- 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-grc2:5.22.1-5.22.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
After the search for the Persians is settled, the Greek ancestry of the Macedonian royal family is asserted, and it is related how Alexander was permitted to compete in the Olympic games.
ὁ μέν νυν τῶν Περσέων τούτων θάνατος οὕτω καταλαμφθεὶς1 ἐσιγήθη. Ἕλληνας δὲ εἶναι τούτους τοὺς ἀπὸ Περδίκκεω γεγονότας,2 κατά περ αὐτοὶ λέγουσι, αὐτός τε οὕτω τυγχάνω ἐπιστάμενος καὶ δὴ καὶ ἐν τοῖσι ὄπισθε λόγοισι ἀποδέξω ὡς εἰσὶ Ἕλληνες, πρὸς δὲ καὶ οἱ τὸν ἐν Ὀλυμπίῃ διέποντες ἀγῶνα Ἑλληνοδίκαι οὕτω ἔγνωσαν εἶναι.
Now the death of these Persians, having been thus suppressed, was hushed up. That these descendants of Perdiccas are Greeks, just as they themselves say, I myself happen to know to be so, and indeed in my later narrative I will demonstrate that they are Greeks; and moreover, the Hellanodikai who manage the contest in Olympia decided that this was so.
Ἀλεξάνδρου γὰρ ἀεθλεύειν ἑλομένου καὶ καταβάντος ἐπʼ αὐτὸ τοῦτο, οἱ ἀντιθευσόμενοι Ἑλλήνων ἐξεῖργόν3 μιν, φάμενοι οὐ βαρβάρων ἀγωνιστέων εἶναι τὸν ἀγῶνα ἀλλὰ Ἑλλήνων· Ἀλέξανδρος δὲ ἐπειδὴ ἀπέδεξε ὡς εἴη Ἀργεῖος, ἐκρίθη τε εἶναι Ἕλλην καὶ ἀγωνιζόμενος στάδιον συνεξέπιπτε τῷ πρώτῳ.4
For when Alexander chose to compete and went down for this very purpose, those of the Greeks who were to run against him tried to exclude him, saying that the contest was not for barbarian competitors but for Greeks. But when Alexander demonstrated that he was an Argive, he was judged to be a Greek, and competing in the stade-race, he finished at the same time as the first.
- 5.22.1καταλαμφθεὶς
A passive participle corresponding to the active κατέλαβε ("suppressed", "won over") used in 5.21.2. It indicates that the incident was "suppressed" or "settled" by Alexander's cleverness.
- 5.22.1Ἕλληνας δὲ εἶναι τούτους τοὺς ἀπὸ Περδίκκεω γεγονότας
An accusative with infinitive clause (indirect discourse) placed at the beginning as a topic, representing the objective content shared by both the subsequent τυγχάνω ἐπιστάμενος ("I happen to know") and ἔγνωσαν εἶναι ("they decided that...").
- 5.22.2ἐξεῖργόν
Imperfect indicative, functioning here as a conative imperfect ("tried to exclude"), representing an attempted but ultimately unsuccessful action.
- 5.22.2συνεξέπιπτε τῷ πρώτῳ
Imperfect of the compound verb συνεκπίπτω ("to dash out together"). It is most naturally interpreted in this context as "he finished at the same time as the first (ran a dead heat)," though another interpretation suggests that he was "drawn in the first heat" of the race.