- 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-grc2:7.239.1-7.239.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-07
The author explains how the Lacedaemonians first learned of the Persian expedition plans, detailing the secret writing tablet sent by the exiled Demaratus and how Gorgo solved the mystery of its blank appearance.
ἄνειμι δὲ ἐκεῖσε τοῦ λόγου τῇ μοι τὸ πρότερον ἐξέλιπε.1 ἐπύθοντο Λακεδαιμόνιοι ὅτι βασιλεὺς στέλλοιτο ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα πρῶτοι, καὶ οὕτω δὴ ἐς τὸ χρηστήριον τὸ ἐς Δελφοὺς ἀπέπεμψαν, ἔνθα δή σφι ἐχρήσθη τὰ ὀλίγῳ πρότερον εἶπον· ἐπύθοντο δὲ τρόπῳ θωμασίῳ.
I will return to that part of the story where my narrative previously left off. The Lacedaemonians were the first to learn that the king was marching against Greece, and so indeed they sent messengers to the oracle at Delphi, where that which I mentioned a little earlier was prophesied to them; and they learned of it in a wondrous manner.
Δημάρητος γὰρ ὁ Ἀρίστωνος φυγὼν ἐς Μήδους, ὡς μὲν ἐγὼ δοκέω καὶ τὸ οἰκὸς ἐμοὶ συμμάχεται,2 οὐκ ἦν εὔνοος Λακεδαιμονίοισι, πάρεστι δὲ εἰκάζειν εἴτε εὐνοίῃ ταῦτα ἐποίησε εἴτε καὶ καταχαίρων. ἐπείτε γὰρ Ξέρξῃ ἔδοξε στρατηλατέειν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα, ἐὼν ἐν Σούσοισι ὁ Δημάρητος καὶ πυθόμενος ταῦτα ἠθέλησε Λακεδαιμονίοισι ἐξαγγεῖλαι.
For Demaratus, the son of Ariston, who had fled to the Medes, was not, as I believe—and probability itself is my ally—well-disposed toward the Lacedaemonians; but it is open to conjecture whether he did these things out of goodwill or indeed in mockery. For when Xerxes decided to march against Greece, Demaratus, being in Susa and having heard of this, wished to report it to the Lacedaemonians.
ἄλλως μὲν δὴ οὐκ εἶχε σημῆναι· ἐπικίνδυνον γὰρ ἦν μὴ λαμφθείη·3 ὁ δὲ μηχανᾶται τοιάδε· δελτίον δίπτυχον λαβὼν τὸν κηρὸν αὐτοῦ ἐξέκνησε, καὶ ἔπειτα ἐν τῷ ξύλῳ τοῦ δελτίου ἔγραψε τὴν βασιλέος γνώμην, ποιήσας δὲ ταῦτα ὀπίσω ἐπέτηξε τὸν κηρὸν ἐπὶ τὰ γράμματα, ἵνα φερόμενον κεινὸν τὸ δελτίον μηδὲν πρῆγμα παρέχοι πρὸς τῶν ὁδοφυλάκων.
In no other way was he able to make it known, for there was danger that he might be caught; so he devised the following plan. Taking a double-folded writing tablet, he scraped the wax off it, and then upon the wood of the tablet he wrote the king’s intention; having done this, he melted the wax back over the writing, so that the tablet, being carried apparently blank, might cause no trouble from the road-guards.
ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ἀπίκετο ἐς τὴν Λακεδαίμονα, οὐκ εἶχον συμβαλέσθαι οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, πρίν γε δή σφι, ὡς ἐγὼ πυνθάνομαι, Κλεομένεος μὲν θυγάτηρ Λεωνίδεω δὲ γυνὴ Γοργὼ ὑπέθετο ἐπιφρασθεῖσα αὐτή, τὸν κηρὸν κνᾶν κελεύουσα, καὶ εὑρήσειν σφέας γράμματα ἐν τῷ ξύλῳ.4 πειθόμενοι δὲ εὗρον καὶ ἐπελέξαντο, ἔπειτα δὲ τοῖσι ἄλλοισι Ἕλλησι ἐπέστειλαν. ταῦτα μὲν δὴ οὕτω λέγεται γενέσθαι.
And when it indeed arrived in Lacedaemon, the Lacedaemonians were unable to understand it, until at last, as I understand, Gorgo, the daughter of Cleomenes and wife of Leonidas, herself took thought and suggested to them, bidding them scrape off the wax, and they would find writing on the wood. And obeying her, they found and read it, and then they sent word to the other Greeks. These things indeed are said to have happened in this way.
- 7.239.1ἄνειμι δὲ ἐκεῖσε τοῦ λόγου τῇ μοι τὸ πρότερον ἐξέλιπε.
The adverb ἐκεῖσε ("thither") is qualified by the partitive genitive τοῦ λόγου ("of the story"), meaning "to that part of the story." The relative adverb τῇ means "where/at which point," and the intransitive verb ἐξέλιπε ("left off" or "failed") has an implied subject such as "my narrative."
- 7.239.2ὡς μὲν ἐγὼ δοκέω καὶ τὸ οἰκὸς ἐμοὶ συμμάχεται
ὡς ... δοκέω is a parenthetical clause meaning "as I think." τὸ οἰκός (Ionic for τὸ εἰκός, "probability" or "what is reasonable") is the subject of συμμάχεται ("allies with" or "fights on the side of"), a metaphorical expression indicating that the author's opinion is supported by logical probability.
- 7.239.3ἐπικίνδυνον γὰρ ἦν μὴ λαμφθείη
The impersonal expression ἐπικίνδυνον ἦν ("it was dangerous") is followed by the conjunction μή introducing a clause of apprehension with the passive optative λαμφθείη (from λαμβάνω). This is an oblique optative after a past main verb (ἦν), meaning "there was danger lest he should be caught."
- 7.239.4καὶ εὑρήσειν σφέας γράμματα ἐν τῷ ξύλῳ
The future infinitive εὑρήσειν ("would find") with its accusative subject σφέας ("they") depends on the indirect speech implied either by κελεύουσα ("bidding") or the main verb ὑπέθετο ("suggested"), meaning "telling them that they would find writing on the wood."