- 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-grc2:7.208.1-7.208.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-07
Xerxes sends a mounted spy to Thermopylae to observe the Greek forces. The spy witnesses the Lacedaemonians outside the wall exercising and combing their hair, and returns to report this to the Persian king.
ταῦτα βουλευομένων σφέων, ἔπεμπε Ξέρξης κατάσκοπον ἱππέα ἰδέσθαι ὁκόσοι εἰσὶ καὶ ὅ τι ποιέοιεν. ἀκηκόεε δὲ ἔτι ἐὼν ἐν Θεσσαλίῃ ὡς ἁλισμένη εἴη ταύτῃ στρατιὴ ὀλίγη, καὶ τοὺς ἡγεμόνας ὡς εἴησαν1 Λακεδαιμόνιοί τε καὶ Λεωνίδης ἐὼν γένος Ἡρακλείδης.
While they were deliberating on these things, Xerxes sent a mounted spy to see how many they were and what they were doing. For he had heard, while he was still in Thessaly, that a small army was assembled there, and that their leaders were Lacedaemonians, including Leonidas, who was of the lineage of Heracles.
ὡς δὲ προσήλασε ὁ ἱππεὺς πρὸς τὸ στρατόπεδον, ἐθηεῖτό τε καὶ κατώρα πᾶν μὲν οὒ τὸ στρατόπεδον· τοὺς γὰρ ἔσω τεταγμένους τοῦ τείχεος, τὸ ἀνορθώσαντες εἶχον2 ἐν φυλακῇ, οὐκ οἷά τε ἦν κατιδέσθαι· ὁ δὲ τοὺς ἔξω ἐμάνθανε, τοῖσι πρὸ τοῦ τείχεος τὰ ὅπλα ἔκειτο· ἔτυχον δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον Λακεδαιμόνιοι ἔξω τεταγμένοι.
When the horseman rode up to the camp, he looked at it and observed it, but not the whole camp; for it was not possible to see those stationed inside the wall, which they had rebuilt and were guarding; but he observed those outside, whose weapons were lying in front of the wall. And it happened at this time that the Lacedaemonians were stationed outside.
τοὺς μὲν δὴ ὥρα γυμναζομένους τῶν ἀνδρῶν, τοὺς δὲ τὰς κόμας κτενιζομένους. ταῦτα δὴ θεώμενος ἐθώμαζε καὶ τὸ πλῆθος ἐμάνθανε. μαθὼν δὲ πάντα ἀτρεκέως ἀπήλαυνε ὀπίσω κατʼ ἡσυχίην· οὔτε γάρ τις ἐδίωκε ἀλογίης τε ἐνεκύρησε πολλῆς· ἀπελθών τε ἔλεγε πρὸς Ξέρξην τά περ ὀπώπεε πάντα.
He saw some of the men exercising, and others combing their hair. Beholding these things he wondered, and he observed their number. Having learned everything accurately, he rode back at his leisure; for no one pursued him, and he met with great indifference; and having returned, he told Xerxes all that he had seen.
- 7.208.1τοὺς ἡγεμόνας ὡς εἴησαν
Anticipation (prolepsis), where the subject of the dependent clause ("the leaders"), which would normally be the nominative οἱ ἡγεμόνες inside the ὡς clause, is placed beforehand in the accusative case (τοὺς ἡγεμόνας) as if it were the object of the main verb ἀκηκόεε.
- 7.208.2τὸ ἀνορθώσαντες εἶχον
The article τὸ is used here as a relative pronoun (equivalent to Attic ὅ), a common feature in Ionic Greek, referring back to the wall (τεῖχος, implied by τείχεος). The phrase εἶχον ἐν φυλακῇ means "kept under guard."