- 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-grc2:5.72.1-5.72.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
Cleomenes enters Athens, banishes many households, and attempts to take control of the state, but is forced to withdraw after being besieged on the acropolis by the Athenians, fulfilling a divine omen that forbade Dorians from entering the temple.
Κλεομένης δὲ ὡς πέμπων ἐξέβαλλε1 Κλεισθένεα καὶ τοὺς ἐναγέας, Κλεισθένης μὲν αὐτὸς ὑπεξέσχε, μετὰ δὲ οὐδὲν ἧσσον παρῆν ἐς τὰς Ἀθήνας ὁ Κλεομένης οὐ σὺν μεγάλῃ χειρί, ἀπικόμενος δὲ ἀγηλατέει2 ἑπτακόσια ἐπίστια Ἀθηναίων, τά οἱ ὑπέθετο ὁ Ἰσαγόρης. ταῦτα δὲ ποιήσας δεύτερα τὴν βουλὴν καταλύειν ἐπειρᾶτο, τριηκοσίοισι δὲ τοῖσι Ἰσαγόρεω στασιώτῃσι τὰς ἀρχὰς ἐνεχείριζε.
When Cleomenes, sending messengers, tried to banish Cleisthenes and the accursed, Cleisthenes himself withdrew secretly; nevertheless, Cleomenes appeared in Athens with no large force, and upon his arrival, he banished seven hundred Athenian households, which Isagoras had suggested to him. Having done this, he next attempted to dissolve the Council, and tried to entrust the government to three hundred of Isagoras’ partisans.
ἀντισταθείσης δὲ τῆς βουλῆς καὶ οὐ βουλομένης πείθεσθαι, ὅ τε Κλεομένης καὶ ὁ Ἰσαγόρης καὶ οἱ στασιῶται αὐτοῦ καταλαμβάνουσι τὴν ἀκρόπολιν. Ἀθηναίων δὲ οἱ λοιποὶ τὰ αὐτὰ φρονήσαντες ἐπολιόρκεον αὐτοὺς ἡμέρας δύο· τῇ δὲ τρίτῃ ὑπόσπονδοι ἐξέρχονται ἐκ τῆς χώρης ὅσοι ἦσαν αὐτῶν Λακεδαιμόνιοι. ἐπετελέετο δὲ τῷ Κλεομένεϊ ἡ φήμη.
But since the Council resisted and refused to obey, Cleomenes, Isagoras, and his partisans seized the acropolis. The rest of the Athenians, being of one mind, besieged them for two days; and on the third day, as many of them as were Lacedaemonians departed from the country under a truce. Thus the omen was fulfilled for Cleomenes.
ὡς γὰρ ἀνέβη ἐς τὴν ἀκρόπολιν μέλλων δὴ αὐτὴν κατασχήσειν, ἤιε ἐς τὸ ἄδυτον τῆς θεοῦ ὡς προσερέων· ἡ δὲ ἱρείη ἐξαναστᾶσα ἐκ τοῦ θρόνου, πρὶν ἢ τὰς θύρας αὐτὸν ἀμεῖψαι,3 εἶπε ὦ ξεῖνε Λακεδαιμόνιε, πάλιν χώρεε μηδὲ ἔσιθι ἐς τὸ ἱρόν· οὐ γὰρ θεμιτὸν Δωριεῦσι παριέναι ἐνθαῦτα. ὁ δὲ εἶπε ὦ γύναι, ἀλλʼ οὐ Δωριεύς εἰμι ἀλλʼ Ἀχαιός.
For when he went up to the acropolis, intending indeed to occupy it, he was entering the adytum of the goddess to address her; but the priestess, rising from her seat before he passed through the doors, said: “Lacedaemonian stranger, go back and do not enter the temple; for it is not lawful for Dorians to enter here.” And he said: “Woman, but I am not a Dorian, but an Achaean.”
ὃ μὲν δὴ τῇ κλεηδόνι οὐδὲν χρεώμενος ἐπεχείρησέ τε καὶ τότε πάλιν ἐξέπιπτε μετὰ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων· τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους Ἀθηναῖοι κατέδησαν τὴν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ,4 ἐν δὲ αὐτοῖσι καὶ Τιμησίθεον τὸν Δελφόν, τοῦ ἔργα χειρῶν τε καὶ λήματος ἔχοιμʼ ἂν μέγιστα καταλέξαι.5
He, paying no heed to the omen, made the attempt, and then was driven out again with the Lacedaemonians; but the Athenians imprisoned the others under sentence of death, among whom was Timesitheus of Delphi, of whose deeds of hand and of courage I could tell most great things.
- 5.72.1ὡς πέμπων ἐξέβαλλε
The conjunction ὡς introduces a temporal or causal clause. The verb ἐξέβαλλε is in the imperfect tense, representing an attempted action ('tried to banish') rather than a completed event, accompanied by the participle πέμπων ('sending messengers') to denote the means.
- 5.72.1ἀγηλατέει
Historical present of ἀγηλατέω, meaning 'to drive out as accursed'. It carries a religious nuance of expelling a 'pollution' (ἄγος) from the state, distinct from a simple exile.
- 5.72.3πρὶν ἢ τὰς θύρας αὐτὸν ἀμεῖψαι
The conjunction πρὶν ἤ ('before') introduces an accusative and infinitive construction. αὐτόν is the subject accusative of the infinitive ἀμεῖψαι, while τὰς θύρας is its direct object.
- 5.72.4τὴν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ
An elliptical expression where a feminine noun is omitted after the feminine accusative singular article τὴν. It generally implies 'with a view to death' or 'under penalty of death' (qualifying an implied noun like δέσμευσιν, 'imprisonment', or δίκην, 'trial').
- 5.72.4ἔχοιμʼ ἂν ... καταλέξαι
A potential optative with ἄν (ἔχοιμ' ἂν). Combined with the construction ἔχω + infinitive ('to be able to do something'), it expresses the speaker's ability to relate these deeds in a polite or potential tone ('I should be able to tell').