- 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-grc2:1.50.1-1.50.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-29
Croesus offers immense sacrifices to the god at Delphi and prepares lavish gifts, including semi-ingots of gold and white gold, and a golden lion statue.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα θυσίῃσι μεγάλῃσι τὸν ἐν Δελφοῖσι θεὸν ἱλάσκετο· κτήνεά τε γὰρ τὰ θύσιμα πάντα τρισχίλια1 ἔθυσε, κλίνας τε ἐπιχρύσους καὶ ἐπαργύρους καὶ φιάλας χρυσέας καὶ εἵματα πορφύρεα καὶ κιθῶνας, νήσας πυρὴν μεγάλην, κατέκαιε, ἐλπίζων τὸν θεὸν μᾶλλον τι τούτοισι ἀνακτήσεσθαι· Λυδοῖσι τε πᾶσι προεῖπε θύειν πάντα τινὰ αὐτῶν τούτῳ ὅ τι ἔχοι ἕκαστος.
After this, he sought to propitiate the god at Delphi with great sacrifices; for he offered up three thousand of every kind of sacrificial beast, and, having piled up a great pyre, he burnt thereon couches overlaid with gold and silver, golden bowls, purple robes, and tunics, hoping by these means to win the god over to his side all the more. Moreover, he commanded all the Lydians that each of them should sacrifice to this god whatever he possessed.
ὡς δὲ ἐκ τῆς θυσίης ἐγένετο,2 καταχεάμενος χρυσὸν ἄπλετον ἡμιπλίνθια ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἐξήλαυνε, ἐπὶ μὰν τὰ μακρότερα ποιέων ἑξαπάλαιστα, ἐπὶ δὲ τὰ βραχύτερα τριπάλαιστα, ὕψος δὲ παλαιστιαῖα. ἀριθμὸν δὲ ἑπτακαίδεκα καὶ ἑκατόν, καὶ τούτων ἀπέφθου χρυσοῦ τέσσερα, τρίτον ἡμιτάλαντον3 ἕκαστον ἕλκοντα, τὰ δὲ ἄλλα ἡμιπλίνθια λευκοῦ χρυσοῦ, σταθμὸν διτάλαντα.
When the sacrifice was ended, he melted down an immense quantity of gold and cast semi-ingots from it, making the longer sides of them six palms in length, the shorter sides three palms, and the height one palm. Their number was a hundred and seventeen, and of these, four were of refined gold, each weighing two talents and a half, while the other semi-ingots were of white gold, weighing two talents.
ἐποιέετο δὲ καὶ λέοντος εἰκόνα χρυσοῦ ἀπέφθου ἕλκουσαν σταθμὸν τάλαντα δέκα. οὗτος ὁ λέων, ἐπείτε κατεκαίετο ὁ ἐν Δελφοῖσι νηός, κατέπεσε ἀπὸ τῶν ἡμιπλινθίων (ἐπὶ γὰρ τούτοισι ἵδρυτο), καὶ νῦν κεῖται ἐν τῷ Κορινθίων θησαυρῷ, ἕλκων σταθμὸν ἕβδομον ἡμιτάλαντον· ἀπετάκη γὰρ αὐτοῦ τέταρτον ἡμιτάλαντον.
He also had an image of a lion made of refined gold, weighing ten talents. This lion, when the temple at Delphi was burnt down, fell from the semi-ingots (for it had been set up upon them), and now lies in the treasury of the Corinthians, weighing six talents and a half; for three talents and a half had melted away from it.
- 1.50.1πάντα τρισχίλια
Although the adjective panta (all) modifies the numeral trischilia (three thousand), in Herodotus' usage this does not mean 'three thousand in total,' but rather 'three thousand of each and every kind' of sacrificial animal.
- 1.50.2ὡς δὲ ἐκ τῆς θυσίης ἐγένετο
The verb egeneto (aorist of gignomai) combined with the prepositional phrase ek tēs thysiēs indicates temporal progression: 'when he came out of the sacrifice,' meaning 'when the sacrifice was over.'
- 1.50.2τρίτον ἡμιτάλαντον
In Greek numerical expressions, when an ordinal is combined with a compound of hēmi- (half), 'the n-th half-unit' means 'n - 0.5'. Therefore, triton hēmitalanton (the third half-talent) denotes '2.5 talents.' Similarly, in 1.50.3, hebdomon hēmitalanton (the seventh half-talent) means '6.5 talents,' and tetarton hēmitalanton (the fourth half-talent) means '3.5 talents,' which matches the calculation of 10 - 3.5 = 6.5.