- 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-grc2:7.103.1-7.103.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-06
Xerxes laughs at Demaratus's words, arguing that it is impossible for a small, free, and leaderless Greek force to withstand the massive Persian army, which relies on absolute authority and features superior individual warriors.
ταῦτα ἀκούσας Ξέρξης γελάσας ἔφη Δημάρητε, οἷον ἐφθέγξαο ἔπος, ἄνδρας χιλίους στρατιῇ τοσῇδε μαχήσεσθαι.1 ἄγε εἰπέ μοι· σὺ φῂς τούτων τῶν ἀνδρῶν βασιλεὺς αὐτὸς γενέσθαι· σὺ ὦν ἐθελήσεις αὐτίκα μάλα πρὸς ἄνδρας δέκα μάχεσθαι; καίτοι εἰ τὸ πολιτικὸν ὑμῖν πᾶν ἐστι τοιοῦτον οἷον σὺ διαιρέεις, σέ γε τὸν κείνων βασιλέα πρέπει πρὸς τὸ διπλήσιον ἀντιτάσσεσθαι κατὰ νόμους τοὺς ὑμετέρους.
When Xerxes heard this, he laughed and said, “Demaratus, what a word you have uttered, that a thousand men should fight against an army so great! Come, tell me: you say that you yourself were king of these men; will you then, right now, be willing to fight against ten men? And yet, if your entire citizen body is of such a character as you describe, it is fitting for you, as their king, to be opposed to twice that number according to your laws.
εἰ γὰρ κείνων ἕκαστος δέκα ἀνδρῶν τῆς στρατιῆς τῆς ἐμῆς ἀντάξιος ἐστί, σὲ δέ γε δίζημαι2 εἴκοσι εἶναι ἀντάξιον, καὶ οὕτω μὲν ὀρθοῖτʼ ἂν ὁ λόγος ὁ παρὰ σέο λεγόμενος· εἰ δὲ τοιοῦτοί τε ἐόντες καὶ μεγάθεα τοσοῦτοι, ὅσοι σύ τε καὶ οἳ παρʼ ἐμὲ φοιτῶσι Ἑλλήνων ἐς λόγους αὐχέετε τοσοῦτον, ὅρα μὴ3 μάτην κόμπος ὁ λόγος οὗτος εἰρημένος ᾖ.
For if each of them is a match for ten men of my army, I expect you to be a match for twenty, and thus the argument spoken by you would be correct. But if they are of such a kind and of such a size as you and those Greeks who come to my presence to speak, and yet boast so much, beware lest this statement of yours has been spoken as an empty vaunt.
ἐπεὶ φέρε ἴδω παντὶ τῷ οἰκότι· κῶς ἂν δυναίατο χίλιοι ἢ καὶ μύριοι ἢ καὶ πεντακισμύριοι, ἐόντες γε ἐλεύθεροι πάντες ὁμοίως καὶ μὴ ὑπʼ ἑνὸς ἀρχόμενοι, στρατῷ τοσῷδε ἀντιστῆναι; ἐπεί τοι πλεῦνες περὶ ἕνα ἕκαστον γινόμεθα ἢ χίλιοι, ἐόντων ἐκείνων πέντε χιλιάδων.
For come, let me consider it according to all likelihood: how could a thousand, or even ten thousand, or even fifty thousand, being all alike free and not ruled by a single master, withstand an army so great? Since we are more than a thousand to every single one of them, even if they were five thousand.
ὑπὸ μὲν γὰρ ἑνὸς ἀρχόμενοι κατὰ τρόπον τὸν ἡμέτερον γενοίατʼ ἄν, δειμαίνοντες τοῦτον, καὶ παρὰ τὴν ἑωυτῶν φύσιν ἀμείνονες, καὶ ἴοιεν ἀναγκαζόμενοι μάστιγι ἐς πλεῦνας ἐλάσσονες ἐόντες· ἀνειμένοι δὲ ἐς τὸ ἐλεύθερον οὐκ ἂν ποιέοιεν τούτων οὐδέτερα. δοκέω δὲ ἔγωγε καὶ ἀνισωθέντας4 πλήθεϊ χαλεπῶς ἂν Ἕλληνας Πέρσῃσι μούνοισι μάχεσθαι.
For if they were ruled by one man after our fashion, they might, out of fear of him, become better than their own nature, and, compelled by the whip, they would go against greater numbers though being fewer; but left to their freedom, they would do neither of these. And I think that even if they were made equal in numbers, the Greeks would find it difficult to fight against Persians alone.
ἀλλὰ παρʼ ἡμῖν μὲν μούνοισι τοῦτο ἐστὶ τὸ σὺ λέγεις, ἔστι γε μὲν οὐ πολλὸν ἀλλὰ σπάνιον· εἰσὶ γὰρ Περσέων τῶν ἐμῶν αἰχμοφόρων οἳ ἐθελήσουσι Ἑλλήνων ἀνδράσι τρισὶ ὁμοῦ μάχεσθαι· τῶν σὺ ἐὼν ἄπειρος πολλὰ φλυηρέεις.
But among us alone does this which you speak of exist, yet it is not common but rare; for there are some of my Persian spear-bearers who will be willing to fight with three Greek men at once. Of these you have no knowledge, and so you talk much nonsense.”
- 7.103.1μαχήσεσθαι
An accusative with infinitive construction (with ἄνδρας χιλίους as the subject) expressing exclamation or functioning in apposition to explain the content of the preceding noun ἔπος (word).
- 7.103.2δίζημαι
Usually meaning 'seek' or 'search,' but here governing an accusative with infinitive (σὲ ... εἶναι) to mean 'expect' or 'demand as a logical consequence.'
- 7.103.2ὅρα μὴ
The imperative ὅρα followed by μὴ and the subjunctive (ᾖ) expresses apprehension or warning, meaning 'take care lest...' or 'beware that... may be the case.'
- 7.103.4ἀνισωθέντας
Aorist passive participle in the accusative plural, functioning conditionally ('even if they were made equal in numbers') and corresponding to ἂν ... μάχεσθαι in the main clause indicating potentiality.