- 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-grc2:3.4.1-3.4.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
The Halicarnassian mercenary Phanes flees Egypt after a conflict with Amasis and joins Cambyses, advising him on the route for his expedition against Egypt.
συνήνεικε δὲ καὶ ἄλλο τι τοιόνδε πρῆγμα γενέσθαι1 ἐς τὴν ἐπιστράτευσιν ταύτην. ἦν τῶν ἐπικούρων Ἀμάσιος ἀνὴρ γένος μὲν Ἁλικαρνησσεύς, οὔνομα δέ οἱ Φάνης, καὶ γνώμην ἱκανὸς καὶ τὰ πολεμικὰ ἄλκιμος.
Another incident of the following kind also happened to coincide with this expedition. There was among the mercenaries of Amasis a man, Halicarnassian by birth, whose name was Phanes, competent in judgment and valiant in matters of war.
οὗτος ὁ Φάνης μεμφόμενός κού τι Ἀμάσι ἐκδιδρήσκει πλοίῳ ἐξ Αἰγύπτου, βουλόμενος Καμβύσῃ ἐλθεῖν ἐς λόγους. οἷα δὲ ἐόντα αὐτὸν2 ἐν τοῖσι ἐπικούροισι λόγου οὐ σμικροῦ ἐπιστάμενόν τε τὰ περὶ Αἴγυπτον ἀτρεκέστατα, μεταδιώκει ὁ Ἄμασις σπουδὴν ποιεύμενος ἑλεῖν, μεταδιώκει δὲ τῶν εὐνούχων τὸν πιστότατον ἀποστείλας τριήρεϊ κατʼ αὐτόν, ὃς αἱρέει μιν ἐν Λυκίῃ, ἑλὼν δὲ οὐκ ἀνήγαγε ἐς Αἴγυπτον· σοφίῃ γάρ μιν περιῆλθε ὁ Φάνης·
This Phanes, having some grievance against Amasis, fled from Egypt by ship, wishing to come to a conference with Cambyses. Since he was a man of no small account among the mercenaries, and knew the affairs of Egypt with the greatest accuracy, Amasis pursued him, making every effort to capture him; and he pursued him by sending the most faithful of his eunuchs on a trireme after him, who captured him in Lycia, but having captured him, did not bring him back to Egypt; for Phanes outwitted him by craft.
καταμεθύσας γὰρ τοὺς φυλάκους ἀπαλλάσσετο ἐς Πέρσας. ὁρμημένῳ δὲ στρατεύεσθαι Καμβύσῃ ἐπʼ Αἴγυπτον καὶ ἀπορέοντι τὴν ἔλασιν, ὅκως τὴν ἄνυδρον διεκπερᾷ, ἐπελθὼν φράζει μὲν καὶ τὰ ἄλλα τὰ Ἀμάσιος πρήγματα, ἐξηγέεται δὲ καὶ τὴν ἔλασιν, ὧδε παραινέων, πέμψαντα παρὰ τὸν Ἀραβίων βασιλέα δέεσθαι3 τὴν διέξοδόν οἱ ἀσφαλέα παρασχεῖν.
For having made his guards thoroughly drunk, he escaped to the Persians. And when Cambyses was eager to march against Egypt but was at a loss about the march, how he should pass through the waterless desert, Phanes came to him and not only told him of the other affairs of Amasis but also explained the march, advising him thus: that he should send to the king of the Arabians and ask him to provide a safe passage for him.
- 3.4.1συνήνεικε... γενέσθαι
The impersonal verb συμφέρεται (here in the aorist συνήνεικε) taking an infinitive (γενέσθαι) to mean "it happened that..." or "it fell out that...". The subject is the entire infinitive clause.
- 3.4.2οἷα δὲ ἐόντα αὐτὸν
The conjunction οἷα (equivalent to ἅτε) with participles (here ἐόντα and the following ἐπιστάμενον) expresses an objective reason ("since he was..."). The participles agree in gender, number, and case with the accusative pronoun αὐτόν (object of the main verb), rather than the subject. The genitive phrase λόγου οὐ σμικροῦ is a genitive of value or quality, meaning "of no small account" or "of high standing".
- 3.4.3πέμψαντα... δέεσθαι
In the indirect discourse introduced by the participle παραινέων ("advising"), the infinitive δέεσθαι ("to request") has the accusative participle πέμψαντα ("having sent") as its subject. Although it refers to Cambyses (who appeared in the dative case Καμβύσῃ earlier), it is put in the accusative as the subject of the infinitive.