- 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-grc2:7.142.1-7.142.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-05
Following the return of the Athenian messengers with the second oracle, intense debates arise in the assembly regarding its interpretation, primarily clashing between those who view the "wooden wall" as the Acropolis hedge and those who interpret it as the ships.
ταῦτα σφι ἠπιώτερα γὰρ τῶν προτέρων καὶ ἦν καὶ ἐδόκεε εἶναι, συγγραψάμενοι ἀπαλλάσσοντο ἐς τὰς Ἀθήνας. ὡς δὲ ἀπελθόντες οἱ θεοπρόποι ἀπήγγελλον ἐς τὸν δῆμον, γνῶμαι καὶ ἄλλαι πολλαὶ γίνονται διζημένων τὸ μαντήιον1 καὶ αἵδε συνεστηκυῖαι μάλιστα. τῶν πρεσβυτέρων ἔλεγον μετεξέτεροι δοκέειν σφίσι τὸν θεὸν τὴν ἀκρόπολιν χρῆσαι περιέσεσθαι.2 ἡ γὰρ ἀκρόπολις τὸ πάλαι τῶν Ἀθηναίων ῥηχῷ ἐπέφρακτο.
Since these words both were and seemed to be milder than the previous ones, the Athenian messengers wrote them down and departed for Athens. When they had returned and reported them to the assembly, many different opinions arose as they sought to interpret the oracle, and the following clashed the most. Some of the elders said they believed the god meant that the Acropolis would survive; for in old times the Acropolis of the Athenians had been fenced with a thorn hedge.
οἳ μὲν δὴ κατὰ τὸν φραγμὸν συνεβάλλοντο τοῦτο τὸ ξύλινον τεῖχος εἶναι, οἳ δʼ αὖ ἔλεγον τὰς νέας σημαίνειν τὸν θεόν, καὶ ταύτας παραρτέεσθαι ἐκέλευον τὰ ἄλλα ἀπέντας.3 τοὺς ὦν δὴ τὰς νέας λέγοντας εἶναι τὸ ξύλινον τεῖχος ἔσφαλλε τὰ δύο τὰ τελευταῖα ῥηθέντα ὑπὸ τῆς Πυθίης, "ὦ θείη Σαλαμίς, ἀπολεῖς δὲ σὺ τέκνα γυναικῶν ἤ που σκιδναμένης Δημήτερος ἢ συνιούσης."
Some, therefore, conjectured that this hedge was the “wooden wall,” while others, on the contrary, maintained that the god was pointing to the ships, and urged that they should abandon all else and prepare these. Yet those who said that the ships were the wooden wall were confounded by the last two lines spoken by the Pythia: “O divine Salamis, you shall destroy the children of women, either when Demeter is scattered or when she is gathered in.”
κατὰ ταῦτα τὰ ἔπεα συνεχέοντο αἱ γνῶμαι τῶν φαμένων τὰς νέας τὸ ξύλινον τεῖχος εἶναι· οἱ γὰρ χρησμολόγοι ταύτῃ ταῦτα ἐλάμβανον, ὡς ἀμφὶ Σαλαμῖνα δεῖ σφεας ἑσσωθῆναι4 ναυμαχίην παρασκευασαμένους.
By these words, the opinions of those who declared that the ships were the wooden wall were thrown into confusion; for the oracle-mongers took these lines in this way, namely, that if they prepared for a sea fight, they were destined to be defeated around Salamis.
- 7.142.1διζημένων τὸ μαντήιον
The present middle/passive participle διζημένων (from δίζημαι, "to seek, interpret") forms a genitive absolute with its logical subject (the Athenians) implied but omitted from the text.
- 7.142.1δοκέειν σφίσι τὸν θεὸν τὴν ἀκρόπολιν χρῆσαι περιέσεσθαι
Within the indirect speech introduced by the main verb ἔλεγον, the infinitive δοκέειν governs an accusative-with-infinitive construction τὸν θεὸν... χρῆσαι ("that the god gave an oracle"), which in turn embeds another future infinitive clause περιέσεσθαι τὴν ἀκρόπολιν ("that the Acropolis would survive").
- 7.142.2τὰ ἄλλα ἀπέντας
The word ἀπέντας is the aorist active participle (accusative plural masculine) of ἀπίημι ("to dismiss, abandon"), which is the Ionic equivalent of Attic ἀφέντας. It agrees in case with the implied subject of the preceding infinitive παραρτέεσθαι.
- 7.142.3ὡς ἀμφὶ Σαλαμῖνα δεῖ σφεας ἑσσωθῆναι
The conjunction ὡς introduces an appositional clause explaining the preceding demonstrative pronoun ταῦτα. The infinitive ἑσσωθῆναι (aorist passive infinitive of ἑσσόομαι, "to be defeated") serves as the subject of the impersonal verb δεῖ, expressing an inevitable outcome or destiny.