- 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-grc2:7.128.1-7.128.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-05
Xerxes desires to see the Thessalian mountains and the mouth of the river Peneus; he sails to the river's mouth, where he is struck with wonder and asks the guides whether the river could be diverted to the sea through another channel.
Ξέρξης δὲ ὁρέων ἐκ τῆς Θέρμης ὄρεα τὰ Θεσσαλικά, τόν τε Ὄλυμπον καὶ τὴν Ὄσσαν, μεγάθεΐ1 τε ὑπερμήκεα ἐόντα, διὰ μέσου τε αὐτῶν αὐλῶνα στεινὸν πυνθανόμενος εἶναι διʼ οὗ ῥέει ὁ Πηνειός, ἀκούων τε ταύτῃ εἶναι ὁδὸν ἐς Θεσσαλίην φέρουσαν, ἐπεθύμησε πλώσας θεήσασθαι τὴν ἐκβολὴν τοῦ Πηνειοῦ, ὅτι τὴν ἄνω ὁδὸν ἔμελλε ἐλᾶν διὰ Μακεδόνων τῶν κατύπερθε οἰκημένων ἔστε Περραιβοὺς παρὰ Γόννον πόλιν· ταύτῃ γὰρ ἀσφαλέστατον ἐπυνθάνετο εἶναι.
Xerxes, seeing from Therme the Thessalian mountains, Olympus and Ossa, which were exceedingly great in size, and learning that between them there was a narrow glen through which the Peneus flows, and hearing that there was a road leading into Thessaly this way, desired to sail and view the mouth of the Peneus, because he was intending to march his army by the inland road through the Macedonians who dwelt higher up, as far as the Perrhaebians by the city of Gonnus; for he was informed that this was the safest way.
ὡς δὲ ἐπεθύμησε, καὶ ἐποίεε ταῦτα· ἐσβὰς ἐς Σιδωνίην νέα, ἐς τήν περ ἐσέβαινε αἰεὶ ὅκως τι ἐθέλοι2 τοιοῦτο ποιῆσαι, ἀνέδεξε σημήιον καὶ τοῖσι ἄλλοισι ἀνάγεσθαι, καταλιπὼν αὐτοῦ τὸν πεζὸν στρατόν. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀπίκετο καὶ ἐθεήσατο Ξέρξης τὴν ἐκβολὴν τοῦ Πηνειοῦ, ἐν θώματι μεγάλῳ ἐνέσχετο, καλέσας δὲ τοὺς κατηγεμόνας τῆς ὁδοῦ εἴρετο εἰ τὸν ποταμὸν ἐστὶ παρατρέψαντα ἑτέρῃ ἐς θάλασσαν ἐξαγαγεῖν.3
And as he desired, so he did; embarking on a Sidonian ship, into which he always used to enter whenever he wished to do any such thing, he raised a signal for the others also to put to sea, leaving his land army there. When Xerxes arrived and viewed the mouth of the Peneus, he was seized with great wonder, and calling the guides of the route, he asked if it were possible, by diverting the river, to lead it out into the sea by another channel.
- 7.128.1μεγάθεΐ
Dative singular of the noun μέγεθος (size), functioning as a dative of respect (or specification), modifying the adjective ὑπερμήκεα (exceedingly great) to mean "exceedingly great in size."
- 7.128.2ὅκως τι ἐθέλοι
A subordinate clause introduced by the conjunction ὅκως (= ὅπως, whenever), employing the optative mood (ἐθέλοι) to express an indefinite past repetition. It corresponds with the imperfect tense of the main verb (ἐσέβαινε) to denote a habitual action: "whenever he wished."
- 7.128.2εἰ τὸν ποταμὸν ἐστὶ παρατρέψαντα ἑτέρῃ ἐς θάλασσαν ἐξαγαγεῖν
The verb ἐστί in the indirect question is used impersonally in the sense of "it is possible" (equivalent to ἔξεστι), taking the infinitive ἐξαγαγεῖν (to lead out). The participle παρατρέψαντα (having diverted) is in the accusative case to agree with the implied subject of the infinitive (a general agent).