- 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-grc2:1.35.1-1.35.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-28
While Croesus is preparing for his son's marriage, Adrastus, a Phrygian prince who accidentally killed his brother, arrives in Sardis, and Croesus purifies him and welcomes him into his home.
ἔχοντι δέ οἱ1 ἐν χερσὶ τοῦ παιδὸς τὸν γάμον, ἀπικνέεται ἐς τὰς Σάρδις ἀνὴρ συμφορῇ ἐχόμενος καὶ οὐ καθαρὸς χεῖρας, ἐὼν Φρὺξ μὲν γενεῇ, γένεος δὲ τοῦ βασιληίου. παρελθὼν δὲ οὗτος ἐς τὰ Κροίσου οἰκία κατὰ νόμους τοὺς ἐπιχωρίους καθαρσίου ἐδέετο κυρῆσαι,2 Κροῖσος δέ μιν ἐκάθηρε.
While he had in hand the marriage of his son, there arrived in Sardis a man gripped by misfortune and not clean as to his hands, being a Phrygian by birth, and of the royal family. Having come into the house of Croesus according to the local customs, this man begged to obtain purification, and Croesus purified him.
ἔστι δὲ παραπλησίη ἡ κάθαρσις τοῖσι Λυδοῖσι καὶ τοῖσι Ἕλλησι. ἐπείτε δὲ τὰ νομιζόμενα ἐποίησε ὁ Κροῖσος, ἐπυνθάνετο ὁκόθεν τε καὶ τίς εἴη, λέγων τάδε·
The purification is very similar for the Lydians and the Greeks. When Croesus had performed the customary rites, he inquired whence and who he was, saying these words:
ὤνθρωπε, τίς τε ἐὼν καὶ κόθεν τῆς Φρυγίης ἥκων ἐπίστιός μοι ἐγένεο; τίνα τε ἀνδρῶν ἢ γυναικῶν ἐφόνευσας; ὁ δὲ ἀμείβετο ὦ βασιλεῦ, Γορδίεω μὲν τοῦ Μίδεω εἰμὶ παῖς, ὀνομάζομαι δὲ Ἄδρηστος, φονεύσας δὲ ἀδελφεὸν ἐμεωυτοῦ ἀέκων πάρειμι ἐξεληλαμένος τε ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ ἐστερημένος πάντων.
”Man, who are you, and from where in Phrygia have you come to become a suppliant at my hearth? And whom of men or women did you slay?” And he replied: “O king, I am the son of Gordias, the son of Midas, and my name is Adrastus. Having slain my own brother unwillingly, I am here, having been driven out by my father and deprived of everything.”
Κροῖσος δέ μιν ἀμείβετο τοῖσιδε· ἀνδρῶν τε φίλων τυγχάνεις ἔκγονος ἐὼν3 καὶ ἐλήλυθας ἐς φίλους, ἔνθα ἀμηχανήσεις χρήματος οὐδενὸς μένων ἐν ἡμετέρου,4 συμφορήν τε ταύτην ὡς κουφότατα φέρων κερδανέεις πλεῖστον.
And Croesus answered him with these words: “You happen to be the offspring of friendly men, and you have come to friends, where you will lack nothing of any necessity while staying in our house; and by bearing this misfortune as lightly as possible, you will gain the most.”
- 1.35.1ἔχοντι δέ οἱ
οἱ is the third person singular personal pronoun in the dative, referring to Croesus. It agrees with the dative present participle ἔχοντι, functioning as a dative of reference, expressing the temporal or situational background ('while he had...') to the main action.
- 1.35.1καθαρσίου ἐδέετο κυρῆσαι
The verb ἐδέετο (imperfect of δέομαι, 'begged') takes the infinitive κυρῆσαι ('to obtain'). Since κυρέω governs the genitive case, the genitive καθαρσίου ('purification') functions as the object of κυρῆσαι.
- 1.35.4τυγχάνεις ἔκγονος ἐὼν
The construction of τυγχάνω with a participle (here ἐὼν, the participle of εἰμί), meaning 'you happen to be...' or 'you are indeed...'
- 1.35.4ἐν ἡμετέρου
An idiomatic expression where the preposition ἐν is followed by a genitive, with a noun like οἴκῳ (house) or δώμασι (palace) being omitted. It means 'in our house' or 'at our home.'