- 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-grc2:2.10.1-2.10.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-03
The author presents his view that the land of Egypt was once a gulf of the sea formed by river silt, and adduces examples of other rivers, such as the Achelous, which have achieved similar land formation on a smaller scale than the Nile.
ταύτης ὦν τῆς χώρης τῆς εἰρημένης ἡ πολλή, κατά περ οἱ ἱρέες ἔλεγον, ἐδόκεε καὶ αὐτῷ μοι εἶναι ἐπίκτητος Αἰγυπτίοισι. τῶν γὰρ ὀρέων τῶν εἰρημένων τῶν ὑπὲρ Μέμφιν πόλιν κειμένων τὸ μεταξὺ ἐφαίνετό μοι εἶναι κοτὲ κόλπος θαλάσσης, ὥσπερ γε τὰ περὶ Ἴλιον καὶ Τευθρανίην καὶ Ἔφεσόν τε καὶ Μαιάνδρου πεδίον, ὥς γε εἶναι σμικρὰ ταῦτα μεγάλοισι συμβαλεῖν·1
Therefore, the greater part of this land of which I have spoken, just as the priests were saying, seemed to me myself also to be a land acquired by the Egyptians. For the space between the aforementioned mountains situated above the city of Memphis appeared to me once to have been a gulf of the sea, just like the regions around Ilion, Teuthrania, Ephesus, and the plain of the Maeander—if indeed one may compare these small things with great.
τῶν γὰρ ταῦτα τὰ χωρία προσχωσάντων ποταμῶν2 ἑνὶ τῶν στομάτων τοῦ Νείλου, ἐόντος πενταστόμου, οὐδεὶς αὐτῶν πλήθεος πέρι ἄξιος συμβληθῆναι ἐστί.
For of the rivers that silted up those places, not one of them is worthy to be compared in respect of volume to even one of the mouths of the Nile, which has five mouths.
εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ ἄλλοι ποταμοί, οὐ κατὰ τὸν Νεῖλον ἐόντες μεγάθεα, οἵτινες ἔργα ἀποδεξάμενοι μεγάλα εἰσί· τῶν ἐγὼ φράσαι ἔχω οὐνόματα3 καὶ ἄλλων καὶ οὐκ ἥκιστα Ἀχελῴου, ὃς ῥέων διʼ Ἀκαρνανίης καὶ ἐξιεὶς ἐς θάλασσαν τῶν Ἐχινάδων νήσων τὰς ἡμισέας ἤδη ἤπειρον πεποίηκε.
But there are also other rivers, which, though not being equal to the Nile in size, have accomplished great works; of which I can tell the names of others and not least of the Achelous, which, flowing through Acarnania and emptying into the sea, has already turned half of the Echinades islands into mainland.
- 2.10.1ὡς γε εἶναι σμικρὰ ταῦτα μεγάλοισι συμβαλεῖν
The infinitives εἶναι and συμβαλεῖν are used restrictively (absolutely) with ὡς, forming a parenthetical qualification: 'if indeed one may compare these small things with great.'
- 2.10.2τῶν γὰρ ταῦτα τὰ χωρία προσχωσάντων ποταμῶν
The genitive noun phrase [τῶν ... ποταμῶν] is a partitive genitive depending on the subject of the main clause [οὐδεὶς αὐτῶν], meaning 'of the rivers that silted up these places, not one of them...'. The dative [ἑνὶ τῶν στομάτων] is governed by the passive infinitive [συμβληθῆναι] (to be compared to...).
- 2.10.3τῶν ἐγὼ φράσαι ἔχω οὐνόματα
The genitive relative pronoun [τῶν] limits [οὐνόματα] (names), and the verb [ἔχω] with the infinitive [φράσαι] (to tell) functions with the meaning of ability ('I can tell').