- 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-grc2:9.16.1-9.16.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
At a banquet hosted by Attaginus of Thebes, a Persian soldier tearfully foretells the impending destruction of the Persian army to Thersander of Orchomenus, lamenting the painful helplessness of foreseeing fate.
ἐχόντων δὲ τὸν πόνον τοῦτον τῶν βαρβάρων, Ἀτταγῖνος ὁ Φρύνωνος ἀνὴρ Θηβαῖος παρασκευασάμενος μεγάλως ἐκάλεε ἐπὶ ξείνια αὐτόν τε Μαρδόνιον καὶ πεντήκοντα Περσέων τοὺς λογιμωτάτους, κληθέντες δὲ οὗτοι εἵποντο· ἦν δὲ τὸ δεῖπνον ποιεύμενον ἐν Θήβῃσι. τάδε δὲ ἤδη τὰ ἐπίλοιπα ἤκουον Θερσάνδρου1 ἀνδρὸς μὲν Ὀρχομενίου, λογίμου δὲ ἐς τὰ πρῶτα ἐν Ὀρχομενῷ. ἔφη δὲ ὁ Θέρσανδρος κληθῆναι καὶ αὐτὸς2 ὑπὸ Ἀτταγίνου ἐπὶ τὸ δεῖπνον τοῦτο, κληθῆναι δὲ καὶ Θηβαίων ἄνδρας πεντήκοντα, καί σφεων οὐ χωρὶς ἑκατέρους κλῖναι,3 ἀλλὰ Πέρσην τε καὶ Θηβαῖον ἐν κλίνῃ ἑκάστῃ.
While the barbarians were engaged in this labor, Attaginus son of Phrynon, a Theban, having made grand preparations, invited Mardonius himself and fifty of the most eminent Persians to a banquet; and those who were invited accepted, and the dinner was held in Thebes. The rest of the story from this point I heard myself from Thersander, a man of Orchomenus, and one of the first distinction in Orchomenus. Thersander said that he himself was also invited by Attaginus to this dinner, and that fifty Theban men were also invited, and that Attaginus did not seat them separately, but placed a Persian and a Theban on each couch.
ὡς δὲ ἀπὸ δείπνου ἦσαν, διαπινόντων τὸν Πέρσην τὸν ὁμόκλινον Ἑλλάδα γλῶσσαν ἱέντα εἰρέσθαι αὐτὸν ὁποδαπός ἐστι, αὐτὸς δὲ ὑποκρίνασθαι ὡς εἴη Ὀρχομένιος. τὸν δὲ εἰπεῖν ἐπεὶ νῦν ὁμοτράπεζός τέ μοι καὶ ὁμόσπονδος ἐγένεο, μνημόσυνά τοι γνώμης τῆς ἐμῆς καταλιπέσθαι θέλω, ἵνα καὶ προειδὼς αὐτὸς περὶ σεωυτοῦ βουλεύεσθαι ἔχῃς τὰ συμφέροντα.
When dinner was over and they were drinking together, the Persian who shared his couch, speaking in the Greek tongue, asked him what countryman he was; and he replied that he was from Orchomenus. Thereupon the Persian said: “Since you have now become my table-companion and shared my libation, I wish to leave you a memorial of my thoughts, so that you yourself, having foreknowledge, may be able to take counsel for your own advantage.
ὁρᾷς τούτους τοὺς δαινυμένους Πέρσας καὶ τὸν στρατὸν τὸν ἐλίπομεν ἐπὶ τῷ ποταμῷ στρατοπεδευόμενον· τούτων πάντων ὄψεαι ὀλίγου τινὸς χρόνου διελθόντος ὀλίγους τινὰς τοὺς περιγενομένους.4 ταῦτα ἅμα τε τὸν Πέρσην λέγειν καὶ μετιέναι5 πολλὰ τῶν δακρύων.
