- 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-grc2:8.38.1
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Describes how the barbarians fell into a panic and were pursued by the Delphians, and how the survivors who returned home reported a divine portent of two giant hoplites pursuing and slaying them.
συμμιγέντων1 δὲ τούτων πάντων, φόβος τοῖσι βαρβάροισι ἐνεπεπτώκεε. μαθόντες δὲ οἱ Δελφοὶ φεύγοντας σφέας,2 ἐπικαταβάντες ἀπέκτειναν πλῆθός τι αὐτῶν. οἱ δὲ περιεόντες ἰθὺ Βοιωτῶν ἔφευγον. ἔλεγον δὲ οἱ ἀπονοστήσαντες οὗτοι τῶν βαρβάρων, ὡς ἐγὼ πυνθάνομαι, ὡς πρὸς τούτοισι καὶ ἄλλα ὥρων θεῖα· δύο γὰρ ὁπλίτας μέζονας ἢ κατʼ ἀνθρώπων φύσιν ἔχοντας3 ἕπεσθαί4 σφι κτείνοντας καὶ διώκοντας.
When all these things occurred together, terror fell upon the barbarians. The Delphians, learning that they were fleeing, came down upon them and slew a good number of them. The survivors fled straight towards Boeotia. These of the barbarians who returned home said, as I learn, that in addition to these things they saw other divine portents; for they said that two hoplites of greater than human stature were following them, killing and pursuing them.
- 8.38.1συμμιγέντων
Forms a genitive absolute construction with τούτων πάντων as its subject, referring to the simultaneous occurrence of the various marvels described in the previous section.
- 8.38.1φεύγοντας σφέας
A participial construction functioning as the object of the verb of perception μαθόντες ("having learned"), with σφέας (referring to the barbarians) as the subject, meaning "that they were fleeing".
- 8.38.1μέζονας ἢ κατʼ ἀνθρώπων φύσιν ἔχοντας
The comparison with ἤ and the prepositional phrase κατʼ ἀνθρώπων φύσιν ("according to human nature") expresses a stature "greater than human size," describing a superhuman appearance.
- 8.38.1ἕπεσθαί
An infinitive in indirect discourse governed by the main verb ἔλεγον ("they said"), expressing the reported statement that "two hoplites... were following." Its subject is the accusative δύο ὁπλίτας.