δὲ ὁ πολλὸς λόγος Ἑλλήνων, Θαλῆς οἱ4 ὁ Μιλήσιος διεβίβασε.
But when Croesus arrived at the Halys river, thereupon, as I say, he led his army across by the existing bridges, but as the common account of the Greeks has it, Thales of Miletus got it across for him.
ἀπορέοντος γὰρ Κροίσου ὅκως οἱ διαβήσεται τὸν ποταμὸν ὁ στρατός (οὐ γὰρ δὴ εἶναι κω τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον τὰς γεφύρας ταύτας)5 λέγεται παρεόντα τὸν Θαλῆν ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ ποιῆσαι αὐτῷ τὸν ποταμὸν ἐξ ἀριστερῆς χειρὸς ῥέοντα τοῦ στρατοῦ καὶ ἐκ δεξιῆς ῥέειν,6 ποιῆσαι δὲ ὧδε·
For since Croesus was at a loss as to how his army would cross the river (for they say these bridges did not yet exist at that time), it is said that Thales, being present in the camp, made the river, which flowed on the left hand of the army, flow also on its right, and he did it in this way:
ἄνωθεν τοῦ στρατοπέδου ἀρξάμενον διώρυχα βαθέαν ὀρύσσειν, ἄγοντα μηνοειδέα,7 ὅκως ἂν τὸ στρατόπεδον ἱδρυμένον κατὰ νώτου λάβοι, ταύτῃ κατὰ τὴν διώρυχα ἐκτραπόμενος ἐκ τῶν ἀρχαίων ῥεέθρων, καὶ αὖτις παραμειβόμενος τὸ στρατόπεδον ἐς τὰ ἀρχαῖα ἐσβάλλοι·8 ὥστε ἐπείτε καὶ ἐσχίσθη τάχιστα ὁ ποταμός, ἀμφοτέρῃ διαβατὸς ἐγένετο, οἳ δὲ καὶ τὸ παράπαν λέγουσι καὶ τὸ ἀρχαῖον ῥέεθρον ἀποξηρανθῆναι. ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν οὐ προσίεμαι· κῶς γὰρ ὀπίσω πορευόμενοι διέβησαν αὐτόν;
beginning from above the camp, he dug a deep trench, conducting it in a crescent shape, so that it might take the camp, as it was pitched, in its rear, being diverted along this trench from its old bed, and again, passing by the camp, it would empty into its old bed; so that as soon as the river was divided, it became fordable on both sides. But some even say that the old bed was dried up entirely. However, I do not accept this; for how, on their return journey, did they cross it?
- 1.75.1ἐόντα ἑωυτοῦ μητροπάτορα
The participle ἐόντα, together with the noun μητροπάτορα, modifies the preceding accusative object Ἀστυάγεα (Astyages), describing his genealogical relationship as Cyrus's maternal grandfather.
- 1.75.2τὰ Κροῖσος ἐπιμεμφόμενος τῷ Κύρῳ
The verb ἐπιμέμφομαι takes a dative of the person (τῷ Κύρῳ) and an accusative of the thing (the neuter plural relative/demonstrative pronoun τὰ at the beginning), meaning 'blaming Cyrus for these things.'
- 1.75.2πρὸς ἑωυτοῦ
The preposition πρὸς with the genitive case means 'on the side of' or 'in favor of.' Here it indicates that Croesus hoped the oracle was in his own favor.
- 1.75.3οἱ
The third-person singular dative pronoun (Ionic οἱ = Attic αὐτῷ) functions here as a dative of advantage, meaning 'for him' (i.e., for Croesus).
- 1.75.4οὐ γὰρ δὴ εἶναι κω τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον τὰς γεφύρας ταύτας
Inside the parenthesis, the infinitive εἶναι is used instead of the indicative ἦσαν, forming an accusative-and-infinitive construction that represents indirect speech, reporting the common belief that these bridges did not yet exist.
- 1.75.4ποιῆσαι αὐτῷ τὸν ποταμὸν ἐξ ἀριστερῆς χειρὸς ῥέοντα τοῦ στρατοῦ καὶ ἐκ δεξιῆς ῥέειν
The object of the verb ποιῆσαι is τὸν ποταμόν. The participle ῥέοντα expresses the existing state ('flowing on the left'), while the infinitive ῥέειν serves as the object complement governed by ποιῆσαι, expressing the result ('made it flow also on the right').
- 1.75.5ἄγοντα μηνοειδέα
The present participle ἄγοντα is masculine accusative singular, referring to the agent Thales (the subject of ὀρύσσειν). Since the noun for trench (διώρυξ) is feminine, the masculine gender of the participle confirms that it modifies Thales, meaning 'leading or drawing [the trench] in a crescent shape.'
- 1.75.5ἐκτραπόμενος... ἐσβάλλοι
The masculine singular nominative participle ἐκτραπόμενος and the third-person singular optative verb ἐσβάλλοι both have the river (ὁ ποταμός) as their subject, describing the process of the river being diverted and then re-entering its original bed, continuing the purpose clause introduced by ὅκως ἂν.