- 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-grc2:8.135.1-8.135.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
Mys visits the sanctuary of Ptöan Apollo, where the prophet suddenly delivers the oracle in the Carian language, which only Mys is able to understand and record on a tablet.
τότε δὲ θῶμά μοι μέγιστον γενέσθαι λέγεται ὑπὸ Θηβαίων·1 ἐλθεῖν ἄρα τὸν Εὐρωπέα Μῦν, περιστρωφώμενον πάντα τὰ χρηστήρια, καὶ ἐς τοῦ Πτῴου Ἀπόλλωνος τὸ τέμενος. τοῦτο δὲ τὸ ἱρὸν καλέεται μὲν Πτῷον, ἔστι δὲ Θηβαίων, κεῖται δὲ ὑπὲρ τῆς Κωπαΐδος λίμνης πρὸς ὄρεϊ ἀγχοτάτω Ἀκραιφίης πόλιος.
At that time, a very great wonder is said by the Thebans to have occurred: namely, that Mys of Europos, who was visiting all the oracle-places, arrived also at the sanctuary of Ptöan Apollo. This temple is called Ptöon, but it belongs to the Thebans and lies above Lake Copais, near the mountain closest to the city of Acraephia.
ἐς τοῦτο τὸ ἱρὸν ἐπείτε παρελθεῖν τὸν καλεόμενον τοῦτον Μῦν, ἕπεσθαι δέ οἱ τῶν ἀστῶν αἱρετοὺς ἄνδρας τρεῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ κοινοῦ ὡς ἀπογραψομένους τὰ θεσπιέειν ἔμελλε, καὶ πρόκατε2 τὸν πρόμαντιν βαρβάρῳ γλώσσῃ χρᾶν.3
When this man called Mys entered into this temple, and three citizens chosen from the public by the Thebans followed him to write down what should be prophesied, then suddenly the prophet began to deliver the oracle in a barbarian tongue.
καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἑπομένους τῶν Θηβαίων ἐν θώματι ἔχεσθαι ἀκούοντας βαρβάρου γλώσσης ἀντὶ Ἑλλάδος, οὐδὲ ἔχειν ὅ τι χρήσωνται4 τῷ παρεόντι πρήγματι· τὸν δὲ Εὐρωπέα Μῦν ἐξαρπάσαντα παρʼ αὐτῶν τὴν ἐφέροντο δέλτον, τὰ λεγόμενα ὑπὸ τοῦ προφήτεω γράφειν ἐς αὐτήν, φάναι δὲ Καρίῃ μιν γλώσσῃ χρᾶν,5 συγγραψάμενον δὲ οἴχεσθαι ἀπιόντα ἐς Θεσσαλίην.
And the Thebans who followed him were seized with wonder at hearing a barbarian tongue instead of Greek, and did not know how to deal with the present situation; but Mys of Europos, snatching from them the tablet they were carrying, wrote on it the words spoken by the prophet, declaring that he was speaking in the Carian language, and having written it down, he departed for Thessaly.
- 8.135.1γενέσθαι λέγεται ὑπὸ Θηβαίων
The phrase ὑπὸ Θηβαίων expresses the agent of the passive λέγεται ('is said by the Thebans'). Although it could theoretically be construed with γενέσθαι ('to have occurred among the Thebans'), taking it with λέγεται is much more natural in Herodotus' reportative context.
- 8.135.2καὶ πρόκατε
A paratactic construction (sometimes called 'inverted kai') where the main clause is introduced by καὶ after the subordinate temporal clause ('When..., then suddenly...'). It serves to emphasize the suddenness of the occurrence.
- 8.135.2ἐπείτε παρελθεῖν ... χρᾶν
The infinitive παρελθεῖν is used inside the temporal clause introduced by ἐπείτε (Ionic for ἐπεί), and the main verb also appears as the infinitive χρᾶν (from χράω). This reflects Herodotus' characteristic style of sustaining indirect discourse (governed by the initial λέγεται) even through subordinate clauses and subsequent sentences.
- 8.135.3ὅ τι χρήσωνται
χρήσωνται is the third-person plural aorist middle subjunctive of χράομαι. It functions as a deliberative subjunctive in an indirect question, expressing their bewilderment as to 'what they should do' or 'how they should handle' the situation.
- 8.135.3φάναι δὲ Καρίῃ μιν γλώσσῃ χρᾶν
The accusative pronoun μιν (= αὐτόν) is the subject of the infinitive χρᾶν ('to deliver an oracle', from χράω). It refers not to Mys himself (who is the subject of φάναι), but to the prophet, meaning: 'Mys declared that he (the prophet) was delivering the oracle in the Carian language.'