- 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-grc2:3.102.1-3.102.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
The warlike northern Indians prepare to venture into the sandy desert to collect gold-dust dug up by giant ants, using fast camels harnessed in a specific manner.
ἄλλοι δὲ τῶν Ἰνδῶν Κασπατύρῳ τε πόλι καὶ τῇ Πακτυϊκῇ χώρῃ εἰσὶ πρόσουροι, πρὸς ἄρκτου τε καὶ βορέω ἀνέμου κατοικημένοι τῶν ἄλλων Ἰνδῶν,1 οἳ Βακτρίοισι παραπλησίην ἔχουσι δίαιταν. οὗτοι καὶ μαχιμώτατοι εἰσὶ Ἰνδῶν καὶ οἱ ἐπὶ τὸν χρυσὸν στελλόμενοι εἰσὶ οὗτοι· κατὰ γὰρ τοῦτο ἐστὶ ἐρημίη διὰ τὴν ψάμμον.
Other of the Indians are borderers of the city of Caspatyrus and the country of Pactyica, dwelling to the north and the north wind relative to the other Indians, and these have a way of life very similar to that of the Bactrians. These are also the most warlike of the Indians, and these are the ones who set out to get the gold; for in this region there is a desert because of the sand.
ἐν δὴ ὦν τῇ ἐρημίῃ ταύτῃ καὶ τῇ ψάμμῳ γίνονται μύρμηκες μεγάθεα ἔχοντες κυνῶν μὲν ἐλάσσονα ἀλωπέκων δὲ μέζονα· εἰσὶ γὰρ αὐτῶν2 καὶ παρὰ βασιλέι τῷ Περσέων ἐνθεῦτεν θηρευθέντες. οὗτοι ὦν οἱ μύρμηκες ποιεύμενοι οἴκησιν ὑπὸ γῆν ἀναφορέουσι τὴν ψάμμον κατά περ οἱ ἐν τοῖσι Ἕλλησι μύρμηκες κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον, εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ τὸ εἶδος ὁμοιότατοι· ἡ δὲ ψάμμος ἡ ἀναφερομένη ἐστὶ χρυσῖτις.
In this desert, then, and in this sand, there exist ants that are smaller than dogs in size but larger than foxes; for some of them are also with the King of the Persians, having been captured from there. These ants, then, making their dwelling under the earth, carry up the sand in the very same manner as the ants in Greece, and they themselves are also very similar in appearance. And the sand that is carried up is gold-bearing.
ἐπὶ δὴ ταύτην τὴν ψάμμον στέλλονται ἐς τὴν ἔρημον οἱ Ἰνδοί, ζευξάμενος ἕκαστος καμήλους τρεῖς, σειρηφόρον μὲν ἑκατέρωθεν ἔρσενα παρέλκειν,3 θήλεαν δὲ ἐς μέσον· ἐπὶ ταύτην δὴ αὐτὸς ἀναβαίνει, ἐπιτηδεύσας ὅκως ἀπὸ τέκνων ὡς νεωτάτων ἀποσπάσας ζεύξει. αἱ γάρ σφι κάμηλοι ἵππων οὐκ ἥσσονες ἐς ταχυτῆτα εἰσί, χωρὶς δὲ ἄχθεα δυνατώτεραι πολλὸν φέρειν.
It is for this sand, then, that the Indians set out into the desert, each having yoked three camels, leading a male as a trace-camel on either side, and a female in the middle; upon this female he himself mounts, having carefully arranged to yoke her after snatching her away from her offspring that are as young as possible. For their camels are not inferior to horses in speed, and besides, they are far more capable of carrying heavy loads.
- 3.102.1τῶν ἄλλων Ἰνδῶν
This functions as a genitive of comparison, depending on the phrase 'πρὸς ἄρκτου τε καὶ βορέω ἀνέμου κατοικημένοι', which carries a comparative sense (dwelling further north than...).
- 3.102.2εἰσὶ γὰρ αὐτῶν
αὐτῶν is a partitive genitive, signifying that 'some of them' (the ants) are present with the Persian King. In Greek, a partitive genitive can stand alone without an explicit word for 'some'.
- 3.102.3παρέλκειν
An infinitive, either serving complementary to the participle 'ζευξάμενος' or acting as an infinitive of command/description (infinitivus pro imperio or descriptive infinitive) to explain the specific arrangement of the camels.