- 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-grc2:5.114.1-5.114.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
The Amathusians cut off the head of Onesilus and hung it over their gate, where a swarm of bees made a nest. After consulting an oracle about this event, they were instructed to bury the head and worship Onesilus annually as a hero.
Ὀνησίλου1 μέν νυν Ἀμαθούσιοι, ὅτι σφέας ἐπολιόρκησε, ἀποταμόντες τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐκόμισαν ἐς Ἀμαθοῦντα καί μιν ἀνεκρέμασαν ὑπὲρ τῶν πυλέων· κρεμαμένης δὲ τῆς κεφαλῆς καὶ ἤδη ἐούσης κοίλης, ἐσμὸς μελισσέων ἐσδὺς ἐς αὐτὴν κηρίων μιν ἐνέπλησε.
As for Onesilus, the Amathusians, because he had besieged them, cut off his head and brought it to Amathus, and hung it up over the gates. While the head was hanging there and had already become hollow, a swarm of bees entered into it and filled it with honeycomb.
τούτου δὲ γενομένου τοιούτου, ἐχρέωντο γὰρ περὶ αὐτῆς οἱ Ἀμαθούσιοι, ἐμαντεύθη σφι τὴν μὲν κεφαλὴν κατελόντας2 θάψαι, Ὀνησίλῳ δὲ θύειν ὡς ἥρωϊ ἀνὰ πᾶν ἔτος, καί σφι ποιεῦσι3 ταῦτα ἄμεινον συνοίσεσθαι.4
Since this had happened—for the Amathusians consulted an oracle about it—it was declared to them by the oracle that they should take down the head and bury it, and sacrifice to Onesilus every year as a hero, and that if they did this, it would turn out better for them.
- 5.114.1Ὀνησίλου
Genitive at the beginning of the sentence. It functions either as a genitive of separation or possessive genitive with respect to the subsequent participle phrase ἀποταμόντες τὴν κεφαλὴν, while also introducing the topic of the sentence.
- 5.114.2κατελόντας
Accusative plural participle functioning as the subject of the infinitive θάψαι. Although it refers to the Amathusians represented by the dative pronoun σφι, it takes the accusative case as the subject of the infinitive.
- 5.114.2ποιεῦσι
Present participle in the dative plural agreeing with the dative pronoun σφι. It functions as a circumstantial participle expressing a condition ("if they do this").
- 5.114.2συνοίσεσθαι
Future infinitive of the verb συμφέρω ("to turn out, be of advantage"). It is used in an impersonal accusative-with-infinitive construction to report the content of the oracle ("that things would turn out better").