- 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-grc2:4.17.1-4.17.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
The passage describes the geographical layout of the Callippidae, Alazones, agricultural Scythians, and Neuri living northwards from the emporium of the Borysthenites, along with their agricultural habits.
ἀπὸ τοῦ Βορυσθενειτέων ἐμπορίου (τοῦτο γὰρ τῶν παραθαλασσίων μεσαίτατον ἐστὶ πάσης τῆς Σκυθίης), ἀπὸ τούτου πρῶτοι Καλλιππίδαι νέμονται ἐόντες Ἕλληνές Σκύθαι,1 ὕπερ δὲ τούτων ἄλλο ἔθνος οἳ Ἀλαζόνες καλέονται. οὗτοι δὲ καὶ οἱ Καλλιππίδαι τὰ μὲν ἄλλα κατὰ ταὐτὰ Σκύθῃσι2 ἐπασκέουσι, σῖτον δὲ καὶ σπείρουσι καὶ σιτέονται, καὶ κρόμμυα καὶ σκόροδα καὶ φακούς καὶ κέγχρους.
Starting from the emporium of the Borysthenites (for this is the very center of the coastal parts of all Scythia), starting from this, the Callippidae, who are Greek Scythians, are the first to dwell, and above them is another nation who are called Alazones. These and the Callippidae practice in other respects the same customs as the Scythians, but they both sow and eat grain, as well as onions, garlic, lentils, and millet.
ὕπερ δὲ Ἀλαζόνων οἰκέουσι Σκύθαι ἀροτῆρες, οἳ οὐκ ἐπὶ σιτήσι σπείρουσι τὸν σῖτον ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ πρήσι.3 τούτων δὲ κατύπερθε οἰκέουσι Νευροί. Νευρῶν δὲ τὸ πρὸς βορέην ἄνεμον4 ἔρημον ἀνθρώπων, ὅσον ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν.
Above the Alazones dwell agricultural Scythians, who sow grain not for food but for sale. Above these dwell the Neuri; and to the north of the Neuri, the region is uninhabited by men, as far as we know.
- 4.17.1ἐόντες Ἕλληνές Σκύθαι
"ἐόντες" is the Ionic dialect form corresponding to the Attic "ὄντες" (present participle). This participle construction takes the noun phrase "Ἕλληνές Σκύθαι" as a complement, explaining the origin or character of the Callippidae.
- 4.17.1τὰ μὲν ἄλλα κατὰ ταὐτὰ Σκύθῃσι
"τὰ μὲν ἄλλα" is an accusative of respect ("in other respects"). The dative "Σκύθῃσι" (Ionic plural dative) is introduced by "κατὰ ταὐτὰ" ("in the same manner as") to express comparison or identity, functioning adverbially rather than as a direct object of "ἐπασκέουσι".
- 4.17.2ἐπὶ σιτήσι ... ἐπὶ πρήσι
The preposition "ἐπί" followed by the dative of third-declension nouns (Ionic forms "σιτήσι" and "πρήσι", corresponding to Attic "σιτήσει" and "πράσει") expresses purpose ("for the sake of", "with a view to").
- 4.17.2τὸ πρὸς βορέην ἄνεμον
The neuter singular article "τὸ" nominalizes the prepositional phrase "πρὸς βορέην ἄνεμον" (towards the north wind), forming a nominative noun phrase meaning "the region lying to the north".