- 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-grc2:8.41.1-8.41.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
The Athenians evacuated their families and households to Troezen, Aegina, and Salamis, and completed their departure in greater haste after the priestess reported that the sacred guardian snake had left its honey-cake untouched, indicating the goddess's departure.
οἱ μὲν δὴ ἄλλοι κατέσχον ἐς τὴν Σαλαμῖνα, Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ ἐς τὴν ἑωυτῶν.1 μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἄπιξιν κήρυγμα ἐποιήσαντο, Ἀθηναίων2 τῇ τις δύναται σώζειν τέκνα τε καὶ τοὺς οἰκέτας. ἐνθαῦτα οἱ μὲν πλεῖστοι ἐς Τροίζηνα ἀπέστειλαν, οἳ δὲ ἐς Αἴγιναν, οἳ δὲ ἐς Σαλαμῖνα.
Thus the others put in at Salamis, but the Athenians to their own land. After their arrival, they made a proclamation that every one of the Athenians should, in such way as he could, save his children and his household. Thereupon, most of them sent their families to Troezen, some to Aegina, and others to Salamis.
ἔσπευσαν δὲ ταῦτα ὑπεκθέσθαι τῷ χρηστηρίῳ τε βουλόμενοι ὑπηρετέειν καὶ δὴ καὶ τοῦδε εἵνεκα οὐκ ἥκιστα. λέγουσι Ἀθηναῖοι ὄφιν μέγαν φύλακα τῆς ἀκροπόλιος ἐνδιαιτᾶσθαι ἐν τῷ ἱρῷ· λέγουσί τε ταῦτα καὶ δὴ ὡς ἐόντι3 ἐπιμήνια ἐπιτελέουσι προτιθέντες· τὰ δʼ ἐπιμήνια μελιτόεσσα ἐστί.
They hurried to evacuate these, both because they wished to obey the oracle and indeed for this reason not least of all. The Athenians say that a great snake, the guardian of the acropolis, dwells in the temple; they say this, and indeed perform monthly rites by setting out offerings to it as if it actually existed; and these monthly offerings consist of a honey-cake.
αὕτη δὴ ἡ μελιτόεσσα ἐν τῷ πρόσθε αἰεὶ χρόνῳ ἀναισιμουμένη τότε ἦν ἄψαυστος. σημηνάσης δὲ ταῦτα τῆς ἱρείης, μᾶλλόν τι οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι καὶ προθυμότερον ἐξέλιπον τὴν πόλιν, ὡς καὶ τῆς θεοῦ ἀπολελοιπυίης4 τὴν ἀκρόπολιν. ὡς δέ σφι πάντα ὑπεξέκειτο, ἔπλεον ἐς τὸ στρατόπεδον.
This honey-cake, which in all former time had always been consumed, was then left untouched. When the priestess made this known, the Athenians abandoned the city all the more and with greater readiness, believing that the goddess too had left the acropolis. And when all their possessions had been evacuated, they sailed to the fleet.
- 8.41.1Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ ἐς τὴν ἑωυτῶν
The verb κατέσχον (to put in, bring ships to land) from the preceding clause is omitted. τὴν ἑωυτῶν is a feminine pronominal phrase with a noun such as γῆν (land) or χώραν (country) understood.
- 8.41.1Ἀθηναίων
The genitive Ἀθηναίων is a partitive genitive qualifying the following indefinite pronoun tis ("each one of the Athenians"), indicating the subject of the action in the proclamation.
- 8.41.2ὡς ἐόντι
The conjunction ὡς is used with the participle ἐόντι (Ionic for ὄντι, present participle dative singular of εἰμί), meaning "as to one who exists" or "on the assumption that it exists." The dative case agrees with the implied recipient of the offerings (the snake).
- 8.41.3ὡς καὶ τῆς θεοῦ ἀπολελοιπυίης
The particle ὡς expressing a subjective reason is used with the genitive absolute construction τῆς θεοῦ ἀπολελοιπυίης... (with the perfect active participle of ἀπολείπω), meaning "on the ground that (as they believed) the goddess too had abandoned..."