- 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-grc2:3.151.1-3.151.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
Darius leads his army to besiege Babylon, but the Babylonians mock him from the walls, claiming that the city will only be captured when mules give birth.
πυθόμενος δὲ ταῦτα ὁ Δαρεῖος καὶ συλλέξας πᾶσαν τὴν ἑωυτοῦ δύναμιν ἐστρατεύετο ἐπʼ αὐτούς, ἐπελάσας δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν Βαβυλῶνα ἐπολιόρκεε φροντίζοντας οὐδὲν τῆς πολιορκίης.1 ἀναβαίνοντες γὰρ ἐπὶ τοὺς προμαχεῶνας τοῦ τείχεος οἱ Βαβυλώνιοι κατωρχέοντο καὶ κατέσκωπτον Δαρεῖον καὶ τὴν στρατιὴν αὐτοῦ, καί τις αὐτῶν εἶπε τοῦτο τὸ ἔπος.
When Darius learned of these things, he gathered his entire force and marched against them; having advanced to Babylon, he besieged them, while they cared nothing for the siege. For the Babylonians, climbing up onto the breastworks of the wall, danced in mockery and jeered at Darius and his army, and one of them spoke these words:
τί κάτησθε ὦ Πέρσαι ἐνθαῦτα, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἀπαλλάσσεσθε;2 τότε γὰρ αἱρήσετε ἡμέας, ἐπεὰν ἡμίονοι τέκωσι. τοῦτο εἶπε τῶν τις Βαβυλωνίων οὐδαμὰ ἐλπίζων ἂν ἡμίονον τεκεῖν.3
”Why do you sit there, Persians, and not depart? For you will capture us only when mules give birth.” This was said by one of the Babylonians, who never expected that a mule would ever give birth.
- 3.151.1φροντίζοντας οὐδὲν τῆς πολιορκίης
The present participle accusative plural φροντίζοντας modifies the omitted direct object (the Babylonians) of the verb ἐπολιόρκεε. The verb φροντίζω takes the genitive τῆς πολιορκίης ("care for"), and οὐδέν functions adverbially as a strong negation.
- 3.151.2ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἀπαλλάσσεσθε;
The particle ἀλλά following the interrogative τί ("why") introduces a strong alternative to the action of sitting, meaning "why rather do you not depart?".
- 3.151.2ἂν ἡμίονον τεκεῖν
The particle ἄν is attached to the aorist infinitive τεκεῖν depending on the participle ἐλπίζων ("expecting"), expressing a potential or hypothetical scenario ("that a mule could ever give birth").