- 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-grc2:7.12.1-7.12.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
At night, Xerxes reconsiders Artabanus's advice and decides to cancel the expedition against Greece, but a vision appears to him in his sleep, urging him to carry out the original plan.
ταῦτα μὲν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτο ἐλέγετο. μετὰ δὲ εὐφρόνη τε ἐγίνετο καὶ Ξέρξην ἔκνιζε ἡ Ἀρταβάνου γνώμη· νυκτὶ δὲ βουλὴν διδοὺς πάγχυ εὕρισκέ οἱ οὐ πρῆγμα εἶναι1 στρατεύεσθαι ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα. δεδογμένων δέ οἱ αὖτις τούτων2 κατύπνωσε, καὶ δή κου ἐν τῇ νυκτὶ εἶδε ὄψιν τοιήνδε, ὡς λέγεται ὑπὸ Περσέων· ἐδόκεε ὁ Ξέρξης ἄνδρα οἱ ἐπιστάντα μέγαν τε καὶ εὐειδέα εἰπεῖν3 μετὰ δὴ βουλεύεαι,4 ὦ Πέρσα, στράτευμα μὴ ἄγειν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα, προείπας ἁλίζειν Πέρσας στρατόν; οὔτε ὦν μεταβουλευόμενος ποιέεις εὖ οὔτε ὁ συγγνωσόμενός τοι πάρα· ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ τῆς ἡμέρης5 ἐβουλεύσαο ποιέειν, ταύτην ἴθι τῶν ὁδῶν.
These things were spoken to this extent. Afterwards, night came on, and the opinion of Artabanus troubled Xerxes. Giving counsel to himself by night, he found it completely not to his interest to march against Greece. When these things had been decided by him anew, he fell asleep, and indeed, as is said by the Persians, he saw in the night a vision of this kind: it seemed to Xerxes that a man, tall and handsome, stood over him and said: ”Do you change your counsel now, O Persian, and decide not to lead an army against Greece, after having publicly ordered the Persians to assemble a force? Neither then do you do well in changing your counsel, nor is there anyone to agree with you; but even as you resolved to do during the day, go on that path.”
- 7.12.1οὐ πρῆγμα εἶναι
The noun "πρῆγμα" is used here in an Ionic sense meaning "advantageous thing" or "profit." Accompanied by the infinitive "εἶναι" and the dative "οἱ" (dative of advantage), it forms an impersonal expression meaning "it is not to one's advantage to..."
- 7.12.1δεδογμένων δέ οἱ αὖτις τούτων
A genitive absolute construction consisting of the perfect passive participle "δεδογμένων" and the neuter demonstrative pronoun "τούτων". The pronoun "οἱ" is the dative of agent with the passive verb ("by him"), meaning "when these things had been resolved by him anew."
- 7.12.1ἐδόκεε ὁ Ξέρξης ἄνδρα οἱ ἐπιστάντα μέγαν τε καὶ εὐειδέα εἰπεῖν
The verb "ἐδόκεε" is used in a personal construction with "ὁ Ξέρξης" as the subject. It governs an accusative-and-infinitive clause "ἄνδρα... εἰπεῖν" (accusative subject "ἄνδρα" and infinitive "εἰπεῖν"), meaning "Xerxes seemed to [perceive] a man standing over him and speaking."
- 7.12.2μετὰ δὴ βουλεύεαι
The preposition "μετά" is used here adverbially to mean "afterwards" or "now." The verb "βουλεύεαι" is the second-person singular present middle indicative in the Ionic dialect, corresponding to Attic βουλεύῃ or βουλεύει.
- 7.12.2τῆς ἡμέρης
Genitive of time, meaning "during the day" or "by day" (corresponding to Attic ἡμέρας). It refers to the decision made during the daytime council in contrast to the nighttime dream.