- Source
- Thucydides. Historiae, Vol 1-2. Jones, Henry Stuart, editor. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1910. (1942 printing).
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.126.1-1.126.12
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-23
The Lacedaemonians demand that Athens expel the 'curse of the goddess' to create a pretext for war. The origin of this curse lies in the ancient slaughter of Cylon's co-conspirators who had seized the Acropolis.
ἐν τούτῳ δὲ ἐπρεσβεύοντο τῷ χρόνῳ πρὸς τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ἐγκλήματα ποιούμενοι, ὅπως σφίσιν ὅτι μεγίστη πρόφασις εἴη1 τοῦ πολεμεῖν, ἢν μή τι ἐσακούωσιν.
During this time, they kept sending embassies to the Athenians, making demands, so that they might have the greatest possible pretext for war if the Athenians should not listen to them.
καὶ πρῶτον μὲν πρέσβεις πέμψαντες οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι ἐκέλευον τοὺς Ἀθηναίους τὸ ἄγος ἐλαύνειν τῆς θεοῦ· τὸ δὲ ἄγος ἦν τοιόνδε.
And first of all, the Lacedaemonians sent ambassadors and ordered the Athenians to drive out the curse of the goddess; and the curse was as follows.
Κύλων ἦν Ἀθηναῖος ἀνὴρ Ὀλυμπιονίκης τῶν πάλαι εὐγενής τε καὶ δυνατός, ἐγεγαμήκει δὲ θυγατέρα Θεαγένους Μεγαρέως ἀνδρός, ὃς κατ’ ἐκεῖνον τὸν χρόνον ἐτυράννει Μεγάρων.
There was an Athenian named Cylon, an Olympic victor of ancient times, noble and powerful; and he had married the daughter of Theagenes, a Megarian, who at that time was tyrant of Megara.
χρωμένῳ δὲ τῷ Κύλωνι2 ἐν Δελφοῖς ἀνεῖλεν ὁ θεὸς ἐν τοῦ Διὸς τῇ μεγίστῃ ἑορτῇ καταλαβεῖν τὴν Ἀθηναίων ἀκρόπολιν.
When Cylon consulted the oracle at Delphi, the god told him to seize the Acropolis of the Athenians at the greatest festival of Zeus.
ὁ δὲ παρά τε τοῦ Θεαγένους δύναμιν λαβὼν καὶ τοὺς φίλους ἀναπείσας, ἐπειδὴ ἐπῆλθεν Ὀλύμπια τὰ ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ, κατέλαβε τὴν ἀκρόπολιν ὡς ἐπὶ τυραννίδι, νομίσας ἑορτήν τε τοῦ Διὸς μεγίστην εἶναι καὶ ἑαυτῷ τι προσήκειν Ὀλύμπια νενικηκότι.
So, having obtained a force from Theagenes and having persuaded his friends, when the Olympic games in the Peloponnese came, he seized the Acropolis with a view to establishing a tyranny, thinking both that this was the greatest festival of Zeus and that it was somehow appropriate for him as an Olympic victor.
εἰ δὲ ἐν τῇ Ἀττικῇ ἢ ἄλλοθί που ἡ μεγίστη ἑορτὴ εἴρητο,3 οὔτε ἐκεῖνος ἔτι κατενόησε τό τε μαντεῖον οὐκ ἐδήλου (ἔστι γὰρ καὶ Ἀθηναίοις Διάσια ἃ καλεῖται Διὸς ἑορτὴ Μειλιχίου μεγίστη ἔξω τῆς πόλεως, ἐν ᾗ πανδημεὶ θύουσι πολλὰ οὐχ ἱερεῖα, ἀλλ’ 〈ἁγνὰ〉 θύματα ἐπιχώρια), δοκῶν δὲ ὀρθῶς γιγνώσκειν ἐπεχείρησε τῷ ἔργῳ.
But whether the greatest festival meant was in Attica or elsewhere, he did not consider, nor did the oracle make it clear (for the Athenians also have the Diasia, which is called the greatest festival of Zeus the Merciful, held outside the city, at which the whole populace offers many traditional, bloodless sacrifices rather than animal victims); and thinking he understood correctly, he set about the enterprise.
οἱ δὲ Ἀθηναῖοι αἰσθόμενοι ἐβοήθησάν τε πανδημεὶ ἐκ τῶν ἀγρῶν ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς καὶ προσκαθεζόμενοι ἐπολιόρκουν.
When the Athenians perceived this, they came in a body from the fields to oppose them, and sitting down before the place, they besieged them.
