- 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-grc2:1.27.1-1.27.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-28
Having subjugated the Greeks of Asia, Croesus plans to build ships to attack the islanders, but a wise man's clever dialogue makes him realize his folly, leading him to halt the construction and form an alliance instead.
ὡς δὲ ἄρα οἱ ἐν τῇ Ἀσίῃ Ἕλληνες κατεστράφατο ἐς φόρου ἀπαγωγήν, τὸ ἐνθεῦτεν ἐπενόεε νέας ποιησάμενος ἐπιχειρέειν τοῖσι νησιώτῃσι.
When the Greeks in Asia had been subjugated to the payment of tribute, he next planned to build ships and attack the islanders.
ἐόντων δέ οἱ πάντων ἑτοίμων ἐς τὴν ναυπηγίην, οἳ μὲν Βίαντα λέγουσι τὸν Πριηνέα ἀπικόμενον ἐς Σάρδις, οἳ δὲ Πιττακὸν τὸν Μυτιληναῖον, εἰρομένου Κροίσου εἴ τι εἴη νεώτερον περὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα, εἰπόντα1 τάδε καταπαῦσαι τὴν ναυπηγίην·
When everything was ready for his shipbuilding, some say that Bias of Priene, others that Pittacus of Mytilene, came to Sardis, and when Croesus asked if there were any news in Greece, stopped the shipbuilding by speaking as follows:
ὦ βασιλεῦ, νησιῶται ἵππον συνωνέονται μυρίην, ἐς Σάρδις τε καὶ ἐπὶ σὲ ἐν νόῳ ἔχοντες στρατεύεσθαι. Κροῖσον δὲ ἐλπίσαντα λέγειν ἐκεῖνον ἀληθέα εἰπεῖν αἲ γὰρ2 τοῦτο θεοὶ ποιήσειαν ἐπὶ νόον νησιώτῃσι, ἐλθεῖν ἐπὶ Λυδῶν παῖδας σὺν ἵπποισι.
”O King, the islanders are buying ten thousand horses, intending to march against Sardis and against you.” Croesus, hoping that he was speaking the truth, said: “Would that the gods might put this into the minds of the islanders, to come against the sons of the Lydians with horses!”
τὸν δὲ ὑπολαβόντα φάναι ὦ βασιλεῦ, προθύμως μοι φαίνεαι εὔξασθαι νησιώτας ἱππευομένους λαβεῖν ἐν ἠπείρῳ, οἰκότα ἐλπίζων. νησιώτας δὲ τί δοκέεις εὔχεσθαι ἄλλο ἤ, ἐπείτε τάχιστα ἐπύθοντό σε μέλλοντα ἐπὶ σφίσι ναυπηγέεσθαι νέας, λαβεῖν ἀρώμενοι3 Λυδούς ἐν θαλάσσῃ, ἵνα ὓπερ τῶν ἐν τῇ ἠπείρῳ οἰκημένων Ἑλλήνων τίσωνταί σε, τοὺς σὺ δουλώσας ἔχεις;4
But the other replied and said: “O King, you seem to me to pray eagerly to catch the islanders riding horses on the mainland, expecting what is natural. But what else do you think the islanders pray for, as soon as they heard that you were going to build ships against them, than to catch the Lydians on the sea, so that they may take vengeance on you for the Greeks dwelling on the mainland, whom you hold enslaved?”
κάρτα τε ἡσθῆναι Κροῖσον τῷ ἐπιλόγῳ καί οἱ, προσφυέως γὰρ δόξαι λέγειν, πειθόμενον παύσασθαι τῆς ναυπηγίης. καὶ οὕτω τοῖσι τὰς νήσους οἰκημένοισι Ἴωσι ξεινίην συνεθήκατο.
Croesus was greatly pleased with this conclusion, and as the speaker seemed to him to speak to the point, he was persuaded and stopped the shipbuilding. And in this way he concluded a treaty of friendship with the Ionians who inhabited the islands.
- 1.27.2εἰπόντα
Part of the accusative and infinitive construction dependent on the main verb λέγουσι ("they say"). It is an accusative participle agreeing with the subject accusatives Βίαντα or Πιττακὸν, leading to the infinitive καταπαῦσαι ("stopped"). The structure translates to "they say that [name], having said..., stopped [the shipbuilding]."
- 1.27.3αἲ γὰρ
Particles used to express a wish (often for the future or unaccomplished). Here combined with the aorist optative ποιήσειαν to express a strong desire: "Would that the gods might..."
- 1.27.4ἀρώμενοι
Nominative plural participle. Although the logical subject of the infinitive λαβεῖν is νησιώτας (accusative), the participle ἀρώμενοι ("praying") appears in the nominative. This is an anacoluthon or grammatical attraction, arising because the main clause τί δοκέεις ... functionally treats the islanders as the psychological subject of the whole thought.
- 1.27.4δουλώσας ἔχεις
A periphrastic construction using the aorist participle (δουλώσας) and ἔχεις ("you have") instead of a standard perfect tense. It emphasizes the ongoing state (holding in slavery) resulting from a past action (enslaving).