- 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-grc2:7.176.1-7.176.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-05
The author detailedly describes the geographical features of Artemisium for naval defense and Thermopylae for land defense. He also explains the history of the wall at Thermopylae and the defensive measures previously taken by the Phocians against the Thessalians.
τοῦτο μὲν τὸ Ἀρτεμίσιον·1 ἐκ τοῦ πελάγεος τοῦ Θρηικίου ἐξ εὐρέος συνάγεται ἐς στεινὸν ἐόντα τὸν πόρον τὸν μεταξὺ νήσου τε Σκιάθου καὶ ἠπείρου Μαγνησίης· ἐκ δὲ τοῦ στεινοῦ τῆς Εὐβοίης2 ἤδη τὸ Ἀρτεμίσιον δέκεται αἰγιαλός, ἐν δὲ Ἀρτέμιδος ἱρόν.
This, then, is Artemisium. From the wide Thracian sea it contracts into a narrow strait which lies between the island of Skiathos and the mainland of Magnesia. Immediately after the strait, the shore of Euboea receives the name of Artemisium, and upon it stands a temple of Artemis.
ἡ δὲ αὖ διὰ Τρηχῖνος ἔσοδος ἐς τὴν Ἑλλάδα ἐστὶ τῇ στεινοτάτη3 ἡμίπλεθρον. οὐ μέντοι κατὰ τοῦτό γε ἐστὶ τὸ στεινότατον τῆς χώρης τῆς ἄλλης, ἀλλʼ ἔμπροσθέ τε Θερμοπυλέων καὶ ὄπισθε, κατὰ τε Ἀλπηνοὺς ὄπισθε ἐόντας ἐοῦσα ἁμαξιτὸς μούνη, καὶ ἔμπροσθε κατὰ Φοίνικα ποταμὸν ἀγχοῦ Ἀνθήλης πόλιος ἄλλη ἁμαξιτὸς μούνη.
On the other hand, the pass into Greece through Trachis is, at its narrowest point, half a plethron in width. However, it is not at this very place that the country is at its narrowest overall, but both in front of and behind Thermopylae; for behind, near Alpenoi, there is only a single cart-track, and in front, near the river Phoenix by the city of Anthele, there is likewise only a single cart-track.
τῶν δὲ Θερμοπυλέων τὸ μὲν πρὸς ἑσπέρης ὄρος ἄβατόν τε καὶ ἀπόκρημνον, ὑψηλόν, ἀνατεῖνον ἐς τὴν Οἴτην· τὸ δὲ πρὸς τὴν ἠῶ τῆς ὁδοῦ θάλασσα ὑποδέκεται καὶ τενάγεα. ἔστι δὲ ἐν τῇ ἐσόδῳ ταύτῃ θερμὰ λουτρά, τὰ Χύτρους καλέουσι οἱ ἐπιχώριοι, καὶ βωμὸς ἵδρυται Ἡρακλέος ἐπʼ αὐτοῖσι. ἐδέδμητο δὲ τεῖχος κατὰ ταύτας τὰς ἐσβολάς, καὶ τό γε παλαιὸν πύλαι ἐπῆσαν.
To the west of Thermopylae rises a mountain steep, inaccessible, and high, stretching up to Oeta; while to the east of the road, the sea and marshy shallows succeed. In this pass there are hot springs, which the local inhabitants call Chytroi, and an altar of Heracles is dedicated near them. A wall had been built across these passes, and in ancient times gates stood upon it.
ἔδειμαν δὲ Φωκέες τὸ τεῖχος δείσαντες, ἐπεὶ Θεσσαλοὶ ἦλθον ἐκ Θεσπρωτῶν οἰκήσοντες γῆν τὴν Αἰολίδα τήν νῦν ἐκτέαται. ἅτε δὴ πειρωμένων τῶν Θεσσαλῶν καταστρέφεσθαι σφέας, τοῦτο προεφυλάξαντο οἱ Φωκέες, καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ θερμὸν τότε ἐπῆκαν ἐπὶ τὴν ἔσοδον, ὡς ἂν χαραδρωθείη4 ὁ χῶρος, πᾶν μηχανώμενοι ὅκως μή σφι ἐσβάλοιεν οἱ Θεσσαλοὶ ἐπὶ τὴν χώρην.
The Phocians built this wall out of fear when the Thessalians came from the Thesprotians to inhabit the Aeolian land which they now possess. Since the Thessalians were trying to subjugate them, the Phocians took this precaution beforehand, and at that time they let the hot water flow over the pass so that the ground might be cut into gullies, devising every means so that the Thessalians might not invade their country.
τὸ μέν νυν τεῖχος τὸ ἀρχαῖον ἐκ παλαιοῦ τε ἐδέδμητο καὶ τὸ πλέον αὐτοῦ ἤδη ὑπὸ χρόνου ἔκειτο· τοῖσι δὲ αὖτις ὀρθώσασι5 ἔδοξε ταύτῃ ἀπαμύνειν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἑλλάδος τὸν βάρβαρον. κώμη δὲ ἐστὶ ἀγχοτάτω τῆς ὁδοῦ Ἀλπηνοὶ οὔνομα· ἐκ ταύτης δὲ ἐπισιτιεῖσθαι ἐλογίζοντο οἱ Ἕλληνες.
Now the ancient wall had been built long ago, and most of it already lay in ruins through lapse of time; but those who rebuilt it resolved to ward off the barbarian from Greece at this point. There is a village very close to the road called Alpenoi, from which the Greeks calculated they would obtain their provisions.
- 7.176.1τοῦτο μὲν τὸ Ἀρτεμίσιον
τοῦτο μὲν stands in contrast with ἡ δὲ αὖ... ἔσοδος in §7.176.2, serving to introduce the geographical features of the first of the two defense lines (sea and land) established by the Greek alliance.
- 7.176.1τῆς Εὐβοίης
Although the genitive τῆς Εὐβοίης could potentially modify the preceding τοῦ στεινοῦ ('the strait of Euboea'), it is contextually more natural to construe it with αἰγιαλός ('the shore of Euboea'), indicating that this stretch of coast receives the name of Artemisium.
- 7.176.2τῇ στεινοτάτη
A feminine dative of the demonstrative/relative pronoun used adverbially to mean 'at its narrowest point'. It functions as a dative of respect or place, with a feminine noun like ὁδῷ ('way') or ἔσοδος ('pass') implicitly understood.
- 7.176.4ὡς ἂν χαραδρωθείη
The conjunction ὡς ἂν followed by the optative (χαραδρωθείη) expresses purpose or intent ('so that it might be cut into gullies'). While Attic prose typically uses ὡς ἂν with the subjunctive, Ionic dialect (as in Herodotus) and poetry often employ this construction with the optative for past purposes.
- 7.176.5τοῖσι δὲ αὖτις ὀρθώσασι
An articular participle in the dative case meaning 'to those who rebuilt/re-erected it'. It functions as the logical subject (dative of agent/interest) of the impersonal verb ἔδοξε ('it seemed good to... / they resolved to...').