- 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-grc2:4.53.1-4.53.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
The author describes the Borysthenes (Dnieper), the second largest river in Scythia, detailing its abundant natural benefits, geographical course, and its confluence with the Hypanis.
τέταρτος δὲ Βορυσθένης ποταμός, ὃς ἐστί τε μέγιστος μετὰ Ἴστρον τούτων καὶ πολυαρκέστατος κατὰ γνώμας τὰς ἡμετέρας οὔτι μοῦνον τῶν Σκυθικῶν ποταμῶν ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων, πλὴν Νείλου τοῦ Αἰγυπτίου· τούτῳ1 γὰρ οὐκ οἷά τε ἐστὶ συμβαλεῖν ἄλλον ποταμόν·
The fourth is the Borysthenes river, which is the largest of these after the Ister, and in our opinion the most productive, not only of the Scythian rivers but of all others as well, except for the Egyptian Nile; for with this latter no other river can be compared.
τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν Βορυσθένης ἐστὶ πολυαρκέστατος, ὃς νομάς τε καλλίστας καὶ εὐκομιδεστάτας κτήνεσι παρέχεται ἰχθύας τε ἀρίστους διακριδὸν καὶ πλείστους, πίνεσθαι τε ἥδιστος ἐστί, ῥέει τε καθαρὸς παρὰ θολεροῖσι,2 σπόρος τε παρʼ αὐτὸν ἄριστος γίνεται, ποίη τε, τῇ οὐ σπείρεται ἡ χώρη, βαθυτάτη·
But of the remaining rivers, the Borysthenes is the most productive, which provides the fairest and richest pastures for cattle, and fish of the best kind in great abundance, and is most sweet to drink, and flows clear beside muddy waters; and along its banks the finest crops are grown, and where the land is not sown, the grass grows deepest.
ἅλες τε ἐπὶ τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ αὐτόματοι πήγνυνται ἄπλετοι· κήτεά τε μεγάλα ἀνάκανθα, τὰ ἀντακαίους καλέουσι, παρέχεται ἐς ταρίχευσιν, ἄλλα τε πολλὰ θωμάσαι ἄξια.
At its mouth, salt crystallizes naturally in vast quantities, and it provides large spineless fish for salting, which they call antacaioi, and many other things worthy of wonder.
μέχρι μέν νυν Γερρέων χώρου, ἐς τὸν τεσσεράκοντα ἡμερέων πλόος ἐστί, γινώσκεται ῥέων3 ἀπὸ βορέω ἀνέμου· τὸ δὲ κατύπερθε διʼ ὧν ῥέει ἀνθρώπων οὐδεὶς ἔχει φράσαι· φαίνεται δὲ ῥέων διʼ ἐρήμου ἐς τῶν γεωργῶν Σκυθέων τὴν χώρην· οὗτοι γὰρ οἱ Σκύθαι παρʼ αὐτὸν ἐπὶ δέκα ἡμερέων πλόον νέμονται.
Now as far as the country of the Gerrhi, to which there is a voyage of forty days, it is known to flow from the north; but of the region above this, through what men it flows, no one is able to say. But it appears to flow through desert land into the country of the husbandmen Scythians; for these Scythians dwell along its banks for a voyage of ten days.
μούνου δὲ τούτου τοῦ ποταμοῦ καὶ Νείλου οὐκ ἔχω φράσαι τὰς πηγάς, δοκέω δέ, οὐδὲ οὐδεὶς Ἑλλήνων. ἀγχοῦ τε δὴ θαλάσσης ὁ Βορυσθένης ῥέων γίνεται καὶ οἱ4 συμμίσγεται ὁ Ὕπανις ἐς τὠυτὸ ἕλος ἐκδιδούς.
Of this river alone and of the Nile I cannot declare the sources, and I think no Greek can either. The Borysthenes flows near the sea, and the Hypanis mingles with it, emptying into the same marsh.
τὸ δὲ μεταξὺ τῶν ποταμῶν τούτων, ἐὸν ἔμβολον τῆς χώρης, Ἱππόλεω ἄκρη καλέεται, ἐν δὲ αὐτῷ, ἱρὸν Δήμητρος ἐνίδρυται· πέρην δὲ τοῦ ἱροῦ ἐπὶ τῷ Ὑπάνι Βορυσθενεῗται κατοίκηνται.
The space between these rivers, which is a spit of land, is called the Cape of Hippolaos, and upon it is established a temple of Demeter; and opposite the temple, on the Hypanis, dwell the Borysthenites.
- 4.53.1τούτῳ
The dative pronoun τούτῳ refers to Νείλου τοῦ Αἰγυπτίου (the Egyptian Nile) mentioned immediately before as an exception. Combined with the impersonal construction οὐκ οἷά τε ἐστὶ (it is not possible) and the infinitive συμβαλεῖν (to compare), it means 'it is not possible to compare any other river with it (the Nile).'
- 4.53.2παρὰ θολεροῖσι
A prepositional phrase consisting of παρά with the dative neuter (or masculine) plural adjective θολεροῖσι (muddy, turbid). This expresses contrast, meaning that the Borysthenes flows clear alongside other waters or tributaries that are muddy.
- 4.53.4γινώσκεται ῥέων
The passive verb γινώσκεται (it is known) is accompanied by the nominative participle ῥέων (flowing) as a supplementary participle. It signifies that the subject (the Borysthenes) 'is known to flow' from a certain direction.
- 4.53.5οἱ
The third-person singular dative pronoun in the Ionic dialect, equivalent to αὐτῷ in Attic. It refers here to ὁ Βορυσθένης (the Borysthenes), the subject of the main clause, serving as the dative object of the verb συμμίσγεται (mingles with, joins).