- 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-grc2:1.71.1-1.71.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-29
Croesus prepares for an expedition to Cappadocia after misinterpreting the oracle, but the wise Sandanis warns him against it, highlighting the poverty of the Persians and the grave losses Croesus would face.
Κροῖσος δὲ ἁμαρτὼν τοῦ χρησμοῦ1 ἐποιέετο στρατηίην ἐς Καππαδοκίην, ἐλπίσας καταιρήσειν Κῦρόν τε καὶ τὴν Περσέων δύναμιν.
Croesus, having misunderstood the oracle, made an expedition into Cappadocia, hoping to destroy Cyrus and the power of the Persians.
παρασκευαζομένου δὲ Κροίσου στρατεύεσθαι ἐπὶ Πέρσας, τῶν τις Λυδῶν νομιζόμενος καὶ πρόσθε εἶναι σοφός, ἀπὸ δὲ ταύτης τῆς γνώμης καὶ τὸ κάρτα οὔνομα ἐν Λυδοῖσι ἔχων, συνεβούλευσε Κροίσῳ τάδε· οὔνομά οἱ ἦν Σάνδανις. ὦ βασιλεῦ, ἐπʼ ἄνδρας τοιούτους στρατεύεσθαι παρασκευάζεαι, οἳ σκυτίνας μὲν ἀναξυρίδας σκυτίνην δὲ τὴν ἄλλην ἐσθῆτα φορέουσι, σιτέονται δὲ οὐκ ὅσα ἐθέλουσι ἀλλʼ ὅσα ἔχουσι, χώρην ἔχοντες τρηχέαν.
While Croesus was preparing to march against the Persians, one of the Lydians, who was already before this considered wise, and from this opinion had a very great reputation among the Lydians, advised Croesus as follows; his name was Sandanis: “O King, you are preparing to march against such men, who wear leather trousers and all their other clothing of leather, and who eat not as much as they wish, but as much as they have, since they inhabit a rugged land.
πρὸς δὲ οὐκ οἴνῳ διαχρέωνται ἀλλὰ ὑδροποτέουσι, οὐ σῦκα δὲ ἔχουσι τρώγειν, οὐκ ἄλλο ἀγαθὸν οὐδέν. τοῦτο μὲν δή, εἰ νικήσεις, τί σφέας ἀπαιρήσεαι,2 τοῖσί γε μὴ ἔστι μηδέν; τοῦτο δέ, ἢν νικηθῇς, μάθε ὅσα ἀγαθὰ ἀποβαλέεις· γευσάμενοι γὰρ τῶν ἡμετέρων ἀγαθῶν περιέξονται3 οὐδὲ ἀπωστοὶ ἔσονται.
Furthermore, they do not use wine but drink water, and they have no figs to eat, nor any other good thing. On the one hand, then, if you conquer them, what will you take away from them, when they have nothing? On the other hand, if you are conquered, learn how many good things you will lose; for once they have tasted of our good things, they will cling to them and it will be impossible to drive them away.
ἐγὼ μέν νυν θεοῖσι ἔχω χάριν, οἳ οὐκ ἐπὶ νόον ποιέουσι4 Πέρσῃσι στρατεύεσθαι ἐπὶ Λυδούς. ταῦτα λέγων οὐκ ἔπειθε τὸν Κροῖσον. Πέρσῃσι γάρ, πρὶν Λυδοὺς καταστρέψασθαι, ἦν οὔτε ἁβρὸν οὔτε ἀγαθὸν οὐδέν.
I, for my part, thank the gods, who do not put it into the minds of the Persians to march against the Lydians.” By saying this, he did not persuade Croesus; for before they subdued the Lydians, the Persians had nothing either luxurious or good.
- 1.71.1ἁμαρτὼν τοῦ χρησμοῦ
The verb ἁμαρτάνω takes the genitive case, meaning "to mistake, misunderstand." The aorist participle ἁμαρτών expresses the cause or reason for the main verb ἐποιέετο.
- 1.71.3τί σφέας ἀπαιρήσεαι
The verb ἀπαιρέομαι (middle of ἀπαιρέω) takes a double accusative (σφέας for the person and τί for the thing), meaning "what will you take away from them."
- 1.71.3περιέξονται
The verb περιέχομαι (middle of περιέχω) means "to cling to, hold fast to." Here, in this context, the preceding genitive phrase τῶν ἡμετέρων ἀγαθῶν ("our good things") functions as its semantic object.
- 1.71.4ἐπὶ νόον ποιέουσι
An Ionic idiomatic expression meaning "to put into one's mind, make someone inclined to do something," constructed here with the dative (Πέρσῃσι) and the infinitive (στρατεύεσθαι).