- 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-grc2:2.55.1-2.55.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-05
The legend told by the priestesses of Dodona is presented, according to which two black doves from Egyptian Thebes established the oracles of Zeus at Dodona and in Libya.
ταῦτα μέν νυν τῶν ἐν Θήβῃσι ἱρέων ἤκουον, τάδε δὲ Δωδωναίων φασὶ αἱ προμάντιες· δύο πελειάδας μελαίνας ἐκ Θηβέων τῶν Αἰγυπτιέων ἀναπταμένας τὴν μὲν αὐτέων ἐς Λιβύην τὴν δὲ παρὰ σφέας ἀπικέσθαι,1 ἱζομένην δέ μιν ἐπὶ φηγὸν αὐδάξασθαι φωνῇ ἀνθρωπηίῃ ὡς χρεὸν εἴη2 μαντήιον αὐτόθι Διὸς γενέσθαι, καὶ αὐτοὺς ὑπολαβεῖν3 θεῖον εἶναι τὸ ἐπαγγελλόμενον αὐτοῖσι, καί σφεας ἐκ τούτου ποιῆσαι.
This is what I heard from the priests in Thebes, but the prophetesses at Dodona say the following: two black doves flew away from Egyptian Thebes, and one of them reached Libya, while the other came to them; and they say that this dove, settling upon an oak tree, spoke with a human voice, saying that it was necessary that an oracle of Zeus should be established there, and that they, understanding that what was announced to them was divine, established it accordingly.
τὴν δὲ ἐς τοὺς Λίβυας οἰχομένην πελειάδα λέγουσι Ἄμμωνος χρηστήριον κελεῦσαι τοὺς Λίβυας ποιέειν· ἔστι δὲ καὶ τοῦτο Διός. Δωδωναίων δὲ αἱ ἱρεῖαι, τῶν τῇ πρεσβυτάτῃ οὔνομα ἦν Προμένεια, τῇ δὲ μετὰ ταύτην Τιμαρέτη, τῇ δὲ νεωτάτῃ Νικάνδρη, ἔλεγον ταῦτα· συνωμολόγεον δέ σφι καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι Δωδωναῖοι οἱ περὶ τὸ ἱρόν.
As for the dove that went to the Libyans, they say she bade the Libyans make an oracle of Ammon; and this also belongs to Zeus. The priestesses of Dodona, of whom the eldest was named Promeneia, the next after her Timarete, and the youngest Nicandre, told these things; and the other Dodonaeans who were about the temple agreed with them.
- 2.55.1δύο πελειάδας ... ἀπικέσθαι
An accusative with infinitive (A.c.I.) construction introduced by the verb φασί. δύο πελειάδας (two doves) serves as the subject accusative of the infinitive ἀπικέσθαι, with the participle ἀναπταμένας modifying it.
- 2.55.2ὡς χρεὸν εἴη
The impersonal expression χρεόν ἐστι (it is necessary / behooves) is put in the optative mood εἴη to represent indirect discourse after a past narrative tense (oblique optative).
- 2.55.2αὐτοὺς ὑπολαβεῖν
An accusative with infinitive clause. Both αὐτούς (the Dodonaeans themselves) and the subsequent σφέας refer contextually to the inhabitants of Dodona, functioning as the subject accusatives of the infinitives ὑπολαβεῖν and ποιῆσαι respectively.