- Source
- Polybius. Vols. 1-4. Büttner-Wobst, Theodor, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1893.
- 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:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:34.3.1-34.3.12
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-12
Polybius's detailed description of the hunting of galeotes around Cape Scyllaeum, and his argument that Homer's descriptions of Scylla and Charybdis are based on the actual natural phenomena of the region around Sicily.
ταῦτα δʼ εἰπὼν διηγεῖται τῶν γαλεωτῶν θήραν, ἣ συνίσταται περὶ τὸ Σκύλλαιον.
Having said this, he describes the hunting of the galeotes, which takes place around Scyllaeum.
σκοπὸς γὰρ ἐφέστηκε κοινὸς ὑφορμοῦσιν1 ἐν δικώποις σκαφιδίοις πολλοῖς, δύο καθʼ ἕκαστον σκαφίδιον.
For a common lookout is stationed for those lying in wait in many two-oared boats, two men in each boat.
καὶ ὁ μὲν ἐλαύνει, ὁ δʼ ἐπὶ τῆς πρῴρας ἕστηκε δόρυ ἔχων, σημήναντος τοῦ σκοποῦ τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν τοῦ γαλεώτου· φέρεται δὲ τὸ τρίτον μέρος ἔξαλον τὸ ζῷον.
And one of them rows, while the other stands at the prow holding a spear, once the lookout has signaled the appearance of the galeotes; and the animal swims with a third of its body out of the water.
συνάψαντος δὲ τοῦ σκάφους ὁ μὲν ἔπληξεν ἐκ χειρός, εἶτʼ ἐξέσπασεν ἐκ τοῦ σώματος τὸ δόρυ χωρὶς τῆς ἐπιδορατίδος·
When the boat has closed in, the latter strikes it from close hand, and then draws the shaft of the spear back out of the body without the spearhead;
ἀγκιστρώδης τε γάρ ἐστι καὶ χαλαρῶς ἐνήρμοσται τῷ δόρατι ἐπίτηδες, καλῴδιον δʼ ἔχει μακρὸν ἐξημμένον. τοῦτʼ ἐπιχαλῶσι τῷ τρωθέντι, τέως ἂν κάμῃ σφαδᾷζον καὶ ὑποφεῦγον·
for the spearhead is barbed and is purposely fitted loosely to the shaft, and it has a long cord fastened to it. This they slacken for the wounded beast, until it grows exhausted from struggling and fleeing;
τότε δʼ ἕλκουσιν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἢ εἰς τὸ σκάφος ἀναλαμβάνουσιν, ἐὰν μὴ μέγα ᾖ τελέως τὸ σῶμα.
and then they drag it to the land, or take it up into the boat, unless its body is completely too large.
κἂν ἐκπέσῃ δὲ εἰς τὴν θάλατταν τὸ δόρυ, οὐκ ἀπόλωλεν· ἔστι γὰρ πηκτὸν ἔκ τε δρυὸς καὶ ἐλάτης, ὥστε βαπτιζομένου τοῦ δρυΐνου βάρει μετέωρον εἶναι τὸ λοιπὸν2 καὶ εὐανάληπτον.
And even if the shaft of the spear falls into the sea, it is not lost; for it is joined together from oak and pine, so that while the oak part is submerged by its weight, the remaining part is held aloft and is easy to recover.
συμβαίνειν3 δέ ποτε καὶ τιτρώσκεσθαι διὰ τοῦ σκαφιδίου τὸν κωπηλάτην διὰ τὸ μέγεθος τοῦ ξίφους τῶν γαλεωτῶν καὶ τὸ τὴν ἀκμὴν τοῦ ζῴου συαγρώδη εἶναι καὶ τὴν θήραν. ἔκ τε δὴ τῶν τοιούτων εἰκάζοι τις ἄν, φησί, περὶ Σικελίαν γενέσθαι τὴν πλάνην κατὰ τὸν Ὅμηρον, ὅτι τῇ Σκύλλῃ προσῆψε τὴν τοιαύτην θήραν, ἣ μάλιστʼ ἐπιχώριός ἐστι τῷ Σκυλλαίῳ, καὶ ἐκ τῶν περὶ τῆς Χαρύβδεως λεγομένων ὁμοίων τοῖς τοῦ πορθμοῦ πάθεσι.
And he says that it sometimes happens that even the rower is wounded through the boat on account of the size of the sword of the galeotes, and because the ferocity of the animal is like that of a wild boar, as is the hunt itself. From such things, then, one might conjecture, he says, that according to Homer the wandering took place around Sicily, because he attached such a hunt to Scylla, which is especially local to Scyllaeum, and also from the things said about Charybdis, which are similar to the phenomena of the strait.
τὸ δὲ τρὶς μὲν γάρ τʼ ἀνίησιν ἀντὶ τοῦ δὶς γραφικὸν εἶναι ἁμάρτημα ἢ ἱστορικόν.
And as for the passage, “for thrice a day she belches it forth,” the use of “thrice” instead of “twice” is either a scribal error or a factual mistake.
καὶ τὰ ἐν τῇ Μήνιγγι δὲ τοῖς περὶ τῶν Λωτοφάγων εἰρημένοις συμφωνεῖν.
And the matters in Meninx also agree with what has been said about the Lotus-eaters.
- 34.3.2ὑφορμοῦσιν
Dative masculine plural of the present participle of ὑφορμέω ('to lie in wait', 'to lie at anchor'). It functions as a dative of interest or advantage dependent on ἐφέστηκε ('is stationed'), substantively meaning 'for those who are lying in wait.'
- 34.3.7ὥστε βαπτιζομένου τοῦ δρυΐνου βάρει μετέωρον εἶναι τὸ λοιπὸν
A consecutive clause introduced by ὥστε ('so that'). Within this clause, a genitive absolute (βαπτιζομένου τοῦ δρυΐνου βάρει, 'the oak part being submerged by its weight') is embedded. The subject of the infinitive εἶναι is τὸ λοιπὸν ('the rest'), with μετέωρον ('held aloft', 'buoyant') acting as its predicate adjective.
- 34.3.8συμβαίνειν
An infinitive in indirect discourse depending on φησί ('he says', which appears in §34.3.9). The subject of the impersonal verb συμβαίνειν is the accusative and infinitive construction τὸν κωπηλάτην τιτρώσκεσθαι ('that the rower is wounded'). The causal clause is constructed using διὰ τὸ followed by the accusatives and infinitives (μέγεθος... εἶναι and τὴν ἀκμὴν... εἶναι).