- 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-grc2:8.115.1-8.115.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Xerxes retreats in haste, but his army suffers devastating losses from hunger and plague. Furthermore, he is unable to recover the sacred chariot of Zeus left in Siris, as the Paeonians falsely claim it was stolen by upper Thracians.
ὃ μὲν1 δὴ δεξάμενος τὸ ῥηθὲν2 ἀπαλλάσσετο, Ξέρξης δὲ Μαρδόνιον ἐν Θεσσαλίῃ καταλιπὼν αὐτὸς ἐπορεύετο κατὰ τάχος ἐς τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον, καὶ ἀπικνέεται ἐς τὸν πόρον τῆς διαβάσιος ἐν πέντε καὶ τεσσεράκοντα ἡμέρῃσι, ἀπάγων τῆς στρατιῆς οὐδὲν μέρος ὡς εἰπεῖν.3
The herald, having received what was said, departed; but Xerxes, leaving Mardonius in Thessaly, himself marched in haste toward the Hellespont, and arrived at the crossing-place in forty-five days, bringing back, so to speak, no part of his army.
ὅκου δὲ πορευόμενοι γινοίατο καὶ κατʼ οὕστινας ἀνθρώπους, τὸν τούτων καρπὸν ἁρπάζοντες ἐσιτέοντο· εἰ δὲ καρπὸν μηδένα εὕροιεν, οἳ δὲ4 τὴν ποίην τὴν ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἀναφυομένην καὶ τῶν δενδρέων τὸν φλοιὸν περιλέποντες καὶ τὰ φύλλα καταδρέποντες κατήσθιον, ὁμοίως τῶν τε ἡμέρων καὶ τῶν ἀγρίων, καὶ ἔλειπον οὐδέν· ταῦτα δʼ ἐποίεον ὑπὸ λιμοῦ.
Wherever they came on their march and among whatever people, they seized and fed on their crops; and if they found no crops, they would strip the bark from the trees and pluck the leaves and devour them, along with the grass growing from the earth, treating both cultivated and wild trees alike, and leaving nothing; this they did because of hunger.
ἐπιλαβὼν δὲ λοιμός τε τὸν στρατὸν καὶ δυσεντερίη κατʼ ὁδὸν ἔφθειρε. τοὺς δὲ καὶ νοσέοντας αὐτῶν κατέλειπε, ἐπιτάσσων τῇσι πόλισι, ἵνα ἑκάστοτε γίνοιτο ἐλαύνων, μελεδαίνειν τε καὶ τρέφειν, ἐν Θεσσαλίῃ τε τινὰς καὶ ἐν Σίρι τῆς Παιονίης καὶ ἐν Μακεδονίῃ.
Furthermore, plague and dysentery attacked the army on the way and destroyed it. Those of them who were sick Xerxes left behind, ordering the cities through which he happened to be marching at any time to care for and feed them—some in Thessaly, some in Siris of Paeonia, and some in Macedonia.
ἔνθα καὶ τὸ ἱρὸν ἅρμα καταλιπὼν τοῦ Διός, ὅτε ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα ἤλαυνε, ἀπιὼν οὐκ ἀπέλαβε, ἀλλὰ δόντες οἱ Παίονες τοῖσι Θρήιξι ἀπαιτέοντος Ξέρξεω ἔφασαν5 νεμομένας6 ἁρπασθῆναι ὑπὸ τῶν ἄνω Θρηίκων τῶν περὶ τὰς πηγὰς τοῦ Στρυμόνος οἰκημένων.
There too, having left the sacred chariot of Zeus when he was marching against Greece, he did not recover it on his return; for though the Paeonians had given it to the Thracians, when Xerxes demanded it back, they said that it had been carried off while grazing by the upper Thracians who dwelt around the sources of the Strymon.
- 8.115.1ὃ μὲν
A Homeric usage of the demonstrative pronoun, referring to the Spartan herald (κῆρυξ) mentioned in the previous chapter.
- 8.115.1δεξάμενος τὸ ῥηθὲν
Meaning "having received what was said." The verb δέχομαι is often used in a religious context to mean "accepting" an utterance as an omen or favorable oracle.
- 8.115.1ὡς εἰπεῖν
An absolute use of the infinitive expressing limitation, meaning "so to speak" or "virtually." It softens the negative expression οὐδὲν μέρος (no part at all) to indicate a state close to total destruction.
- 8.115.2οἳ δὲ
Although taking the form of a relative pronoun, here it functions as a demonstrative pronoun ("they") introducing the subject of the main clause in response to the preceding conditional clause.
- 8.115.4δόντες ... ἔφασαν
The participle δόντες carries a concessive nuance, forming a contrast: "although they had (in fact) given it, they claimed (that...)."
- 8.115.4νεμομένας
A present participle in the feminine plural accusative. It modifies the contextually omitted "horses" (ἵππους, a feminine noun), indicating that they were grazing.
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
- 2026-09-21 AI review — source 1