- 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-grc2:2.21.1
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-03
Introduces the second explanation for the flooding of the Nile, which attributes it to the Ocean and is described as less scientific but more marvelous than the first.
ἡ δʼ ἑτέρη ἀνεπιστημονεστέρη μὲν ἐστὶ τῆς λελεγμένης, λόγῳ δὲ εἰπεῖν1 θωμασιωτέρη· ἣ λέγει ἀπὸ τοῦ Ὠκεανοῦ ῥέοντα αὐτὸν2 ταῦτα μηχανᾶσθαι, τὸν δὲ Ὠκεανὸν γῆν περὶ πᾶσαν3 ῥέειν.
The second explanation is less scientific than the one already mentioned, but more marvelous to relate; it says that the Nile produces these effects by flowing from the Ocean, and that the Ocean flows around the entire earth.
- 2.21.1λόγῳ δὲ εἰπεῖν
The infinitive εἰπεῖν is used as an absolute infinitive to qualify the expression, meaning "so to speak" or "to tell of it in words" when combined with λόγῳ ("in word").
- 2.21.1αὐτὸν
This is the subject of the infinitive μηχανᾶσθαι in the indirect discourse (accusative with infinitive construction), referring back to the Nile (τὸν Νεῖλον). The participle ῥέοντα agrees with it in gender, number, and case.
- 2.21.1γῆν περὶ πᾶσαν
An instance of anastrophe, where the preposition περί is placed after the noun γῆν which it governs. It is equivalent in meaning to the standard order περὶ πᾶσαν γῆν ("around the entire earth").