- 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-grc2:7.36.1-7.36.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
The chapter describes the specific construction methods used by the new architects to bridge the Hellespont, detailing the arrangement and anchoring of the ships, the stretching of flax and papyrus cables, and the creation of a roadway using timber, brushwood, earth, and barriers.
καὶ οἳ μὲν ταῦτα ἐποίεον, τοῖσι προσέκειτο αὕτη ἡ ἄχαρις τιμή, τὰς δὲ ἄλλοι ἀρχιτέκτονες ἐζεύγνυσαν. ἐζεύγνυσαν δὲ ὧδε, πεντηκοντέρους καὶ τριήρεας συνθέντες, ὑπὸ μὲν τὴν πρὸς τοῦ Εὐξείνου πόντου ἑξήκοντά τε καὶ τριηκοσίας, ὑπὸ δὲ τὴν ἑτέρην τεσσερεσκαίδεκα καὶ τριηκοσίας, τοῦ μὲν Πόντου ἐπικαρσίας1 τοῦ δὲ Ἑλλησπόντου κατὰ ῥόον, ἵνα ἀνακωχεύῃ τὸν τόνον τῶν ὅπλων·2
And while those to whom this thankless office belonged were performing this task, other builders threw bridges across. They bridged the strait in the following manner: they lashed together fifty-oared galleys and triremes, three hundred and sixty under the bridge on the side of the Euxine Sea, and three hundred and fourteen under the other, the ships being placed at an angle to the Euxine and along the current of the Hellespont, so that they might support the tension of the cables.
συνθέντες δὲ ἀγκύρας κατῆκαν περιμήκεας, τὰς μὲν πρὸς τοῦ Πόντου τῆς ἑτέρης τῶν ἀνέμων εἵνεκεν3 τῶν ἔσωθεν ἐκπνεόντων, τῆς δὲ ἑτέρης πρὸς ἑσπέρης τε καὶ τοῦ Αἰγαίου ζεφύρου τε καὶ νότου εἵνεκα. διέκπλοον δὲ ὑπόφαυσιν κατέλιπον τῶν πεντηκοντέρων καὶ τριηρέων, ἵνα καὶ ἐς τὸν Πόντον ἔχῃ ὁ βουλόμενος πλέειν πλοίοισι λεπτοῖσι καὶ ἐκ τοῦ Πόντου ἔξω.
Having lashed them together, they let down very long anchors, some on the side of the Euxine to secure the one bridge against the winds blowing from within, and others on the western side of the other bridge to secure it against the west and south winds from the Aegean. They also left a passage for light craft between the fifty-oared galleys and triremes, so that anyone who wished might sail into the Euxine and out of it.
ταῦτα δὲ ποιήσαντες κατέτεινον ἐκ γῆς στρεβλοῦντες ὄνοισι ξυλίνοισι τὰ ὅπλα, οὐκέτι χωρὶς ἑκάτερα τάξαντες, ἀλλὰ δύο μὲν λευκολίνου δασάμενοι ἐς ἑκατέρην, τέσσερα δὲ τῶν βυβλίνων. παχύτης μὲν ἦν ἡ αὐτὴ καὶ καλλονή, κατὰ λόγον δὲ ἐμβριθέστερα ἦν τὰ λίνεα, τοῦ τάλαντον ὁ πῆχυς εἷλκε.4
Having done this, they stretched the cables from the land, winding them with wooden windlasses, no longer keeping the two kinds of cable separate, but assigning to each bridge two cables of white flax and four of papyrus. The thickness and quality of both were the same, but in proportion the flaxen ones were heavier, of which a cubit’s length weighed a talent.
ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐγεφυρώθη ὁ πόρος, κορμοὺς ξύλων καταπρίσαντες καὶ ποιήσαντες ἴσους τῆς σχεδίης τῷ εὔρεϊ κόσμῳ ἐτίθεσαν κατύπερθε τῶν ὅπλων τοῦ τόνου, θέντες δὲ ἐπεξῆς ἐνθαῦτα αὖτις ἐπεζεύγνυον·
When the channel was bridged, they sawed logs of wood, making them equal to the width of the float-bridge, and laid them in order on top of the stretched cables, and having placed them side by side, they lashed them together again.
ποιήσαντες δὲ ταῦτα ὕλην ἐπεφόρησαν, κόσμῳ δὲ θέντες καὶ τὴν ὕλην γῆν ἐπεφόρησαν, κατανάξαντες δὲ καὶ τὴν γῆν φραγμὸν παρείρυσαν ἔνθεν καὶ ἔνθεν, ἵνα μὴ φοβέηται τὰ ὑποζύγια τὴν θάλασσαν ὑπερορῶντα καὶ οἱ ἵπποι.
Having done this, they brought brushwood and placed it in order on top, and over the brushwood they put earth, and having trodden the earth down, they drew a barrier along each side, so that the beasts of burden and the horses might not be frightened by looking down upon the sea.
- 7.36.1τοῦ μὲν Πόντου ἐπικαρσίας
The genitive τοῦ μὲν Πόντου depends on the adjective ἐπικαρσίας ("at an angle to", "transverse to"), expressing relation ("at an angle relative to the Euxine"). It describes the orientation of the ships.
- 7.36.1ἵνα ἀνακωχεύῃ τὸν τόνον τῶν ὅπλων
The subject of the subjunctive verb ἀνακωχεύῃ is the arrangement of the ships (or the fleet as a whole) implied by the previous clauses. The verb ἀνακωχεύω means "to hold up", "to support", or "to keep in suspense", indicating that this orientation served to maintain and ease the tension of the cables.
- 7.36.2τῆς ἑτέρης τῶν ἀνέμων εἵνεκεν
τῆς ἑτέρης is a genitive of reference meaning "of the one (of the two bridges)", standing in contrast with τῆς δὲ ἑτέρης in the next clause. It specifies that the anchors for one bridge were cast to secure it against the winds.
- 7.36.3τοῦ τάλαντον ὁ πῆχυς εἷλκε
τοῦ is the genitive of the relative pronoun (Ionic form for οὗ), referring to the flaxen cables (τὰ λίνεα). The verb ἕλκω (literally "to draw" or "to drag") is used here intransitively to mean "to weigh", yielding the meaning "of which a cubit weighed a talent."