- 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-grc2:5.40.1-5.40.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
The ephors and elders propose that Anaxandrides keep his current wife but take a second one to bear children; he agrees and maintains two households, contrary to Spartan custom.
πρὸς ταῦτα οἱ ἔφοροι καὶ οἱ γέροντες βουλευσάμενοι προσέφερον Ἀναξανδρίδῃ τάδε. ἐπεὶ τοίνυν τοι περιεχόμενόν σε ὁρῶμεν τῆς ἔχεις γυναικός,1 σὺ δὲ2 ταῦτα ποίεε, καὶ μὴ ἀντίβαινε τούτοισι, ἵνα μή τι ἀλλοῖον περὶ σεῦ Σπαρτιῆται βουλεύσωνται·
To this, the ephors and the elders, having deliberated, proposed the following to Anaxandrides: “Since, then, we see that you are clingingly attached to the wife you have, do this, and do not oppose these things, so that the Spartans may not decide something unfavorable about you:
γυναικὸς μὲν τῆς ἔχεις οὐ προσδεόμεθά σευ τῆς ἐξέσιος,3 σὺ δὲ ταύτῃ τε πάντα ὅσα νῦν παρέχεις πάρεχε καὶ ἄλλην πρὸς ταύτῃ ἐσάγαγε γυναῖκα τεκνοποιόν. ταῦτά κῃ λεγόντων4 συνεχώρησε ὁ Ἀναξανδρίδης, μετὰ δὲ γυναῖκας ἔχων δύο διξὰς ἱστίας οἴκεε,5 ποιέων οὐδαμῶς Σπαρτιητικά.
we do not demand of you the dismissal of the wife you have, but do you continue to provide her with everything that you now provide, and bring in another wife besides her to bear you children.” When they spoke in this way, Anaxandrides agreed, and thereafter he lived with two wives, keeping two separate hearths, doing what was by no means in the Spartan fashion.
- 5.40.1περιεχόμενόν σε ὁρῶμεν τῆς ἔχεις γυναικός
The participle περιεχόμενον serves as the supplementary participle for the verb of perception ὁρῶμεν, with σε as its subject. The middle voice περιέχομαι ('to cling to') takes the genitive, hence γυναικός. In τῆς ἔχεις, attraction of the relative pronoun occurs: the relative pronoun, which would logically be in the accusative (ἣν ἔχεις), is attracted to the genitive case of its antecedent γυναικός, becoming the genitive τῆς.
- 5.40.1σὺ δὲ
The conjunction δὲ here functions as the 'apodotic de,' introducing the main clause after the subordinate clause ἐπεὶ...
- 5.40.2γυναικὸς μὲν τῆς ἔχεις οὐ προσδεόμεθά σευ τῆς ἐξέσιος
The verb προσδέομαι ('to demand') governs two genitives: the person from whom something is demanded (σευ) and the thing demanded (τῆς ἐξέσιος). The phrase γυναικὸς μὲν τῆς ἔχεις ('of the wife you have') is a genitive (objective genitive) depending on the noun τῆς ἐξέσιος ('dismissal') and is placed at the beginning of the sentence for emphasis.
- 5.40.2ταῦτά κῃ λεγόντων
This is a genitive absolute construction. The subject of the present participle λεγόντων (plural genitive), referring to the ephors and the elders, is omitted. ταῦτα is the direct object of the participle.
- 5.40.2διξὰς ἱστίας οἴκεε
The verb οἰκέω is used here in the sense of 'to manage, maintain a household,' taking ἱστίας ('hearths, households') as an accusative of inner object (cognate accusative) or product, meaning 'maintained two distinct households' (i.e., lived bigamously).