- 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-grc2:1.94.1-1.94.7
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-30
This passage describes Lydian customs, including the invention of coinage and games to cope with a great famine, and explains the origin of the Tyrrhenian (Etruscan) migration to Italy.
Λυδοὶ δὲ νόμοισι μὲν παραπλησίοισι χρέωνται καὶ Ἕλληνές, χωρὶς ἢ ὅτι1 τὰ θήλεα τέκνα καταπορνεύουσι, πρῶτοι δὲ ἀνθρώπων τῶν ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν νόμισμα χρυσοῦ καὶ ἀργύρου κοψάμενοι ἐχρήσαντο, πρῶτοι δὲ καὶ κάπηλοι ἐγένοντο.
The Lydians use customs very similar to those of the Greeks, except that they prostitute their female children; they were the first of men whom we know to strike and use gold and silver coinage, and they were also the first retail traders.
φασὶ δὲ αὐτοὶ Λυδοὶ καὶ τὰς παιγνίας τὰς νῦν σφίσι τε καὶ Ἕλλησι κατεστεώσας ἑωυτῶν ἐξεύρημα γενέσθαι· ἅμα δὲ ταύτας τε ἐξευρεθῆναι παρὰ σφίσι λέγουσι καὶ Τυρσηνίην ἀποικίσαι, ὧδε περὶ αὐτῶν λέγοντες.
The Lydians themselves say that the games which are now established among them and the Greeks were their own invention; and they say that these were invented at the same time they colonized Tyrrhenia, speaking of them as follows.
ἐπὶ Ἄτυος τοῦ Μάνεω βασιλέος σιτοδείην ἰσχυρὴν ἀνὰ τὴν Λυδίην πᾶσαν γενέσθαι, καὶ τοὺς Λυδοὺς τέως μὲν διάγειν λιπαρέοντας, μετὰ δὲ ὡς οὐ παύεσθαι,2 ἄκεα δίζησθαι, ἄλλον δὲ ἄλλο ἐπιμηχανᾶσθαι αὐτῶν. ἐξευρεθῆναι δὴ ὦν τότε καὶ τῶν κύβων καὶ τῶν ἀστραγάλων καὶ τῆς σφαίρης καὶ τῶν ἀλλέων πασέων παιγνιέων τὰ εἴδεα, πλὴν πεσσῶν τούτων γὰρ ὦν τὴν ἐξεύρεσιν οὐκ οἰκηιοῦνται Λυδοί.
In the reign of Atys, the son of Manes, there was a severe famine throughout all Lydian land, and the Lydians for a time lived enduring it patiently, but afterwards, as it did not cease, they sought remedies, and one of them devised one thing and another another. Then indeed were invented the games of dice, of knucklebones, of ball, and of all other kinds of games, except for draughts; for of this invention the Lydians do not claim ownership.
ποιέειν δὲ ὧδε πρὸς τὸν λιμὸν ἐξευρόντας, τὴν μὲν ἑτέρην τῶν ἡμερέων παίζειν πᾶσαν, ἵνα δὴ μὴ ζητέοιεν σιτία, τὴν δὲ ἑτέρην σιτέεσθαι παυομένους τῶν παιγνιέων. τοιούτῳ τρόπῳ διάγειν ἐπʼ ἔτεα δυῶν δέοντα εἴκοσι.
And they did as follows against the famine, having made these inventions: on one day they would play all day long so that they might not seek food, and on the next they would eat, ceasing from their games. In this manner they passed eighteen years.
ἐπείτε δὲ οὐκ ἀνιέναι τὸ κακὸν ἀλλʼ ἔτι ἐπὶ μᾶλλον βιάζεσθαι οὕτω δὴ τὸν βασιλέα αὐτῶν δύο μοίρας διελόντα Λυδῶν πάντων κληρῶσαι τὴν μὲν ἐπὶ μόνῃ3 τὴν δὲ ἐπὶ ἐξόδῳ ἐκ τῆς χώρης, καὶ ἐπὶ μὲν τῇ μένειν αὐτοῦ λαγχανούσῃ τῶν μοιρέων ἑωυτὸν τὸν βασιλέα προστάσσειν, ἐπὶ δὲ τῇ ἀπαλλασσομένῃ τὸν ἑωυτοῦ παῖδα, τῷ οὔνομα εἶναι Τυρσηνόν.
But when the evil did not abate but pressed upon them still more heavily, then indeed their king divided all the Lydians into two parts and cast lots, the one part to stay and the other to leave the land; and over the part which drew the lot to stay there he appointed himself as king, and over the departing part his own son, whose name was Tyrrhenus.
λαχόντας δὲ αὐτῶν τοὺς ἑτέρους ἐξιέναι ἐκ τῆς χώρης καταβῆναι ἐς Σμύρνην καὶ μηχανήσασθαι πλοῖα, ἐς τὰ ἐσθεμένους τὰ πάντα ὅσα σφι ἦν χρηστὰ ἐπίπλοα, ἀποπλέειν κατὰ βίου τε καὶ γῆς ζήτησιν, ἐς ὃ ἔθνεα πολλὰ παραμειψαμένους ἀπικέσθαι ἐς Ὀμβρικούς, ἔνθα σφέας ἐνιδρύσασθαι πόλιας καὶ οἰκέειν τὸ μέχρι τοῦδε.
And those of them who drew the lot to go out of the land went down to Smyrna and built ships, into which they put all their useful goods, and sailed away in search of livelihood and land, until, after passing by many nations, they came to the Umbrians, where they founded cities and dwell even to this day.
ἀντὶ δὲ Λυδῶν μετονομασθῆναι αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τοῦ βασιλέος τοῦ παιδός, ὅς σφεας ἀνήγαγε, ἐπὶ τούτου τὴν ἐπωνυμίην ποιευμένους ὀνομασθῆναι Τυρσηνούς. Λυδοὶ μὲν δὴ ὑπὸ Πέρσῃσι ἐδεδούλωντο.
And instead of Lydians they changed their name after the king’s son who led them out, and taking their title from him they were named Tyrrhenians. Thus then the Lydians were enslaved under the Persians.
- 1.94.1χωρὶς ἢ ὅτι
A composite conjunctional phrase meaning "except that." It combines the adverb χωρίς (apart, except) with the comparative particle ἤ and the factual ὅτι to introduce an exception.
- 1.94.3ὡς οὐ παύεσθαι
In this subordinate clause (the ὡς clause) dependent on indirect discourse, an infinitive is used instead of the expected indicative (ὡς οὐκ ἐπαύετο). This is an Ionic syntactic feature characteristic of Herodotus, where the verb of a subordinate clause is attracted into the infinitive to match the indirect speech of the narrative.
- 1.94.5ἐπὶ μόνῃ
This is not the feminine dative of the adjective μόνος (alone, only), but the noun μονή (staying, remaining) in its Ionic form (where the long alpha becomes eta), combined with the preposition ἐπί indicating purpose. It means "for staying," standing in contrast with the parallel phrase ἐπὶ ἐξόδῳ (for departure).