- 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-grc2:2.7.1-2.7.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-03
The author calculates the length of Egypt's coastline to be 3,600 stadia and compares the distance from the sea to inland Heliopolis with the distance from Athens to the temple of Olympian Zeus, showing them to be nearly identical.
οὕτω ἂν εἴησαν Αἰγύπτου στάδιοι ἑξακόσιοι καὶ τρισχίλιοι τὸ παρὰ θάλασσαν. ἐνθεῦτεν μὲν καὶ μέχρι Ἡλίου πόλιος ἐς τὴν μεσόγαιαν ἐστὶ εὐρέα Αἴγυπτος, ἐοῦσα πᾶσα ὑπτίη τε καὶ ἔνυδρος καὶ ἰλύς. ἔστι δὲ ὁδὸς ἐς Ἡλίου πόλιν ἀπὸ θαλάσσης ἄνω ἰόντι1 παραπλησίη τὸ μῆκος τῇ ἐξ Ἀθηνέων ὁδῷ τῇ ἀπὸ τῶν δυώδεκα θεῶν τοῦ βωμοῦ φερούσῃ ἔς τε Πῖσαν καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν νηὸν τοῦ Διὸς τοῦ Ὀλυμπίου.
Thus, the length of Egypt along the sea would be three thousand six hundred stadia. From there, and as far inland as Heliopolis, Egypt is wide, being all flat, well-watered, and muddy. And the road to Heliopolis for one going up from the sea is very similar in length to the road from Athens which leads from the Altar of the Twelve Gods to Pisa and to the temple of Olympian Zeus.
σμικρόν τι τὸ διάφορον εὕροι τις ἂν λογιζόμενος τῶν ὁδῶν τουτέων τὸ μὴ ἴσας μῆκος εἶναι, οὐ πλέον πεντεκαίδεκα σταδίων· ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἐς Πῖσαν ἐξ Ἀθηνέων καταδεῖ πεντεκαίδεκα σταδίων μὴ εἶναι πεντακοσίων καὶ χιλίων,2 ἡ δὲ ἐς Ἡλίου πόλιν ἀπὸ θαλάσσης πληροῖ ἐς τὸν ἀριθμὸν τοῦτον.
Anyone calculating would find only a small difference in these roads not being equal in length, not more than fifteen stadia. For the road from Athens to Pisa falls short of being fifteen hundred stadia by fifteen stadia, while the road from the sea to Heliopolis fully completes this number.
- 2.7.1ἄνω ἰόντι
Dative participle meaning "for one going up" from the sea. It functions as a dative of reference (dativus iudicantis), indicating the standpoint of the person traveling or evaluating the distance.
- 2.7.2καταδεῖ πεντεκαίδεκα σταδίων μὴ εἶναι πεντακοσίων καὶ χιλίων
The verb καταδέω (to fall short) takes the genitive of measure πεντεκαίδεκα σταδίων (by fifteen stadia). The negative particle μή with the infinitive εἶναι is a redundant negative (sympathetic negation) common after verbs of hindering, denying, or falling short, meaning "falls short by fifteen stadia of being fifteen hundred."