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Herodotus · Histories §3.153.1-3.153.2

The Foaling of Zopyrus's Mule and the Prophecy

Passage 557 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

In the twentieth month of the siege, a miraculous portent occurs to Zopyrus, son of Megabyzus, as one of his mules gives birth. Recalling the Babylonian's earlier prophecy, Zopyrus realizes that Babylon can now be captured through divine will and begins to deliberate.

§3.153.1ἐνθαῦτα εἰκοστῷ μηνὶ Ζωπύρῳ τῷ Μεγαβύζου, τούτου ὃς τῶν ἑπτὰ ἀνδρῶν ἐγένετο τῶν τὸν Μάγον κατελόντων, τούτῳ τῷ Μεγαβύζου παιδὶ Ζωπύρῳ ἐγένετο τέρας τόδε· τῶν οἱ σιτοφόρων ἡμιόνων μία ἔτεκε.
There, in the twentieth month, to Zopyrus, the son of Megabyzus—that Megabyzus who had been one of the seven men who overthrew the Magus—to this Zopyrus, the son of Megabyzus, the following portent occurred: one of his food-carrying mules gave birth.
ὡς δέ οἱ ἐξαγγέλθη καὶ ὑπὸ ἀπιστίης αὐτὸς ὁ Ζώπυρος εἶδε τὸ βρέφος, ἀπείπας τοῖσι ἰδοῦσι μηδενὶ φράζειν τὸ γεγονὸς ἐβουλεύετο.
When this was reported to him, and Zopyrus himself, out of disbelief, saw the newborn beast, he forbade those who had seen it to tell anyone what had happened, and began to deliberate.
§3.153.2καί οἱ πρὸς τὰ τοῦ Βαβυλωνίου ῥήματα, ὃς κατʼ ἀρχὰς ἔφησε, ἐπεάν περ ἡμίονοι τέκωσι, τότε τὸ τεῖχος ἁλώσεσθαι, πρὸς ταύτην τὴν φήμην Ζωπύρῳ ἐδόκεε εἶναι ἁλώσιμος ἡ Βαβυλών·
And in relation to the words of the Babylonian, who in the beginning had said that the wall would be captured whenever mules should give birth—in relation to this saying, it seemed to Zopyrus that Babylon could be captured.
σὺν γὰρ θεῷ ἐκεῖνόν τε εἰπεῖν καὶ ἑωυτῷ τεκεῖν τὴν ἡμίονον.
For he believed that it was with divine aid both that the man had spoken and that his own mule had given birth.

Notes

  1. 3.153.1ἀπείπας — The aorist participle ἀπείπας (from ἀπειπεῖν), meaning 'to forbid' or 'to command not to', governs the infinitive with a negative (μηδενὶ φράζειν) to mean 'forbidding those who had seen it to tell anyone'.
  2. 3.153.2σὺν γὰρ θεῷ ἐκεῖνόν τε εἰπεῖν καὶ ἑωυτῷ τεκεῖν τὴν ἡμίονον — The infinitives εἰπεῖν and τεκεῖν function in indirect discourse depending on the thinking implied by ἐδόκεε. Their logical subjects are the accusatives ἐκεῖνον (that Babylonian) and τὴν ἡμίονον (the mule) respectively, while ἑωυτῷ is a dative of interest referring to Zopyrus.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §3.153.1-3.153.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.153.1-3.153.2

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