- 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-grc2:1.82.1-1.82.8
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-29
Around the time Croesus requested aid from Sparta, the Spartans were engaged in a dispute with the Argives over Thyrea, leading to a dual of three hundred champions and a subsequent full-scale battle in which Sparta triumphed.
ἔς τε δὴ ὦν τὰς ἄλλας ἔπεμπε συμμαχίας καὶ δὴ καὶ ἐς Λακεδαίμονα. τοῖσι δὲ καὶ αὐτοῖσι τοῖσι Σπαρτιήτῃσι κατʼ αὐτὸν τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον συνεπεπτώκεε1 ἔρις ἐοῦσα πρὸς Ἀργείους περὶ χώρου καλεομένου Θυρέης·
So he sent to the other allies, and particularly to Lacedaemon. For the Spartans themselves, at this very same time, had fallen into a dispute that had arisen with the Argives over a territory called Thyrea.
τὰς γὰρ Θυρέας ταύτας ἐούσας τῆς Ἀργολίδος μοίρης2 ἀποταμόμενοι ἔσχον οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι. ἦν δὲ καὶ ἡ μέχρι Μαλέων ἡ πρὸς ἑσπέρην Ἀργείων, ἥ τε ἐν τῇ ἠπείρῳ χώρῇ καὶ ἡ Κυθηρίη νῆσος καὶ αἱ λοιπαὶ τῶν νήσων.
For this Thyrea, which was a part of the Argive territory, the Lacedaemonians had cut off and seized. Furthermore, all the territory as far as Malea on the west belonged to the Argives, including both the land on the continent and Cythera with the rest of the islands.
βοηθησάντων δὲ Ἀργείων τῇ σφετέρῃ ἀποταμνομένῃ, ἐνθαῦτα συνέβησαν ἐς λόγους συνελθόντες ὥστε τριηκοσίους ἑκατέρων μαχέσασθαι, ὁκότεροι δʼ ἂν περιγένωνται, τούτων εἶναι τὸν χῶρον· τὸ δὲ πλῆθος τοῦ στρατοῦ ἀπαλλάσσεσθαι ἑκάτερον ἐς τὴν ἑωυτοῦ μηδὲ παραμένειν ἀγωνιζομένων,3 τῶνδε εἵνεκεν ἵνα μὴ παρεόντων τῶν στρατοπέδων ὁρῶντες οἱ ἕτεροι ἑσσουμένους τοὺς σφετέρους ἀπαμύνοιεν.
When the Argives came to defend their territory that was being cut off, they met in conference and came to an agreement: that three hundred of each side should fight, and whichever side got the upper hand, to them the territory should belong; and that the main body of each army should depart to its own country and not remain while the combatants were fighting, for this reason, lest, if the armies were present, either party seeing their own men being beaten should come to their rescue.
συνθέμενοι ταῦτα ἀπαλλάσσοντο, λογάδες δὲ ἑκατέρων ὑπολειφθέντες συνέβαλον. μαχομένων δὲ σφέων καὶ γινομένων ἰσοπαλέων ὑπελείποντο ἐξ ἀνδρῶν ἑξακοσίων τρεῖς, Ἀργείων μὲν Ἀλκήνωρ τε καὶ Χρομίος, Λακεδαιμονίων δὲ Ὀθρυάδης· ὑπελείφθησαν δὲ οὗτοι νυκτὸς ἐπελθούσης.
Having made this treaty, they departed, and selected men of each side, being left behind, joined battle. As they fought with equal fortune, out of six hundred men only three were left: Alcenor and Chromios on the side of the Argives, and Othryades on that of the Lacedaemonians; and these were left when night came on.
οἱ μὲν δὴ δύο τῶν Ἀργείων ὡς νενικηκότες ἔθεον ἐς τὸ Ἄργος, ὁ δὲ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων Ὀθρυάδης σκυλεύσας τοὺς Ἀργείων νεκροὺς καὶ προσφορήσας τὰ ὅπλα πρὸς τὸ ἑωυτοῦ στρατόπεδον ἐν τῇ τάξι εἶχε ἑωυτόν. ἡμέρῃ δὲ δευτέρῃ παρῆσαν πυνθανόμενοι ἀμφότεροι.
