- 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-grc2:6.137.1-6.137.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
As the background to Miltiades' capture of Lemnos, the history of the Pelasgians' expulsion from Attica is narrated from two conflicting perspectives: Hecataeus's account of unjust expulsion and the Athenians' own account of just expulsion.
Λῆμνον δὲ Μιλτιάδης ὁ Κίμωνος ὧδε ἔσχε. Πελασγοὶ ἐπείτε ἐκ τῆς Ἀττικῆς ὑπὸ Ἀθηναίων ἐξεβλήθησαν, εἴτε ὦν δὴ δικαίως εἴτε ἀδίκως· τοῦτο γὰρ οὐκ ἔχω φράσαι, πλὴν τὰ λεγόμενα, ὅτι Ἑκαταῖος μὲν ὁ Ἡγησάνδρου ἔφησε ἐν τοῖσι λόγοισι λέγων ἀδίκως·
Miltiades the son of Cimon gained possession of Lemnos in the following manner. When the Pelasgians were driven out of Attica by the Athenians, whether indeed justly or unjustly—for I cannot say this, except for what is said, namely that Hecataeus the son of Hegesander declared in his history, saying that it was unjustly;
ἐπείτε γὰρ ἰδεῖν1 τοὺς Ἀθηναίους τὴν χώρην, τὴν σφίσι αὐτοῖσι ὑπὸ τὸν Ὑμησσὸν ἐοῦσαν ἔδοσαν2 Πελασγοῖσι οἰκῆσαι μισθὸν τοῦ τείχεος τοῦ περὶ τὴν ἀκρόπολιν κοτὲ ἐληλαμένου, ταύτην ὡς ἰδεῖν τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ἐξεργασμένην εὖ, τὴν πρότερον εἶναι κακήν τε καὶ τοῦ μηδενὸς ἀξίην, λαβεῖν φθόνον τε καὶ ἵμερον τῆς γῆς, καὶ οὕτω ἐξελαύνειν αὐτοὺς οὐδεμίαν ἄλλην πρόφασιν προϊσχομένους τοὺς Ἀθηναίους.
for he said that when the Athenians saw that the land, which they themselves had given to the Pelasgians to dwell in under Mount Hymettus as a reward for the wall that had once been built around the Acropolis, when the Athenians, I say, saw this land well cultivated, which had previously been wretched and worth nothing, they were seized with envy and a longing for the land, and thus the Athenians drove them out, presenting no other pretext.
ὡς δὲ αὐτοὶ Ἀθηναῖοι λέγουσι, δικαίως ἐξελάσαι. κατοικημένους γὰρ τοὺς Πελασγοὺς ὑπὸ τῷ Ὑμησσῷ, ἐνθεῦτεν ὁρμωμένους ἀδικέειν τάδε. φοιτᾶν γὰρ αἰεὶ τὰς σφετέρας θυγατέρας τε καὶ τοὺς παῖδας ἐπʼ ὕδωρ ἐπὶ τὴν Ἐννεάκρουνον· οὐ γὰρ εἶναι τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον σφίσι κω οὐδὲ τοῖσι ἄλλοισι Ἕλλησι οἰκέτας· ὅκως δὲ ἔλθοιεν αὗται, τοὺς Πελασγοὺς ὑπὸ ὕβριός τε καὶ ὀλιγωρίης βιᾶσθαι σφέας. καὶ ταῦτα μέντοι σφι οὐκ ἀποχρᾶν ποιέειν, ἀλλὰ τέλος καὶ ἐπιβουλεύοντας ἐπιχείρησιν φανῆναι ἐπʼ αὐτοφώρῳ.
But as the Athenians themselves say, they drove them out justly. For when the Pelasgians were settled under Hymettus, they made it their base to commit the following wrongs. Their own daughters and sons used to go regularly to the Enneacrounos for water (for at that time neither they nor the other Greeks had domestic servants); and whenever they came, the Pelasgians out of insolence and contempt would outrage them. And even this did not suffice them to do, but at last they were even caught in the act of plotting an attack.
ἑωυτοὺς δὲ γενέσθαι τοσούτῳ ἐκείνων ἄνδρας ἀμείνονας, ὅσῳ, παρεὸν3 ἑωυτοῖσι ἀποκτεῖναι τοὺς Πελασγούς, ἐπεί σφεας ἔλαβον ἐπιβουλεύοντας, οὐκ ἐθελῆσαι, ἀλλά σφι προειπεῖν ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἐξιέναι. τοὺς δὲ οὕτω δὴ ἐκχωρήσαντας ἄλλα τε σχεῖν χωρία καὶ δὴ καὶ Λῆμνον. ἐκεῖνα μὲν δὴ Ἑκαταῖος ἔλεξε, ταῦτα δὲ Ἀθηναῖοι λέγουσι.
But the Athenians showed themselves to be so much better men than them, in that, when they might have killed the Pelasgians, having caught them plotting, they were unwilling to do so, but ordered them to depart from the land. Those who thus departed gained possession of other places and indeed of Lemnos. Those are the things that Hecataeus said, and these are what the Athenians say.
- 6.137.2ἰδεῖν
The infinitive in the subordinate clause (the temporal clause starting with ἐπείτε) within indirect speech, attracted by the infinitives of the main clauses (λαβεῖν and ἐξελαύνειν). This assimilation of subordinate verbs into the infinitive is a common feature in Herodotus' prose style.
- 6.137.2ἔδοσαν
Although situated within indirect speech, the verb of this relative clause remains in the indicative aorist (ἔδοσαν). This indicates that the fact of the Athenians giving the land is inserted by Herodotus as an objective historical fact, or treated as independent from the reported speech of Hecataeus.
- 6.137.4παρεὸν
The neuter accusative singular of the participle of the impersonal verb ἔξεστι (to be possible) in the Ionic form (equivalent to Attic παρόν), forming an accusative absolute. Combined with the following infinitive ἀποκτεῖναι, it expresses a concessive meaning: 'although it was possible (for them to kill)'.