- 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-grc2:9.80.1-9.80.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
The Helots collect the Persian spoils under Pausanias's order, but they steal many gold and silver items and sell them cheaply to the Aeginetans, which becomes the source of the Aeginetans' immense wealth.
ὃ μὲν ταῦτα ἀκούσας ἀπαλλάσσετο. Παυσανίης δὲ κήρυγμα ποιησάμενος μηδένα ἅπτεσθαι τῆς ληίης,1 συγκομίζειν ἐκέλευε τοὺς εἵλωτας τὰ χρήματα. οἳ δὲ ἀνὰ τὸ στρατόπεδον σκιδνάμενοι εὕρισκον σκηνὰς κατεσκευασμένας χρυσῷ καὶ ἀργύρῳ, κλίνας τε ἐπιχρύσους καὶ ἐπαργύρους, κρητῆράς τε χρυσέους καὶ φιάλας τε καὶ ἄλλα ἐκπώματα·
Having heard this, the former departed. Meanwhile, Pausanias issued a proclamation that no one should touch the booty, and ordered the Helots to collect the treasures. Scattering through the camp, they found tents adorned with gold and silver, couches gilded with gold and silver, and golden mixing-bowls, cups, and other drinking vessels.
σάκκους τε ἐπʼ ἁμαξέων εὕρισκον, ἐν τοῖσι λέβητες ἐφαίνοντο ἐνεόντες2 χρύσεοί τε καὶ ἀργύρεοι· ἀπό τε τῶν κειμένων νεκρῶν ἐσκύλευον ψέλιά τε καὶ στρεπτοὺς καὶ τοὺς ἀκινάκας ἐόντας χρυσέους, ἐπεὶ ἐσθῆτός γε ποικίλης λόγος ἐγίνετο οὐδείς.
They also found sacks on wagons, in which cauldrons of gold and silver were seen to be contained; and they stripped from the lying corpses bracelets, necklaces, and short swords that were of gold, since no account at all was made of the embroidered clothing.
ἐνθαῦτα πολλὰ μὲν κλέπτοντες ἐπώλεον πρὸς τοὺς Αἰγινήτας οἱ εἵλωτες, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ ἀπεδείκνυσαν, ὅσα αὐτῶν οὐκ οἷά τε ἦν κρύψαι· ὥστε Αἰγινήτῃσι οἱ μεγάλοι πλοῦτοι ἀρχὴν ἐνθεῦτεν ἐγένοντο, οἳ τὸν χρυσὸν ἅτε ἐόντα χαλκὸν δῆθεν3 παρὰ τῶν εἱλώτων ὠνέοντο.
Thereupon the Helots, stealing many things, would sell them to the Aeginetans, while they also brought forward many things, as many of them as they could not conceal; so that the great wealth of the Aeginetans had its beginning from this source, who bought the gold from the Helots as if, forsooth, it were brass.
- 9.80.1μηδένα ἅπτεσθαι τῆς ληίης
An accusative with infinitive construction acting as an indirect command explanatory of the noun κήρυγμα (proclamation). The verb ἅπτεσθαι (to touch) takes the genitive case (τῆς ληίης).
- 9.80.2λέβητες ἐφαίνοντο ἐνεόντες
The verb φαίνομαι (to appear, seem) takes a participle (ἐνεόντες, Ionic dialect for "being inside") to express an undisputed fact ("they were clearly seen to be inside"). This contrasts with the construction with an infinitive, which would mean "they seemed to be inside (but might not have been)."
- 9.80.3ἅτε ἐόντα χαλκὸν δῆθεν
While the conjunction ἅτε normally expresses an objective reason ("seeing that"), here it is combined with the particle δῆθεν (allegedly, forsooth) to imply a false pretense or ignorance on the sellers' part ("as if, forsooth, it were brass"), explaining how the Aeginetans bought gold at the price of bronze. The participle ἐόντα agrees with the masculine singular accusative τὸν χρυσόν (gold).