- 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-grc2:4.149.1-4.149.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
It relates how Theras's son received the name Oiolycus because he refused to sail, and how his descendants, the Aegeidae, overcame the infant mortality by founding a temple to the Erinyes.
ὁ δὲ παῖς οὐ γὰρ ἔφη οἱ συμπλεύσεσθαι,1 τοιγαρῶν ἔφη αὐτὸν καταλείψειν ὄιν ἐν λύκοισι.2 ἐπὶ του ἔπεος τούτου οὔνομα τῷ νεηνίσκῳ τούτῳ Οἰόλυκος ἐγένετο, καί κως τὸ οὔνομα τοῦτο ἐπεκράτησε. Οἰολύκου δὲ γίνεται Αἰγεύς, ἐπʼ οὗ Αἰγεῖδαι καλέονται φυλὴ μεγάλη ἐν Σπάρτῃ.
Since his son said he would not sail with him, Theras declared that he would leave him behind as a sheep among wolves. On account of this saying, this young man’s name became Oiolycus, and somehow this name prevailed. From Oiolycus was born Aegeus, after whom the Aegeidae are named, a great tribe in Sparta.
τοῖσι δὲ ἐν τῇ φυλῇ ταύτῃ ἀνδράσι οὐ γὰρ ὑπέμειναν3 τὰ τέκνα, ἱδρύσαντο ἐκ θεοπροπίου Ἐρινύων τῶν Λαΐου τε καὶ Οἰδιπόδεω ἱρόν· καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο ὑπέμειναν τὠυτὸ τοῦτο4 καὶ ἐν Θήρῃ τοῖσι ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνδρῶν τούτων γεγονόσι.
Since the children of the men in this tribe did not survive, they established, in accordance with an oracle, a temple of the Erinyes of Laius and Oedipus; and after this, the children survived, and this same thing happened also in Thera to the descendants of these men.
- 4.149.1οὐ γὰρ ἔφη οἱ συμπλεύσεσθαι
οὔ φημι means 'to say that... not', translating here as 'to refuse'. The indirect reflexive pronoun οἱ refers back to the main subject Theras, acting as the dative object of the future infinitive συμπλεύσεσθαι.
- 4.149.1καταλείψειν ὄιν ἐν λύκοισι
The subject of the future infinitive καταλείψειν is the omitted Theras, while the direct object is αὐτόν (his son). ὄιν (sheep, accusative) functions as a predicative accusative (i.e., 'as a sheep').
- 4.149.2τοῖσι δὲ ἐν τῇ φυλῇ ταύτῃ ἀνδράσι οὐ γὰρ ὑπέμειναν
The dative phrase τοῖσι... ἀνδράσι at the beginning is separated from the main verb ἱδρύσαντο by the parenthetical οὐ γὰρ clause. It functions as a dative of interest or possession, meaning 'for the men in this tribe, their children did not survive.'
- 4.149.2τὠυτὸ τοῦτο
A verb of happening (such as ξυνέβη) is omitted after this phrase. It expresses that the same turn of events (the preservation of children after establishing the temple) occurred in Thera as well.