- 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-grc2:4.185.1-4.185.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-11
Herodotus states that he does not know the names of the inhabitants beyond the Atlantes, but notes that the ridge extends to the Pillars of Heracles, where houses are built of salt due to the lack of rain, and describes the desolate desert to the south.
μέχρι μὲν δὴ τῶν Ἀτλάντων τούτων ἔχω τὰ οὐνόματα τῶν ἐν τῇ ὀφρύῃ κατοικημένων καταλέξαι,1 τὸ δʼ ἀπὸ τούτων οὐκέτι. διήκει δʼ ὦν ἡ ὀφρύη μέχρι Ἡρακλέων στηλέων καὶ τὸ ἔξω τουτέων.
As far as these Atlantes, indeed, I am able to list the names of those who dwell along the ridge, but no longer of those beyond them. However, the ridge does indeed extend as far as the Pillars of Heracles, and even beyond them.
ἔστι δὲ ἁλός τε μέταλλον ἐν αὐτῇ διὰ δέκα ἡμερέων ὁδοῦ2 καὶ ἄνθρωποι οἰκέοντες. τὰ δὲ οἰκία τούτοισι πᾶσι ἐκ τῶν ἁλίνων χόνδρων οἰκοδομέαται. ταῦτα γὰρ ἤδη τῆς Λιβύης ἄνομβρα ἐστί· οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἠδυνέατο μένειν οἱ τοῖχοι ἐόντες ἅλινοι, εἰ ὗε.3
And in it, at intervals of ten days’ journey, there is a salt mine and people dwelling there. The houses of all these people are built of lumps of salt; for these parts of Libya are already rainless. For the walls, being of salt, would not be able to stand if it rained.
ὁ δὲ ἃλς αὐτόθι καὶ λευκὸς καὶ πορφύρεος τὸ εἶδος4 ὀρύσσεται. ὑπὲρ δὲ τῆς ὀφρύης τὸ πρὸς νότου καὶ ἐς μεσόγαιαν τῆς Λιβύης ἔρημος καὶ ἄνυδρος καὶ ἄθηρος καὶ ἄνομβρος καὶ ἄξυλος ἐστὶ ἡ χώρη, καὶ ἰκμάδος ἐστὶ ἐν αὐτῇ οὐδέν.
The salt quarried there is both white and purple in appearance. Above the ridge, towards the south and into the interior of Libya, the land is desert, waterless, without wild beasts, rainless, and woodless, and there is no moisture in it.
- 4.185.1ἔχω ... καταλέξαι
When the verb ἔχω is followed by an infinitive (here καταλέξαι, 'to list'), it does not mean 'to have' but expresses ability, meaning 'to be able to' or 'can'.
- 4.185.2διὰ δέκα ἡμερέων ὁδοῦ
The preposition διά followed by a genitive case here denotes spatial or temporal intervals. It means 'at intervals of ten days' journey' (i.e., every ten days of travel), indicating that salt mines and settlements are situated at regular intervals across the Libyan desert.
- 4.185.2οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἠδυνέατο μένειν ... εἰ ὗε
A contrary-to-fact conditional sentence. The apodosis contains ἂν ἠδυνέατο, where ἠδυνέατο is the Ionic 3rd person plural imperfect (corresponding to Attic ἐδύναντο), and the protasis has εἰ ὗε, using the imperfect 3rd person singular of ὕω ('to rain') in an impersonal sense ('if it rained').
- 4.185.3τὸ εἶδος
This is an accusative of respect (or specification), modifying the adjectives λευκὸς καὶ πορφύρεος ('white and purple') to mean 'in appearance' or 'with respect to its appearance'.