- 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-grc2:5.19.1-5.19.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
Disgusted by the Persians' behavior, Amyntas's young son Alexander urges his father to retire and promises to host the guests himself. Sensing his son's rebellious intent, Amyntas warns him not to cause trouble before agreeing to leave.
Ἀμύντης μὲν δὴ ταῦτα ὁρέων ἀτρέμας εἶχε,1 καίπερ δυσφορέων, οἷα ὑπερδειμαίνων τοὺς Πέρσας· Ἀλέξανδρος δὲ ὁ Ἀμύντεω παρεών τε καὶ ὁρέων ταῦτα, ἅτε νέος τε ἐὼν καὶ κακῶν ἀπαθής, οὐδαμῶς ἔτι κατέχειν οἷος τε ἦν, ὥστε δὲ2 βαρέως φέρων εἶπε πρὸς Ἀμύντην τάδε. ὦ πάτερ, σὺ μὲν εἶκε τῇ ἡλικίῃ ἀπιών τε ἀναπαύεο, μηδὲ λιπάρεε τῇ πόσι· ἐγὼ δὲ προσμένων αὐτοῦ τῇδε πάντα τὰ ἐπιτήδεα παρέξω τοῖσι ξείνοισι.
Amyntas, seeing this, kept quiet, although he was displeased, because he was exceedingly afraid of the Persians. But Alexander, the son of Amyntas, being present and seeing this, since he was young and had experienced no troubles, was no longer able to contain himself at all, so, bearing it heavily, he said to Amyntas these words: “Father, yield to your age, depart and rest, and do not persist in the drinking; but I, remaining here, will provide all fitting hospitality for the guests.”
πρὸς ταῦτα συνιεὶς Ἀμύντης ὅτι νεώτερα πρήγματα3 πρήσσειν μέλλοι ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος, λέγει ὦ παῖ, σχεδὸν γάρ σευ ἀνακαιομένου4 συνίημι τοὺς λόγους, ὅτι ἐθέλεις ἐμὲ ἐκπέμψας ποιέειν τι νεώτερον· ἐγὼ ὦν σευ χρηίζω μηδὲν νεοχμῶσαι5 κατʼ ἄνδρας τούτους, ἵνα μὴ ἐξεργάσῃ ἡμέας, ἀλλὰ ἀνέχευ ὁρέων τὰ ποιεύμενα· ἀμφὶ δὲ ἀπόδῳ τῇ ἐμῇ πείσομαί τοι.
To this Amyntas, understanding that Alexander was going to do some rash thing, said: “My son, for I understand your words almost as you burn with anger, that you want to send me away and do something rash; therefore, I entreat of you to make no disturbance against these men, lest you bring ruin upon us, but bear seeing what is done; and concerning my departure, I will obey you.”
- 5.19.1ἀτρέμας εἶχε
The verb ἔχω with an adverb (ἀτρέμας, "quietly") functions intransitively, meaning "to keep oneself in a certain state" (hence, "kept quiet").
- 5.19.1ὥστε δὲ
A characteristic Herodotian usage where the conjunction ὥστε is placed at the beginning of a sentence functioning as a coordinating conjunction ("and so", "therefore"), accompanied by the particle δὲ.
- 5.19.2νεώτερα πρήγματα
The comparative νεώτερος ("newer") is used euphemistically to denote political/social "innovations" or undesirable "rash actions" and "disturbances."
- 5.19.2σευ ἀνακαιομένου
A genitive absolute construction consisting of the genitive pronoun σευ (Ionic form of σού) and the present participle ἀνακαιομένου, functioning adverbially to indicate the reason or circumstance ("as you burn with anger").
- 5.19.2σευ χρηίζω μηδὲν νεοχμῶσαι
The verb χρηίζω ("to request") takes a genitive of the person (σευ) and an infinitive (μηδὲν νεοχμῶσαι) to mean "I request of you to do nothing rash."