- 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-grc2:7.9C.1
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Mardonius argues that no Greek would dare to oppose the king who leads the vast Asiatic army and fleet, asserting that even if they fight, they will realize Persian military superiority, and urges that nothing should be left untried.
σοὶ δὲ δὴ μέλλει τίς ὦ βασιλεῦ ἀντιώσεσθαι πόλεμον προφέρων, ἄγοντι1 καὶ πλῆθος τὸ ἐκ τῆς Ἀσίης καὶ νέας τὰς ἁπάσας; ὡς μὲν ἐγὼ δοκέω, οὐκ ἐς τοῦτο θράσεος2 ἀνήκει τὰ Ἑλλήνων πρήγματα· εἰ δὲ ἄρα ἔγωγε ψευσθείην γνώμῃ3 καὶ ἐκεῖνοι ἐπαερθέντες ἀβουλίῃ ἔλθοιεν ἡμῖν ἐς μάχην, μάθοιεν ἂν ὡς εἰμὲν ἀνθρώπων ἄριστοι τὰ πολέμια. ἔστω δʼ ὦν μηδὲν ἀπείρητον· αὐτόματον γὰρ οὐδέν, ἀλλʼ ἀπὸ πείρης πάντα ἀνθρώποισι φιλέει γίνεσθαι.4
And who, O King, is going to oppose you by bringing war, when you lead both the multitude from Asia and all the ships? As I indeed think, the affairs of the Greeks have not reached such a point of boldness; but if, after all, I should be deceived in my judgment, and they, elated by folly, should come to battle with us, they would learn that we are the best of men in matters of war. At all events, let nothing be untried; for nothing happens of its own accord, but all things are accustomed to come to men through trial.
- 7.9C.1ἄγοντι
Dative singular present participle, agreeing with the personal pronoun σοὶ at the beginning of the sentence (the object of ἀντιώσεσθαι), expressing the circumstance: 'when you lead / though you lead'.
- 7.9C.1ἐς τοῦτο θράσεος
The genitive θράσεος (Ionic form of θράσους, from θράσος) is a partitive genitive qualifying the neuter demonstrative pronoun τοῦτο, meaning 'to this point of boldness'.
- 7.9C.1ψευσθείην γνώμῃ
ψευσθείην is the first-person singular aorist passive optative of ψεύδω (to deceive), here used in a hypothetical condition, and γνώμῃ is a dative of respect. The phrase means 'if I should be deceived in my judgment'.
- 7.9C.1ἀνθρώποισι φιλέει γίνεσθαι
ἀνθρώποισι is the Ionic dative plural for ἀνθρώποις. φιλέει is the uncontracted Ionic form of φιλεῖ (from φιλέω), which with the infinitive γίνεσθαι means 'is accustomed to happen' or 'wont to happen for men'.