Herodotus · Histories §3.109.1-3.109.3

Reproduction and Habitat of Vipers and Winged Serpents

Passage 513 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The text explains the peculiar reproductive ecology of vipers and winged serpents involving mate-killing and mother-killing to prevent overpopulation, and notes that winged serpents are concentrated only in Arabia.

§3.109.1ὣς δὲ καὶ οἱ ἔχιδναί τε καὶ οἱ ἐν Ἀραβίοισι ὑπόπτεροι ὄφιες εἰ ἐγίνοντο ὡς ἡ φύσις αὐτοῖσι ὑπάρχει, οὐκ ἂν ἦν βιώσιμα ἀνθρώποισι· νῦν δʼ ἐπεὰν θορνύωνται κατὰ ζεύγεα καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ ᾖ ὁ ἔρσην τῇ ἐκποιήσι, ἀπιεμένου αὐτοῦ τὴν γονὴν ἡ θήλεα ἅπτεται τῆς δειρῆς, καὶ ἐμφῦσα οὐκ ἀνιεῖ πρὶν ἂν διαφάγῃ.

And in this way too, if vipers and the winged serpents in Arabia were born as their nature is to be, there would be no living for men; but as it is, when they copulate in pairs and the male is at the very moment of ejaculation, as he releases his seed, the female seizes him by the neck, and holding fast, does not let go until she has bitten through it.

§3.109.2ὁ μὲν δὴ ἔρσην ἀποθνήσκει τρόπῳ τῷ εἰρημένῳ, ἡ δὲ θήλεα τίσιν τοιήνδε ἀποτίνει τῷ ἔρσενι· τῷ γονέι τιμωρέοντα ἔτι ἐν τῇ γαστρὶ ἐόντα τὰ τέκνα διεσθίει τὴν μητέρα, διαφαγόντα δὲ τὴν νηδὺν αὐτῆς οὕτω τὴν ἔκδυσιν ποιέεται.

The male indeed dies in the manner mentioned, but the female pays such a penalty to the male: the young, while still in the womb, avenging their father, eat through their mother, and having bitten through her belly, in this way make their escape.

§3.109.3οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι ὄφιες ἐόντες ἀνθρώπων οὐ δηλήμονες τίκτουσί τε ᾠὰ καὶ ἐκλέπουσι πολλόν τι χρῆμα τῶν τέκνων.

But the other serpents, being harmless to men, both lay eggs and hatch a vast number of offspring.

αἱ μέν νυν ἔχιδναι κατὰ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν εἰσί, οἱ δὲ ὑπόπτεροι ὄφιες ἀθρόοι εἰσὶ ἐν τῇ Ἀραβίῃ καὶ οὐδαμῇ ἄλλῃ· κατὰ τοῦτο δοκέουσι πολλοὶ εἶναι.

Now, vipers indeed are all over the earth, but the winged serpents are concentrated in Arabia and nowhere else; for this reason they seem to be many.

Notes

3.109.1εἰ ἐγίνοντο ... οὐκ ἂν ἦν — A counterfactual conditional sentence. It uses εἰ + indicative imperfect (ἐγίνοντο) in the protasis, and ἂν + indicative imperfect (ἦν) in the apodosis. The imperfect tense represents a continuous or habitual state: 'if they were being born (continuously), there would be...'
3.109.1ἐν αὐτῇ ... τῇ ἐκποιήσι — An instance of hyperbaton, where the subject ὁ ἔρσην and the verb ᾖ are inserted between the parts of the prepositional phrase ἐν αὐτῇ ... τῇ ἐκποιήσι. The demonstrative pronoun αὐτῇ functions intensively ('at the very emission').
3.109.2τῷ γονέι τιμωρέοντα — The verb/participle τιμωρέω (to avenge) takes the dative of the person on whose behalf vengeance is taken (τῷ γονέι, 'for the parent/father'). The participle τιμωρέοντα is neuter plural nominative (from τιμωρέων), agreeing in gender, case, and number with its grammatical subject τὰ τέκνα.
3.109.2τὰ τέκνα διεσθίει ... ποιέεται — In accordance with the standard rule of Classical Greek (the schema Atticum), the neuter plural subject τὰ τέκνα takes the third-person singular verbs διεσθίει and ποιέεται. However, the modifying participles (τιμωρέοντα, ἐόντα, διαφαγόντα) remain in the plural, showing a mixed construction of grammatical agreement.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §3.109.1-3.109.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.109.1-3.109.3

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