- 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-grc2:7.150.1-7.150.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-04
Another rumor is related concerning the message sent by Xerxes to Argos before his invasion of Greece and the true motives of the Argives in making their demands.
αὐτοὶ μὲν Ἀργεῖοι τοσαῦτα τούτων πέρι λέγουσι· ἔστι δὲ ἄλλος λόγος λεγόμενος ἀνὰ τὴν Ἑλλάδα, ὡς Ξέρξης ἔπεμψε κήρυκα ἐς Ἄργος πρότερον ἤ περ ὁρμῆσαι στρατεύεσθαι ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα·
The Argives themselves say this much about these matters; but there is another story told throughout Greece, that Xerxes sent a herald to Argos before he set out to march against Greece.
ἐλθόντα δὲ τοῦτον λέγεται εἰπεῖν ἄνδρες Ἀργεῖοι, βασιλεὺς Ξέρξης τάδε ὑμῖν λέγει. ἡμεῖς νομίζομεν Πέρσην εἶναι ἀπʼ οὗ ἡμεῖς γεγόναμεν παῖδα1 Περσέος τοῦ Δανάης, γεγονότα ἐκ τῆς Κηφέος θυγατρὸς Ἀνδρομέδης. οὕτω ἂν ὦν εἴημεν ὑμέτεροι ἀπόγονοι. οὔτε ὦν ἡμέας οἰκὸς ἐπὶ τοὺς ἡμετέρους προγόνους στρατεύεσθαι, οὔτε ὑμέας ἄλλοισι τιμωρέοντας ἡμῖν ἀντιξόους γίνεσθαι, ἀλλὰ παρʼ ὑμῖν αὐτοῖσι ἡσυχίην ἔχοντας κατῆσθαι. ἢν γὰρ ἐμοὶ γένηται κατὰ νόον, οὐδαμοὺς μέζονας ὑμέων ἄξω.
It is said that this man, having arrived, spoke as follows: “Men of Argos, King Xerxes says this to you. We believe that Perses, from whom we are descended, was the child of Perseus, son of Danae, born of Cepheus’ daughter Andromeda. Thus, then, we would be your descendants. Therefore, it is neither fitting for us to march against our own ancestors, nor for you, by helping others, to become opposed to us, but you should remain quiet by yourselves. For if things go according to my mind, I shall hold none in greater esteem than you.”
ταῦτα ἀκούσαντας Ἀργείους λέγεται πρῆγμα ποιήσασθαι,2 καὶ παραχρῆμα μὲν οὐδὲν ἐπαγγελλομένους μεταιτέειν, ἐπεὶ δὲ σφέας παραλαμβάνειν3 τοὺς Ἕλληνας, οὕτω δὴ ἐπισταμένους ὅτι οὐ μεταδώσουσι τῆς ἀρχῆς Λακεδαιμόνιοι μεταιτέειν, ἵνα ἐπὶ προφάσιος ἡσυχίην ἄγωσι.
It is said that the Argives, having heard this, regarded the matter as highly important; and though at the moment they made no demand, yet when the Greeks sought to enlist them, they then made the demand, knowing well that the Lacedaemonians would not share the command, so that they might remain quiet under a pretext.
- 7.150.2νομίζομεν Πέρσην εἶναι ... παῖδα
The verb νομίζομεν takes an accusative with infinitive construction, where Πέρσην is the subject accusative of the infinitive εἶναι, and παῖδα is the predicate accusative.
- 7.150.3πρῆγμα ποιήσασθαι
A characteristic Herodotean idiom meaning "to make a serious matter of something" or "to regard something as of great importance."
- 7.150.3παραλαμβάνειν
The infinitive is used in the temporal subordinate clause ἐπεὶ δὲ ... instead of an indicative verb. This is a characteristic Herodotean syntax where the indirect discourse dependency introduced by λέγεται extends into the subordinate clause.