- 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-grc2:8.37.1-8.37.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
As the Persian forces approach the temple of Athena Pronaea at Delphi, a miracle occurs where forbidden sacred weapons appear outside the temple on their own. Subsequently, thunderbolts from heaven, falling peaks from Mount Parnassus, and mysterious cries from the temple strike down the invaders.
ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀγχοῦ ἦσαν οἱ βάρβαροι ἐπιόντες καὶ ἀπώρων τὸ ἱρόν, ἐν τούτῳ ὁ προφήτης, τῷ οὔνομα ἦν Ἀκήρατος, ὁρᾷ πρὸ τοῦ νηοῦ ὅπλα προκείμενα ἔσωθεν ἐκ τοῦ μεγάρου ἐξενηνειγμένα ἱρά, τῶν οὐκ ὅσιον ἦν ἅπτεσθαι ἀνθρώπων οὐδενί.1
When the barbarians had come near in their advance and could see the temple, at that moment the prophet, whose name was Aceratus, saw sacred weapons lying before the temple, which had been carried out from inside the inner sanctuary, and which it was not lawful for any human to touch.
ὃ μὲν δὴ2 ἤιε Δελφῶν τοῖσι παρεοῦσι σημανέων τὸ τέρας· οἱ δὲ βάρβαροι ἐπειδὴ ἐγίνοντο ἐπειγόμενοι κατὰ τὸ ἱρὸν τῆς Προναίης Ἀθηναίης, ἐπιγίνεταί σφι τέρεα ἔτι μέζονα τοῦ πρὶν γενομένου τέρεος. θῶμα μὲν γὰρ καὶ τοῦτο κάρτα ἐστί, ὅπλα ἀρήια αὐτόματα φανῆναι3 ἔξω προκείμενα τοῦ νηοῦ· τὰ δὲ δὴ ἐπὶ τούτῳ δεύτερα ἐπιγενόμενα καὶ διὰ πάντων φασμάτων ἄξια θωμάσαι μάλιστα.
He then went to announce the marvel to the Delphians who were present. But when the barbarians in their haste had arrived near the temple of Athena Pronaea, there happened to them marvels even greater than the marvel that had occurred before. For although this also was indeed a great wonder, that weapons of war should have appeared lying outside the temple of their own accord, yet the second events that followed upon this were the most worthy of wonder among all apparitions.
ἐπεὶ γὰρ δὴ ἦσαν ἐπιόντες οἱ βάρβαροι κατὰ τὸ ἱρὸν τῆς Προναίης Ἀθηναίης, ἐν τούτῳ ἐκ μὲν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ κεραυνοὶ αὐτοῖσι ἐνέπιπτον, ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ Παρνησοῦ ἀπορραγεῖσαι δύο κορυφαὶ ἐφέροντο πολλῷ πατάγῳ ἐς αὐτοὺς καὶ κατέβαλον συχνούς σφεων, ἐκ δὲ τοῦ ἱροῦ τῆς Προναίης βοή τε καὶ ἀλαλαγμὸς ἐγίνετο.
For indeed, when the barbarians had come in their advance near the temple of Athena Pronaea, at that moment thunderbolts fell upon them from heaven, and two peaks broken off from Mount Parnassus came rushing down upon them with a great crash, striking down many of them, and from the temple of Pronaea a shout and a war-cry arose.
- 8.37.1τῶν οὐκ ὅσιον ἦν ἅπτεσθαι ἀνθρώπων οὐδενί
The relative pronoun τῶν refers to the sacred weapons (ὅπλα ἱρά) and is in the genitive case governed by the verb ἅπτεσθαι (to touch). ἀνθρώπων οὐδενί (for no human) functions as the dative of interest or agent with the impersonal expression οὐκ ὅσιον ἦν (it was not lawful).
- 8.37.2ὃ μὲν δὴ
The demonstrative pronoun ὅ used with μέν functions as a personal pronoun ('he') referring to the prophet Aceratus, the subject of the preceding clause, preparing for the contrast with οἱ δὲ βάρβαροι (but the barbarians) that follows.
- 8.37.2φανῆναι
The infinitive φανῆναι (to appear) functions substantively as the subject of or in apposition to the introductory statement θῶμα μὲν γὰρ καὶ τοῦτο κάρτα ἐστί (for this also is indeed a great wonder).