- 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-grc2:3.26.1-3.26.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
The text recounts the fate of the army sent by Cambyses against the Ammonians, which reached the Oasis but was said by the Ammonians to have been buried and lost in a massive sandstorm.
ὁ μὲν ἐπʼ Αἰθίοπας στόλος οὕτω ἔπρηξε· οἱ δʼ αὐτῶν ἐπʼ Ἀμμωνίους ἀποσταλέντες στρατεύεσθαι, ἐπείτε ὁρμηθέντες ἐκ τῶν Θηβέων ἐπορεύοντο ἔχοντες ἀγωγούς, ἀπικόμενοι μὲν φανεροί εἰσι1 ἐς Ὄασιν πόλιν, τὴν ἔχουσι μὲν Σάμιοι τῆς Αἰσχριωνίης φυλῆς λεγόμενοι εἶναι, ἀπέχουσι δὲ ἑπτὰ ἡμερέων ὁδὸν ἀπὸ Θηβέων διὰ ψάμμου· ὀνομάζεται δὲ ὁ χῶρος οὗτος κατὰ Ἑλλήνων γλῶσσαν Μακάρων νῆσος.
Thus fared the expedition against the Ethiopians; but those of them who had been sent to march against the Ammonians, having set out from Thebes and journeying with guides, clearly arrived at the city of Oasis, which is possessed by Samians said to be of the Aeschrionian tribe, and is seven days’ journey distant from Thebes across the sand; and this place is called in the Greek tongue the Island of the Blessed.
ἐς μὲν δὴ τοῦτον τὸν χῶρον λέγεται ἀπικέσθαι τὸν στρατόν, τὸ ἐνθεῦτεν δέ, ὅτι μὴ2 αὐτοὶ Ἀμμώνιοι καὶ οἱ τούτων ἀκούσαντες, ἄλλοι οὐδένες οὐδὲν ἔχουσι εἰπεῖν περὶ αὐτῶν· οὔτε γὰρ ἐς τοὺς Ἀμμωνίους ἀπίκοντο οὔτε ὀπίσω ἐνόστησαν.
Indeed, as far as this place the army is said to have arrived, but as to what happened after this, except for the Ammonians themselves and those who have heard from them, no one else has anything to say about them; for they neither arrived among the Ammonians nor returned back.
λέγεται δὲ κατὰ τάδε ὑπʼ αὐτῶν Ἀμμωνίων· ἐπειδὴ ἐκ τῆς Ὀάσιος ταύτης ἰέναι διὰ τῆς ψάμμου ἐπὶ σφέας, γενέσθαι τε αὐτοὺς μεταξύ κου μάλιστα αὐτῶν τε καὶ τῆς Ὀάσιος, ἄριστον αἱρεομένοισι αὐτοῖσι ἐπιπνεῦσαι3 νότον μέγαν τε καὶ ἐξαίσιον, φορέοντα δὲ θῖνας τῆς ψάμμου καταχῶσαι σφέας, καὶ τρόπῳ τοιούτῳ ἀφανισθῆναι. Ἀμμώνιοι μὲν οὕτω λέγουσι γενέσθαι περὶ τῆς στρατιῆς ταύτης.
But this is what is said by the Ammonians themselves: that when they were going from this Oasis across the sand against them, and had come to be about midway between them and Oasis, as they were taking their meal, a great and extraordinary south wind blew upon them, and bringing along heaps of sand, covered them over, and in this manner they disappeared. This is what the Ammonians say happened concerning this army.
- 3.26.1ἀπικόμενοι μὲν φανεροί εἰσι
A construction where the adjective φανερός with εἰμί and a participle (ἀπικόμενοι) expresses 'it is clear that they arrived'. The nominative participle agrees with the subject of the sentence, οἱ δʼ αὐτῶν....
- 3.26.2ὅτι μὴ
An idiomatic expression meaning 'except' or 'unless', used here following a negative statement (ἄλλοι οὐδένες οὐδὲν ἔχουσι εἰπεῖν).
- 3.26.3ἄριστον αἱρεομένοισι αὐτοῖσι ἐπιπνεῦσαι
An infinitive clause in indirect discourse. The dative present participle αἱρεομένοισι of ἄριστον αἱρέομαι (to take a meal) modifies the dative pronoun αὐτοῖσι, indicating the target upon which the wind blew (ἐπιπνεῦσαι), meaning 'a wind blew upon them as they were taking their meal'.