- 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-grc2:1.91.1-1.91.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-30
The Pythia of Delphi explains that even a god cannot escape fate, pointing out that Croesus paid for his ancestor's sin and misunderstood the clear oracles; hearing this, Croesus acknowledges his own fault.
ἀπικομένοισι δὲ τοῖσι Λυδοῖσι1 καὶ λέγουσι τὰ ἐντεταλμένα τὴν Πυθίην λέγεται εἰπεῖν τάδε. τὴν πεπρωμένην μοῖραν ἀδύνατα ἐστὶ2 ἀποφυγεῖν καὶ θεῷ· Κροῖσος δὲ πέμπτου γονέος ἁμαρτάδα ἐξέπλησε, ὃς ἐὼν δορυφόρος Ἡρακλειδέων, δόλῳ γυναικηίῳ ἐπισπόμενος ἐφόνευσε τὸν δεσπότεα καὶ ἔσχε τὴν ἐκείνου τιμὴν οὐδέν οἱ προσήκουσαν.
When the Lydians arrived and spoke as they had been commanded, the Pythia is said to have replied as follows: “It is impossible even for a god to escape the destined fate. Croesus has paid for the sin of his fifth ancestor, who, being a bodyguard of the Heraclidae, yielded to a woman’s guile, murdered his master, and took possession of that master’s honor which in no way belonged to him.”
προθυμεομένου δὲ Λοξίεω ὅκως ἂν κατὰ τοὺς παῖδας τοῦ Κροίσου γένοιτο3 τὸ Σαρδίων πάθος καὶ μὴ κατʼ αὐτὸν Κροῖσον, οὐκ οἷόν τε ἐγίνετο παραγαγεῖν μοίρας.
”And although Loxias was eager that the fall of Sardis should happen in the time of the sons of Croesus and not during the lifetime of Croesus himself, it was not possible to sway the Fates.”
ὅσον δὲ ἐνέδωκαν αὗται, ἤνυσέ τε καὶ ἐχαρίσατό οἱ· τρία γὰρ ἔτεα ἐπανεβάλετο τὴν Σαρδίων ἅλωσιν, καὶ τοῦτο ἐπιστάσθω Κροῖσος ὡς ὕστερον τοῖσι ἔτεσι τούτοισι ἁλοὺς τῆς πεπρωμένης. δευτέρα δὲ τούτων καιομένῳ αὐτῷ ἐπήρκεσε.
”Yet, as much as they conceded, he accomplished and granted to him: for he postponed the taking of Sardis for three years, and let Croesus know this, that he was captured later by these many years than the destined time. And secondly, he came to his aid when he was being burned.”
κατὰ δὲ τὸ μαντήιον τὸ γενόμενον οὐκ ὀρθῶς Κροῖσος μέμφεται. προηγόρευε γὰρ οἱ Λοξίης, ἢν στρατεύηται ἐπὶ Πέρσας, μεγάλην ἀρχὴν αὐτὸν καταλύσειν. τὸν δὲ πρὸς ταῦτα χρῆν εὖ μέλλοντα βουλεύεσθαι ἐπειρέσθαι4 πέμψαντα κότερα τὴν ἑωυτοῦ ἢ τὴν Κύρου λέγοι ἀρχήν. οὐ συλλαβὼν δὲ τὸ ῥηθὲν οὐδʼ ἐπανειρόμενος ἑωυτὸν αἴτιον ἀποφαινέτω·
”But regarding the oracle that was given, Croesus does not complain justly. For Loxias foretold to him that if he should march against the Persians, he would destroy a great empire. In response to this, if he was going to plan well, he ought to have sent and asked whether the god meant his own empire or that of Cyrus. But since he neither understood what was spoken nor asked again, let him declare himself to be the cause.”
τῷ καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον χρηστηριαζομένῳ εἶπε Λοξίης περὶ ἡμιόνου, οὐδὲ τοῦτο συνέλαβε. ἦν γὰρ δὴ ὁ Κῦρος οὗτος ἡμίονος· ἐκ γὰρ δυῶν οὐκ ὁμοεθνέων ἐγεγόνεε, μητρὸς ἀμείνονος, πατρὸς δὲ ὑποδεεστέρου·
”Moreover, when Loxias spoke to him when he consulted the oracle for the last time about a mule, he did not understand this either. For this Cyrus was indeed that mule; since he was born of two parents of different nations, the mother being of the nobler and the father of the lower station.”
ἣ μὲν γὰρ ἦν Μηδὶς καὶ Ἀστυάγεος θυγάτηρ τοῦ Μήδων βασιλέος, ὁ δὲ Πέρσης τε ἦν καὶ ἀρχόμενος ὑπʼ ἐκείνοισι καὶ ἔνερθε ἐὼν τοῖσι ἅπασι δεσποίνῃ τῇ ἑωυτοῦ συνοίκεε. ταῦτα μὲν ἡ Πυθίη ὑπεκρίνατο τοῖσι Λυδοῖσι, οἳ δὲ ἀνήνεικαν ἐς Σάρδις καὶ ἀπήγγειλαν Κροίσῳ. ὁ δὲ ἀκούσας συνέγνω ἑωυτοῦ εἶναι τὴν ἁμαρτάδα καὶ οὐ τοῦ θεοῦ. κατὰ μὲν δὴ τὴν Κροίσου τε ἀρχὴν καὶ Ἰωνίης τὴν πρώτην καταστροφὴν ἔσχε οὕτω.
”For she was a Mede and the daughter of Astyages, king of the Medes, while he was a Persian and a subject under them, and though inferior in all respects, he lived with his own mistress.” This was the reply which the Pythia gave to the Lydians, and they carried it back to Sardis and reported it to Croesus. When he heard it, he acknowledged that the fault was his own and not the god’s. Thus it happened concerning the empire of Croesus and the first conquest of Ionia.
- 1.91.1ἀπικομένοισι δὲ τοῖσι Λυδοῖσι
Dative of interest/reference, functioning as the indirect object of the infinitive εἰπεῖν ('it is said that the Pythia said to the Lydians who had arrived...').
- 1.91.1ἀδύνατα ἐστὶ
The neuter plural adjective ἀδύνατα is used with the singular verb ἐστί to form an impersonal expression meaning 'it is impossible'. Neuter plural predicate adjectives are frequently preferred in such impersonal constructions in classical Greek.
- 1.91.2προθυμεομένου δὲ Λοξίεω ὅκως ἂν ... γένοιτο
προθυμεομένου ... Λοξίεω is a genitive absolute. The following ὅκως ἂν ... γένοιτο clause is an object clause of effort/purpose containing the optative with ἄν (common in Herodotus), depending on the desire expressed in the participle.
- 1.91.4τὸν δὲ πρὸς ταῦτα χρῆν ... ἐπειρέσθαι
An accusative with infinitive construction governed by the impersonal past verb χρῆν ('ought to have'). The accusative τὸν δὲ (referring to Croesus) serves as the subject of the infinitive ἐπειρέσθαι ('to ask').