- 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-grc2:4.66.1
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
The passage describes an annual wine-drinking ceremony in each Scythian district, where only those who have slain enemies are allowed to drink, while those who have not face great dishonor, and those who have slain many are granted special privileges.
ἅπαξ δὲ τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ ἑκάστου ὁ νομάρχης ἕκαστος ἐν τῷ ἑωυτοῦ νομῷ κιρνᾷ κρητῆρα οἴνου, ἀπʼ οὗ πίνουσι τῶν Σκυθέων τοῖσι1 ἂν ἄνδρες πολέμιοι ἀραιρημένοι ἔωσι.2 τοῖσι δʼ ἂν μὴ κατεργασμένον ᾖ τοῦτο, οὐ γεύονται τοῦ οἴνου τούτου, ἀλλʼ ἠτιμωμένοι ἀποκατέαται·3 ὄνειδος δέ σφι ἐστὶ μέγιστον τοῦτο. ὅσοι δὲ ἂν αὐτῶν καὶ κάρτα πολλοὺς ἄνδρας ἀραιρηκότες ἔωσι, οὗτοι δὲ σύνδυο κύλικας ἔχοντες πίνουσι ὁμοῦ.
Once in each year, each governor of a province mixes a bowl of wine in his own district, from which those of the Scythians drink who have slain enemies. But those for whom this has not been accomplished do not taste of this wine, but sit apart in dishonor; and this is a very great disgrace to them. But as many of them as have slain very many men, these drink together, holding two cups at once.
- 4.66.1τοῖσι
Ionic dative plural of the relative pronoun (equivalent to Attic οἷς). It functions as a dative of agent with the impersonal perfect passive ᾖ κατεργασμένον ("by whom this has not been accomplished") or a dative of interest, introducing a general conditional relative clause with ἄν and the subjunctive.
- 4.66.1ἀραιρημένοι ἔωσι
Perfect subjunctive forms of the verb αἱρέω ("to take", here "to slay") showing the Ionic reduplication. ἀραιρημένοι ἔωσι is the periphrastic perfect middle/passive subjunctive, while ἀραιρηκότες ἔωσι is the perfect active subjunctive.
- 4.66.1ἀποκατέαται
Third-person plural present indicative middle of ἀποκάθημαι ("to sit apart"). In the Ionic dialect, the ending -νται becomes -αται after a vowel, and the stem vowel η is shortened to ε, corresponding to Attic ἀποκάθηνται.