- 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-grc2:2.19.1-2.19.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-03
The author describes the geographical extent of the Nile's flooding and reports his unsuccessful attempts to learn from the Egyptians the reasons for its unique seasonal rise and fall, as well as its lack of cooling breezes.
ἐπέρχεται δὲ ὁ Νεῖλος, ἐπεὰν πληθύῃ, οὐ μοῦνον τὸ Δέλτα ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ Λιβυκοῦ τε λεγομένου χωρίου εἶναι1 καὶ τοῦ Ἀραβίου ἐνιαχῇ καὶ ἐπὶ δύο ἡμερέων ἑκατέρωθι ὁδόν, καὶ πλέον ἔτι τούτου καὶ ἔλασσον. τοῦ ποταμοῦ δὲ φύσιος πέρι οὔτε τι τῶν ἱρέων οὔτε ἄλλου οὐδενὸς παραλαβεῖν ἐδυνάσθην.
Now the Nile, when it overflows, floods not only the Delta, but also some parts of what is called the Libyan and Arabian territories, in some places to a distance of two days’ journey on either side, and even more than this or less. But concerning the nature of the river, I was unable to learn anything either from the priests or from any other person.
πρόθυμος δὲ ἔα2 τάδε παρʼ αὐτῶν πυθέσθαι, ὅ τι κατέρχεται μὲν ὁ Νεῖλος πληθύων ἀπὸ τροπέων τῶν θερινέων ἀρξάμενος ἐπὶ ἑκατὸν ἡμέρας, πελάσας δὲ ἐς τὸν ἀριθμὸν τουτέων τῶν ἡμερέων ὀπίσω ἀπέρχεται ἀπολείπων τὸ ῥέεθρον, ὥστε βραχὺς τὸν χειμῶνα ἅπαντα διατελέει ἐὼν μέχρι οὗ αὖτις τροπέων τῶν θερινέων.
Yet I was anxious to learn from them this, namely, why the Nile comes down in flood, beginning from the summer solstice and continuing for a hundred days, and when it has nearly reached this number of days, it withdraws its water and leaves its bed, so that it remains low all through the winter until the summer solstice comes round again.
τούτων ὦν πέρι οὐδενὸς οὐδὲν οἷός τε ἐγενόμην παραλαβεῖν παρὰ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων, ἱστορέων αὐτοὺς ἥντινα δύναμιν ἔχει ὁ Νεῖλος τὰ ἔμπαλιν πεφυκέναι τῶν ἄλλων ποταμῶν·3 ταῦτά τε δὴ τὰ λελεγμένα βουλόμενος εἰδέναι ἱστόρεον καὶ ὅ τι αὔρας ἀποπνεούσας μοῦνος ποταμῶν πάντων οὐ παρέχεται.
Concerning none of these things, then, was I able to learn anything from the Egyptians, though I inquired of them what power the Nile has that its nature is the opposite of all other rivers; I made inquiries, wishing to know both these things which have been mentioned, and why it is the only river of all that does not send forth cooling breezes.
- 2.19.1τοῦ Λιβυκοῦ τε λεγομένου χωρίου εἶναι
The infinitive 'εἶναι' with the genitive 'τοῦ Λιβυκοῦ...' functions to supplement and limit the meaning, expressing 'what is said to belong to the Libyan territory.'
- 2.19.2ἔα
The Ionic dialect form of the first-person singular imperfect of the verb 'εἰμί', corresponding to the Attic 'ἦν' (or 'ἦ').
- 2.19.3τὰ ἔμπαλιν πεφυκέναι τῶν ἄλλων ποταμῶν
The infinitive 'πεφυκέναι' (perfect of 'φύω') means 'to be by nature' and serves to explain or define the specific content of 'ἥντινα δύναμιν' (what power). 'τὰ ἔμπαλιν τῶν ἄλλων ποταμῶν' means 'opposite to the other rivers,' where 'τῶν ἄλλων' is a genitive of comparison.