- 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-grc2:3.13.1-3.13.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
The defeated Egyptians retreat to Memphis and brutally kill the Persian heralds who offer terms. Subsequently, Egypt and neighboring territories surrender and send gifts to Cambyses.
οἱ δὲ Αἰγύπτιοι ἐκ τῆς μάχης ὡς ἐτράποντο, ἔφευγον οὐδενὶ κόσμῳ· κατειληθέντων1 δὲ ἐς Μέμφιν, ἔπεμπε ἀνὰ ποταμὸν Καμβύσης νέα Μυτιληναίην κήρυκα ἄγουσαν ἄνδρα Πέρσην, ἐς ὁμολογίην προκαλεόμενος Αἰγυπτίους.
And when the Egyptians turned to flight from the battle, they fled in utter disorder; and when they were shut up in Memphis, Cambyses sent a Mytilenaean ship up the river carrying a Persian herald, inviting the Egyptians to come to terms.
οἳ δὲ2 ἐπείτε τὴν νέα εἶδον ἐσελθοῦσαν ἐς τὴν Μέμφιν, ἐκχυθέντες ἁλέες ἐκ τοῦ τείχεος τήν τε νέα διέφθειραν καὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας κρεουργηδὸν διασπάσαντες ἐφόρεον ἐς τὸ τεῖχος.
But they, as soon as they saw the ship entering Memphis, pouring out of the fortress in a crowd, both destroyed the ship and, tearing the men limb from limb like butchers, carried them into the fortress.
καὶ Αἰγύπτιοι μὲν μετὰ τοῦτο πολιορκεύμενοι χρόνῳ παρέστησαν, οἱ δὲ προσεχέες Λίβυες δείσαντες τὰ περὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον γεγονότα παρέδοσαν σφέας αὐτοὺς ἀμαχητὶ καὶ φόρον τε ἐτάξαντο καὶ δῶρα ἔπεμπον. ὣς δὲ Κυρηναῖοι καὶ Βαρκαῖοι, δείσαντες ὁμοίως καὶ οἱ Λίβυες, τοιαῦτα ἐποίησαν.
And the Egyptians, being besieged after this, in time surrendered; while the neighboring Libyans, fearing what had happened to Egypt, surrendered themselves without a fight, imposed a tribute upon themselves, and sent gifts. In like manner the Cyrenaeans and Barcaeans, fearing just as the Libyans did, did the same.
Καμβύσης δὲ τὰ μὲν παρὰ Λιβύων ἐλθόντα δῶρα φιλοφρόνως ἐδέξατο· τὰ δὲ παρὰ Κυρηναίων ἀπικόμενα μεμφθείς,3 ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκέει, ὅτι ἦν ὀλίγα· ἔπεμψαν γὰρ δὴ πεντακοσίας μνέας ἀργυρίου οἱ Κυρηναῖοι· ταύτας δρασσόμενος αὐτοχειρίῃ διέσπειρε τῇ στρατιῇ.
Cambyses graciously received the gifts that came from the Libyans; but those which arrived from the Cyrenaeans he disdained, as it seems to me, because they were so few; for the Cyrenaeans had sent only five hundred minas of silver; these he grabbed with his own hands and scattered to the army.
- 3.13.1κατειληθέντων
A genitive absolute construction where the subject pronoun (αὐτῶν, referring to the Egyptians) is omitted, meaning "when they were shut up (in Memphis)".
- 3.13.2οἳ δὲ
An epic and Ionic usage of the relative pronoun with δέ acting as a demonstrative pronoun ("but they"), serving to shift the subject of the sentence.
- 3.13.4μεμφθείς
The aorist passive participle of the deponent verb μέμφομαι, carrying an active (middle) meaning "to blame / disdain". It functions here as the main predicate or with an ellipsis of a finite verb.
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
- 2026-09-21 AI review — translation 1