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Herodotus · Histories §4.57.1

Course of the Tanais and Lake Maeotis

Passage 621 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The passage describes the eighth river, the Tanais (Don), its source and its outlet in Lake Maeotis (Sea of Azov), as well as its tributary, the Hyrgis.

§4.57.1ὄγδοος δὲ δὴ Τάναϊς ποταμός, ὃς ῥέει τἀνέκαθεν ἐκ λίμνης μεγάλης ὁρμώμενος, ἐκδιδοῖ δὲ ἐς μέζω ἔτι λίμνην καλεόμενον Μαιῆτιν, ἣ οὐρίζει Σκύθας τε τοὺς βασιληίους καὶ Σαυρομάτας.
The eighth river is indeed the Tanais, which flows from its source in a great lake, and empties into an even larger lake called the Maeotis, which bounds the Royal Scythians and the Sauromatae.
ἐς δὲ Τάναϊν τοῦτον ἄλλος ποταμὸς ἐσβάλλει τῷ οὔνομα ἐστὶ Ὕργις.
Into this Tanais another river empties, whose name is the Hyrgis.

Notes

  1. §4.57.1τἀνέκαθεν — Crasis of τὸ ἀνέκαθεν. Here it functions as an adverb meaning 'from above' or 'from the source', referring to the upper reaches of the river.
  2. §4.57.1καλεόμενον — Although modifying the feminine accusative nouns λίμνην and Μαιῆτιν, the participle appears in the neuter form καλεόμενον. This can be understood either as a loose apposition with a neuter conceptual meaning ('that which is called') or as a textual corruption, but contextually it modifies λίμνην.
  3. §4.57.1τῷ οὔνομα ἐστὶ — A construction of the dative of possession using the ionic form of the relative pronoun (equivalent to Attic ᾧ), literally meaning 'to which the name is' (i.e., 'whose name is').

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §4.57.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.57.1

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