- 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-grc2:7.3.1-7.3.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Demaratus, exiled from Sparta, arrives in Susa and advises Xerxes to argue that as the son born after his father became king, he has the rightful claim; Darius accepts this reasoning and declares Xerxes king, though the author notes Xerxes would have won anyway due to Atossa's power.
Δαρείου δὲ οὐκ ἀποδεικνυμένου κω γνώμην, ἐτύγχανε κατὰ τὠυτὸ τούτοισι καὶ Δημάρητος ὁ Ἀρίστωνος ἀναβεβηκὼς1 ἐς Σοῦσα, ἐστερημένος τε τῆς ἐν Σπάρτῃ βασιληίης καὶ φυγὴν ἐπιβαλὼν ἑωυτῷ ἐκ Λακεδαίμονος.
While Darius was not yet declaring his decision, Demaratus, the son of Ariston, happened to have come up to Susa at this very same time, having been deprived of the kingship in Sparta and having imposed exile upon himself from Lacedaemon.
οὗτος ὡνὴρ πυθόμενος τῶν Δαρείου παίδων τὴν διαφορήν, ἐλθών, ὡς ἡ φάτις μιν ἔχει, Ξέρξῃ συνεβούλευε λέγειν πρὸς τοῖσι ἔλεγε ἔπεσι, ὡς αὐτὸς μὲν γένοιτο Δαρείῳ ἤδη βασιλεύοντι καὶ ἔχοντι τὸ Περσέων κράτος, Ἀρτοβαζάνης δὲ2 ἔτι ἰδιώτῃ ἐόντι Δαρείῳ·
This man, having learned of the dispute among Darius’s sons, came and, as the story goes, advised Xerxes to say, in addition to the arguments he was already making, that he himself was born to Darius when the latter was already king and held the power of the Persians, whereas Artobazanes was born to Darius when he was still a private citizen.
οὔκων οὔτε οἰκὸς εἴη οὔτε δίκαιον ἄλλον τινὰ τὸ γέρας ἔχειν πρὸ ἑωυτοῦ· ἐπεί γε καὶ ἐν Σπάρτῃ ἔφη ὁ Δημάρητος ὑποτιθέμενος οὕτω νομίζεσθαι, ἢν οἳ μὲν προγεγονότες ἔωσι πρὶν ἢ τὸν πατέρα σφέων βασιλεῦσαι, ὁ δὲ βασιλεύοντι ὀψίγονος ἐπιγένηται, τοῦ ἐπιγενομένου τὴν ἔκδεξιν τῆς βασιληίης γίνεσθαι.3
Therefore, it was neither reasonable nor just for anyone else to have the prize of honor instead of himself; for Demaratus, in suggesting this, said that it was also the custom in Sparta that if there were children born before their father became king, and another was born later to him when he was reigning, the succession to the kingship should belong to the one born later.
χρησαμένου δὲ Ξέρξεω τῇ Δημαρήτου ὑποθήκῃ, γνοὺς ὁ Δαρεῖος ὡς λέγοι δίκαια βασιλέα μιν ἀπέδεξε. δοκέειν δέ μοι, καὶ ἄνευ ταύτης τῆς ὑποθήκης βασιλεῦσαι ἂν4 Ξέρξης· ἡ γὰρ Ἄτοσσα εἶχε τὸ πᾶν κράτος.
When Xerxes made use of Demaratus’s advice, Darius, realizing that he spoke what was right, declared him king. But in my opinion, even without this advice, Xerxes would have become king; for Atossa held the entire power.
- 7.3.1ἐτύγχανε ... ἀναβεβηκώς
The verb τυγχάνω paired with the participle ἀναβεβηκώς expresses the coincidence of events ("happened to have come up at that very time").
- 7.3.2ὡς αὐτὸς μὲν γένοιτο ... Ἀρτοβαζάνης δὲ
The oblique optative γένοιτο is used in the indirect discourse introduced by ὡς. The subject αὐτός is in the nominative because it refers back to Xerxes, the recipient of the advice, who is the subject of the reported speech. In the second clause, γένοιτο is omitted after Ἀρτοβαζάνης δὲ.
- 7.3.3τοῦ ἐπιγενομένου τὴν ἔκδεξιν τῆς βασιληίης γίνεσθαι
This is an accusative and infinitive construction in indirect discourse. The noun phrase τὴν ἔκδεξιν ("the succession") functions as the subject of the infinitive γίνεσθαι, while the genitive τοῦ ἐπιγενομένου denotes possession or belonging ("belongs to the one born later").
- 7.3.4βασιλεῦσαι ἂν
The infinitive with ἄν (βασιλεῦσαι ἂν) represents a contrary-to-fact past potential (which would be ἐβασίλευσε ἄν in a direct main clause), here subordinated to the absolute infinitive clause δοκέειν δέ μοι ("it seems to me").