- 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-grc2:4.163.1-4.163.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-11
Arcesilaus gathers an army in Samos and consults the oracle at Delphi about his return. The oracle promises Cyrene's rule to his house for eight generations but warns him to remain quiet upon return and avoid a violent end.
ὁ δὲ Ἀρκεσίλεως τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον ἐὼν ἐν Σάμῳ συνήγειρε πάντα ἄνδρα ἐπὶ γῆς ἀναδασμῷ· συλλεγομένου δὲ στρατοῦ πολλοῦ, ἐστάλη ἐς Δελφοὺς Ἀρκεσίλεως χρησόμενος τῷ χρηστηρίῳ περὶ κατόδου.
Meanwhile Arcesilaus, being at this time in Samos, was gathering every man by the promise of a redistribution of land; and when a large army was being collected, Arcesilaus set out for Delphi to consult the oracle concerning his return.
ἡ δὲ Πυθίη οἱ χρᾷ τάδε.
And the Pythian priestess gave him this answer.
"ἐπὶ μὲν τέσσερας Βᾶττους καὶ Ἀρκεσίλεως τέσσερας, ὀκτὼ ἀνδρῶν γενεάς, διδοῖ ὑμῖν Λοξίης βασιλεύειν Κυρήνης, πλέον μέντοι τούτου οὐδὲ πειρᾶσθαι παραινέει. σὺ μέντοι ἥσυχος εἶναι1 κατελθὼν ἐς τὴν σεωυτοῦ. ἢν δὲ τὴν κάμινον εὕρῃς πλέην ἀμφορέων, μὴ ἐξοπτήσῃς τοὺς ἀμφορέας ἀλλʼ ἀπόπεμπε κατʼ οὖρον· εἰ δὲ ἐξοπτήσεις τὴν κάμινον,μὴ ἐσέλθῃς ἐς τὴν ἀμφίρρυτον· εἰ δὲ μὴ2 ἀποθανέαι3 καὶ αὐτὸς καὶ ταῦρος ὁ καλλιστεύων." ταῦτα ἡ Πυθίη Ἀρκεσίλεῳ χρᾷ.
”For four Battuses and four Arcesilauses, eight generations of men, Loxias grants to you to rule Cyrene; however, he advises you not even to attempt more than this. You, indeed, having returned to your own land, should remain quiet. And if you find the oven full of amphorae, do not bake the amphorae, but send them away with a favorable wind; but if you do bake the oven, do not enter the water-girt land; otherwise, you shall die, both yourself and the fairest bull.” This was the oracle the Pythian priestess gave to Arcesilaus.
- 4.163.3ἥσυχος εἶναι
The infinitive εἶναι is used as an imperative (infinitivus pro imperativo). Corresponding to the subject pronoun σύ and the participle κατελθών (both nominative), the complement ἥσυχος is also in the nominative.
- 4.163.3εἰ δὲ μή
Meaning "otherwise". Although it follows the negative command "do not enter (μὴ ἐσέλθῃς)", it logically represents the opposite condition, "if you do enter".
- 4.163.3ἀποθανέαι
The second person singular future middle indicative of ἀποθνῄσκω, showing the uncontracted Ionic form, which corresponds to the Attic ἀποθανῇ or ἀποθανεῖ.