- 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-grc2:4.102.1-4.102.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
This section describes how the Scythians, realizing they could not defeat Darius alone, sent messengers to neighboring tribes, whose kings then assembled to deliberate on the incoming great army.
οἱ δὲ Σκύθαι δόντες σφίσι λόγον1 ὡς οὐκ οἷοί τε εἰσὶ τὸν Δαρείου στρατὸν ἰθυμαχίῃ διώσασθαι μοῦνοι, ἔπεμπον ἐς τοὺς πλησιοχώρους ἀγγέλους· τῶν δὲ καὶ δὴ οἱ βασιλέες συνελθόντες ἐβουλεύοντο ὡς στρατοῦ ἐπελαύνοντος μεγάλου.2
The Scythians, considering among themselves that they were not able by themselves to repel the army of Darius in a pitched battle, sent messengers to their neighbors; and the kings of these nations, having indeed assembled, held council on the ground that a great army was marching against them.
ἦσαν δὲ οἱ συνελθόντες βασιλέες Ταύρων3 καὶ Ἀγαθύρσων καὶ Νευρῶν καὶ Ἀνδροφάγων καὶ Μελαγχλαίνων καὶ Γελωνῶν καὶ Βουδίνων καὶ Σαυροματέων.
Now the kings who assembled were those of the Tauri, the Agathyrsi, the Neuri, the Androphagi, the Melanchlaeni, the Geloni, the Budini, and the Sauromatae.
- 4.102.1δόντες σφίσι λόγον
An idiomatic expression meaning "to reason with oneself," "to reflect," or "to come to the conclusion," literally "giving an account to themselves."
- 4.102.1ὡς στρατοῦ ἐπελαύνοντος μεγάλου
A genitive absolute construction introduced by the conjunction ὡς ("on the ground that", "as"), which emphasizes the subjective reason or the situation as perceived by the subjects (that a great army was invading).
- 4.102.2ἦσαν δὲ οἱ συνελθόντες βασιλέες Ταύρων...
The subject of the verb ἦσαν is οἱ συνελθόντες βασιλέες ("the assembled kings"), and the subsequent plural genitives of the tribal names (Ταύρων...) function predicatively, meaning "[the kings] of the Tauri, [etc.]."