- 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-grc2:7.27.1-7.27.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Pythius, a wealthy Lydian residing in Celaenae, entertains Xerxes and his entire army and offers to provide funds for the war. When Xerxes inquires about his identity, his courtiers explain that Pythius is the incredibly wealthy man who previously gifted Darius the golden plane-tree and vine.
ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ πόλι ὑποκατήμενος1 Πύθιος ὁ Ἄτους ἀνὴρ Λυδὸς ἐξείνισε τὴν βασιλέος στρατιὴν πᾶσαν ξεινίοισι μεγίστοισι καὶ αὐτὸν Ξέρξην, χρήματά τε ἐπαγγέλλετο βουλόμενος ἐς τὸν πόλεμον παρέχειν.
In this city, Pythius, the son of Atys, a Lydian, residing there, entertained the whole army of the king with the greatest hospitality, as well as Xerxes himself, and offered to provide money, wishing to contribute it for the war.
ἐπαγγελλομένου δὲ χρήματα Πυθίου, εἴρετο Ξέρξης Περσέων τοὺς παρεόντας τίς τε ἐὼν ἀνδρῶν2 Πύθιος καὶ κόσα χρήματα ἐκτημένος ἐπαγγέλλοιτο ταῦτα. οἳ δὲ εἶπαν ὦ βασιλεῦ, οὗτος ἐστὶ ὅς τοι τὸν πατέρα Δαρεῖον ἐδωρήσατο τῇ πλατανίστῳ τῇ χρυσέῃ3 καὶ τῇ ἀμπέλῳ· ὃς καὶ νῦν ἐστι πρῶτος ἀνθρώπων πλούτῳ τῶν ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν4 μετὰ σέ.
When Pythius offered the money, Xerxes asked the Persians who were present who among men Pythius was, and possessing how much wealth he made these offers. And they said: “O king, this is the one who presented your father Darius with the golden plane-tree and the vine; and who even now is the first of men in wealth among those whom we know, after you.”
- 7.27.1ὑποκατήμενος
Present middle participle of the verb ὑποκάθημαι (to sit below, wait, reside). Here it can be interpreted either as Pythius 'residing' in Celaenae or 'waiting' for the Persian army, carrying the nuance of being prepared for their arrival.
- 7.27.2τίς τε ἐὼν ἀνδρῶν
An indirect question phrase consisting of the interrogative pronoun τίς, the partitive genitive ἀνδρῶν (of men), and the present participle ἐών (Ionic form of ὤν). It expresses a strong inquiry into his identity and who he actually was.
- 7.27.2ὅς τοι τὸν πατέρα Δαρεῖον ἐδωρήσατο τῇ πλατανίστῳ τῇ χρυσέῃ...
The verb δωρέομαι (to present, gift) takes an accusative of the person and a dative of the thing. Here, τὸν πατέρα Δαρεῖον is the accusative and τῇ πλατανίστῳ... is the dative. The clitic pronoun τοι (2nd person singular dative) functions as a dative of interest or possession, modifying 'your father'.
- 7.27.2τῶν ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν
The relative pronoun τῶν should grammatically be in the accusative case (οὕς) as the direct object of the transitive verb ἴδμεν (1st person plural Ionic form of οἶδα). However, it has been attracted into the genitive case (attraction) by its antecedent ἀνθρώπων.