- 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-grc2:4.88.1-4.88.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
Darius rewards the architect Mandrokles, who then uses a portion of his reward to dedicate a painting of the bridge and Darius's crossing to the temple of Hera in Samos.
Δαρεῖος δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα ἡσθεὶς τῆ σχεδίῃ τὸν ἀρχιτέκτονα αὐτῆς Μανδροκλέα τὸν Σάμιον ἐδωρήσατο πᾶσι δέκα·1 ἀπʼ ὧν δὴ Μανδροκλέης ἀπαρχὴν2 ζῷα γραψάμενος3 πᾶσαν τὴν ζεῦξιν τοῦ Βοσπόρου καὶ βασιλέα τε Δαρεῖον ἐν προεδρίῃ κατήμενον καὶ τὸν στρατὸν αὐτοῦ διαβαίνοντα ταῦτα γραψάμενος ἀνέθηκε ἔς τὸ Ἥραιον, ἐπιγράψας τάδε.
After this, Darius, being pleased with the bridge, rewarded its architect, Mandrokles of Samos, with ten of everything. From these, Mandrokles, as a first-fruit offering, had a picture painted showing the whole bridging of the Bosporus, with King Darius sitting in a seat of honour and his army crossing over; having had these painted, he dedicated them in the Heraion, with this inscription:
" Βόσπορον ἰχθυόεντα γεφυρώσας ἀνέθηκε Μανδροκλέης Ἥρῃ μνημόσυνον σχεδίης, αὑτῷ μὲν στέφανον περιθείς, Σαμίοισι δὲ κῦδος, Δαρείου βασιλέος ἐκτελέσας κατὰ νοῦν.4"
” Having bridged the fish-abundant Bosporus, Mandrokles dedicated to Hera a memorial of the bridge, winning a crown for himself, and glory for the Samians, having accomplished the work according to the mind of King Darius.”
- 4.88.1πᾶσι δέκα
An idiomatic expression meaning "ten of all things" or "tenfold of everything". The dative "πᾶσι" is governed by "ἐδωρήσατο", indicating that Mandrokles was lavishly rewarded with ten specimens of every kind of gift.
- 4.88.1ἀπαρχὴν
The accusative singular of "ἀπαρχή" (first-fruits), functioning as an appositive of effect or purpose (predicate accusative) to the action of having the picture painted, meaning "as a first-fruit offering".
- 4.88.1γραψάμενος
The middle participle of "γράφω", here used in a causative sense ("having a picture painted" or "commissioning a painting"). Since Mandrokles was an architect, the middle voice appropriately denotes that he had the scene painted by an artist for himself. The same applies to "ταῦτα γραψάμενος" below.
- 4.88.2Δαρείου βασιλέος ἐκτελέσας κατὰ νοῦν
The object of the participle "ἐκτελέσας" (having accomplished) is omitted and understood from the context (the bridging of the Bosporus). The genitive "Δαρείου βασιλέος" depends on the prepositional phrase "κατὰ νοῦν" (according to the mind/pleasure of), meaning he finished the work to the King's satisfaction.