- 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-grc2:4.48.1-4.48.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
Explains how the Ister maintains a constant volume and becomes the greatest river through the tributaries that discharge into it, and describes the configuration of the five rivers flowing through Scythia (Pyretos, Tiarantus, etc.) that join the Ister.
Ἴστρος μέν, ἐὼν μέγιστος ποταμῶν πάντων τῶν ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν, ἴσος αἰεὶ αὐτὸς ἑωυτῷ1 ῥέει καὶ θέρεος καὶ χειμῶνος, πρῶτος δὲ τὸ ἀπʼ ἑσπέρης2 τῶν ἐν τῇ Σκυθικῇ ῥέων κατὰ τοιόνδε μέγιστος γέγονε· ποταμῶν καὶ ἄλλων ἐς αὐτὸν ἐκδιδόντων3 εἰσὶ δὴ οἵδε οἱ μέγαν αὐτὸν ποιεῦντες, διὰ μέν γε τῆς Σκυθικῆς χώρης πέντε μὲν οἱ ῥέοντες, τὸν τε Σκύθαι Πόρατα καλέουσι Ἑλλήνες δὲ Πυρετόν, καὶ ἄλλος Τιάραντος καὶ Ἄραρος τε καὶ Νάπαρις καὶ Ὀρδησσός.
The Ister, being the greatest of all rivers we know, flows always equal to itself both in summer and in winter; and, flowing first from the west among the rivers in Scythia, it has become the greatest for the following reason: because other rivers also discharge into it. Indeed, these are the ones that make it great: flowing on the one hand through the Scythian land, there are five, namely the one which the Scythians call Porata and the Greeks Pyretos, and another, the Tiarantus, and the Ararus, the Naparis, and the Ordessus.
ὁ μὲν πρῶτος λεχθεὶς τῶν ποταμῶν μέγας καὶ πρὸς ἠῶ ῥέων ἀνακοινοῦται τῷ Ἴστρῳ τὸ ὕδωρ, ὁ δὲ δεύτερος λεχθεὶς Τιάραντος πρὸς ἑσπέρης τε μᾶλλον καὶ ἐλάσσων, ὁ δὲ δὴ Ἄραρός τε καὶ ὁ Νάπαρις καὶ ὁ Ὀρδησσὸς καὶ μέσου τούτων ἰόντες4 ἐσβάλλουσι ἐς τὸν Ἴστρον.
The first-mentioned of these rivers is large, and flowing towards the east, mingles its water with the Ister; the second-mentioned, the Tiarantus, is more to the west and is smaller; and the Ararus, the Naparis, and the Ordessus, going between these, empty into the Ister.
- 4.48.1ἴσος αἰεὶ αὐτὸς ἑωυτῷ
The adjective ἴσος (nominative masculine singular) agrees with the subject Ἴστρος and is used predicatively with the verb ῥέει, indicating that the river flows with its volume remaining always equal to itself regardless of the season.
- 4.48.1τὸ ἀπʼ ἑσπέρης
The neuter singular accusative article τὸ is used adverbially, forming a prepositional phrase meaning "from the west" to indicate direction or relative position.
- 4.48.1ποταμῶν καὶ ἄλλων ἐς αὐτὸν ἐκδιδόντων
A genitive absolute construction expressing the cause or reason ("since other rivers also empty into it") for the main verb γέγονε.
- 4.48.3μέσου τούτων ἰόντες
The quasi-preposition μέσου ("through the middle of"), which takes the genitive, governs the demonstrative pronoun τούτων. Here, τούτων refers to the first (Pyretos) and second (Tiarantus) rivers mentioned just before.