- 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-grc2:4.181.1-4.181.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-11
Describes the ridge of sand in the interior of Libya with its salt hills and springs at intervals of ten days' journey, and details the 'Spring of the Sun' of the Ammonians, which changes temperature according to the sun.
οὗτοι μὲν οἱ παραθαλάσσιοι τῶν νομάδων Λιβύων εἰρέαται, ὑπὲρ δὲ τούτων ἐς μεσόγαιαν1 ἡ θηριώδης ἐστὶ Λιβύη, ὑπὲρ δὲ τῆς θηριώδεος ὀφρύη ψάμμης κατήκει παρατείνουσα ἀπὸ Θηβέων τῶν Αἰγυπτιέων ἐπʼ Ἡρακλέας στήλας.
These are the nomadic Libyans living by the sea who have been mentioned; and above them, towards the interior, is the Libya of wild beasts; and above this Libya of wild beasts, a ridge of sand stretches and extends from Egyptian Thebes to the Pillars of Heracles.
ἐν δὲ τῇ ὀφρύῃ ταύτῃ μάλιστα διὰ δέκα ἡμερέων ὁδοῦ2 ἁλός ἐστι τρύφεα κατὰ χόνδρους μεγάλους ἐν κολωνοῖσι, καὶ ἐν κορυφῇσι ἑκάστου τοῦ κολωνοῦ ἀνακοντίζει ἐκ μέσου τοῦ ἁλὸς ὕδωρ ψυχρὸν καὶ γλυκύ, περὶ δὲ αὐτὸν3 ἄνθρωποι οἰκέουσι ἔσχατοι πρὸς τῆς ἐρήμου καὶ ὑπὲρ τῆς θηριώδεος, πρῶτοι μὲν ἀπὸ Θηβέων διὰ δέκα ἡμερέων ὁδοῦ Ἀμμώνιοι, ἔχοντες τὸ ἱρὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ Θηβαιέος Διός· καὶ γὰρ τὸ ἐν Θήβῃσι, ὡς καὶ πρότερον εἴρηταί μοι, κριοπρόσωπον τοῦ Διὸς τὤγαλμα ἐστί.
On this ridge, at intervals of mostly ten days’ journey, there are lumps of salt in great hills, and on the summit of each hill there gushes up from the middle of the salt a spring of cold and sweet water; and around it dwell men, the last towards the desert and above the Libya of wild beasts. The first of these, at ten days’ journey from Thebes, are the Ammonians, who have the temple derived from Theban Zeus; for in Thebes also, as I have said before, the image of Zeus is ram-faced.
τυγχάνει δὲ καὶ ἄλλο σφι ὕδωρ κρηναῖον ἐὸν,4 τὸ τὸν μὲν ὄρθρον γίνεται χλιαρόν, ἀγορῆς δὲ πληθυούσης ψυχρότερον, μεσαμβρίη τε ἐστὶ καὶ τὸ κάρτα γίνεται ψυχρόν·
They have also another spring of water, which is lukewarm at dawn, but as the market-place fills it becomes colder, and when it is noon it becomes very cold;
τηνικαῦτα δὲ ἄρδουσι τοὺς κήπους· ἀποκλινομένης δὲ τῆς ἡμέρης ὑπίεται τοῦ ψυχροῦ,5 ἐς οὗ δύεταί τε ὁ ἥλιος καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ γίνεται χλιαρόν. ἐπὶ δὲ μᾶλλον ἰὸν ἐς τὸ θερμὸν6 ἐς μέσας νύκτας πελάζει, τηνικαῦτα δὲ ζέει ἀμβολάδην· παρέρχονται τε μέσαι νύκτες καὶ ψύχεται μέχρι ἐς ἠῶ. ἐπίκλησιν δὲ αὕτη ἡ κρήνη καλέεται ἡλίου.
at that time they water their gardens. As the day declines, the coldness abates, until the sun sets and the water becomes lukewarm. Going on to become still hotter, it approaches midnight, at which time it boils and bubbles; and when midnight is passed, it cools down until dawn. This spring is called by name the Spring of the Sun.
- 4.181.1ὑπὲρ δὲ τούτων ἐς μεσόγαιαν
The preposition ὑπέρ with genitive literally means 'above', but here it indicates a geographical direction from the coast towards the inland interior (southward).
- 4.181.2διὰ δέκα ἡμερέων ὁδοῦ
The preposition διά with genitive expresses spatial or temporal intervals ('at intervals of', 'every...'), meaning here 'at intervals of ten days' journey'.
- 4.181.2περὶ δὲ αὐτὸν
The antecedent of the pronoun αὐτόν (masculine accusative singular) is the preceding κολωνοῦ (genitive of κολωνός, 'hill'), referring to the area around each salt hill.
- 4.181.3τυγχάνει δὲ καὶ ἄλλο σφι ὕδωρ κρηναῖον ἐὸν
A construction of the verb τυγχάνω with the present participle ἐόν (Ionic form of ὤν, neuter singular of εἰμί), meaning 'happens to be'. The pronoun σφι is the dative of interest referring to the Ammonians.
- 4.181.4ὑπίεται τοῦ ψυχροῦ
The verb ὑπίεται (third-person singular middle of ὑπίημι) is used intransitively to mean 'abate' or 'slacken', taking the genitive of separation or partitive genitive τοῦ ψυχροῦ to mean 'the coldness abates'.
- 4.181.4ἐπὶ δὲ μᾶλλον ἰὸν ἐς τὸ θερμὸν
The present participle ἰόν (neuter singular of εἶμι, 'to go') agrees with the subject ὕδωρ ('water'). Together with the preposition ἐπί and the adverb μᾶλλον, it means 'going on still further towards hot'.