- 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-grc2:1.96.1-1.96.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-30
The narrative explains how the Medes fell back into tyranny through the rise of Deioces, who gained great popularity among the people by practicing strict justice and acting as a fair judge.
ἐόντων δὲ αὐτονόμων πάντων ἀνὰ τὴν ἤπειρον, ὧδε αὖτις ἐς τυραννίδα περιῆλθον. ἀνὴρ ἐν τοῖσι Μήδοισι ἐγένετο σοφὸς τῷ οὔνομα ἦν Δηιόκης, παῖς δʼ ἦν Φραόρτεω.
While all those throughout the continent were self-governing, they fell back into tyranny in the following manner. There was among the Medes a wise man named Deioces, who was the son of Phraortes.
οὗτος ὁ Δηιόκης ἐρασθεὶς τυραννίδος ἐποίεε τοιάδε. κατοικημένων τῶν Μήδων κατὰ κώμας, ἐν τῇ ἑωυτοῦ ἐὼν καὶ πρότερον δόκιμος καὶ μᾶλλόν τι καὶ προθυμότερον δικαιοσύνην ἐπιθέμενος ἤσκεε· καὶ ταῦτα μέντοι ἐούσης ἀνομίης πολλῆς1 ἀνὰ πᾶσαν τὴν Μηδικὴν ἐποίεε, ἐπιστάμενος ὅτι τῷ δικαίῳ τὸ ἄδικον πολέμιον ἐστί. οἱ δʼ ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς κώμης Μῆδοι ὁρῶντες αὐτοῦ τοὺς τρόπους δικαστήν μιν ἑωυτῶν αἱρέοντο. ὁ δὲ δή, οἷα μνώμενος ἀρχήν,2 ἰθύς τε καὶ δίκαιος ἦν, ποιέων τε ταῦτα ἔπαινον εἶχε οὐκ ὀλίγον πρὸς τῶν πολιητέων, οὕτω ὥστε πυνθανόμενοι οἱ ἐν τῇσι ἄλλῃσι κώμῃσι ὡς Δηιόκης εἴη ἀνὴρ μοῦνος κατὰ τὸ ὀρθὸν δικάζων, πρότερον περιπίπτοντες ἀδίκοισι γνώμῃσι, τότε ἐπείτε ἤκουσαν ἄσμενοι, ἐφοίτων παρὰ τὸν Δηιόκεα καὶ αὐτοὶ δικασόμενοι,3 τέλος δὲ οὐδενὶ ἄλλῳ ἐπετράποντο.
This Deioces, desiring tyranny, did as follows. Since the Medes lived scattered in villages, and he, being already a man of good repute in his own village, began to practice justice even more eagerly and intensively; and indeed he did this even though there was great lawlessness throughout the whole of Media, knowing that the unjust is enemy to the just. The Medes of the same village, seeing his character, chose him as their judge. And he, as one who was courting power, was upright and just. By doing this, he won no small praise from his fellow citizens, so that when those in the other villages heard that Deioces was the only man who judged according to what was right—having previously suffered from unjust decisions—they then gladly went to Deioces of their own accord to have their disputes settled, and in the end they would entrust themselves to no one else.
- 1.96.2καὶ ταῦτα μέντοι ἐούσης ἀνομίης πολλῆς
The phrase καὶ ταῦτα is an idiomatic expression meaning 'and that too' or 'especially.' Here, it emphasizes the concessive genitive absolute clause (ἐούσης ἀνομίης πολλῆς, 'while there was great lawlessness'), rendering the sense 'and that too when there was great lawlessness throughout Media.'
- 1.96.2οἷα μνώμενος ἀρχήν
The particle οἷα is used with a participle (here μνώμενος) to express a subjective reason, motive, or pretense ('as if,' 'pretending to'). The participle μνώμενος is the present middle of μνάομαι, meaning 'to woo,' 'strive for,' or 'court,' taking the accusative ἀρχήν (power, sovereignty) to depict Deioces' hidden ambition.
- 1.96.3δικασόμενοι
The future participle of the middle voice δικάζομαι (from δικάζω, 'to judge'), expressing purpose ('in order to have their disputes settled' or 'to seek justice for themselves'). While the active voice means 'to act as a judge,' the middle voice signifies 'to go to law' or 'to have a lawsuit decided.'