- 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-grc2:4.35.1-4.35.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
The Delians honor two other Hyperborean maidens, Arge and Opis, who are said to have arrived even earlier than the first pair, accompanied by the gods themselves. Women collect alms in their honor, and sacrificial ashes are sprinkled on their grave.
αὗται μὲν δὴ ταύτην τιμὴν ἔχουσι πρὸς τῶν Δήλου οἰκητόρων. φασὶ δὲ οἱ αὐτοὶ οὗτοι καὶ τὴν Ἄργην τε καὶ τὴν Ὦπιν ἐούσας παρθένους ἐξ Ὑπερβορέων κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς τούτους ἀνθρώπους1 πορευομένας ἀπικέσθαι ἐς Δῆλον ἔτι πρότερον Ὑπερόχης τε καὶ Λαοδίκης.
These indeed have this honor from the inhabitants of Delos. And these same people say that Arge and Opis also, being maidens from the Hyperboreans, journeying through these same peoples, arrived in Delos even before Hyperoche and Laodice.
ταύτας2 μέν νυν τῇ Εἰλειθυίῃ ἀποφερούσας ἀντὶ τοῦ ὠκυτόκου τὸν ἐτάξαντο φόρον ἀπικέσθαι, τὴν δὲ Ἄργην τε καὶ τὴν Ὦπιν ἅμα αὐτοῖσι θεοῖσι ἀπικέσθαι λέγουσι καὶ σφι τιμὰς ἄλλας δεδόσθαι πρὸς σφέων·
They say that the former indeed arrived bringing to Eileithyia the tribute they had agreed to pay for a swift birth, but that Arge and Opis arrived together with the gods themselves, and that other honors have been given to them by the Delians.
καὶ γὰρ ἀγείρειν σφι3 τὰς γυναῖκας ἐπονομαζούσας τὰ οὐνόματα ἐν τῷ ὕμνῳ τόν σφι Ὠλὴν ἀνὴρ Λύκιος ἐποίησε, παρὰ δὲ σφέων μαθόντας νησιώτας τε καὶ Ἴωνας ὑμνέειν Ὦπίν τε καὶ Ἄργην ὀνομάζοντάς τε καὶ ἀγείροντας ʽοὗτος δὲ ὁ Ὠλὴν καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους τοὺς παλαιοὺς ὕμνους ἐποίησε ἐκ Λυκίης ἐλθὼν τοὺς ἀειδομένους ἐν Δήλᾠ, καὶ τῶν μηρίων καταγιζομένων ἐπὶ τῷ βωμῷ τὴν σποδὸν ταύτην ἐπὶ τὴν θήκην τῆς Ὤπιός τε καὶ Ἄργης ἀναισιμοῦσθαι ἐπιβαλλομένην.4 ἡ δὲ θήκη αὐτέων ἐστὶ ὄπισθε τοῦ Ἀρτεμισίου, πρὸς ἠῶ τετραμμένη, ἀγχοτάτω τοῦ Κηίων ἱστιητορίου.
For indeed the women collect alms for them, naming their names in the hymn which Olen, a Lycian man, composed for them; and having learned from them, the islanders and Ionians sing hymns to Opis and Arge, naming them and collecting alms. (Now this Olen, coming from Lycia, also composed the other ancient hymns which are sung in Delos.) And they say that when the thigh-pieces are consumed on the altar, this ash is used up by being cast upon the grave of Opis and Arge. And their grave is behind the Artemision, turned towards the east, closest to the banquet-hall of the Ceians.
- 4.35.1κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς τούτους ἀνθρώπους
The preposition κατά with the accusative here expresses spatial transit ('through, by way of'). 'These same peoples' refers to the series of nations that relayed the offerings from the Hyperboreans, as described in chapter 33.
- 4.35.2ταύτας
The demonstrative pronoun ταύτας (accusative feminine plural) refers back to Hyperoche and Laodice from the previous chapters, based on the context of bringing offerings for childbirth to Eileithyia, and is contrasted with τὴν δὲ Ἄργην τε καὶ τὴν Ὦπιν in the following clause.
- 4.35.3ἀγείρειν σφι
The infinitive ἀγείρειν (to collect alms) depends on the governing verb of indirect discourse (such as λέγουσι). The dative σφι acts as a dative of advantage, meaning 'for them' (Arge and Opis), in whose honor the ritual action is performed.
- 4.35.4ἀναισιμοῦσθαι ἐπιβαλλομένην
The passive infinitive ἀναισιμοῦσθαι (to be consumed/used up) is modified by the present passive participle ἐπιβαλλομένην (being cast upon), expressing the means or manner by which the ash is used up (by being thrown upon the grave).