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Herodotus · Histories §4.54.1

Course of the Panticapes and the Farming Scythians

Passage 618 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The author describes the fifth river, Panticapes, including its source, the inhabitants of the territory between it and the Borysthenes, and its course joining the Borysthenes.

§4.54.1ταῦτα μὲν τὰ ἀπὸ τούτων τῶν ποταμῶν, μετὰ δὲ τούτους πέμπτος ποταμὸς ἄλλος, τῷ οὔνομα Παντικάπης, ῥέει μὲν καὶ οὗτος ἀπὸ βορέω τε καὶ ἐκ λίμνης, καὶ τὸ μεταξὺ τούτου τε καὶ τοῦ Βορυσθένεος νέμονται οἱ γεωργοὶ Σκύθαι, ἐκδιδοῖ δὲ ἐς τὴν Ὑβλαίην, παραμειψάμενος δὲ ταύτην τῷ Βορυσθένεϊ συμμίσγεται.
Such are the matters concerning these rivers; and after them there is another, a fifth river, whose name is Panticapes. This one also flows from the north and out of a lake, and the space between it and the Borysthenes is inhabited by the husbandmen Scythians. It empties into Hyblaea, and after passing through this, it joins the Borysthenes.

Notes

  1. 4.54.1ταῦτα μὲν τὰ ἀπὸ τούτων τῶν ποταμῶν — An elliptical clause with the omission of the copula (ἐστί). Literally, "these are the things from these rivers," marking the conclusion of the description of the previous rivers.
  2. 4.54.1τῷ οὔνομα Παντικάπης — A relative/demonstrative pronoun in the dative case of possession (τῷ, "to which") combined with the nominative οὔνομα, serving as an idiomatic expression meaning "whose name is..."
  3. 4.54.1τὸ μεταξύ τούτου τε καὶ τοῦ Βορυσθένεος — The adverb μεταξύ with the neuter singular accusative article τό forms a nominal phrase ("the region between this and the Borysthenes"), serving as the direct object (accusative) of the transitive verb νέμονται ("inhabit").
  4. 4.54.1παραμειψάμενος δὲ ταύτην — The aorist participle (παραμειψάμενος) functions as a circumstantial participle expressing anterior action ("after passing through") to the main verb συμμίσγεται. The feminine accusative singular demonstrative ταύτην refers back to the preceding τὴν Ὑβλαίην.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §4.54.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.54.1

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