- 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-grc2:4.40.1-4.40.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
After defining the extent of western Asia, the text outlines the geographical boundaries of the eastern and northern regions (the Red Sea, the Caspian Sea, and the river Araxes) and notes that the land beyond India to the east is an unexplored desert.
ταῦτα μὲν ἀπὸ Περσέων τὰ πρὸς ἑσπέρην τῆς Ἀσίης ἔχοντα1 ἐστί· τὰ δὲ κατύπερθε Περσέων καὶ Μήδων καὶ Σασπείρων καὶ Κόλχων, τὰ πρὸς ἠῶ τε καὶ ἥλιον ἀνατέλλοντα, ἔνθεν μὲν2 ἡ Ἐρυθρὴ παρήκει θάλασσα, πρὸς βορέω δὲ ἡ Κασπίη τε θάλασσα καὶ ὁ Ἀράξης ποταμός, ῥέων πρὸς ἥλιον ἀνίσχοντα.
These are the parts of Asia situated to the west of the Persian territory; but as for the regions beyond the Persians, Medes, Saspeires, and Colchians, facing the east and the rising sun, on the one side the Red Sea extends along them, and on the north are the Caspian Sea and the river Araxes, which flows toward the rising sun.
μέχρι δὲ τῆς Ἰνδικῆς οἰκέεται Ἀσίη· τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ ταύτης ἔρημος ἤδη τὸ πρὸς τὴν ἠῶ, οὐδὲ ἔχει οὐδεὶς φράσαι3 οἷον δή τι ἐστί.
Asia is inhabited as far as India; but beyond this, the region toward the east is already desert, nor can anyone say what kind of land it is.
- 4.40.1ἔχοντα
The participle ἔχοντα is used intransitively (or reflexively) with the prepositional phrase πρὸς ἑσπέρην to mean 'being situated' or 'extending' toward the west, rather than its transitive sense of 'having'.
- 4.40.1ἔνθεν μὲν
In the correlative structure ἔνθεν μὲν ... πρὸς βορέω δὲ, the southern side (the direction of the Red Sea) is contrasted with the northern side (the Caspian Sea and the Araxes). Although ἔνθεν originally means 'from there', here it is used in a locative sense meaning 'on the one side' (referring to the south).
- 4.40.2ἔχει ... φράσαι
The verb ἔχει (ἔχω) followed by the infinitive φράσαι functions to express ability, meaning 'is able to say' or 'can tell'.