The Nile's Course Inferred from Symmetry with the Ister — Herodotus, Histories Book 2 (2.33.1–2.33.4), Greek & English

§2.33.1

ὁ μὲν δὴ τοῦ Ἀμμωνίου Ἐτεάρχου λόγος ἐς τοῦτό μοι δεδηλώσθω,¹ πλὴν ὅτι ἀπονοστῆσαί τε ἔφασκε τοὺς Νασαμῶνας, ὡς οἱ Κυρηναῖοι ἔλεγον, καὶ ἐς τοὺς οὗτοι ἀπίκοντο ἀνθρώπους, γόητας εἶναι ἅπαντας.

Let so much then be declared by me concerning the story of Etearchus the Ammonian, except that, as the Cyrenaeans said, he asserted both that the Nasamonians returned, and that the people whom these reached were all sorcerers.

§2.33.2

τὸν δὲ δὴ ποταμὸν τοῦτον τὸν παραρρέοντα καὶ Ἐτέαρχος συνεβάλλετο εἶναι Νεῖλον, καὶ δὴ καὶ ὁ λόγος οὕτω αἱρέει. ῥέει γὰρ ἐκ Λιβύης ὁ Νεῖλος καὶ μέσην τάμνων Λιβύην, καὶ ὡς ἐγὼ συμβάλλομαι τοῖσι ἐμφανέσι τὰ μὴ γινωσκόμενα τεκμαιρόμενος,² τῷ Ἴστρῳ ἐκ τῶν ἴσων μέτρων ὁρμᾶται.³

And as for this river which flowed by, Etearchus also conjectured it to be the Nile, and indeed reason also so decides. For the Nile flows from Libya and cuts Libya through the middle; and, as I conjecture, inferring the unknown from the known, it rises from equal distances with the Ister.

§2.33.3

Ἴστρος τε γὰρ ποταμὸς ἀρξάμενος ἐκ Κελτῶν καὶ Πυρήνης πόλιος ῥέει μέσην σχίζων τὴν Εὐρώπην· οἱ δὲ Κελτοὶ εἰσὶ ἔξω Ἡρακλέων στηλέων, ὁμουρέουσι δὲ Κυνησίοισι, οἳ ἔσχατοι πρὸς δυσμέων οἰκέουσι τῶν ἐν τῇ Εὐρώπῃ κατοικημένων·

For the river Ister, beginning from the Celts and the city of Pyrene, flows through the middle of Europe, dividing it; and the Celts are outside the Pillars of Heracles, and border on the Cynesians, who dwell furthest to the west of all the inhabitants of Europe.

§2.33.4

τελευτᾷ δὲ ὁ Ἴστρος ἐς θάλασσαν ῥέων τὴν τοῦ Εὐξείνου πόντου διὰ πάσης Εὐρώπης, τῇ Ἰστρίην οἱ Μιλησίων οἰκέουσι ἄποικοι.

And the Ister ends by flowing through the whole of Europe into the sea of the Euxine Pontus, where the colonists of the Milesians dwell at Istria.

Syntax notes3 items

2.33.1δεδηλώσθω
Third-person singular perfect passive imperative of the verb δηλόω. It is a formulaic expression in classical Greek prose used by an author to wind up a discussion and transition to the next topic, meaning 'let it have been declared up to this point.'
2.33.2τοῖσι ἐμφανέσι τὰ μὴ γινωσκόμενα τεκμαιρόμενος
The participle τεκμαιρόμενος (inferring) governs the dative of means/ground τοῖσι ἐμφανέσι (visible things, the known) and the accusative object τὰ μὴ γινωσκόμενα (unknown things). It epitomizes Herodotus' methodology of geographical and historical reasoning by analogy.
2.33.2τῷ Ἴστρῳ ἐκ τῶν ἴσων μέτρων ὁρμᾶται
The dative τῷ Ἴστρῳ functions as a dative of comparison. Together with ἐκ τῶν ἴσων μέτρων (from equal measures/distances), it expresses that the Nile rises from a distance corresponding to that of the Ister, supporting Herodotus' hypothesis of geographical symmetry between the two rivers.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25)urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.33.1-2.33.4