Then the two of the Argives ran to Argos as victors, but Othryades, the Lacedaemonian, having despoiled the dead Argives and carried their arms to his own camp, remained at his post. On the second day, both sides came to find out the result.
τέως μὲν δὴ αὐτοὶ ἑκάτεροι ἔφασαν νικᾶν, λέγοντες οἳ μὲν ὡς ἑωυτῶν πλεῦνες περιγεγόνασι, οἳ δὲ τοὺς μὲν ἀποφαίνοντες πεφευγότας, τὸν δὲ σφέτερον παραμείναντα καὶ σκυλεύσαντα τοὺς ἐκείνων νεκρούς·
For a time both claimed the victory, the one side saying that more of their own men had survived, and the other pointing out that those had fled, while their own man had remained on the spot and despoiled their dead.
τέλος δὲ ἐκ τῆς ἔριδος συμπεσόντες ἐμάχοντο, πεσόντων δὲ καὶ ἀμφοτέρων πολλῶν ἐνίκων Λακεδαιμόνιοι. Ἀργεῖοι μέν νυν ἀπὸ τούτου τοῦ χρόνου κατακειράμενοι τὰς κεφαλάς, πρότερον ἐπάναγκες κομῶντες, ἐποιήσαντο νόμον τε καὶ κατάρην μὴ πρότερον θρέψειν κόμην Ἀργείων μηδένα, μηδὲ τὰς γυναῖκάς σφι χρυσοφορήσειν, πρὶν Θυρέας ἀνασώσωνται.
At last, falling to blows from this dispute, they fought, and after many had fallen on both sides, the Lacedaemonians were victorious. From that time the Argives shaved their heads, which they had previously been obliged to wear long, and made a law and bound themselves with a curse that no Argive man should let his hair grow, nor their women wear gold, until they should recover Thyrea.
Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ τὰ ἐναντία τούτων ἔθεντο νόμον· οὐ γὰρ κομῶντες πρὸ τούτου ἀπὸ τούτου κομᾶν. τὸν δὲ ἕνα λέγουσι τὸν περιλειφθέντα τῶν τριηκοσίων Ὀθρυάδην, αἰσχυνόμενον ἀπονοστέειν ἐς Σπάρτην τῶν οἱ συλλοχιτέων διεφθαρμένων, αὐτοῦ μιν ἐν τῇσι Θυρέῃσι καταχρήσασθαι ἑωυτόν.4
But the Lacedaemonians made a law contrary to this; for having previously not worn long hair, they from that time wore it long. As for the one man who survived of the three hundred, Othryades, they say that, being ashamed to return to Sparta when all his comrades had perished, he slew himself there in Thyrea.
- 1.82.1τοῖσι δὲ καὶ αὐτοῖσι τοῖσι Σπαρτιήτῃσι... συνεπεπτώκεε
The verb συνεπεπτώκεε (pluperfect of συνπίπτω) governs the dative, expressing here that a dispute 'had fallen upon' or 'happened to' the Spartans themselves.
- 1.82.2ἐούσας τῆς Ἀργολίδος μοίρης
The participle ἐούσας (feminine plural accusative of εἰμί) modifies the preceding τὰς Θυρέας. The genitive τῆς Ἀργολίδος μοίρης is a partitive genitive indicating possession or belonging, meaning 'being a part of the Argive territory'.
- 1.82.3μηδὲ παραμένειν ἀγωνιζομένων
The participle ἀγωνιζομένων is best interpreted as a genitive absolute ('while the combatants were fighting'). Alternatively, it could be seen as the subject of παραμένειν ('and that those who fight should not remain'), but the context of the main armies departing makes the genitive absolute reading more natural.
- 1.82.8αὐτοῦ μιν ἐν τῇσι Θυρέῃσι καταχρήσασθαι ἑωυτόν
There is a double accusative with μιν (the Ionic third-person singular accusative pronoun) and ἑωυτόν (the reflexive pronoun). The pronoun μιν is introduced first, and then reinforced and clarified by the reflexive ἑωυτόν for emphasis.