- Source
- Herodotus. Godley, Alfred Denis, editor. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, Ltd., 1920-1925 (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:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.120.1-1.120.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-31
Astyages summons the Magi who had previously interpreted his dream and informs them that Cyrus has already acted as a king among the village boys. The Magi conclude that the dream has thus been fulfilled and Cyrus is no longer a threat, advising Astyages to send him back to Persia.
Ἁρπάγῳ μὲν Ἀστυάγης δίκην ταύτην ἐπέθηκε, Κύρου δὲ πέρι βουλεύων ἐκάλεε τοὺς αὐτοὺς τῶν Μάγων οἳ τὸ ἐνύπνιὸν οἱ ταύτῃ ἔκριναν. ἀπικομένους δὲ εἴρετο ὁ Ἁστυάγης τῇ ἔκρινάν οἱ τὴν ὄψιν. οἳ δὲ κατὰ ταὐτὰ εἶπαν λέγοντες ὡς βασιλεῦσαι χρῆν τὸν παῖδα, εἰ ἐπέζωσε καὶ μὴ ἀπέθανε πρότερον.1
Astyages inflicted this punishment on Harpagus, but reflecting on Cyrus, he summoned the same Magi who had interpreted his dream in that way. When they arrived, Astyages asked them how they had interpreted his vision. They spoke to the same effect, saying that the boy was bound to be king if he had survived and had not died beforehand.
ὁ δὲ ἀμείβεται αὐτοὺς τοῖσιδε. ἔστι τε ὁ παῖς καὶ περίεστι, καί μιν ἐπʼ ἀγροῦ διαιτώμενον οἱ ἐκ τῆς κώμης παῖδες ἐστήσαντο βασιλέα. ὁ δὲ πάντα ὅσα περ οἱ ἀληθέι λόγῳ βασιλέες ἐτελέωσε ποιήσας· καὶ γὰρ δορυφόρους καὶ θυρωροὺς καὶ ἀγγελιηφόρους καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ πάντα διατάξας ἦρχε.
He answered them with these words: “The boy is alive and survives, and while he was living in the countryside, the boys of the village made him king. He accomplished all the very things that real kings do; for he ruled after appointing bodyguards, gatekeepers, messengers, and all the other positions.
καὶ νῦν ἐς τί ὑμῖν ταῦτα φαίνεται φέρειν; εἶπαν οἱ Μάγοι εἰ μὲν περίεστί τε καὶ ἐβασίλευσε ὁ παῖς μὴ ἐκ προνοίης τινός, θάρσεέ τε τούτου εἵνεκα καὶ θυμὸν ἔχε ἀγαθόν· οὐ γὰρ ἔτι τὸ δεύτερον ἄρχει. παρὰ σμικρὰ γὰρ καὶ τῶν λογίων ἡμῖν ἔνια κεχώρηκε, καὶ τά γε τῶν ὀνειράτων ἐχόμενα τελέως ἐς ἀσθενὲς ἔρχεται.
And now, to what do you think these things lead?” The Magi said: “If the boy survives and became king without any premeditated plan, be of good courage on this account and have a good heart; for he will not rule a second time. For even some of our oracles have turned out to be of small importance, and things concerning dreams, at any rate, end up completely powerless.
ἀμείβεται ὁ Ἀστυάγης τοῖσιδε. καὶ αὐτὸς ὦ Μάγοι ταύτῃ πλεῖστος γνώμην εἰμί,2 βασιλέος ὀνομασθέντος τοῦ παιδὸς ἐξήκειν τε τὸν ὄνειρον καί μοι τὸν παῖδα τοῦτον εἶναι δεινὸν ἔτι οὐδέν. ὅμως μέν γέ τοι συμβουλεύσατέ μοι εὖ περισκεψάμενοι τὰ μέλλει ἀσφαλέστατα εἶναι οἴκῳ τε τῷ ἐμῷ καὶ ὑμῖν.
Astyages answered with these words: “I myself, O Magi, am very much of this opinion, that since the boy was named king, the dream has been fulfilled, and that this boy is no longer any danger to me. Nevertheless, consider well and advise me what will be the safest course for both my house and yourselves.”
εἶπαν πρὸς ταῦτα οἱ Μάγοι ὦ βασιλεῦ, καὶ αὐτοῖσι ἡμῖν περὶ πολλοῦ ἐστι κατορθοῦσθαι ἀρχὴν τὴν σήν. κείνως μὲν γὰρ ἀλλοτριοῦται ἐς τὸν παῖδα τοῦτον περιιοῦσα ἐόντα Πέρσην, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐόντες Μῆδοι δουλούμεθά τε καὶ λόγου οὐδενὸς γινόμεθα πρὸς Περσέων, ἐόντες ξεῖνοι· σέο δʼ ἐνεστεῶτος βασιλέος, ἐόντος πολιήτεω, καὶ ἄρχομεν τὸ μέρος καὶ τιμὰς πρὸς σέο μεγάλας ἔχομεν.
To this the Magi said: “O king, it is of great importance to us ourselves that your rule be kept straight. For in the other case, the rule is alienated by passing to this boy, who is a Persian, and we, being Medes, are enslaved and become of no account to the Persians, since we are strangers; but while you are established as king, being our fellow-citizen, we both rule in our turn and hold great honors from you.
οὕτω ὦν πάντως ἡμῖν σέο καὶ τῆς σῆς ἀρχῆς προοπτέον ἐστί. καὶ νῦν εἰ φοβερόν τι ἐνωρῶμεν, πᾶν ἂν σοὶ προεφράζομεν.3 νῦν δὲ ἀποσκήψαντος τοῦ ἐνυπνίου ἐς φαῦλον, αὐτοί τε θαρσέομεν καὶ σοὶ ἕτερα τοιαῦτα παρακελευόμεθα. τὸν δὲ παῖδα τοῦτον ἐξ ὀφθαλμῶν ἀπόπεμψαι ἐς Πέρσας τε καὶ τοὺς γειναμένους.
Thus, by all means, we must look out for you and your rule. And now, if we saw anything fearful, we would declare it all to you beforehand. But now, since the dream has passed off into a triviality, we ourselves are of good courage and we exhort you to be likewise. Send this boy away from your eyes to Persia and to his parents.”
- 1.120.1χρῆν τὸν παῖδα, εἰ ἐπέζωσε καὶ μὴ ἀπέθανε πρότερον
The imperfect of the impersonal verb χρῆν (or ἐχρῆν), without the particle ἄν, expresses an unrealized past necessity or obligation ("he was bound to be"). Together with the protasis εἰ ἐπέζωσε (aorist indicative), it forms a past contrary-to-fact conditional construction: "he would have had to be king, if he had survived."
- 1.120.4πλεῖστος γνώμην εἰμί
γνώμην is an accusative of respect (specification) meaning "in opinion/judgment." Combined with the adjective πλεῖστος ("most, greatest"), the phrase literally means "I am greatest in this opinion," translating idiomatically as "I am very much of this opinion" or "I agree completely."
- 1.120.6εἰ φοβερόν τι ἐνωρῶμεν, πᾶν ἂν σοὶ προεφράζομεν
A contrary-to-fact conditional sentence referring to the present (or general past), with the imperfect indicative ἐνωρῶμεν in the protasis and ἄν with the imperfect indicative προεφράζομεν in the apodosis. It means "if we saw (now) anything fearful, we would declare it all to you (but we do not see any, so we do not declare it)."