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Herodotus · Histories §2.105.1

Linen Working and Way of Life of Colchians and Egyptians

Passage 321 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The author explains further similarities between the Colchians and Egyptians, noting that only these two peoples process linen in the same way, and that their lifestyle and language are also similar.

§2.105.1φέρε νῦν καὶ ἄλλο εἴπω περὶ τῶν Κόλχων, ὡς Αἰγυπτίοισι προσφερέες εἰσί· λίνον μοῦνοι οὗτοί τε καὶ Αἰγύπτιοι ἐργάζονται καὶ κατὰ ταὐτά, καὶ ἡ ζόη πᾶσα καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα ἐμφερής ἐστι ἀλλήλοισι.
Come now, let me tell another thing about the Colchians, how they resemble the Egyptians: they and the Egyptians are the only ones who work linen, and they do it in the same way; and their whole way of life and their language are similar to each other.
λίνον δὲ τὸ μὲν Κολχικὸν ὑπὸ Ἑλλήνων Σαρδωνικὸν κέκληται, τὸ μέντοι ἀπʼ Αἰγύπτου ἀπικνεύμενον καλέεται Αἰγύπτιον.
Furthermore, the Colchian linen is called Sardonian by the Greeks, whereas that which comes from Egypt is called Egyptian.

Notes

  1. 2.105.1φέρε ... εἴπω — The combination of the imperative φέρε with the first-person singular aorist subjunctive εἴπω (aorist of λέγω) expresses the speaker's resolve or exhortation ('come, let me say'). φέρε functions virtually as an interjection.
  2. 2.105.1ὡς Αἰγυπτίοισι προσφερέες εἰσί — A subordinate clause introduced by the conjunction ὡς, serving an appositive function to explain the preceding noun ἄλλο ('another thing') in detail, or expressing an indirect question ('how they resemble...').
  3. 2.105.1καὶ κατὰ ταὐτά — κατὰ ταὐτά is a crasis of κατὰ τὰ αὐτά ('in the same way'). The conjunction καὶ connects it to emphasize the manner of the action ἐργάζονται ('work'), meaning 'and that too in the same way'.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §2.105.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.105.1

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