- 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-grc2:1.70.1-1.70.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-29
The Lacedaemonians accepted the alliance and sent a giant bronze mixing-bowl as a return gift to Croesus, but it never reached Sardis. There are two conflicting accounts regarding its fate: the Spartans claim it was plundered by the Samians, while the Samians claim it was sold by its carriers and subsequently dedicated to the Heraeum.
τούτων τε ὦν εἵνεκεν οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι τὴν συμμαχίην ἐδέξαντο, καὶ ὅτι ἐκ πάντων σφέας προκρίνας Ἑλλήνων αἱρέετο φίλους. καὶ τοῦτο μὲν αὐτοὶ ἦσαν ἕτοιμοι ἐπαγγείλαντι,1 τοῦτο δὲ ποιησάμενοι κρητῆρα χάλκεον ζῳδίων τε ἔξωθεν πλήσαντες περὶ τὸ χεῖλος καὶ μεγάθεϊ τριηκοσίους ἀμφορέας χωρέοντα ἦγον, δῶρον βουλόμενοι ἀντιδοῦναι Κροίσῳ.
For these reasons, then, the Lacedaemonians accepted the alliance, and also because he, having selected them out of all the Greeks, chose them as friends. And on the one hand, they themselves were ready when he should demand assistance, and on the other hand, having made a bronze mixing-bowl and having covered it on the outside around the rim with small figures of animals, holding three hundred amphorae in capacity, they were bringing it, wishing to give a gift in return to Croesus.
οὗτος ὁ κρητὴρ οὐκ ἀπίκετο ἐς Σάρδις διʼ αἰτίας διφασίας λεγομένας τάσδε· οἱ μὲν Λακεδαιμόνιοι λέγουσι ὡς ἐπείτε ἀγόμενος ἐς τὰς Σάρδις ὁ κρητὴρ ἐγίνετο κατὰ τὴν Σαμίην, πυθόμενοι Σάμιοι ἀπελοίατο αὐτὸν νηυσὶ μακρῇσι ἐπιπλώσαντες·
This mixing-bowl did not reach Sardis, for two different reasons which are told as follows: the Lacedaemonians say that when the mixing-bowl, being brought to Sardis, came near Samos, the Samians, having found out about it, sailed out with long ships and robbed them of it;
αὐτοὶ δὲ Σάμιοι λέγουσι ὡς ἐπείτε ὑστέρησαν οἱ ἄγοντες τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων2 τὸν κρητῆρα, ἐπυνθάνοντο δὲ Σάρδις τε καὶ Κροῖσον ἡλωκέναι, ἀπέδοντο τὸν κρητῆρα ἐν Σάμῳ, ἰδιώτας δὲ ἄνδρας πριαμένους ἀναθεῖναί μιν ἐς τὸ Ἥραιον. τάχα δὲ ἂν καὶ οἱ ἀποδόμενοι λέγοιεν3 ἀπικόμενοι ἐς Σπάρτην ὡς ἀπαιρεθείησαν ὑπὸ Σαμίων. κατὰ μέν νυν τὸν κρητῆρα οὕτω ἔσχε.
but the Samians themselves say that when those of the Lacedaemonians who were bringing the mixing-bowl were too late, and learned that Sardis and Croesus had been taken, they sold the mixing-bowl in Samos, and certain private individuals, having bought it, dedicated it in the Heraeum. And perhaps those who sold it, when they came to Sparta, might say that they had been robbed of it by the Samians. Thus it happened concerning the mixing-bowl.
- 1.70.1ἐπαγγείλαντι
Aorist active participle, singular, dative. It refers not to the Lacedaemonians (who are plural, the subject of ἦσαν), but to Croesus who requested the alliance. It is translated as "ready for him when he should demand assistance."
- 1.70.3ὑστέρησαν οἱ ἄγοντες τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων
The genitive noun phrase tōn Lakedaimoniōn is taken as a partitive genitive with hoi agontes ("those of the Lacedaemonians who were bringing"), meaning that those specific Lacedaemonians charged with transporting the bowl arrived too late.
- 1.70.3τάχα δὲ ἂν καὶ οἱ ἀποδόμενοι λέγοιεν
The combination of the adverb tacha (perhaps) and the optative with an (legoien, potential optative) expresses a past possibility or a conjecture about what the sellers might have said upon their return to Sparta.