Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §4.115.1-4.115.3

The Amazons' Proposal to Migrate across the Tanais

Passage 679 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

When the young men return with their property, the Amazon women, fearing the consequences of their past actions and the separation of the men from their families, propose leaving the land and migrating across the Tanais River.

§4.115.1ἐπείτε δὲ ἀπολαχόντες τῶν κτημάτων τὸ ἐπιβάλλον ἦλθον ὀπίσω παρὰ τὰς Ἀμαζόνας, ἔλεξαν αἱ γυναῖκες πρὸς αὐτοὺς τάδε. §4.115.2ἡμέας ἔχει φόβος τε καὶ δέος ὅκως χρὴ οἰκέειν ἐν τῷδε τῷ χώρῳ, τοῦτο μὲν ὑμέας ἀποστερησάσας πατέρων, τοῦτο δὲ γῆν τὴν ὑμετέρην δηλησαμένας πολλά.
And when they had received the portion of the possessions that fell to them and returned to the Amazons, the women said to them: "Fear and dread possess us as to how we must dwell in this place, since we have on the one hand deprived you of your fathers, and on the other hand have greatly damaged your land.
§4.115.3ἀλλʼ ἐπείτε ἀξιοῦτε ἡμέας γυναῖκας ἔχειν, τάδε ποιέετε ἅμα ἡμῖν· φέρετε ἐξαναστέωμεν ἐκ τῆς γῆς τῆσδε καὶ περήσαντες Τάναιν ποταμὸν οἰκέωμεν.
But since you deem it worthy to have us as wives, do this along with us: come, let us depart from this land and, having crossed the River Tanais, let us dwell there."

Notes

  1. §4.115.1τὸ ἐπιβάλλον — The neuter singular accusative of the present participle of ἐπιβάλλω, used substantively. Meaning intransitively 'to fall to one's share', it here refers to 'the portion (of property) that fell to them'.
  2. §4.115.2ἡμέας ... ἀποστερησάσας ... δηλησαμένας — The accusative personal pronoun ἡμέας ('us') is the direct object of the verb ἔχει ('possesses'), and simultaneously serves as the semantic subject of the female accusative plural participles ἀποστερησάσας and δηλησαμένας, which express cause ('since we have...').
  3. §4.115.3φέρετε ἐξαναστέωμεν — The imperative φέρετε ('come', plural) functions as a hortatory particle introducing the first-person plural hortatory subjunctive ἐξαναστέωμεν ('let us depart').

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §4.115.1-4.115.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.115.1-4.115.3

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