- 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-grc2:2.93.1-2.93.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-06
The author describes the unique reproductive behavior of Nile fish, how they rub their heads while migrating to and from the sea, and the mechanism behind the sudden appearance of small fish in marshes during floods.
οἱ δὲ ἰχθύες οἱ ἀγελαῖοι ἐν μὲν τοῖσι ποταμοῖσι οὐ μάλα γίνονται, τρεφόμενοι δὲ ἐν τῇσι λίμνῃσι τοιάδε ποιεῦσι. ἐπεάν σφεας ἐσίῃ οἶστρος κυΐσκεσθαι, ἀγεληδὸν ἐκπλέουσι ἐς θάλασσαν· ἡγέονται δὲ οἱ ἔρσενες ἀπορραίνοντες τοῦ θοροῦ, αἳ δὲ1 ἑπόμεναι ἀνακάπτουσι καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ κυΐσκονται.
The shoaling fish are not produced much in the rivers, but being reared in the lakes, they act as follows. When the desire to conceive seizes them, they swim out in shoals toward the sea; the males lead the way, sprinkling their milt, while the females, following behind, gulp it down and are conceived from it.
ἐπεὰν δὲ πλήρεες γένωνται ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ, ἀναπλώουσι ὀπίσω ἐς ἤθεα τὰ ἑωυτῶν ἕκαστοι, ἡγέονται μέντοι γε οὐκέτι οἱ αὐτοί, ἀλλὰ τῶν θηλέων γίνεται ἡ ἡγεμονία· ἡγεύμεναι δὲ ἀγεληδὸν ποιεῦσι οἷόν περ ἐποίευν οἱ ἔρσενες· τῶν γὰρ ᾠῶν ἀπορραίνουσι κατʼ ὀλίγους τῶν κέγχρων, οἱ δὲ ἔρσενες καταπίνουσι ἑπόμενοι. εἰσὶ δὲ οἱ κέγχροι οὗτοι ἰχθύες.
When they have become full in the sea, they swim back up to their own respective haunts; however, the leaders are no longer the same, but the leadership falls to the females; leading the shoal, they do just what the males did; for they sprinkle their eggs, a few grains at a time, and the males, following behind, swallow them down. These grains are indeed fish.
ἐκ δὲ τῶν περιγινομένων καὶ μὴ καταπινομένων κέγχρων οἱ τρεφόμενοι ἰχθύες γίνονται. οἵ δʼ ἂν αὐτῶν ἁλῶσι ἐκπλώοντες ἐς θάλασσαν, φαίνονται τετριμμένοι τὰ ἐπʼ ἀριστερὰ τῶν κεφαλέων, οἳ δʼ ἂν ὀπίσω ἀναπλώοντες, τὰ ἐπὶ δεξιὰ τετρίφαται.2
From the grains that survive and are not swallowed, the fish that are reared are produced. Those of them that are caught swimming out to the sea appear to have the left side of their heads rubbed, while those that are caught swimming back up have the right side rubbed.
πάσχουσι δὲ ταῦτα διὰ τόδε· ἐχόμενοι τῆς γῆς3 ἐπʼ ἀριστερὰ καταπλώουσι ἐς θάλασσαν, καὶ ἀναπλώοντες ὀπίσω τῆς αὐτῆς ἀντέχονται, ἐγχριμπτόμενοι καὶ ψαύοντες ὡς μάλιστα, ἵνα δὴ μὴ ἁμάρτοιεν τῆς ὁδοῦ διὰ τὸν ῥόον.
They suffer this for the following reason: they swim down to the sea keeping the land close on their left, and when they swim back up, they hold to the same side of the land, rubbing against it and touching it as much as possible, so that they may not lose their way because of the current.
ἐπεὰν δὲ πληθύνεσθαι ἄρχηται ὁ Νεῖλος, τά τε κοῖλα τῆς γῆς καὶ τὰ τέλματα τὰ παρὰ τὸν ποταμὸν πρῶτα ἄρχεται πίμπλασθαι διηθέοντος τοῦ ὕδατος ἐκ τοῦ ποταμοῦ· καὶ αὐτίκα τε πλέα γίνεται ταῦτα καὶ παραχρῆμα ἰχθύων σμικρῶν πίμπλαται πάντα.
When the Nile begins to rise, the hollow places of the land and the marshes near the river first begin to fill as the water filters through from the river; and as soon as these are full, they are immediately filled everywhere with small fish.
κόθεν δὲ οἰκὸς αὐτοὺς γίνεσθαι,4 ἐγώ μοι δοκέω κατανοέειν τοῦτο· τοῦ προτέρου ἔτεος ἐπεὰν ἀπολίπῃ ὁ Νεῖλος, οἱ ἰχθύες ἐντεκόντες ᾠὰ ἐς τὴν ἰλὺν ἅμα τῷ ἐσχάτῳ ὕδατι ἀπαλλάσσονται· ἐπεὰν δὲ περιελθόντος τοῦ χρόνου πάλιν ἐπέλθῃ τὸ ὕδωρ, ἐκ τῶν ᾠῶν τούτων παραυτίκα γίνονται οἱ ἰχθύες οὗτοι.
Whence it is likely that these are produced, I think I understand this: in the preceding year, when the Nile recedes, the fish, having laid eggs in the mud, depart together with the last of the water; and when, as the season comes round, the water comes back again, from these eggs these fish are immediately produced.
- 2.93.1αἳ δὲ
The article with δέ is used as a demonstrative pronoun ("but they," meaning the females) in contrast to "οἱ ἔρσενες" (the males) in the preceding clause.
- 2.93.3τετρίφαται
The Ionic dialect form of the 3rd person plural perfect passive indicative of the verb τρίβω (to rub), equivalent to τετριμμένοι εἰσί in the Attic dialect.
- 2.93.4ἐχόμενοι τῆς γῆς
The middle participle ἐχόμενοι governs the genitive τῆς γῆς, meaning "holding on to the land" or "keeping close to the shore."
- 2.93.6οἰκὸς αὐτοὺς γίνεσθαι
The impersonal ἐστί is omitted with the adjective οἰκὸς (Ionic form of εἰκὸς, "likely, natural"), followed by the accusative and infinitive clause "αὐτοὺς γίνεσθαι," meaning "it is natural for them to be produced."