- 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-grc2:4.38.1-4.38.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
The author describes the boundaries of the first of the two peninsulas extending westward from the Persian core region (Asia Minor), which is bounded by the Black Sea to the north and the Mediterranean to the south, and is inhabited by thirty nations.
ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ τὸ πρὸς ἑσπέρης ἀκταὶ1 διφάσιαι ἀπʼ αὐτῆς2 κατατείνουσι ἐς θάλασσαν, τὰς ἐγὼ ἀπηγήσομαι·
From this region, toward the west, two peninsulas stretch out from it into the sea, which I shall describe.
ἔνθεν μὲν ἡ ἀκτὴ ἡ ἑτέρη τὰ πρὸς βορέην3 ἀπὸ Φάσιος ἀρξαμένη παρατέταται ἐς θάλασσαν παρά τε τὸν Πόντον καὶ τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον μέχρι Σιγείου τοῦ Τρωικοῦ· τὰ δὲ πρὸς νότου ἡ αὐτὴ αὕτη ἀκτὴ ἀπὸ τοῦ Μυριανδικοῦ κόλπου τοῦ πρὸς Φοινίκῃ κειμένου τείνει τὰ ἐς θάλασσαν μέχρι Τριοπίου ἄκρης. οἰκέει δὲ ἐν τῇ ἀκτῇ ταύτῃ ἔθνεα ἀνθρώπων τριήκοντα.
On the one hand, the one of the two peninsulas, on its northern side, beginning from the Phasis, extends along into the sea beside both the Pontus and the Hellespont as far as Sigeum in the Troad; and on its southern side, this same peninsula, starting from the Myriandic gulf which lies near Phoenicia, stretches to the sea as far as the Triopian promontory. In this peninsula there dwell thirty nations of men.
- 4.38.1ἀκταὶ
Although the word originally means 'coast' or 'shore', in Herodotus' geographical descriptions it is used to designate a large westward-jutting 'peninsula' (here, Asia Minor and the Arabian peninsula).
- 4.38.1ἀπʼ αὐτῆς
The feminine singular pronoun αὐτῆς refers to the belt or territory of the four nations dwelling from 'sea to sea' mentioned in the preceding section (37.1).
- 4.38.2τὰ πρὸς βορέην
An adverbial accusative meaning 'on the northern side.' The corresponding phrase τὰ δὲ πρὸς νότου similarly means 'on the southern side,' contrasting and defining the northern and southern coastlines of the same peninsula (Asia Minor).