- 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-grc2:7.44.1
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Having arrived in Abydos, Xerxes reviews his entire army and navy from a specially prepared seat on a hill, and after watching a naval race won by the Sidonians, he expresses great satisfaction with both the contest and his forces.
ἐπεὶ δʼ ἐγένετο ἐν Ἀβύδῳ μέσῃ, ἠθέλησε Ξέρξης ἰδέσθαι πάντα τὸν στρατόν· καὶ προεπεποίητο γὰρ ἐπὶ κολωνοῦ ἐπίτηδες αὐτῷ ταύτῃ προεξέδρη λίθου λευκοῦ, ἐποίησαν δὲ1 Ἀβυδηνοὶ ἐντειλαμένου πρότερον βασιλέος, ἐνθαῦτα ὡς ἵζετο, κατορῶν ἐπὶ τῆς ἠιόνος ἐθηεῖτο καὶ τὸν πεζὸν καὶ τὰς νέας, θηεύμενος δὲ ἱμέρθη τῶν νεῶν ἅμιλλαν γινομένην ἰδέσθαι.2 ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐγένετό3 τε καὶ ἐνίκων Φοίνικες Σιδώνιοι, ἥσθη τε τῇ ἁμίλλῃ καὶ τῇ στρατιῇ.
When he arrived in the middle of Abydos, Xerxes wished to see the whole army; for a raised seat of white stone had already been specially built for him beforehand on a hill at this very place, which the Abydenes had made, the king having previously given orders. Then, as he sat there, looking down upon the shore, he beheld both the land army and the ships, and as he beheld them, he desired to see a contest taking place among the ships. When it had taken place and the Sidonian Phoenicians won, he was pleased both with the contest and with the army.
- 7.44.1καὶ προεπεποίητο γὰρ ... ἐποίησαν δὲ ...
Within the parenthetical explanation introduced by the causal particle combination καὶ ... γάρ ("for indeed"), a coordinate clause introduced by δέ (ἐποίησαν δὲ Ἀβυδηνοὶ) is placed in parallel. The subject of the pluperfect passive verb προεπεποίητο ("had been built beforehand") is προεξέδρη ("a raised seat"), while ἐντειλαμένου πρότερον βασιλέος ("the king having previously given orders") is a genitive absolute expressing attendant circumstance or cause.
- 7.44.1ἱμέρθη τῶν νεῶν ἅμιλλαν γινομένην ἰδέσθαι
The passive form ἱμέρθη (aorist passive of ἱμείρομαι "to desire") is used deponentally with an active meaning ("he desired"). It takes the complementary infinitive ἰδέσθαι ("to see"), which in turn takes the accusative-and-participle construction ἅμιλλαν γινομένην ("a contest taking place") as its direct object. The genitive τῶν νεῶν modifies ἅμιλλαν ("contest of the ships").
- 7.44.1ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐγένετό
The subject of the intransitive verb ἐγένετο ("took place") is the noun ἅμιλλα ("contest"), implicitly understood from the preceding ἅμιλλαν. It means "when the contest actually took place."