- 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-grc2:5.80.1-5.80.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
In the Theban assembly, a citizen interprets the oracle's "nearest" as the Aeginetans, who are mythological sisters to the Thebans. Accordingly, the Thebans request aid from the Aeginetans, who agree to send the Aeacidae.
τοιαῦτα ἐπιλεγομένων1 εἶπε δή κοτε μαθών τις ἐγώ μοι δοκέω συνιέναι τὸ θέλει λέγειν ἡμῖν τὸ μαντήιον.2 Ἀσωποῦ λέγονται γενέσθαι θυγατέρες Θήβη τε καὶ Αἴγινα· τουτέων ἀδελφεῶν ἐουσέων, δοκέω ἡμῖν Αἰγινητέων δέεσθαι τὸν θεὸν χρῇσαι3 τιμωρητήρων γενέσθαι.
While they were discussing such things, someone, having understood, said: “I think that I understand what the oracle wishes to say to us. Thebe and Aegina are said to have been daughters of Asopus; since these were sisters, I think the god has prophesied to us to entreat the Aeginetans to become our helpers.”
καὶ οὐ γάρ τις ταύτης ἀμείνων γνώμη ἐδόκεε φαίνεσθαι, αὐτίκα πέμψαντες ἐδέοντο Αἰγινητέων ἐπικαλεόμενοι κατὰ τὸ χρηστήριόν σφι βοηθέειν, ὡς ἐόντων ἀγχίστων·4 οἳ δέ σφι αἰτέουσι ἐπικουρίην5 τοὺς Αἰακίδας συμπέμπειν ἔφασαν.
And since no better opinion than this seemed to appear, they immediately sent messengers and entreated the Aeginetans, calling upon them to help them according to the oracle, on the ground that they were the nearest; and they said to them who were asking for assistance that they would send the Aeacidae along with them.
- 5.80.1τοιαῦτα ἐπιλεγομένων
Genitive absolute. The subject of the present participle ἐπιλεγομένων (middle-passive) is the omitted plural pronoun referring to the Thebans mentioned in the previous section.
- 5.80.1τὸ θέλει λέγειν ἡμῖν τὸ μαντήιον
The neuter accusative singular article τὸ functions here as a relative pronoun (equivalent to Attic ὅ) in the Ionic dialect, introducing a relative clause that serves as the object of the infinitive συνιέναι. The phrase θέλει λέγειν is an idiomatic expression meaning "wishes to say" or "means."
- 5.80.1δοκέω ἡμῖν Αἰγινητέων δέεσθαι τὸν θεὸν χρῇσαι
The main verb δοκέω (I think) takes an accusative and infinitive construction: τὸν θεὸν χρῇσαι (that the god prophesied/bid). The infinitive χρῇσαι (aorist active of χράω) then takes the infinitive δέεσθαι (to entreat) to express the command of the oracle, which in turn governs the genitive Αἰγινητέων. The dative ἡμῖν can go either with χρῇσαι ("prophesied to us") or with δέεσθαι ("for us to entreat").
- 5.80.2ὡς ἐόντων ἀγχίστων
A genitive absolute construction with ὡς and the participle ἐόντων (Ionic present participle of εἰμί). The particle ὡς expresses a subjective reason or pretext ("on the grounds that", "as if"), indicating that the Thebans regarded the Aeginetans as the "nearest" meant by the oracle.
- 5.80.2σφι αἰτέουσι ἐπικουρίην
The dative pronoun σφι (to them, referring to the Thebans) agrees with the present participle in the dative plural masculine αἰτέουσι (from αἰτέω), forming the construction "to them [who are] asking for assistance."