- 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-grc2:4.147.1-4.147.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
The background of Theras preparing a colonizing expedition from Lacedaemon is described, along with the history of the Phoenicians who had previously settled on the island of Thera (formerly Calliste).
τὸν δὲ αὐτὸν τοῦτον χρόνον Θήρας ὁ Αὐτεσίωνος τοῦ Τισαμενοῦ τοῦ Θερσάνδρου τοῦ Πολυνείκεος ἔστελλε1 ἐς ἀποικίην ἐκ Λακεδαίμονος·
And at this same time, Theras, the son of Autesion, son of Tisamenus, son of Thersander, son of Polynices, was preparing an expedition for a colony from Lacedaemon.
ἦν δὲ ὁ Θήρας οὗτος, γένος ἐὼν Καδμεῖος, τῆς μητρὸς ἀδελφεὸς τοῖσι Ἀριστοδήμου παισὶ2 Εὐρυσθένεϊ καὶ Προκλέι. ἐόντων δὲ ἔτι τῶν παίδων τούτων νηπίων ἐπιτροπαίην εἶχε ὁ Θήρας τὴν ἐν Σπάρτῃ βασιληίην.
Now this Theras, being by race a Cadmean, was a maternal uncle to the sons of Aristodemus, Eurysthenes and Procles. And while these children were still infants, Theras held the guardianship of the kingship in Sparta.
αὐξηθέντων δὲ τῶν ἀδελφιδέων καὶ παραλαβόντων τὴν ἀρχήν, οὕτω δὴ ὁ Θήρας δεινὸν ποιεύμενος ἄρχεσθαι ὑπʼ ἄλλων ἐπείτε ἐγεύσατο ἀρχῆς, οὐκ ἔφη3 μένειν ἐν τῇ Λακεδαίμονι ἀλλʼ ἀποπλεύσεσθαι ἐς τοὺς συγγενέας.
But when his nephews had grown up and taken over the rule, then indeed Theras, thinking it a terrible thing to be ruled by others after he had tasted of rule, said that he would not remain in Lacedaemon but would sail away to his kinsmen.
ἦσαν δὲ ἐν τῇ νῦν Θήρῃ καλεομένῃ νήσῳ, πρότερον δὲ Καλλίστῃ τῇ αὐτῇ ταύτῃ, ἀπόγονοι Μεμβλιάρου τοῦ Ποικίλεω ἀνδρὸς Φοίνικος. Κάδμος γὰρ ὁ Ἀγήνορος Εὐρώπην διζήμενος προσέσχε ἐς τὴν νῦν Θήρην καλεομένην· προσσχόντι4 δὲ εἴτε δή οἱ ἡ χώρη ἤρεσε, εἴτε καὶ ἄλλως ἠθέλησε ποιῆσαι τοῦτο· καταλείπει γὰρ ἐν τῇ νήσῳ ταύτῃ ἄλλους τε τῶν Φοινίκων καὶ δὴ καὶ τῶν ἑωυτοῦ συγγενέων Μεμβλίαρον.
And there were on the island now called Thera, but formerly this same called Calliste, descendants of Membliarus, the son of Poeciles, a Phoenician man. For Cadmus, the son of Agenor, seeking Europa, had put in at the island now called Thera; and when he had put in, whether because the land pleased him, or because he wished for some other reason to do this, he left on this island both others of the Phoenicians and especially Membliarus, one of his own kinsmen.
οὗτοι ἐνέμοντο τὴν Καλλίστην καλεομένην ἐπὶ γενεάς, πρὶν ἤ Θήραν ἐλθεῖν ἐκ Λακεδαίμονος, ὀκτὼ ἀνδρῶν.5
These people inhabited the island called Calliste for eight generations of men, before Theras came from Lacedaemon.
- 4.147.1ἔστελλε
Active imperfect. It can be interpreted either transitively as "was preparing/fitting out an expedition (or colony)" or intransitively as "was setting out (for a colony)". Here, considering the context that Theras was preparing the expedition as a leader, the former transitivized interpretation "was preparing" is adopted.
- 4.147.2τοῖσι Ἀριστοδήμου παισὶ
Dative. A dative of relation (or sympathetic dative) dependent on the noun ἀδελφεός (uncle/brother), functioning in place of a genitive, meaning "maternal uncle to the sons of Aristodemus".
- 4.147.3οὐκ ἔφη
Anticipatory negation. οὔ φημι means "to say that... not". It governs the infinitives μένειν (present tense: "to remain") and ἀποπλεύσεσθαι (future tense: "to sail away"), meaning "he said he would not remain, but would sail away".
- 4.147.4προσσχόντι
Dative masculine singular aorist active participle. It agrees with the subsequent dative pronoun οἱ (referring to Cadmus), forming a construction: "when he (Cadmus) had put in, whether the land pleased him...".
- 4.147.5ὀκτὼ ἀνδρῶν
Genitive. It modifies γενεάς, so that the whole phrase ἐπὶ γενεὰς ὀκτὼ ἀνδρῶν means "for eight generations of men". ἀνδρῶν (men) is a genitive of definition or specification.