- 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-grc2:7.48.1
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Xerxes questions Artabanus about why he considers the Persian land and sea forces to be disadvantageous compared to the Greeks, asserting that they could simply gather more troops if they were truly lacking.
Ξέρξης δὲ πρὸς ταῦτα ἀμείβετο τοῖσιδε. δαιμόνιε ἀνδρῶν,1 κοῖα ταῦτα λέγεις εἶναι δύο μοι πολεμιώτατα; κότερά τοι ὁ πεζὸς μεμπτὸς κατὰ πλῆθος ἐστὶ καὶ τὸ Ἑλληνικὸν στράτευμα φαίνεται πολλαπλήσιον ἔσεσθαι τοῦ ἡμετέρου, ἢ τὸ ναυτικὸν τὸ ἡμέτερον λείψεσθαι2 τοῦ ἐκείνων, ἢ καὶ συναμφότερα ταῦτα; εἰ γάρ τοι ταύτῃ φαίνεται ἐνδεέστερα εἶναι τὰ ἡμέτερα πρήγματα, στρατοῦ ἂν ἄλλου τις τὴν ταχίστην ἄγερσιν ποιέοιτο.3
To this Xerxes answered with these words: “Strange man, what are these two things you say are most hostile to me? Is it that to you our land army is unsatisfactory in its number, and the Greek army appears likely to be many times larger than ours, or that our navy will fall short of theirs, or even both of these? For if indeed in this respect our affairs appear to be deficient, one would make a gathering of another army as quickly as possible.”
- 7.48.1δαιμόνιε ἀνδρῶν
A vocative expression combining the vocative δαιμόνιε (from the adjective δαιμόνιος, 'divine, strange') with the partitive genitive ἀνδρῶν (from ἀνήρ, 'man'). It is used to express surprise, mild impatience, or friendly remonstrance.
- 7.48.1λείψεσθαι
A future infinitive dependent on the verb φαίνεται (it appears) from the preceding clause, introduced by the conjunction ἤ. Its subject is τὸ ναυτικὸν τὸ ἡμέτερον (our navy), continuing the construction of φαίνεται with an infinitive ('appears to be going to...').
- 7.48.1στρατοῦ ἂν ἄλλου τις τὴν ταχίστην ἄγερσιν ποιέοιτο
A potential optative construction consisting of the particle ἂν and the optative ποιέοιτο (third-person singular middle of ποιέω). Literally 'someone would make...', it expresses a subjective possibility or recommendation ('one could/should make a gathering...').