- 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-grc2:1.81.1
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-29
As the siege of Sardis begins, Croesus, anticipating a long-lasting siege, dispatches new messengers from the fortress to request immediate aid from his allies.
τοῖσι μὲν δὴ κατεστήκεε πολιορκίη. Κροῖσος δὲ δοκέων οἱ1 χρόνον ἐπὶ μακρὸν ἔσεσθαι τὴν πολιορκίην ἔπεμπε ἐκ τοῦ τείχεος ἄλλους ἀγγέλους ἐς τὰς συμμαχίας. οἱ μὲν γὰρ πρότεροι διεπέμποντο ἐς πέμπτον μῆνα2 προερέοντες συλλέγεσθαι ἐς Σάρδις, τούτους δὲ ἐξέπεμπε τὴν ταχίστην δέεσθαι3 βοηθέειν ὡς πολιορκεομένου Κροίσου.4
Thus the siege was established against them. Meanwhile, Croesus, thinking that the siege would be of long duration for him, sent other messengers out of the fortress to the allied states. For while the former messengers had been sent out to direct them to assemble at Sardis in the fifth month, these latter ones he sent out with all speed to beg them to come to his aid, on the ground that Croesus was now besieged.
- 1.81.1οἱ
The dative singular third-person pronoun (corresponding to the Attic indirect reflexive ἑαυτῷ). Here it functions as an indirect reflexive referring to the subject of the main clause, Croesus, indicating for whom the siege would be of long duration ('for himself').
- 1.81.1ἐς πέμπτον μῆνα
The combination of the preposition ἐς and the accusative with an ordinal number indicates not a duration of five months, but a specific target time or deadline in the future ('in the fifth month' or 'for the fifth month').
- 1.81.1δέεσθαι
The present middle infinitive (Ionic form) of the verb δέομαι (to beg, request). It functions as an infinitive of purpose depending on the main verb ἐξέπεμπε ('he sent them out in order to beg...').
- 1.81.1ὡς πολιορκεομένου Κροίσου
A genitive absolute construction introduced by the conjunction ὡς ('on the ground that', 'alleging that'). Rather than stating a mere objective fact, it presents the subjective reason or allegation to be conveyed by the messengers ('on the ground that Croesus was besieged').