- 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-grc2:4.5.1-4.5.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
The origin myth of the Scythians is related, showing how among the three sons of the first man Targitaus, the youngest son Colaxais alone was able to possess the golden objects that fell from heaven and thus received the kingdom.
ὣς δὲ Σκύθαι λέγουσι, νεώτατον πάντων ἐθνέων εἶναι τὸ σφέτερον, τοῦτο δὲ γενέσθαι ὧδε. ἄνδρα γενέσθαι πρῶτον ἐν τῇ γῇ ταύτῃ ἐούσῃ ἐρήμῳ1 τῳ οὔνομα εἶναι Ταργιτάον· τοῦ δὲ Ταργιτάου τούτου τοὺς τοκέας λέγουσι εἶναι, ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐ πιστὰ λέγοντες, λέγουσι δʼ ὦν, Δία τε καὶ Βορυσθένεος τοῦ ποταμοῦ θυγατέρα.
As the Scythians say, their nation is the youngest of all nations, and this came about as follows. A first man was born in this land, which was then a wilderness, whose name was Targitaus; and they say that the parents of this Targitaus—telling a story which to me is not credible, but they say so nevertheless—were Zeus and a daughter of the river Borysthenes.
γένεος μὲν τοιούτου δὴ τινος γενέσθαι τὸν Ταργιτάον, τούτου δὲ γενέσθαι παῖδας τρεῖς, Λιπόξαϊν καὶ Ἀρπόξαϊν καὶ νεώτατον Κολάξαιν.
Targitaus was of some such lineage, and to him were born three sons, Lipoxais, Arpoxais, and the youngest, Colaxais.
ἐπὶ τούτων ἀρχόντων ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ φερομένα χρύσεα ποιήματα, ἄροτρόν τε καὶ ζυγόν καὶ σάγαριν καὶ φιάλην, πεσεῖν ἐς τὴν Σκυθικήν· καὶ τῶν ἰδόντα πρῶτον τὸν πρεσβύτατον ἆσσον ἰέναι βουλόμενον αὐτὰ λαβεῖν, τὸν δὲ χρυσόν ἐπιόντος2 καίεσθαι.
In their reign, there fell from heaven into the Scythian land certain golden objects—a plough, a yoke, a battle-axe, and a drinking-cup. The eldest, having seen them first, approached, wishing to take them, but as he came near, the gold blazed.
ἀπαλλαχθέντος δὲ τούτου προσιέναι τὸν δεύτερον, καὶ τὸν αὖτις ταὐτὰ ποιέειν. τοὺς μὲν δὴ καιόμενον τὸν χρυσὸν ἀπώσασθαι, τρίτῳ δὲ τῷ νεωτάτῳ ἐπελθόντι κατασβῆναι, καὶ μιν ἐκεῖνον3 κομίσαι ἐς ἑωυτοῦ· καὶ τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους ἀδελφεοὺς πρὸς ταῦτα συγγνόντας τὴν βασιληίην πᾶσαν παραδοῦναι τῷ νεωτάτῳ.
When he had withdrawn, the second approached, and he in turn experienced the same. Thus the burning gold repelled them, but when the third and youngest approached, it was quenched, and he carried it off to his own home. Thereupon the elder brothers, acknowledging the meaning of this, handed over the entire kingdom to the youngest.
- 4.5.1ἐούσῃ ἐρήμῳ
A present participle modifying τῇ γῇ ταύτῃ, interpreted restrictively or concessively as 'in this land, which was then a wilderness.'
- 4.5.3ἐπιόντος
A genitive absolute using the present participle, whose implied subject refers to the eldest brother, who is already the subject of the main clause in the accusative (τὸν πρεσβύτατον), representing an irregular usage of the genitive absolute.
- 4.5.4μιν ἐκεῖνον
μιν is the Ionic third-person accusative pronoun referring to the object (the gold), while ἐκεῖνον refers to the subject of the infinitive κομίσαι (the youngest son). This is a juxtaposition of two accusative pronouns functioning as subject and object within the accusative-and-infinitive construction.