Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §3.104.1-3.104.3

Gathering Gold in Indian Heat While Ants Hide

Passage 508 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

It describes how the Indians retrieve gold during the intensely hot morning when giant ants retreat underground, and explains the unique climate of India where mornings are the hottest and evenings become extremely cold.

§3.104.1οἱ δὲ δὴ Ἰνδοὶ τρόπῳ τοιούτῳ καὶ ζεύξι τοιαύτῃ χρεώμενοι ἐλαύνουσι ἐπὶ τὸν χρυσὸν λελογισμένως ὅκως καυμάτων τῶν θερμοτάτων ἐόντων ἔσονται ἐν τῇ ἁρπαγῇ· ὑπὸ γὰρ τοῦ καύματος οἱ μύρμηκες ἀφανέες γίνονται ὑπὸ γῆν.
The Indians, employing such a method and such a harnessing, drive after the gold with calculation, so that they will be engaged in the seizure when the heat is at its hottest; for because of the heat, the ants disappear under the earth.
§3.104.2θερμότατος δὲ ἐστὶ ὁ ἥλιος τούτοισι τοῖσι ἀνθρώποισι τὸ ἑωθινόν, οὐ κατά περ τοῖσι ἄλλοισι μεσαμβρίης, ἀλλʼ ὑπερτείλας μέχρι οὗ ἀγορῆς διαλύσιος.
For these people, the sun is hottest in the morning, not at midday as it is for other people, but from its rising until the time of the dispersing of the market.
τοῦτον δὲ τὸν χρόνον καίει πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἢ τῇ μεσαμβρίῃ τὴν Ἑλλάδα, οὕτω ὥστʼ ἐν ὕδατι λόγος αὐτούς ἐστι βρέχεσθαι τηνικαῦτα.
During this time, it burns much more than it does in Greece at midday, so that there is a report that they drench themselves in water at that time.
§3.104.3μεσοῦσα δὲ ἡ ἡμέρη σχεδὸν παραπλησίως καίει τούς τε ἄλλους ἀνθρώπους καὶ τοὺς Ἰνδούς.
When midday comes, the day burns almost equally for both other people and the Indians.
ἀποκλινομένης δὲ τῆς μεσαμβρίης γίνεταί σφι ὁ ἥλιος κατά περ τοῖσι ἄλλοισι ὁ ἑωθινός, καὶ τὸ ἀπὸ τούτου ἀπιὼν ἐπὶ μᾶλλον ψύχει, ἐς ὃ ἐπὶ δυσμῇσι ἐὼν καὶ τὸ κάρτα ψύχει.
But as the midday declines, the sun becomes for them like the morning sun for other people, and departing from this point, it grows cooler and cooler, until, being at its setting, it becomes extremely cold.

Notes

  1. §3.104.1ὅκως... ἔσονται — The conjunction ὅκως (Ionic for ὅπως) followed by the future indicative introduces a clause of purpose or intention, modifying the adverb λελογισμένως, meaning 'calculating so that they will be...'.
  2. §3.104.2μέχρι οὗ ἀγορῆς διαλύσιος — μέχρι οὗ functions as a temporal conjunction meaning 'until'. Here, οὗ is the genitive of the temporal relative pronoun, acting prepositionally with the noun phrase ἀγορῆς διαλύσιος (the dispersal of the market, i.e., late morning around 10 to 11 AM).
  3. §3.104.2λόγος αὐτούς ἐστι βρέχεσθαι — The impersonal expression λόγος ἐστί ('there is a report', 'it is said') takes an accusative and infinitive construction, with the accusative subject αὐτούς and the infinitive βρέχεσθαι. It is equivalent to λέγεται αὐτοὺς βρέχεσθαι.
  4. §3.104.3ἀπιὼν — The present participle of ἀπειμι or ἀπέρχομαι. Its subject is ὁ ἥλιος (the sun) carried over from the previous clause, meaning 'as the sun departs'. The following verb ψύχει is used intransitively to mean 'it grows cold'.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §3.104.1-3.104.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.104.1-3.104.3

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