Croesus on the Pyre and the Words of Solon — Herodotus, Histories Book 1 (1.86.1–1.86.6), Greek & English

§1.86.1

οἱ δὲ Πέρσαι τάς τε δὴ Σάρδις ἔσχον καὶ αὐτὸν Κροῖσον ἐζώγρησαν, ἄρξαντα ἔτεα τεσσερεσκαίδεκα καὶ τεσσερεσκαίδεκα ἡμέρας πολιορκηθέντα, κατὰ τὸ χρηστήριόν τε καταπαύσαντα τὴν ἑωυτοῦ μεγάλην ἀρχήν. λαβόντες δὲ αὐτὸν οἱ Πέρσαι ἤγαγον παρὰ Κῦρον.

The Persians captured Sardis and took Croesus himself alive, after he had ruled for fourteen years and been besieged for fourteen days, having brought to an end his own great empire in accordance with the oracle. Having captured him, the Persians brought him before Cyrus.

§1.86.2

ὁ δὲ συννήσας πυρὴν μεγάλην ἀνεβίβασε ἐπʼ αὐτὴν τὸν Κροῖσόν τε ἐν πέδῃσι δεδεμένον καὶ δὶς ἑπτὰ Λυδῶν παρʼ αὐτὸν παῖδας, ἐν νόῳ ἔχων εἴτε δὴ ἀκροθίνια ταῦτα καταγιεῖν θεῶν ὅτεῳ δή, εἴτε καὶ εὐχὴν ἐπιτελέσαι θέλων, εἴτε καὶ πυθόμενος τὸν Κροῖσον εἶναι θεοσεβέα τοῦδε εἵνεκεν ἀνεβίβασε ἐπὶ τὴν πυρήν, βουλόμενος εἰδέναι εἴ τίς μιν δαιμόνων ῥύσεται τοῦ μὴ ζῶντα κατακαυθῆναι.

Cyrus, having piled up a great pyre, made Croesus ascend it, bound in fetters, and with him twice seven Lydian boys, intending either to offer these as first-fruits to some god, or wishing to fulfill a vow, or because he had heard that Croesus was a god-fearing man, and for this reason made him ascend the pyre, wishing to see if any of the divine powers would save him from being burned alive.

§1.86.3

τὸν μὲν δὴ ποιέειν ταῦτα· τῷ δὲ Κροίσῳ ἑστεῶτι ἐπὶ τῆς πυρῆς ἐσελθεῖν, καίπερ ἐν κακῷ ἐόντι τοσούτῳ, τὸ τοῦ Σόλωνος ὥς οἱ εἴη σὺν θεῷ εἰρημένον,¹ τὸ μηδένα εἶναι τῶν ζωόντων ὄλβιον. ὡς δὲ ἄρα μιν προσστῆναι τοῦτο, ἀνενεικάμενόν τε καὶ ἀναστενάξαντα ἐκ πολλῆς ἡσυχίης ἐς τρὶς ὀνομάσαι² Σόλων.

So Cyrus was doing this; but to Croesus, as he stood upon the pyre, though he was in such great evil, there came into his mind the saying of Solon, how it had been spoken with divine inspiration, that no one of the living is happy. And when this occurred to him, drawing a deep breath and groaning aloud after a long silence, he called out three times: Solon!

§1.86.4

καὶ τὸν Κῦρον ἀκούσαντα κελεῦσαι τοὺς ἑρμηνέας ἐπειρέσθαι τὸν Κροῖσον τίνα τοῦτον ἐπικαλέοιτο, καὶ τοὺς προσελθόντας ἐπειρωτᾶν· Κροῖσον δὲ τέως μὲν σιγὴν ἔχειν εἰρωτώμενον, μετὰ δὲ ὡς ἠναγκάζετο, εἰπεῖν τὸν ἂν ἐγὼ πᾶσι τυράννοισι προετίμησα μεγάλων χρημάτων ἐς λόγους ἐλθεῖν.³ ὡς δέ σφι ἄσημα ἔφραζε, πάλιν ἐπειρώτων τὰ λεγόμενα.

And Cyrus, hearing this, ordered his interpreters to ask Croesus whom he was calling upon, and they went up and asked him. For a while Croesus kept silent when questioned, but afterward, when he was forced, he said: “One whom I would have preferred above great wealth for all tyrants to meet and converse with.” Since what he said was unintelligible to them, they asked him again what his words meant.

