- 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-grc2:4.195.1-4.195.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-11
The author introduces the unique method of gathering gold dust on the island of Kyraunis based on Carthaginian accounts, supporting its credibility by citing his own observation of pitch extraction in Zacynthus.
κατὰ τούτους δὲ λέγουσι Καρχηδόνιοι κεῖσθαι νῆσον τῇ οὔνομα εἶναι Κύραυιν, μῆκος μὲν διηκοσίων σταδίων, πλάτος δὲ στεινήν, διαβατὸν1 ἐκ τῆς ἠπείρου, ἐλαιέων τε μεστὴν καὶ ἀμπέλων.
Opposite these people, the Carthaginians say, lies an island called Kyraunis, two hundred stades in length, narrow in width, accessible from the mainland, and full of olives and vines.
λίμνην δὲ ἐν αὐτῇ εἶναι, ἐκ τῆς αἱ παρθένοι τῶν ἐπιχωρίων πτεροῖσι ὀρνίθων κεχριμένοισι πίσσῃ ἐκ τῆς ἰλύος ψῆγμα ἀναφέρουσι χρυσοῦ. ταῦτα εἰ μὲν ἔστι ἀληθέως οὐκ οἶδα, τὰ δὲ λέγεται γράφω· εἴη δʼ ἂν πᾶν, ὅκου2 καὶ ἐν Ζακύνθῳ ἐκ λίμνης καὶ ὕδατος πίσσαν ἀναφερομένην αὐτὸς ἐγὼ ὥρων.
In it, they say, there is a lake, from the mud of which the girls of the inhabitants draw up gold dust with birds’ feathers smeared with pitch. Whether this is truly so I do not know, but I write what is said; and anything might be possible, since I myself saw pitch being drawn up from a lake and water even in Zacynthus.
εἰσὶ μὲν καὶ πλεῦνες αἱ λίμναι αὐτόθι, ἡ δʼ ὦν μεγίστη αὐτέων ἑβδομήκοντα ποδῶν πάντῃ, βάθος δὲ διόργυιος ἐστί· ἐς ταύτην κοντὸν κατιεῖσι ἐπʼ ἄκρῳ μυρσίνην προσδήσαντες καὶ ἔπειτα ἀναφέρουσι τῇ μυρσίνῃ πίσσαν, ὀδμὴν μὲν ἔχουσαν ἀσφάλτου, τὰ δʼ ἄλλα τῆς Πιερικῆς πίσσης ἀμείνω. ἐσχέουσι δὲ ἐς λάκκον ὀρωρυγμένον ἀγχοῦ τῆς λίμνης. ἐπεὰν δὲ ἀθροίσωσι συχνήν, οὕτω ἐς τοὺς ἀμφορέας ἐκ τοῦ λάκκου καταχέουσι.
Indeed, the lakes there are several, but the largest of them is seventy feet in every direction, and its depth is two fathoms. Into this they let down a pole with myrtle tied to the end, and then they bring up with the myrtle pitch, which has the smell of asphalt, but is in other respects better than the Pierian pitch. They pour it into a pit dug near the lake, and when they have collected a large quantity, they then pour it from the pit into amphorae.
ὁ τι δʼ ἂν ἐσπέσῃ ἐς τὴν λίμνην, ὑπὸ γῆν ἰὸν3 ἀναφαίνεται ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ· ἣ δὲ ἀπέχει ὡς τέσσερα στάδια ἀπὸ τῆς λίμνης. οὕτω ὦν καὶ τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς νήσου τῆς ἐπὶ Λιβύῃ κειμένης οἰκότα ἐστὶ ἀληθείῃ.4
Whatever falls into the lake passes under the earth and appears in the sea, which is about four stades distant from the lake. Thus, therefore, the stories about the island lying off Libya are also like the truth.
- 4.195.1διαβατὸν
Although modifying the feminine noun νῆσον, the adjective διαβατός is of two terminations (having the same form for masculine and feminine). Thus, the form διαβατόν, homonymous with the neuter accusative, serves here as the feminine accusative singular.
- 4.195.2εἴη δʼ ἂν πᾶν, ὅκου
εἴη ἂν πᾶν is an optative with ἄν expressing possibility ('anything might be'). Here, the conjunction ὅκου (Attic ὅπου), shifting from its locative sense, introduces a causal clause ('since', 'seeing that') providing the ground for the author's assertion.
- 4.195.4ἰὸν
The neuter singular nominative present participle of the verb εἶμι ('to go'). It agrees with the subject pronoun ὅ τι (neuter singular) and functions as a circumstantial participle meaning 'passing (under the earth)'.
- 4.195.4οἰκότα ἐστὶ ἀληθείῃ
οἰκότα is the Ionic form of εἰκότα (neuter plural participle of ἔοικα). οἰκότα ἐστί ('are like / probable') agrees with the neuter plural subject τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς νήσου... The dative ἀληθείῃ is a dative of reference ('resembling the truth') or manner ('in truth').