Herodotus · Histories §4.42.1-4.42.4

Circumnavigation of Libya by the Phoenicians under Neco

Passage 606 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Herodotus expresses skepticism about the traditional three-part division of the world and recounts the historical voyage of the Phoenicians, sent by Egyptian King Neco, who successfully circumnavigated Libya (Africa), proving it is surrounded by water.

§4.42.1θωμάζω ὦν τῶν διουρισάντων καὶ διελόντων Λιβύην τε καὶ Ἀσίην καὶ Εὐρώπην· οὐ γὰρ σμικρὰ τὰ διαφέροντα αὐτέων ἐστί·

I marvel therefore at those who divided and mapped out Libya, Asia, and Europe; for the differences between them are no small ones.

μήκεϊ μὲν γὰρ παρʼ ἀμφοτέρας παρήκει ἡ Εὐρώπη, εὔρεος δὲ πέρι οὐδὲ συμβάλλειν ἀξίη φαίνεταί μοι εἶναι.

Indeed, in length Europe extends along both of them, but in respect of width, it does not seem to me even worthy to be compared.

§4.42.2Λιβύη μὲν γὰρ δηλοῖ ἑωυτὴν ἐοῦσα περίρρυτος, πλὴν ὅσον αὐτῆς πρὸς τὴν Ἀσίην οὐρίζει, Νεκῶ τοῦ Αἰγυπτίων βασιλέος πρώτου τῶν ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν καταδέξαντος· ὃς ἐπείτε τὴν διώρυχα ἐπαύσατο ὀρύσσων τὴν ἐκ τοῦ Νείλου διέχουσαν ἐς τὸν Ἀράβιον κόλπον, ἀπέπεμψε Φοίνικας ἄνδρας πλοίοισι, ἐντειλάμενος ἐς τὸ ὀπίσω διʼ Ἡρακλέων στηλέων ἐκπλέειν ἕως ἐς τὴν βορηίην θάλασσαν καὶ οὕτω ἐς Αἴγυπτον ἀπικνέεσθαι.

For Libya shows itself to be surrounded by water, except where it borders on Asia, Neco king of Egypt being the first whom we know to have proved this; he, when he had ceased from digging the canal which leads from the Nile to the Arabian Gulf, sent out Phoenicians in ships, charging them to sail back through the Pillars of Heracles until they should come into the northern sea and so return to Egypt.

§4.42.3ὁρμηθέντες ὦν οἱ Φοίνικες ἐκ τῆς Ἐρυθρῆς θαλάσσης ἔπλεον τὴν νοτίην θάλασσαν· ὅκως δὲ γίνοιτο φθινόπωρον προσσχόντες ἂν σπείρεσκον τὴν γῆν, ἵνα ἑκάστοτε τῆς Λιβύης πλέοντες γινοίατο, καὶ μένεσκον τὸν ἄμητον·

So the Phoenicians, setting out from the Red Sea, sailed the southern sea; and whenever autumn came, they would land and sow the soil, at whatever part of Libya they happened to be sailing, and wait for the harvest.

§4.42.4θερίσαντες δʼ ἂν τὸν σῖτον ἔπλεον, ὥστε δύο ἐτέων διεξελθόντων τρίτῳ ἔτεϊ κάμψαντες Ἡρακλέας στήλας ἀπίκοντο ἐς Αἴγυπτον.

Then, having reaped the corn, they would sail on, so that after two years had passed, in the third year they rounded the Pillars of Heracles and came to Egypt.

καὶ ἔλεγον ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐ πιστά, ἄλλῳ δὲ δή τεῳ, ὡς περιπλώοντες τὴν Λιβύην τὸν ἥλιον ἔσχον ἐς τὰ δεξιά.

And they said what is to me not credible, though perhaps to some other it may be, that as they sailed round Libya they had the sun on their right hand.

Notes

4.42.1τῶν διουρισάντων καὶ διελόντων — The substantivized genitive participles function as the direct object of the verb thōmazō ('to wonder at', 'to marvel at').
4.42.2δηλοῖ ἑωυτὴν ἐοῦσα — The participle eoūsa (feminine accusative singular of eimi) agrees with the reflexive pronoun heōutēn (the object of dēloi), forming a participial construction meaning 'shows itself to be...'.
4.42.3ὅκως δὲ γίνοιτο ... ἂν σπείρεσκον — A construction expressing past repetition. The optative ginoito in the temporal clause introduced by hokōs (Ionic for hopōs) corresponds with the iterative imperfect speireskon (accompanied by the particle an) in the main clause, a characteristic of Ionic dialect.
4.42.4ὡς περιπλώοντες τὴν Λιβύην τὸν ἥλιον ἔσχον ἐς τὰ δεξιά — Within the hōs clause representing reported speech, the participle periplōontes modifies the subject, expressing time ('while circumnavigating'). It records the physical fact of having the sun on their right (to the north) as they sailed westwards around the southern tip of Africa.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §4.42.1-4.42.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.42.1-4.42.4

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