- 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-grc2:7.57.1-7.57.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-07
Describes two portents predicting Xerxes' future downfall, which occurred when he crossed the Hellespont and previously while in Sardis: a horse giving birth to a hare, and a mule giving birth to another mule with double genitals.
ὡς δὲ διέβησαν πάντες, ἐς ὁδὸν ὁρμημένοισι1 τέρας σφι ἐφάνη μέγα, τὸ Ξέρξης ἐν οὐδενὶ λόγῳ ἐποιήσατο καίπερ εὐσύμβλητον ἐόν· ἵππος γὰρ ἔτεκε λαγόν. εὐσύμβλητον ὦν τῇδε τοῦτο ἐγένετο, ὅτι ἔμελλε μὲν ἐλᾶν στρατιὴν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα Ξέρξης ἀγαυρότατα καὶ μεγαλοπρεπέστατα, ὀπίσω δὲ περὶ ἑωυτοῦ τρέχων2 ἥξειν ἐς τὸν αὐτὸν χῶρον. ἐγένετο δὲ καὶ ἕτερον αὐτῷ τέρας ἐόντι ἐν Σάρδισι·
When they had all crossed, a great portent appeared to them as they set out on their march, which Xerxes took no account of, although it was easy to interpret; for a horse gave birth to a hare. This was easy to interpret in this way, because Xerxes was going to lead his army against Greece most haughtily and magnificently, but on his return, running for his own life, he would come back to the same place. Another portent had also happened to him while he was in Sardis:
ἡμίονος γὰρ ἔτεκε ἡμίονον διξὰ ἔχουσαν αἰδοῖα, τὰ μὲν ἔρσενος τὰ δὲ θηλέης· κατύπερθε δὲ ἦν τὰ τοῦ ἔρσενος. τῶν ἀμφοτέρων3 λόγον οὐδένα ποιησάμενος τὸ πρόσω ἐπορεύετο, σὺν δέ οἱ ὁ πεζὸς στρατός.
for a mule gave birth to a mule having double genitals, those of a male and those of a female, and those of the male were above. Making no account of both of these, he marched forward, and the land army with him.
- 7.57.1ἐς ὁδὸν ὁρμημένοισι
Perfect middle-passive participle in the dative plural. It agrees with the dative pronoun σφι ('to them'), expressing the circumstance 'as they set out on their march'.
- 7.57.1περὶ ἑωυτοῦ τρέχων
An idiomatic expression derived from formulas like τρέχω περὶ ψυχῆς ('to run for one's life'). It means 'running to save one's own life' (i.e., fleeing in panic).
- 7.57.2τῶν ἀμφοτέρων
Genitive neuter plural, referring to both portents (the horse giving birth to a hare, and the mule giving birth to a hermaphrodite mule). It functions as an objective genitive governed by the participle ποιησάμενος.