- 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-grc2:8.140B.1-8.140B.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
Alexander continues to urge the Athenians to accept the King's peace offer, pointing out Persia's overwhelming power and Athens' vulnerable geographical location.
Μαρδόνιος μὲν ταῦτα ὦ Ἀθηναῖοι ἐνετείλατό μοι εἰπεῖν πρὸς ὑμέας· ἐγὼ δὲ περὶ μὲν εὐνοίης τῆς πρὸς ὑμέας ἐούσης ἐξ ἐμεῦ οὐδὲν λέξω, οὐ γὰρ ἂν νῦν πρῶτον ἐκμάθοιτε, προσχρηίζω δὲ ὑμέων πείθεσθαι Μαρδονίῳ.
”Men of Athens, Mardonius instructed me to say these things to you. But as for the goodwill that exists from me toward you, I will say nothing, for you would not learn of it now for the first time; but I urge you to obey Mardonius.
ἐνορῶ γὰρ ὑμῖν οὐκ οἵοισί τε ἐσομένοισι1 τὸν πάντα χρόνον πολεμέειν Ξέρξῃ· εἰ γὰρ ἐνώρων τοῦτο ἐν ὑμῖν, οὐκ ἄν κοτε ἐς ὑμέας ἦλθον2 ἔχων λόγους τούσδε· καὶ γὰρ δύναμις ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον ἡ βασιλέος ἐστὶ καὶ χεὶρ ὑπερμήκης.
For I perceive in you that you will not be able to wage war against Xerxes for all time; if I had seen this in you, I would never have come to you with these words; for the King’s power is superhuman, and his reach is extremely long.
ἢν ὦν μὴ αὐτίκα ὁμολογήσητε, μεγάλα προτεινόντων3 ἐπʼ οἷσι ὁμολογέειν ἐθέλουσι, δειμαίνω ὑπὲρ ὑμέων ἐν τρίβῳ τε μάλιστα οἰκημένων τῶν συμμάχων πάντων αἰεί τε φθειρομένων μούνων, ἐξαίρετον μεταίχμιόν τε τὴν γῆν ἐκτημένων.
Therefore, if you do not come to terms immediately, when they are offering great proposals on the basis of which they are willing to agree, I fear for you, who of all the allies dwell most directly in the path of invasion, and who are always being destroyed alone, possessing a land that is a select battleground between the armies.
ἀλλὰ πείθεσθε· πολλοῦ γὰρ ὑμῖν ἄξια ταῦτα, εἰ βασιλεύς γε ὁ μέγας μούνοισι ὑμῖν Ἑλλήνων τὰς ἁμαρτάδας ἀπιεὶς ἐθέλει φίλος γενέσθαι.
But obey; for this is of great value to you, if the Great King, forgiving the offenses of you alone among the Greeks, is willing to become your friend.”
- 8.140B.2ἐνορῶ γὰρ ὑμῖν οὐκ οἵοισί τε ἐσομένοισι
The verb ἐνορῶ (to perceive in) takes a dative (ὑμῖν) and an agreeing participle (ἐσομένοισι) to mean "I perceive that you will not be able..." The form οἵοισί τε ἐσομένοισι is the future participle dative plural of οἷός τέ εἰμι (to be able).
- 8.140B.2εἰ γὰρ ἐνώρων τοῦτο ἐν ὑμῖν, οὐκ ἄν κοτε ἐς ὑμέας ἦλθον
A contrary-to-fact conditional sentence. The protasis (εἰ γὰρ ἐνώρων) is in the imperfect (denoting a continuous state in the past or present: "if I saw/had seen this in you"), while the apodosis (οὐκ ἄν κοτε... ἦλθον) is in the aorist with ἄν (denoting a past event: "I would never have come").
- 8.140B.3μεγάλα προτεινόντων
A genitive absolute construction with the logical subject (the Persians, or Mardonius and the King) omitted, meaning "when they are offering great proposals."