- 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-grc2:7.120.1-7.120.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-06
Megacreon of Abdera wittily advises his fellow citizens to thank the gods that Xerxes dines only once a day, since preparing a breakfast as well would have forced them either to flee or to perish.
ἔνθα δὴ Μεγακρέοντος ἀνδρὸς Ἀβδηρίτεω ἔπος εὖ εἰρημένον ἐγένετο, ὃς συνεβούλευσε Ἀβδηρίτῃσι πανδημεί, αὐτοὺς καὶ γυναῖκας, ἐλθόντας ἐς τὰ σφέτερα ἱρὰ ἵζεσθαι ἱκέτας τῶν θεῶν παραιτεομένους καὶ τὸ λοιπόν σφι ἀπαμύνειν1 τῶν ἐπιόντων κακῶν τὰ ἡμίσεα, τῶν τε παροιχομένων ἔχειν σφι μεγάλην χάριν,2 ὅτι βασιλεὺς Ξέρξης οὐ δὶς ἑκάστης ἡμέρης ἐνόμισε σῖτον αἱρέεσθαι·
On this occasion indeed, a very witty saying was uttered by Megacreon, a man of Abdera, who advised the Abderites with their whole population, themselves and their wives, to go to their temples and sit as suppliants of the gods, entreating them to ward off for the future also half of the evils that were coming upon them, and to feel great gratitude to them for the past, because King Xerxes was not accustomed to take food twice in each day;
παρέχειν γὰρ ἂν Ἀβδηρίτῃσι,3 εἰ καὶ ἄριστον προείρητο ὅμοια τῷ δείπνῳ παρασκευάζειν, ἢ μὴ ὑπομένειν Ξέρξην ἐπιόντα ἢ καταμείναντας κάκιστα πάντων ἀνθρώπων διατριβῆναι.4
for, if it had been commanded to prepare a breakfast also similar to the dinner, it would have been necessary for the Abderites either not to await the arrival of Xerxes, or, if they remained, to be ruined most miserably of all mankind.
- 7.120.1παραιτεομένους καὶ τὸ λοιπόν σφι ἀπαμύνειν
The participle παραιτεομένους (entreating) takes the following infinitive ἀπαμύνειν (to ward off) as its complement (παραιτέομαι + infinitive, 'to entreat to do something'). σφι is a dative of advantage referring to the Abderites, and τῶν ἐπιόντων κακῶν (the coming evils) is a genitive of separation dependent on ἀπαμύνειν.
- 7.120.1ἔχειν σφι μεγάλην χάριν
The infinitive ἔχειν depends on the preceding verb συνεβούλευσε (advised). The dative σφι (to them) refers to the 'gods (τῶν θεῶν)' mentioned earlier, forming the construction χάριν ἔχειν τινί (to be grateful to someone). Although it could theoretically be taken as a reflexive pronoun referring to the Abderites themselves, it is far more natural to refer it to the gods as the object of gratitude.
- 7.120.2παρέχειν γὰρ ἂν Ἀβδηρίτῃσι
This is a construction of ἄν + infinitive (παρέχειν ἂν) introduced by the conjunction γάρ. It represents the apodosis of a past unreal conditional sentence in indirect discourse, corresponding to the impersonal directly stated παρέσχε ἂν (it would have happened/resulted). The protasis is the following clause εἰ καὶ ἄριστον προείρητο... (if it had been commanded to prepare a breakfast...).
- 7.120.2διατριβῆναι
The aorist passive infinitive of the verb διατρίβω. Here it is used in a passive sense meaning 'to be ruined' or 'to be destroyed,' rather than its common active/intransitive meaning 'to spend time.'