Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §2.154.1-2.154.5

Settlement of Greek Allies and the First Interpreters

Passage 376 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Tells of Psammetichus granting land (the 'Camps') to his Ionian and Carian allies, and tasking Egyptian boys to learn Greek, establishing the first interpreters, which later allowed Greeks to obtain accurate knowledge of Egypt.

§2.154.1τοῖσι δὲ Ἴωσι καὶ τοῖσι Καρσὶ τοῖσι συγκατεργασαμένοισι αὐτῷ ὁ Ψαμμήτιχος δίδωσι χώρους ἐνοικῆσαι ἀντίους ἀλλήλων, τοῦ Νείλου τὸ μέσον ἔχοντος, τοῖσι οὐνόματα ἐτέθη Στρατόπεδα·
To the Ionians and the Carians who had helped him, Psammetichus gave places to inhabit opposite each other, with the Nile running between them; to these places the name 'Camps' was given.
τούτους τε δή σφι τοὺς χώρους δίδωσι καὶ τὰ ἄλλα τὰ ὑπέσχετο πάντα ἀπέδωκε.
Indeed, he gave them these places and paid them back all the other things he had promised.
§2.154.2καὶ δὴ καὶ παῖδας παρέβαλε αὐτοῖσι Αἰγυπτίους τὴν Ἑλλάδα γλῶσσαν ἐκδιδάσκεσθαι.
And what is more, he entrusted Egyptian boys to them to be taught the Greek language.
ἀπὸ δὲ τούτων ἐκμαθόντων τὴν γλῶσσαν οἱ νῦν ἑρμηνέες ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ γεγόνασι.
From these boys, who had thoroughly learned the language, the present interpreters in Egypt have descended.
§2.154.3οἱ δὲ Ἴωνές τε καὶ οἱ Κᾶρες τούτους τοὺς χώρους οἴκησαν χρόνον ἐπὶ πολλόν· εἰσὶ δὲ οὗτοι οἱ χῶροι πρὸς θαλάσσης ὀλίγον ἔνερθε Βουβάστιος πόλιος, ἐπὶ τῷ Πηλουσίῳ καλεομένῳ στόματι τοῦ Νείλου.
The Ionians and the Carians inhabited these places for a long time; and these places are a little below the city of Bubastis towards the sea, on the so-called Pelusian mouth of the Nile.
τούτους μὲν δὴ χρόνῳ ὕστερον βασιλεὺς Ἄμασις ἐξαναστήσας ἐνθεῦτεν κατοίκισε ἐς Μέμφιν, φυλακὴν ἑωυτοῦ ποιεύμενος πρὸς Αἰγυπτίων.
In later times, however, King Amasis removed them from there and settled them in Memphis, making them a guard for himself against the Egyptians.
§2.154.4τούτων δὲ οἰκισθέντων ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ, οἱ Ἕλληνες οὕτω ἐπιμισγόμενοι τούτοισι τὰ περὶ Αἴγυπτον γινόμενα ἀπὸ Ψαμμητίχου βασιλέος ἀρξάμενοι πάντα καὶ τὰ ὕστερον ἐπιστάμεθα ἀτρεκέως· πρῶτοι γὰρ οὗτοι ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ἀλλόγλωσσοι κατοικίσθησαν.
When these had settled in Egypt, we Greeks, by communicating with them, have come to know accurately all that happened in Egypt, beginning from King Psammetichus and everything afterwards; for these were the first people of a foreign tongue to be settled in Egypt.
§2.154.5ἐξ ὧν δὲ ἐξανέστησαν χώρων, ἐν τούτοισι δὲ οἵ τε ὁλκοὶ τῶν νεῶν καὶ τὰ ἐρείπια τῶν οἰκημάτων τὸ μέχρι ἐμεῦ ἦσαν.
And in the places from which they were removed, there remained down to my time the launching slips of their ships and the ruins of their dwellings.

Notes

  1. §2.154.1τοῦ Νείλου τὸ μέσον ἔχοντος — Genitive absolute construction consisting of the present participle ἔχοντος and its subject τοῦ Νείλου (in the genitive), expressing a circumstantial relation of physical position ("with the Nile occupying the middle space" or "with the Nile running between them").
  2. §2.154.2ἐκδιδάσκεσθαι — Infinitive of purpose. It is the middle (or passive) voice of ἐκδιδάσκω, meaning "to have themselves taught" or "to be thoroughly taught" the Greek language.
  3. §2.154.4οἱ Ἕλληνες ... ἐπιστάμεθα — Anacoluthon or constructio ad sensum. The subject οἱ Ἕλληνες is in the third person plural, but the main verb ἐπιστάμεθα is in the first person plural ("we know"), reflecting the author's identification of himself with the Greek collective body ("we Greeks").
  4. §2.154.5ἐξ ὧν δὲ ἐξανέστησαν χώρων — Attraction and incorporation of the antecedent χώρων into the relative clause. Instead of the standard order ἐν τούτοισι τοῖς χώροις, ἐξ ὧν ἐξανέστησαν ("in those places from which they were removed"), the noun χώρων is placed inside the relative clause with the relative pronoun ὧν.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §2.154.1-2.154.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.154.1-2.154.5

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