χρόνου δὲ ἐγγιγνομένου οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι τρυχόμενοι τῇ προσεδρίᾳ ἀπῆλθον οἱ πολλοί, ἐπιτρέψαντες τοῖς ἐννέα ἄρχουσι τήν τε φυλακὴν καὶ τὸ πᾶν αὐτοκράτορσι διαθεῖναι4 ᾗ ἂν ἄριστα διαγιγνώσκωσιν· τότε δὲ τὰ πολλὰ τῶν πολιτικῶν οἱ ἐννέα ἄρχοντες ἔπρασσον.
But as time went on, the Athenians, being worn out by the siege, most of them departed, having committed the guard and the settlement of the whole matter to the nine archons with full powers to act as they thought best; for at that time the nine archons managed most of the public affairs.
οἱ δὲ μετὰ τοῦ Κύλωνος πολιορκούμενοι φλαύρως εἶχον σίτου τε καὶ ὕδατος ἀπορίᾳ.
Meanwhile, those besieged with Cylon were in a wretched state from want of food and water.
ὁ μὲν οὖν Κύλων καὶ ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ ἐκδιδράσκουσιν· οἱ δ’ ἄλλοι ὡς ἐπιέζοντο καί τινες καὶ ἀπέθνῃσκον ὑπὸ τοῦ λιμοῦ, καθίζουσιν ἐπὶ τὸν βωμὸν ἱκέται τὸν ἐν τῇ ἀκροπόλει.
So Cylon and his brother escaped; but the others, when they were hard pressed, and some were even dying of hunger, sat down as suppliants at the altar on the Acropolis.
ἀναστήσαντες δὲ αὐτοὺς οἱ τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἐπιτετραμμένοι τὴν φυλακήν, ὡς ἑώρων ἀποθνῄσκοντας ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ, ἐφ’ ᾧ μηδὲν κακὸν ποιήσουσιν,5 ἀπαγαγόντες ἀπέκτειναν· καθεζομένους δέ τινας καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν σεμνῶν θεῶν τοῖς βωμοῖς ἐν τῇ παρόδῳ ἀπεχρήσαντο. καὶ ἀπὸ τούτου ἐναγεῖς καὶ ἀλιτήριοι τῆς θεοῦ ἐκεῖνοί τε ἐκαλοῦντο καὶ τὸ γένος τὸ ἀπ᾽ ἐκείνων.
And those of the Athenians who were entrusted with the guard, when they saw them dying in the temple, raised them up on condition that they should do them no harm, and leading them away, put them to death; they even slaughtered some who were sitting at the altars of the Awful Goddesses in passing. And from this, both they and their descendants were called accursed and sinners against the goddess.
ἤλασαν μὲν οὖν καὶ οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι τοὺς ἐναγεῖς τούτους, ἤλασε δὲ καὶ Κλεομένης ὁ Λακεδαιμόνιος ὕστερον μετὰ Ἀθηναίων στασιαζόντων, τούς τε ζῶντας ἐλαύνοντες καὶ τῶν τεθνεώτων τὰ ὀστᾶ ἀνελόντες ἐξέβαλον· κατῆλθον μέντοι ὕστερον, καὶ τὸ γένος αὐτῶν ἔστιν ἔτι ἐν τῇ πόλει.
These accursed ones were indeed driven out by the Athenians themselves, and afterwards Cleomenes the Lacedaemonian, together with a faction of Athenians, drove them out again, casting out the living and raising and throwing out the bones of the dead; nevertheless, they afterwards returned, and their descendants are still in the city.
- 126.1ὅπως σφίσιν ὅτι μεγίστη πρόφασις εἴη
A purpose clause introduced by ὅπως with the optative εἴη, following the secondary tense of the main verb (imperfect ἐπρεσβεύοντο). The phrase ὅτι with the superlative (μεγίστη) means 'the greatest possible'.
- 126.4χρωμένῳ δὲ τῷ Κύλωνι
A dative of reference showing the person to whom the oracle was given in relation to the main verb ἀνεῖλεν. The participle χρωμένῳ is from χράομαι, meaning 'to consult an oracle'.
- 126.6εἰ δὲ ἐν τῇ Ἀττικῇ ἢ ἄλλοθί που ἡ μεγίστη ἑορτὴ εἴρητο
The conjunction εἰ here introduces an indirect question ('whether...'), rather than a conditional clause. This entire indirect question clause serves as the object of the subsequent verb κατενόησε.
- 126.8αὐτοκράτορσι διαθεῖναι
The infinitive διαθεῖναι expresses the purpose or result of the committing action (ἐπιτρέψαντες). The adjective αὐτοκράτορσι is in the dative, agreeing with 'the nine archons' (τοῖς ἐννέα ἄρχουσι), and is used predicatively to mean 'with full powers'.
- 126.11ἐφ’ ᾧ μηδὲν κακὸν ποιήσουσιν
The construction 'ἐφ’ ᾧ with the future indicative' expresses a condition or agreement ('on condition that they would do them no harm').