- 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-grc2:3.126.1-3.126.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
The narrative links Polycrates' tragic end to Amasis' prophecy, and details how vengeance began to pursue Oroetes, who committed severe outrages during the Persian imperial crisis.
Πολυκράτεος1 μὲν δὴ αἱ πολλαὶ εὐτυχίαι ἐς τοῦτο ἐτελεύτησαν τῇ οἱ Ἄμασις ὁ Αἰγύπτου βασιλεὺς προεμαντεύσατο. χρόνῳ δὲ οὐ πολλῷ ὕστερον καὶ Ὀροίτεα Πολυκράτεος τίσιες μετῆλθον. μετὰ γὰρ τὸν Καμβύσεω θάνατον καὶ τῶν Μάγων τὴν βασιληίην μένων ἐν τῇσι Σάρδισι Ὀροίτης ὠφέλεε μὲν οὐδὲν Πέρσας ὑπὸ Μήδων ἀπαραιρημένους τὴν ἀρχήν·2
Thus the many successes of Polycrates ended in the very way that Amasis, the king of Egypt, had foretold to him. Not long afterwards, vengeance for Polycrates also overtook Oroetes. For after the death of Cambyses and during the reign of the Magi, Oroetes, remaining in Sardis, rendered no help to the Persians when they were deprived of their rule by the Medes.
ὁ δὲ ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ ταραχῇ κατὰ μὲν ἔκτεινε Μιτροβάτεα τὸν ἐκ Δασκυλείου ὕπαρχον, ὅς οἱ ὠνείδισε τὰ ἐς Πολυκράτεα ἔχοντα, κατὰ δὲ3 τοῦ Μιτροβάτεω τὸν παῖδα Κρανάσπην, ἄνδρας ἐν Πέρσῃσι δοκίμους, ἄλλα τε ἐξύβρισε παντοῖα καί τινα ἀγγελιηφόρον ἐλθόντα Δαρείου παρʼ αὐτόν, ὡς οὐ πρὸς ἡδονήν οἱ ἦν τὰ ἀγγελλόμενα, κτείνει μιν ὀπίσω κομιζόμενον, ἄνδρας οἱ ὑπείσας κατʼ ὁδόν, ἀποκτείνας δέ μιν ἠφάνισε αὐτῷ ἵππῳ.4
Instead, in this confusion, he killed Mitrobates, the governor of Dascylium, who had reproached him with matters concerning Polycrates, and also Mitrobates’ son Cranaspes, both of whom were distinguished men among the Persians. He also committed all kinds of other outrages; and when a certain messenger came to him from Darius, because the message brought was not to his liking, he killed him on his way back, having set men in ambush for him along the road, and after killing him, he made him disappear, horse and all.
- 3.126.1Πολυκράτεος
Objective genitive with the noun τίσιες (vengeance), meaning "vengeance for Polycrates" (avenging him), rather than a subjective genitive indicating vengeance carried out by Polycrates.
- 3.126.1ἀπαραιρημένους τὴν ἀρχήν
The perfect passive participle of ἀφαιρέω, which in the active takes a double accusative (to deprive someone of something). In the passive voice, the thing taken away (τὴν ἀρχήν) remains in the accusative case (retained accusative). It modifies Πέρσας.
- 3.126.2κατὰ μὲν ἔκτεινε ... κατὰ δὲ ...
An example of tmesis (separation), where the prefix κατά of the compound verb κατακτείνω is separated from the verb ἔκτεινε. In the second clause (κατὰ δὲ...), the verb is omitted and must be understood from the first.
- 3.126.2αὐτῷ ἵππῳ
An idiomatic use of αὐτός with a noun in the dative case (dative of accompaniment), meaning "together with the horse itself" or "horse and all."