- 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-grc2:4.18.1-4.18.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
Describes the geography to the east and north of the Borysthenes River, detailing the territory of the agricultural Scythians, the vast desert above them, and the Androphagi living beyond it.
ταῦτα μὲν παρὰ τὸν Ὕπανιν ποταμὸν ἐστι ἔθνεα πρὸς ἑσπέρης τοῦ Βορυσθένεος· ἀτὰρ διαβάντι1 τὸν Βορυσθένεα ἀπὸ θαλάσσης πρῶτον μὲν ᾗ Ὑλαίη,2 ἀπὸ δὲ ταύτης ἄνω ἰόντι οἰκέουσι Σκύθαι γεωργοί, τοὺς Ἕλληνές οἱ οἰκέοντες ἐπὶ τῷ Ὑπάνι ποταμῷ καλέουσι Βορυσθενεΐτας, σφέας δὲ αὐτοὺς Ὀλβιοπολίτας.
These are the nations along the river Hypanis, to the west of the Borysthenes. But for one crossing the Borysthenes from the sea, first there is the Woodland, and going up from this, there dwell agricultural Scythians, whom the Greeks who dwell along the river Hypanis call Borysthenites, while they call themselves Olbiopolites.
οὗτοι ὦν οἱ γεωργοὶ Σκύθαι νέμονται τὸ μὲν πρὸς τὴν ἠῶ ἐπὶ τρεῖς ἡμέρας ὁδοῦ, κατήκοντες ἐπὶ ποταμὸν τῷ οὔνομα κεῖται Παντικάπης, τὸ δὲ πρὸς βορέην ἄνεμον πλόον3 ἀνὰ τὸν Βορυσθένεα ἡμερέων ἕνδεκα. ἤδη δὲ κατύπερθε τούτων ἡ ἔρημος ἐστὶ ἐπὶ πολλὸν.
These agricultural Scythians, then, occupy the region to the east for a three days’ journey, reaching as far as a river whose name is Panticapes; and to the north, a voyage up the Borysthenes of eleven days. And above these immediately begins the desert, stretching for a great distance.
μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἔρημον Ἀνδροφάγοι οἰκέουσι, ἔθνος ἐὸν ἴδιον καὶ οὐδαμῶς Σκυθικόν. τὸ δὲ τούτων κατύπερθε ἔρημον ἤδη ἀληθέως καὶ ἔθνος ἀνθρώπων οὐδέν, ὅσον ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν.
Beyond the desert dwell the Androphagi, who are a distinct nation and not Scythian at all. And above these, the country is already truly desert, and there is no nation of men, as far as we know.
- 4.18.1διαβάντι
The dative participles διαβάντι (and subsequent ἰόντι) function as a dative of reference or direction, representing the perspective of a hypothetical traveler ('for one crossing / going up').
- 4.18.1ᾗ Ὑλαίη
The relative adverb ᾗ implies a local antecedent (such as 'in that place where'), meaning 'where the Woodland (Hylaea) is located'.
- 4.18.2πλόον
The accusative πλόον is either governed by the preceding preposition ἐπὶ (understood from ἐπὶ τρεῖς ἡμέρας) or functions independently as an accusative of extent of space ('for a voyage of eleven days').