- 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-grc2:3.131.1-3.131.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
The background of Democedes is detailed, describing his journey from Croton to Aegina, Athens, and finally to Polycrates in Samos, alongside the contemporary high reputations of Crotonian physicians and Argive musicians.
ὁ δὲ Δημοκήδης οὗτος ὧδε ἐκ Κρότωνος ἀπιγμένος Πολυκράτεϊ ὡμίλησε· πατρὶ συνείχετο ἐν τῇ Κρότωνι ὀργὴν χαλεπῷ·1 τοῦτον ἐπείτε οὐκ ἐδύνατο φέρειν, ἀπολιπὼν οἴχετο ἐς Αἴγιναν. καταστὰς δὲ ἐς ταύτην πρώτῳ ἔτεϊ ὑπερεβάλετο τοὺς ἄλλους ἰητρούς, ἀσκευής περ ἐὼν καὶ ἔχων οὐδὲν τῶν ὅσα περὶ τὴν τέχνην ἐστὶ ἐργαλήια.
This Democedes, having arrived from Croton in the following manner, associated with Polycrates. In Croton he was hard pressed by a father of a difficult temper; since he could not bear him, he left him and departed for Aegina. Having established himself there, in his first year he surpassed the other physicians, although he was without equipment and possessed none of the tools that belong to the art.
καί μιν δευτέρῳ ἔτεϊ ταλάντου Αἰγινῆται δημοσίῃ μισθοῦνται, τρίτῳ δὲ ἔτεϊ Ἀθηναῖοι ἑκατὸν μνέων, τετάρτῳ δὲ ἔτεϊ Πολυκράτης δυῶν ταλάντων. οὕτω μὲν ἀπίκετο ἐς τὴν Σάμον, καὶ ἀπὸ τούτου τοῦ ἀνδρὸς οὐκ ἥκιστα Κροτωνιῆται ἰητροὶ εὐδοκίμησαν.
And in the second year the Aeginetans hired him at public expense for a salary of a talent, and in the third year the Athenians for a hundred minae, and in the fourth year Polycrates for two talents. In this way he arrived in Samos, and it was not least because of this man that the physicians of Croton came to be highly esteemed.
ἐγένετο γὰρ ὦν τοῦτο ὅτε πρῶτοι μὲν Κροτωνιῆται ἰητροὶ ἐλέγοντο ἀνὰ τὴν Ἑλλάδα εἶναι, δεύτεροι δὲ Κυρηναῖοι. κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν δὲ τοῦτον χρόνον καὶ Ἀργεῖοι ἤκουον2 μουσικὴν εἶναι Ἑλλήνων πρῶτοι.
For this happened at the time when the physicians of Croton were said to be the first throughout Greece, and those of Cyrene the second. At this same time the Argives also had the reputation of being the first of the Greeks in music.
- 3.131.1ὀργὴν χαλεπῷ
ὀργήν ("temper") is an accusative of specification modifying the adjective χαλεπῷ ("difficult", "harsh"), meaning "difficult in respect of his temper".
- 3.131.3ἤκουον
The imperfect of the verb ἀκούω is used here not simply to mean "hear", but in the passive sense of "be spoken of as", "have the reputation of being" (similar to the Latin audire), governing the infinitive εἶναι.