Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §4.112.1

Drawing Together of Camps and Shared Way of Life

Passage 676 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Realizing that the young men have no harmful intent, the Amazons leave them in peace, and their camps draw closer day by day. Having only weapons and horses, the young men lead the same nomadic life as the Amazons, hunting and plundering.

§4.112.1ἐπεὶ δὲ ἔμαθον αὐτοὺς αἱ Ἀμαζόνες ἐπʼ οὐδεμιῇ δηλήσι ἀπιγμένους, ἔων χαίρειν· προσεχώρεον δὲ πλησιαιτέρω τὸ στρατόπεδον τῷ στρατοπέδῳ ἐπʼ ἡμέρῃ ἑκάστῃ.
When the Amazons found out that they had come with no intent to do any harm, they let them be; and day by day they brought their camp closer to that of the young men.
εἶχον δὲ οὐδὲν οὐδʼ οἱ νεηνίσκοι, ὥσπερ αἱ Ἀμαζόνες, εἰ μὴ τὰ ὅπλα καὶ τοὺς ἵππους, ἀλλὰ ζόην ἔζωον τὴν αὐτὴν ἐκείνῃσι, θηρεύοντές τε καὶ ληιζόμενοι.
And the young men, like the Amazons, had nothing except their weapons and their horses, but lived the same life as they did, hunting and plundering.

Notes

  1. 4.112.1ἔων χαίρειν — An idiomatic expression consisting of ἔων (uncontracted Ionic imperfect third-person plural of ἐάω) and χαίρειν (present infinitive of χαίρω), meaning 'to let be', 'to leave in peace', or 'to dismiss from one's mind'.
  2. 4.112.1τὸ στρατόπεδον τῷ στρατοπέδῳ — The verb προσεχώρεον (imperfect third-person plural of προσχωρέω) is used transitively here. The neuter singular accusative τὸ στρατόπεδον functions as the direct object ('their own camp'), and the dative τῷ στρατοπέδῳ represents the target of approach ('to the other camp').
  3. 4.112.1ζόην ἔζωον τὴν αὐτὴν ἐκείνῃσι — ζόην is the Ionic form of ζωή (life). It functions as a cognate accusative to the verb ἔζωον (imperfect third-person plural of ζάω). The feminine plural dative pronoun ἐκείνῃσι (corresponding to Attic ἐκείναις) is used with τὴν αὐτὴν to mean 'the same life as them'.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §4.112.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.112.1

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.