- 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-grc2:7.17.1-7.17.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Artabanus acts on the king's orders by wearing Xerxes' robes and sleeping in his bed, only for the same ominous dream to appear to him, threatening and rebuking him for trying to prevent the destined invasion of Greece.
τοσαῦτα εἴπας Ἀρτάβανος, ἐλπίζων Ξέρξην ἀποδέξειν λέγοντα οὐδέν,1 ἐποίεε τὸ κελευόμενον. ἐνδὺς δὲ τὴν Ξέρξεω ἐσθῆτα καὶ ἱζόμενος ἐς τὸν βασιλήιον θρόνον ὡς μετὰ ταῦτα κοῖτον ἐποιέετο, ἦλθέ οἱ κατυπνωμένῳ τὠυτὸ ὄνειρον τὸ καὶ παρὰ Ξέρξην ἐφοίτα, ὑπερστὰν δὲ τοῦ Ἀρταβάνου εἶπε·
Having spoken these words, Artabanus, hoping that Xerxes would show that he was speaking of no account, did what was commanded. And having put on the clothing of Xerxes and sat upon the royal throne, when after this he went to bed, the very same dream that used to visit Xerxes came to him as he slept, and standing over Artabanus, it said:
ἆρα σὺ δὴ κεῖνος εἶς ὁ ἀποσπεύδων Ξέρξην στρατεύεσθαι ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα ὡς δὴ κηδόμενος αὐτοῦ; ἀλλʼ οὔτε ἐς τὸ μετέπειτα οὔτε ἐς τὸ παραυτίκα νῦν καταπροΐξεαι ἀποτρέπων2 τὸ χρεὸν γενέσθαι. Ξέρξην δὲ τὰ δεῖ ἀνηκουστέοντα παθεῖν,3 αὐτῷ ἐκείνῳ δεδήλωται.
”Are you indeed that man who tries to discourage Xerxes from marching against Greece, as though forsooth caring for him? But neither in the future nor now in the present shall you escape unpunished for trying to avert what must come to pass. What Xerxes must suffer if he is disobedient has been shown to him himself.”
- 7.17.1ἐλπίζων Ξέρξην ἀποδέξειν λέγοντα οὐδέν
The future infinitive ἀποδέξειν (Ionic for ἀποδείξειν) takes Ξέρξην as its subject accusative, which is also modified by the accusative participle λέγοντα. The phrase λέγειν οὐδέν means 'to speak of no account' or 'to talk nonsense'. Artabanus hopes that, by the non-appearance of the dream, Xerxes will be shown to have been speaking without any foundation.
- 7.17.2καταπροΐξεαι ἀποτρέπων
The verb καταπροΐξομαι (here in the second-person singular future καταπροΐξεαι) is used with a supplementary participle (here ἀποτρέπων) in the idiomatic sense of 'to do something and escape unpunished' or 'to get away with doing something'.
- 7.17.2τὰ δεῖ ἀνηκουστέοντα παθεῖν
The accusative relative pronoun τά (without antecedent, equivalent to Attic ἅ) is followed by the impersonal verb δεῖ and the infinitive παθεῖν ('what he must suffer'). The present participle ἀνηκουστέοντα ('being disobedient') is embedded within this clause, functioning conditionally ('if he is disobedient') and agreeing with Xerxes, the implied accusative subject of παθεῖν.