- 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-grc2:3.157.1-3.157.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
Having obtained command of the army from the Babylonians, Zopyrus repeatedly defeats Persian forces exactly as agreed upon with Darius. Gaining their absolute trust through these fake victories, he is appointed general-in-chief and guardian of the walls.
οἳ δὲ Βαβυλώνιοι ὁρῶντες ἄνδρα τὸν ἐν Πέρσῃσι δοκιμώτατον ῥινός τε καὶ ὤτων ἐστερημένον, μάστιξί τε καὶ αἵματι ἀναπεφυρμένον, πάγχυ ἐλπίσαντες λέγειν μιν ἀληθέα καί σφι ἥκειν σύμμαχον, ἐπιτρέπεσθαι ἕτοιμοι ἦσαν τῶν ἐδέετο σφέων·1 ἐδέετο δὲ στρατιῆς.
But the Babylonians, seeing the most highly esteemed man among the Persians deprived of both nose and ears, and covered with whip-marks and blood, fully believing that he was speaking the truth and had come to them as an ally, were ready to entrust to him whatever he asked of them; and he asked for an army.
ὁ δὲ ἐπείτε αὐτῶν τοῦτο παρέλαβε, ἐποίεε τά περ τῷ Δαρείῳ συνεθήκατο· ἐξαγαγὼν γὰρ τῇ δεκάτῃ ἡμέρῃ τὴν στρατιὴν τῶν Βαβυλωνίων καὶ κυκλωσάμενος τοὺς χιλίους, τοὺς πρώτους ἐνετείλατο Δαρείῳ τάξαι, τούτους κατεφόνευσε.2
And when he had received this authority from them, he did exactly what he had agreed upon with Darius; for having led out the army of the Babylonians on the tenth day and having surrounded the thousand men, whom he had instructed Darius to station first, he slaughtered them.
μαθόντες δέ μιν οἱ Βαβυλώνιοι τοῖσι ἔπεσι τὰ ἔργα παρεχόμενον ὅμοια, πάγχυ περιχαρέες ἐόντες πᾶν δὴ ἕτοιμοι ἦσαν ὑπηρετέειν. ὁ δὲ διαλιπὼν ἡμέρας τὰς συγκειμένας, αὖτις ἐπιλεξάμενος τῶν Βαβυλωνίων3 ἐξήγαγε καὶ κατεφόνευσε τῶν Δαρείου στρατιωτέων τοὺς δισχιλίους.
And the Babylonians, when they learned that he was producing deeds equal to his words, being overjoyed, were completely ready to serve him in everything. And he, after waiting for the agreed number of days, again selected from the Babylonians, led them out, and slaughtered two thousand of Darius’ soldiers.
ἰδόντες δὲ καὶ τοῦτο τὸ ἔργον οἱ Βαβυλώνιοι πάντες Ζώπυρον εἶχον ἐν στόμασι αἰνέοντες. ὁ δὲ αὖτις διαλιπὼν τὰς συγκειμένας ἡμέρας ἐξήγαγε ἐς τὸ προειρημένον, καὶ κυκλωσάμενος κατεφόνευσε τοὺς τετρακισχιλίους. ὡς δὲ καὶ τοῦτο κατέργαστο, πάντα δὴ ἦν ἐν τοῖσι Βαβυλωνίοισι Ζώπυρος,4 καὶ στρατάρχης τε οὗτός σφι καὶ τειχοφύλαξ ἀπεδέδεκτο.
And when they saw this second deed as well, all the Babylonians had Zopyrus on their lips, praising him. And he, again waiting for the agreed number of days, led them out to the place foreordained, and having surrounded them, slaughtered the four thousand. When this too had been accomplished, Zopyrus was indeed everything to the Babylonians, and he was appointed by them as both general-in-chief and guardian of the walls.
- 3.157.1τῶν ἐδέετο σφέων
The relative pronoun τῶν (Ionic for ὧν) undergoes attraction, incorporating its antecedent (ἐκεῖνα) and functioning as the object of both ἐπιτρέπεσθαι ("to entrust") and ἐδέετο ("he asked"). The genitive pronoun σφέων (from σφεῖς) is governed by ἐδέετο, which takes a double genitive: the person asked (σφέων) and the thing asked (τῶν).
- 3.157.2τοὺς χιλίους, τοὺς πρώτους ἐνετείλατο Δαρείῳ τάξαι, τούτους κατεφόνευσε
This is a resumptive construction where the same referent (the thousand men) is first introduced in the accusative as τοὺς χιλίους, qualified by a modifying clause (τοὺς πρώτους ἐνετείλατο...), and then recapitulated by the demonstrative pronoun τούτους as the direct object of the main verb κατεφόνευσε.
- 3.157.3τῶν Βαβυλωνίων
This is a partitive genitive dependent on the participle ἐπιλεξάμενος ("having selected"), meaning "having selected from among the Babylonians" without the need for the preposition ἐκ.
- 3.157.4πάντα δὴ ἦν ἐν τοῖσι Βαβυλωνίοισι Ζώπυρος
An idiomatic Greek expression where the neuter plural πάντα ("all things") is used as a predicate to emphasize to the highest degree the supreme importance of the proper noun Zopyrus. It means "Zopyrus was indeed everything to the Babylonians," representing his absolute influence and their total reliance on him.