- 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-grc2:7.114.1-7.114.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-06
The Persian army, upon reaching the "Nine Ways" on the Strymon, buries local boys and maidens alive as a sacrifice, followed by a historical note on Amestris's similar practice of burying children alive.
φαρμακεύσαντες δὲ ταῦτα ἐς τὸν ποταμὸν καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ πρὸς τούτοισι ἐν Ἐννέα ὁδοῖσι τῇσι Ἠδωνῶν ἐπορεύοντο κατὰ τὰς γεφύρας, τὸν Στρυμόνα εὑρόντες ἐζευγμένον. Ἐννέα δὲ ὁδοὺς πυνθανόμενοι τὸν χῶρον τοῦτον καλέεσθαι,1 τοσούτους ἐν αὐτῷ παῖδάς τε καὶ παρθένους ἀνδρῶν τῶν ἐπιχωρίων ζώοντας κατώρυσσον.
Having performed these magical rites upon the river, and many other things besides these, they journeyed by the bridges at the “Nine Ways” of the Edonians, finding the Strymon already bridged. And learning that this place was called “Nine Ways,” they buried alive in it that same number of boys and maidens of the local inhabitants.
Περσικὸν δὲ τὸ ζώοντας κατορύσσειν, ἐπεὶ καὶ Ἄμηστριν τὴν Ξέρξεω γυναῖκα πυνθάνομαι γηράσασαν δὶς ἑπτὰ Περσέων παῖδας ἐόντων ἐπιφανέων ἀνδρῶν ὑπὲρ ἑωυτῆς τῷ ὑπὸ γῆν λεγομένῳ εἶναι θεῷ2 ἀντιχαρίζεσθαι κατορύσσουσαν.3
For to bury people alive is a Persian custom, since I learn that Amestris also, the wife of Xerxes, when she had grown old, buried alive twice seven children of prominent Persian men, as a thank-offering on her own behalf to the god who is said to be beneath the earth.
- 114.1Ἐννέα δὲ ὁδοὺς πυνθανόμενοι τὸν χῶρον τοῦτον καλέεσθαι
An accusative-with-infinitive construction acting as the object of the participle πυνθανόμενοι ("learning that..."). Here, τὸν χῶρον τοῦτον ("this place") is the subject accusative of the passive infinitive καλέεσθαι ("to be called"), while Ἐννέα ὁδοὺς ("Nine Ways") serves as the predicate accusative.
- 114.2τῷ ὑπὸ γῆν λεγομένῳ εἶναι θεῷ
An attributive phrase embedded between the article τῷ and the dative noun θεῷ ("to the god"). The core of the modifying phrase is the participle λεγομένῳ ("said to be"), which takes the complementary infinitive εἶναι ("to be"), which in turn is modified by the prepositional phrase ὑπὸ γῆν ("under the earth").
- 114.2Ἄμηστριν ... κατορύσσουσαν
A construction of a verb of perception (πυνθάνομαι, "I learn/hear") taking an accusative (Ἄμηστριν) and a participle (κατορύσσουσαν, present participle active feminine accusative singular matching Ἄμηστριν). It expresses the fact heard: "I learn that Amestris... was burying/buried."