- 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-grc2:2.56.1-2.56.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-05
Herodotus presents a rational explanation for the origin of the oracle at Dodona, suggesting that a Phoenician-enslaved Egyptian woman established it after acquiring the Greek language.
ἐγὼ δʼ ἔχω περὶ αὐτῶν γνώμην τήνδε· εἰ ἀληθέως οἱ Φοίνικες ἐξήγαγον τὰς ἱρὰς γυναῖκας καὶ τὴν μὲν αὐτέων ἐς Λιβύην τὴν δὲ ἐς τὴν Ἐλλάδα ἀπέδοντο, δοκέει ἐμοί ἡ γυνὴ αὕτη τῆς νῦν Ἑλλάδος, πρότερον δὲ Πελασγίης καλευμένης τῆς αὐτῆς ταύτης, πρηθῆναι1 ἐς Θεσπρωτούς, ἔπειτα δουλεύουσα αὐτόθι ἱδρύσασθαι ὑπὸ φηγῷ πεφυκυίῃ ἱρὸν Διός, ὥσπερ ἦν οἰκὸς ἀμφιπολεύουσαν2 ἐν Θήβῃσι ἱρὸν Διός, ἔνθα ἀπίκετο, ἐνθαῦτα μνήμην αὐτοῦ ἔχειν·
I hold this opinion concerning them: if the Phoenicians did in truth carry away the sacred women and sold one of them into Libya and the other into Greece, it seems to me that this woman was sold into the country of the Thesprotians in what is now Greece, but was formerly called Pelasgia; and then, being a slave there, she established a sanctuary of Zeus under an oak tree which grew there, as was natural for one who had been a handmaid in the temple of Zeus at Thebes to keep remembrance of it in the place where she had arrived.
ἐκ δὲ τούτου χρηστήριον κατηγήσατο, ἐπείτε συνέλαβε τὴν Ἑλλάδα γλῶσσαν· φάναι3 δέ οἱ ἀδελφεὴν ἐν Λιβύῃ πεπρῆσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν Φοινίκων ὑπʼ ὧν καὶ αὐτὴ ἐπρήθη.
And after this she introduced the giving of oracles, as soon as she understood the Greek language; and she said that her sister had been sold into Libya by the same Phoenicians by whom she herself was sold.
- 2.56.1πρηθῆναι
The infinitive πρηθῆναι (aorist passive of πιπράσκω) functions as the complement of the main verb δοκέει. Its grammatical subject is in the nominative case (ἡ γυνὴ αὕτη) rather than the accusative, resulting in a personal construction ('this woman seems to have been sold').
- 2.56.2ἀμφιπολεύουσαν
A feminine accusative singular participle, modifying the implied subject of the infinitive μνήμην ... ἔχειν (the omitted feminine accusative pronoun αὐτήν, meaning 'her'). It conveys the logic: 'it was natural for her, who had served in Thebes, to keep its memory in the new place.'
- 2.56.3φάναι
An infinitive of indirect discourse (or reporting) loosely dependent on the initial δοκέει (§2.56.1), introducing what the woman is reported to have said. It carries the nuance of 'she is said to have declared...'.