Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §7.57.1-7.57.2

Two Portents Foretelling the Downfall of Xerxes

Passage 1120 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Describes two portents predicting Xerxes' future downfall, which occurred when he crossed the Hellespont and previously while in Sardis: a horse giving birth to a hare, and a mule giving birth to another mule with double genitals.

§7.57.1ὡς δὲ διέβησαν πάντες, ἐς ὁδὸν ὁρμημένοισι τέρας σφι ἐφάνη μέγα, τὸ Ξέρξης ἐν οὐδενὶ λόγῳ ἐποιήσατο καίπερ εὐσύμβλητον ἐόν· ἵππος γὰρ ἔτεκε λαγόν.
When they had all crossed, a great portent appeared to them as they set out on their march, which Xerxes took no account of, although it was easy to interpret; for a horse gave birth to a hare.
εὐσύμβλητον ὦν τῇδε τοῦτο ἐγένετο, ὅτι ἔμελλε μὲν ἐλᾶν στρατιὴν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα Ξέρξης ἀγαυρότατα καὶ μεγαλοπρεπέστατα, ὀπίσω δὲ περὶ ἑωυτοῦ τρέχων ἥξειν ἐς τὸν αὐτὸν χῶρον.
This was easy to interpret in this way, because Xerxes was going to lead his army against Greece most haughtily and magnificently, but on his return, running for his own life, he would come back to the same place.
ἐγένετο δὲ καὶ ἕτερον αὐτῷ τέρας ἐόντι ἐν Σάρδισι· §7.57.2ἡμίονος γὰρ ἔτεκε ἡμίονον διξὰ ἔχουσαν αἰδοῖα, τὰ μὲν ἔρσενος τὰ δὲ θηλέης· κατύπερθε δὲ ἦν τὰ τοῦ ἔρσενος.
Another portent had also happened to him while he was in Sardis: for a mule gave birth to a mule having double genitals, those of a male and those of a female, and those of the male were above.
τῶν ἀμφοτέρων λόγον οὐδένα ποιησάμενος τὸ πρόσω ἐπορεύετο, σὺν δέ οἱ ὁ πεζὸς στρατός.
Making no account of both of these, he marched forward, and the land army with him.

Notes

  1. 7.57.1ἐς ὁδὸν ὁρμημένοισι — Perfect middle-passive participle in the dative plural. It agrees with the dative pronoun σφι ('to them'), expressing the circumstance 'as they set out on their march'.
  2. 7.57.1περὶ ἑωυτοῦ τρέχων — An idiomatic expression derived from formulas like τρέχω περὶ ψυχῆς ('to run for one's life'). It means 'running to save one's own life' (i.e., fleeing in panic).
  3. 7.57.2τῶν ἀμφοτέρων — Genitive neuter plural, referring to both portents (the horse giving birth to a hare, and the mule giving birth to a hermaphrodite mule). It functions as an objective genitive governed by the participle ποιησάμενος.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.57.1-7.57.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.57.1-7.57.2

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