Rising Nile Flood Levels and the Threat of Famine — Herodotus, Histories Book 2 (2.13.1–2.13.3), Greek & English

§2.13.1

ἔλεγον δὲ καὶ τόδε μοι μέγα τεκμήριον περὶ τῆς χώρης ταύτης οἱ ἱρέες, ὡς ἐπὶ Μοίριος βασιλέος, ὅκως ἔλθοι ὁ ποταμὸς ἐπὶ ὀκτὼ πήχεας τὸ ἐλάχιστον, ἄρδεσκε Αἴγυπτον τὴν ἔνερθε Μέμφιος· καὶ Μοίρι οὔκω ἦν ἔτεα εἰνακόσια τετελευτηκότι¹ ὅτε τῶν ἱρέων ταῦτα ἐγὼ ἤκουον. νῦν δὲ εἰ μὴ ἐπʼ ἑκκαίδεκα ἢ πεντεκαίδεκα πήχεας ἀναβῇ² τὸ ἐλάχιστον ὁ ποταμός, οὐκ ὑπερβαίνει ἐς τὴν χώρην.

The priests also told me this great proof concerning this land: that in the reign of King Moeris, whenever the river rose to at least eight cubits, it used to irrigate Egypt below Memphis. And it was not yet nine hundred years since Moeris had died when I heard these things from the priests. But now, unless the river rises to at least fifteen or sixteen cubits, it does not overflow into the land.

§2.13.2

δοκέουσί τέ μοι Αἰγυπτίων οἱ ἔνερθε λίμνης τῆς Μοίριος οἰκέοντες τά τε ἄλλα χωρία καὶ τὸ καλεόμενον Δέλτα, ἢν οὕτω ἡ χώρη αὕτη κατὰ λόγον ἐπιδιδῷ ἐς ὕψος καὶ τὸ ὅμοιον ἀποδιδῷ ἐς αὔξησιν, μὴ κατακλύζοντος αὐτὴν τοῦ Νείλου πείσεσθαι³ τὸν πάντα χρόνον τὸν ἐπίλοιπον Αἰγύπτιοι τὸ κοτὲ αὐτοὶ Ἕλληνας ἔφασαν πείσεσθαι.⁴

And it seems to me that the Egyptians who inhabit the districts below Lake Moeris, both the other regions and what is called the Delta, if this land continues to increase in height in the same proportion and to yield a similar growth, because the Nile does not flood it, will for all remaining time suffer the very thing which they themselves once said the Greeks would suffer.

§2.13.3

πυθόμενοι γὰρ ὡς ὕεται πᾶσα ἡ χώρη τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἀλλʼ οὐ ποταμοῖσι ἄρδεται κατά περ ἡ σφετέρη, ἔφασαν Ἕλληνας ψευσθέντας κοτὲ ἐλπίδος μεγάλης κακῶς πεινήσειν. τὸ δὲ ἔπος τοῦτο ἐθέλει λέγειν⁵ ὡς, εἰ μὴ ἐθελήσει σφι ὕειν ὁ θεὸς ἀλλὰ αὐχμῷ διαχρᾶσθαι, λιμῷ οἱ Ἕλληνες αἱρεθήσονται· οὐ γὰρ δή σφι ἐστὶ ὕδατος οὐδεμία ἄλλη ἀποστροφὴ ὅτι μὴ ἐκ τοῦ Διὸς μοῦνον.

For having learned that all the land of the Greeks is watered by rain and not irrigated by rivers as their own is, they said that the Greeks, being some day disappointed of their great hope, would suffer miserably from hunger. And this saying means that, if God should not be willing to send them rain but rather afflict them with drought, the Greeks will be overtaken by famine; for indeed they have no other resource for water except from Zeus alone.

Syntax notes5 items

2.13.1Μοίρι ... τετελευτηκότι
Dative of the perfect participle, indicating the time elapsed since the death of Moeris (dative of reference/interest).
2.13.1εἰ μὴ ... ἀναβῇ
The subjunctive (ἀναβῇ) is used after the conjunction εἰ without ἄν. This is a characteristic usage in the Ionic dialect (and poetry), representing a general condition.
2.13.2δοκέουσί τέ μοι ... πείσεσθαι
A personal construction (instead of the impersonal δοκεῖ μοι) with the subject (οἱ ... οἰκέοντες) meaning 'they seem to me to be going to suffer'. The infinitive πείσεσθαι (future infinitive of πάσχω) is the complement of δοκέουσι. The subject is redundantly repeated as Αἰγύπτιοι later in the sentence, creating an anacoluthon.
2.13.2τὸ κοτὲ αὐτοὶ Ἕλληνας ἔφασαν πείσεσθαι
A relative clause introduced by the relative pronoun τὸ. αὐτοὶ (nominative) refers to the subject of the verb of saying (ἔφασαν), while Ἕλληνας (accusative) is the subject accusative of the subordinate infinitive πείσεσθαι.
2.13.3ἐθέλει λέγειν
An idiomatic expression with an inanimate subject (here τὸ δὲ ἔπος τοῦτο) where θέλω/ἐθέλω + infinitive means 'signifies' or 'means to say'.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25)urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.13.1-2.13.3