- 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-grc2:4.183.1-4.183.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-11
Describes the land of the Garamantes, ten days beyond Augila, their strange backward-grazing oxen with forward-curving horns, and their chariot-hunting of the Troglodyte Ethiopians who eat reptiles and screech like bats.
ἀπὸ δὲ Αὐγίλων διὰ δέκα ἡμερέων ἀλλέων ὁδοῦ ἕτερος ἁλὸς κολωνὸς καὶ ὕδωρ καὶ φοίνικες καρποφόροι πολλοί, κατά περ καὶ ἐν τοῖσι ἑτέροισι· καὶ ἄνθρωποι οἰκέουσι ἐν αὐτῷ τοῖσι οὔνομα Γαράμαντες ἐστί, ἔθνος μέγα ἰσχυρῶς, οἳ ἐπὶ τὸν ἅλα γῆν ἐπιφορέοντες οὕτω σπείρουσι.
From Augila, at a distance of another ten days’ journey, there is another hill of salt and water, and many fruitful date-palms, just as in the other places; and men dwell in it whose name is Garamantes, a very great nation, who carry earth and lay it upon the salt, and so sow their crops.
συντομώτατον δʼ ἐστὶ ἐς τοὺς Λωτοφάγους, ἐκ τῶν1 τριήκοντα ἡμερέων ἐς αὐτοὺς ὁδός ἐστι· ἐν τοῖσι καὶ οἱ ὀπισθονόμοι βόες γίνονται· ὀπισθονόμοι δὲ διὰ τόδε εἰσι. τὰ κέρεα ἔχουσι κεκυφότα ἐς τὸ ἔμπροσθε·
The shortest way to the Lotus-eaters is from there, and from there to them is a journey of thirty days; among these people also are found the backward-grazing oxen; and they graze backward for this reason: they have horns which bend forward;
διὰ τοῦτο ὀπίσω ἀναχωρέοντες νέμονται· ἐς γὰρ τὸ ἔμπροσθε οὐκ οἷοι τε εἰσὶ προεμβαλλόντων ἐς τὴν γῆν τῶν κερέων.2 ἄλλο δὲ οὐδὲν διαφέρουσι τῶν ἄλλων βοῶν ὅτι μὴ3 τοῦτο καὶ τὸ δέρμα ἐς παχύτητά τε καὶ τρῖψιν.
therefore they feed walking backward, for they cannot move forward because their horns plunge into the ground. In other respects they do not differ from other oxen, except for this and for the thickness and toughness of their hide.
οἱ Γαράμαντες δὴ οὗτοι τοὺς τρωγλοδύτας Αἰθίοπας θηρεύουσι τοῖσι τεθρίπποισι· οἱ γὰρ τρωγλοδύται Αἰθίοπες πόδας τάχιστοι ἀνθρώπων πάντων εἰσὶ τῶν ἡμεῖς πέρι λόγους ἀποφερομένους ἀκούομεν. σιτέονται δὲ οἱ τρωγλοδύται ὄφις καὶ σαύρους καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα τῶν ἑρπετῶν· γλῶσσαν δὲ οὐδεμιῇ ἄλλῃ παρομοίην νενομίκασι, ἀλλὰ τετρίγασι κατά περ αἱ νυκτερίδες.
These Garamantes hunt the Troglodyte Ethiopians with four-horse chariots; for the Troglodyte Ethiopians are the swiftest of foot of all men of whom we hear any accounts related. These Troglodytes eat snakes and lizards and such creeping things; and their language is like none other in the world, but they screech like bats.
- 4.183.2ἐκ τῶν
The definite article τῶν implies an omitted noun, referring back to Augila (neuter plural Αὔγιλα) from the beginning of the chapter, rather than the Garamantes mentioned just before. It means 'from Augila, it is a journey of thirty days (to the Lotus-eaters)'.
- 4.183.3προεμβαλλόντων ἐς τὴν γῆν τῶν κερέων
A genitive absolute construction with τῶν κερέων ('horns') as its subject. The participle προεμβαλλόντων is used intransitively to mean 'plunging forward into', expressing the reason why the oxen cannot move forward—because their horns would dig into the ground.
- 4.183.3ὅτι μὴ
An idiomatic expression meaning 'except' or 'save'. Here it introduces the accusatives τοῦτο ('this') and τὸ δέρμα ('the hide'), showing that the only differences between these and other oxen are these two features.