You see these feasting Persians, and the army which we left encamped by the river; of all these, when a little time has passed, you will see only a very few surviving.” As the Persian said this, he wept copiously.
αὐτὸς δὲ θωμάσας τὸν λόγον εἰπεῖν πρὸς αὐτὸν οὐκῶν Μαρδονίῳ τε ταῦτα χρεόν ἐστι λέγειν καὶ τοῖσι μετʼ ἐκεῖνον ἐν αἴνῃ ἐοῦσι Περσέων; τὸν δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα εἰπεῖν ξεῖνε, ὅ τι δεῖ γενέσθαι ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἀμήχανον ἀποτρέψαι ἀνθρώπῳ· οὐδὲ γὰρ πιστὰ λέγουσι ἐθέλει πείθεσθαι οὐδείς.
And he himself, wondering at this speech, said to him: “Is it not then necessary to tell this to Mardonius, and to those of the Persians who have influence after him?” And the other replied after this: “My guest, that which is destined by God to happen, it is impossible for man to avert; for no one is willing to believe those who speak what is trustworthy.
ταῦτα δὲ Περσέων συχνοὶ ἐπιστάμενοι ἑπόμεθα ἀναγκαίῃ ἐνδεδεμένοι, ἐχθίστη δὲ ὀδύνη ἐστὶ τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποισι αὕτη, πολλὰ φρονέοντα μηδενὸς κρατέειν.6 ταῦτα μὲν Ὀρχομενίου Θερσάνδρου ἤκουον, καὶ τάδε πρὸς τούτοισι, ὡς αὐτὸς αὐτίκα λέγοι ταῦτα πρὸς ἀνθρώπους πρότερον ἢ γενέσθαι ἐν Πλαταιῇσι τὴν μάχην.
Although many of us Persians know this, we follow bound by necessity; and this is the most hateful grief among men, to have much knowledge and yet have power over nothing.” These things indeed I heard from Thersander of Orchomenus, and this besides, that he himself immediately spoke of these things to people before the battle of Plataea took place.
- 9.16.1ἤκουον Θερσάνδρου
The verb ἤκουον ('I heard', 1st person singular imperfect) takes both the accusative of the thing heard (τάδε τὰ ἐπίλοιπα) and the genitive of the source of information (Θερσάνδρου). It indicates that Herodotus himself was the direct listener.
- 9.16.1κληθῆναι καὶ αὐτὸς
Since the subject of the main verb ἔφη (Thersander) and the subject of the infinitive κληθῆναι are the same, the subject of the infinitive is attracted into the nominative case (αὐτός) instead of the accusative, forming a nominative with infinitive construction.
- 9.16.1σφεων οὐ χωρὶς ἑκατέρους κλῖναι
σφεων is a partitive genitive meaning 'of them'. ἑκατέρους (accusative plural, 'each of the two groups', i.e., Persians and Thebans) is the subject of the infinitive κλῖναι (to seat/recline). χωρίς ('separately', adverb) qualifies the arrangement with σφεων.
- 9.16.3ὀλίγους τινὰς τοὺς περιγενομένους
Object of ὄψεαι ('you will see'). The adjective phrase ὀλίγους τινάς ('only a few') is used predicatively with the substantivized participle with the article, τοὺς περιγενομένους ('those who survive'). Literally: 'you will see those who survive [to be] only a few'.
- 9.16.3λέγειν καὶ μετιέναι
These infinitives depend on ἔφη as a continuation of Thersander's reported speech ('Thersander said that the Persian spoke... and let fall...'). Alternatively, they could be seen as historical infinitives, but in this context, they are best understood as infinitives in indirect discourse.
- 9.16.5πολλά φρονέοντα μηδενὸς κρατέειν
An appositive (or explanatory) infinitive phrase (μηδενὸς κρατέειν: 'to have power over nothing') explaining the noun αὕτη ('this'). The participle φρονέοντα ('thinking/knowing') is used here in a concessive sense: 'although having much foresight or understanding'.