- 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-grc2:4.12.1-4.12.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
The author lists the remnants of Cimmerian names in Scythia and explains how the Cimmerians fled to Asia to settle the peninsula of Sinope, while the pursuing Scythians lost their way and ended up invading Media.
καὶ νῦν ἔστι μὲν ἐν τῇ Σκυθικῇ Κιμμέρια τείχεα, ἔστι δὲ πορθμήια Κιμμέρια, ἔστι δὲ καὶ χώρη οὔνομα Κιμμερίη, ἔστι δὲ Βόσπορος Κιμμέριος καλεόμενος·
And even now there are in the Scythian land Cimmerian walls, and a Cimmerian ferry, and there is also a region named Cimmeria, and a Bosporus called Cimmerian.
φαίνονται δὲ οἱ Κιμμέριοι φεύγοντες ἐς τὴν Ἀσίην τοὺς Σκύθας1 καὶ τὴν χερσόνησον κτίσαντες, ἐν τῇ νῦν Σινώπη πόλις Ἑλλὰς οἴκισται. φανεροὶ δὲ εἰσὶ2 καὶ οἱ Σκύθαι διώξαντες αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐσβαλόντες ἐς γῆν τὴν Μηδικὴν, ἁμαρτόντες τῆς ὁδοῦ·
It is clear that the Cimmerians fled from the Scythians into Asia and settled the peninsula where now the Greek city of Sinope is founded. It is also clear that the Scythians pursued them and, having missed their way, invaded the Median land.
οἱ μὲν γὰρ Κιμμέριοι αἰεὶ τὴν παρὰ θάλασσαν ἔφευγον, οἱ δὲ Σκύθαι ἐν δεξιῇ τὸν Καύκασον ἔχοντες ἐδίωκον ἐς οὗ ἐσέβαλον ἐς γῆν τὴν Μηδικήν, ἐς μεσόγαιαν τῆς ὁδοῦ τραφθέντες.3 οὗτος δὲ ἄλλος ξυνὸς Ἑλλήνων τε καὶ βαρβάρων λεγόμενος λόγος εἴρηται.
For the Cimmerians fled continually along the coast, whereas the Scythians pursued them with the Caucasus on their right hand until they invaded the Median land, having turned their way inland. This other story, told in common by both Greeks and barbarians, has now been related.
- 4.12.2τοὺς Σκύθας
The accusative case functions as the direct object of the verb φεύγω (to flee), which often behaves intransitively. Here it means 'fleeing from the Scythians' (or 'escaping the Scythians').
- 4.12.2φαίνονται δὲ ... φανεροὶ δὲ εἰσὶ
The verb φαίνομαι and the adjective φανερός with εἰμί are used here with participles (φαίνονται ... φεύγοντες / φανεροὶ δὲ εἰσὶ ... διώξαντες). Unlike the construction with an infinitive, which indicates a subjective appearance ('seems to do', leaving the reality in doubt), the construction with a participle denotes an objective fact ('it is clear that they did').
- 4.12.3ἐς μεσόγαιαν τῆς ὁδοῦ τραφθέντες
τραφθέντες is the aorist passive (or middle) participle of τρέπω (to turn) in its Ionic form. τῆς ὁδοῦ is a genitive of place or relation ('in respect of their way'), meaning 'having turned their course inland' or 'their way having been turned toward the interior'.