- 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-grc2:7.197.1-7.197.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-06
Xerxes, upon arriving at Alos in Achaia, learns from his guides about the legend of the sanctuary of Laphystian Zeus and the severe sacrificial law imposed on Athamas's descendants. Out of respect, Xerxes avoids entering the grove and commands his army to do the same.
ἐς Ἄλον δὲ τῆς Ἀχαιίης ἀπικομένῳ Ξέρξῃ1 οἱ κατηγεμόνες τῆς ὁδοῦ βουλόμενοι τὸ πᾶν ἐξηγέεσθαι ἔλεγόν οἱ ἐπιχώριον λόγον, τὰ περὶ τὸ ἱρὸν τοῦ Λαφυστίου Διός, ὡς Ἀθάμας ὁ Αἰόλου ἐμηχανήσατο Φρίξῳ μόρον σὺν Ἰνοῖ βουλεύσας, μετέπειτα δὲ ὡς ἐκ θεοπροπίου Ἀχαιοὶ προτιθεῖσι τοῖσι ἐκείνου ἀπογόνοισι ἀέθλους τοιούσδε·
When Xerxes arrived at Alos in Achaia, his guides, wishing to explain everything to him, told him a local legend about the sanctuary of Laphystian Zeus: how Athamas, son of Aeolus, plotted death for Phrixus in conspiracy with Ino, and how afterwards, in consequence of an oracle, the Achaians impose upon his descendants trials such as these.
ὃς ἂν ᾖ τοῦ γένεος τούτου πρεσβύτατος, τούτῳ ἐπιτάξαντες ἔργεσθαι τοῦ ληίτου2 αὐτοὶ φυλακὰς ἔχουσι. λήιτον δὲ καλέουσι τὸ πρυτανήιον οἱ Ἀχαιοί. ἢν δὲ ἐσέλθῃ, οὐκ ἔστι ὅκως3 ἔξεισι πρὶν ἢ θύσεσθαι μέλλῃ· ὥς τʼ ἔτι πρὸς τούτοισι πολλοὶ ἤδη τούτων τῶν μελλόντων θύσεσθαι δείσαντες οἴχοντο ἀποδράντες ἐς ἄλλην χώρην, χρόνου δὲ προϊόντος ὀπίσω κατελθόντες ἢν ἁλίσκωνται ἐστέλλοντο ἐς τὸ πρυτανήιον· ὡς θύεταί τε ἐξηγέοντο4 στέμμασι πᾶς πυκασθεὶς καὶ ὡς σὺν πομπῇ ἐξαχθείς.
”Whoever is the eldest of this family, they forbid him to enter the town-hall and they themselves keep watch. The Achaians call the prytaneum ‘leiton’. If he enters, there is no way he can go out until he is about to be sacrificed. Moreover, in addition to this, many of those who were about to be sacrificed, having become afraid, had already fled away to another land, and when they returned after some time, if they were caught, they were led to the prytaneum.” And they explained how he is sacrificed, all crowned with garlands, and how he is led out in a procession.
ταῦτα δὲ πάσχουσι οἱ Κυτισσώρου τοῦ Φρίξου παιδὸς ἀπόγονοι, διότι καθαρμὸν τῆς χώρης ποιευμένων Ἀχαιῶν5 ἐκ θεοπροπίου Ἀθάμαντα τὸν Αἰόλου καὶ μελλόντων μιν θύειν ἀπικόμενος οὗτος ὁ Κυτίσσωρος ἐξ Αἴης τῆς Κολχίδος ἐρρύσατο, ποιήσας δὲ τοῦτο τοῖσι ἐπιγενομένοισι ἐξ ἑωυτοῦ μῆνιν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐνέβαλε.
The descendants of Cytissorus, the son of Phrixus, suffer this because, when the Achaians in accordance with an oracle were making a purification of the country and were about to sacrifice Athamas the son of Aeolus, this Cytissorus arrived from Aea of Colchis and rescued him; and by doing this, he brought the wrath of the god upon his own posterity.
Ξέρξης δὲ ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὡς κατὰ τὸ ἄλσος ἐγίνετο, αὐτός τε ἔργετο αὐτοῦ καὶ τῇ στρατιῇ πάσῃ παρήγγειλε, τῶν τε Ἀθάμαντος ἀπογόνων τὴν οἰκίην ὁμοίως καὶ τὸ τέμενος ἐσέβετο.
When Xerxes heard this, as he came near the sacred grove, he himself kept away from it and ordered his whole army to do the same, and he showed respect to the house of the descendants of Athamas as well as to the sanctuary.
- 7.197.1ἀπικομένῳ Ξέρξῃ
Dative. It stands in apposition to the pronoun οἱ (to him) which serves as the indirect object of the main verb ἔλεγον, expressing "to Xerxes, upon his arrival at Alos, they told...".
- 7.197.2ἔργεσθαι τοῦ ληίτου
The verb εἴργω (here in the middle/passive voice ἔργομαι) means "to exclude, keep away" and takes the genitive (τοῦ ληίτου) of the place from which one is excluded. The implicit subject of the participle ἐπιτάξαντες is the Achaians.
- 7.197.2οὐκ ἔστι ὅκως
An idiomatic expression meaning "there is no way that...", used to state a strong negative. It is followed by the future indicative (ἔξεισι) to emphasize the impossibility of escape.
- 7.197.2ὡς θύεταί τε ἐξηγέοντο
The conjunction ὡς introduces an indirect question ("how..."). The present passive verb θύεται is modified by the perfect participle πᾶς πυκασθείς (crowned all over) and the aorist passive participle ἐξαχθείς (led out in a procession).
- 7.197.3ποιευμένων Ἀχαιῶν
Genitive absolute construction. Ἀχαιῶν acts as the logical subject of the participle ποιευμένων, expressing the temporal circumstance: "when the Achaians were performing a purification of the land."