- 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-grc2:1.13.1-1.13.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
Gyges secures his Lydian kingship through the Delphic oracle, but the oracle also prophesies that vengeance for the Heraclidae will fall upon his fifth descendant.
ἔσχε δὲ τὴν βασιληίην καὶ ἐκρατύνθη ἐκ τοῦ ἐν Δελφοῖσι χρηστηρίου. ὡς γὰρ δὴ οἱ Λυδοὶ δεινόν ἐποιεῦντο τὸ Κανδαύλεω πάθος καὶ ἐν ὅπλοισι ἦσαν, συνέβησαν ἐς τὠυτὸ οἳ τε τοῦ Γύγεω στασιῶται καί οἱ λοιποὶ Λυδοί, ἤν μὲν τὸ χρηστήριον ἀνέλῃ1 μιν βασιλέα εἶναι Λυδῶν, τόν δὲ βασιλεύειν, ἤν δὲ μή, ἀποδοῦναι2 ὀπίσω ἐς Ἡρακλείδας τὴν ἀρχήν.
He obtained the kingdom and was confirmed in it by the oracle at Delphi. For when the Lydians were indignant at the fate of Candaules and were in arms, the partisans of Gyges and the rest of the Lydians came to an agreement: if the oracle should declare him to be king of the Lydians, then he should reign, but if not, they should restore the rule back to the Heraclidae.
ἀνεῖλέ τε δὴ τὸ χρηστήριον καὶ ἐβασίλευσε οὕτω Γύγης. τοσόνδε μέντοι εἶπε ἡ Πυθίη, ὡς Ἡρακλείδῃσι τίσις ἥξει ἐς τὸν πέμπτον ἀπόγονον3 Γύγεω. τούτου τοῦ ἔπεος Λυδοί τε καί οἱ βασιλέες αὐτῶν λόγον οὐδένα ἐποιεῦντο, πρὶν δὴ ἐπετελέσθη.
Indeed the oracle so declared, and thus Gyges became king. However, the Pythia said this much: that vengeance for the Heraclidae would come upon the fifth descendant of Gyges. To this utterance the Lydians and their kings paid no attention, until it was actually fulfilled.
- 1.13.1ἤν μὲν τὸ χρηστήριον ἀνέλῃ
ἀνέλῃ is the 3rd person singular aorist active subjunctive of ἀναιρέω (used of an oracle, meaning 'to declare' or 'to answer'), which, combined with the conjunction ἤν (equivalent to ἐάν), introduces a conditional clause.
- 1.13.1συνέβησαν ἐς τὠυτὸ ... βασιλεύειν ... ἀποδοῦναι
The verb συνέβησαν (3rd pl. aorist of συμβαίνω, 'to agree') is followed directly by the infinitives βασιλεύειν and ἀποδοῦναι, which express the terms of the agreement. τόν is a demonstrative pronoun in the accusative functioning as the subject of the infinitive βασιλεύειν, referring to Gyges.
- 1.13.2ἐς τὸν πέμπτον ἀπόγονον
The phrase 'to the fifth descendant' uses inclusive counting, which starts with Gyges himself as the first. The sequence is Gyges (1), Ardys (2), Sadyattes (3), Alyattes (4), and Croesus (5); thus, the fifth descendant refers to Croesus.