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Herodotus · Histories §7.10E.1

Artabanus on Divine Jealousy and the Fall of the Proud

Passage 1067 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Artabanus explains the nature of divine jealousy, illustrating how the god strikes down prominent animals, tall buildings, trees, and great armies to prevent anyone other than himself from thinking big.

§7.10E.1ὁρᾷς τὰ ὑπερέχοντα ζῷα ὡς κεραυνοῖ ὁ θεὸς οὐδὲ ἐᾷ φαντάζεσθαι, τὰ δὲ σμικρὰ οὐδέν μιν κνίζει·
\nYou see how the god strikes with lightning those animals that stand out, and does not allow them to show off, while the small ones do not vex him at all.
ὁρᾷς δὲ ὡς ἐς οἰκήματα τὰ μέγιστα αἰεὶ καὶ δένδρεα τὰ τοιαῦτα ἀποσκήπτει τὰ βέλεα· φιλέει γὰρ ὁ θεὸς τὰ ὑπερέχοντα πάντα κολούειν.
And you see how he always hurls his bolts against the tallest houses and trees of such kind; for the god loves to prune back everything that stands out.
οὕτω δὲ καὶ στρατὸς πολλὸς ὑπὸ ὀλίγου διαφθείρεται κατὰ τοιόνδε· ἐπεάν σφι ὁ θεὸς φθονήσας φόβον ἐμβάλῃ ἢ βροντήν, διʼ ὦν ἐφθάρησαν ἀναξίως ἑωυτῶν.
In this way, too, a great army is destroyed by a small one in the following manner: whenever the god, out of envy, casts fear or thunder among them, they are thereby destroyed in a manner unworthy of themselves.
οὐ γὰρ ἐᾷ φρονέειν μέγα ὁ θεὸς ἄλλον ἢ ἑωυτόν.
For the god does not allow anyone else but himself to think big.

Notes

  1. §7.10E.1τὰ ὑπερέχοντα ζῷα — Proleptic accusative. It is placed as the direct object of the main verb `ὁρᾷς`, but logically functions as the object of the verb `κεραυνοῖ` inside the subordinate clause ("how the god strikes [them] with lightning").
  2. §7.10E.1μιν — Ionic third-person singular pronoun in the accusative (equivalent to Attic `αὐτόν`). Here it refers back to `ὁ θεός` (the god), meaning "the small ones do not vex him (the god) at all."
  3. §7.10E.1διʼ ὦν — `ὦν` is the Ionic spelling of the particle `οὖν` (therefore), not the relative pronoun `ὧν`. Thus `διʼ ὦν` is equivalent to `διʼ οὖν`, meaning "and so" or "consequently."

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.10E.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.10E.1

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