§1.86.5

λιπαρεόντων δὲ αὐτῶν καὶ ὄχλον παρεχόντων, ἔλεγε δὴ ὡς ἦλθε ἀρχὴν⁴ ὁ Σόλων ἐὼν Ἀθηναῖος, καὶ θεησάμενος πάντα τὸν ἑωυτοῦ ὄλβον ἀποφλαυρίσειε οἷα δὴ εἶπας, ὥς τε αὐτῷ πάντα ἀποβεβήκοι τῇ περ ἐκεῖνος εἶπε, οὐδέν τι μᾶλλον ἐς ἑωυτὸν λέγων ἢ οὐκ ἐς ἅπαν τὸ ἀνθρώπινον καὶ μάλιστα τοὺς παρὰ σφίσι αὐτοῖσι ὀλβίους δοκέοντας εἶναι. τὸν μὲν Κροῖσον ταῦτα ἀπηγέεσθαι, τῆς δὲ πυρῆς ἤδη ἁμμένης καίεσθαι τὰ περιέσχατα.

As they persisted and importuned him, he told them how first Solon, an Athenian, had come, and after viewing all his prosperity had made light of it with such words as he spoke, and how everything had turned out for him just as Solon had said, speaking no more of himself than of all mankind, and especially of those who in their own eyes seem to be happy. While Croesus was relating this, the pyre was already lit and its outer edges were burning.

§1.86.6

καὶ τὸν Κῦρον ἀκούσαντα τῶν ἑρμηνέων τὰ Κροῖσος εἶπε, μεταγνόντα τε καὶ ἐννώσαντα ὅτι καὶ αὐτὸς ἄνθρωπος ἐὼν ἄλλον ἄνθρωπον, γενόμενον ἑωυτοῦ εὐδαιμονίῃ οὐκ ἐλάσσω, ζῶντα πυρὶ διδοίη, πρός τε τούτοισι δείσαντα τὴν τίσιν καὶ ἐπιλεξάμενον ὡς οὐδὲν εἴη τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποισι ἀσφαλέως ἔχον, κελεύειν σβεννύναι τὴν ταχίστην τὸ καιόμενον πῦρ καὶ καταβιβάζειν Κροῖσόν τε καὶ τοὺς μετὰ Κροίσου. καὶ τοὺς πειρωμένους οὐ δύνασθαι ἔτι τοῦ πυρὸς ἐπικρατῆσαι.

And Cyrus, hearing from the interpreters what Croesus had said, changed his mind, realizing that he, being himself a human, was giving to the fire another human who had been no less than himself in prosperity. In addition to this, fearing retribution and reflecting that nothing in human affairs is secure, he ordered them to extinguish the burning fire as quickly as possible and to bring down Croesus and those with him. But those who tried were no longer able to master the fire.

Syntax notes4 items

1.86.3ὥς οἱ εἴη σὺν θεῷ εἰρημένον
εἴη is an optative of oblique speech in indirect discourse following the past-tense main verb (ἐσελθεῖν). The phrase σὺν θεῷ literally means 'with god,' here expressing 'with divine help/guidance' or 'by divine inspiration.'
1.86.3ποιέειν... ἐσελθεῖν... ὀνομάσαι
These infinitives (such as ποιέειν, ἐσελθεῖν, ὀνομάσαι) are used in indirect discourse (depending on an implied verb of saying), representing Herodotus's common narrative style when reporting historical traditions.
1.86.4τὸν ἂν ἐγὼ πᾶσι τυράννοισι προετίμησα μεγάλων χρημάτων ἐς λόγους ἐλθεῖν
ἂν... προετίμησα is a past potential or counterfactual construction ('whom I would have preferred...'). μεγάλων χρημάτων is a genitive of comparison/value dependent on the verb of preference προετίμησα. The infinitive ἐς λόγους ἐλθεῖν ('to enter into conversation') serves as the object complement of the verb.
1.86.5ἀρχήν
The accusative ἀρχήν is used here adverbially to mean 'at first' or 'originally' (in the beginning), in contrast to its more common usage in negative sentences meaning 'at all.'

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25)urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.86.1-1.86.6