- 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-grc2:6.50.1-6.50.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
In response to the Athenian accusation, the Spartan King Cleomenes goes to Aegina to arrest the culprits, but is forced to withdraw due to the opposition of Crios and others, who acted under instructions from Demaratus.
πρὸς ταύτην δὲ τὴν κατηγορίην Κλεομένης ὁ Ἀναξανδρίδεω βασιλεὺς ἐὼν Σπαρτιητέων διέβη ἐς Αἴγιναν, βουλόμενος συλλαβεῖν Αἰγινητέων τοὺς αἰτιωτάτους.
In response to this accusation, Cleomenes, the son of Anaxandrides, who was king of the Spartans, crossed over to Aegina, wishing to arrest those of the Aeginetans who were most responsible.
ὡς δὲ ἐπειρᾶτο συλλαμβάνων,1 ἄλλοι τε δὴ ἐγίνοντο αὐτῷ ἀντίξοοι τῶν Αἰγινητέων, ἐν δὲ δὴ καὶ Κριὸς ὁ Πολυκρίτου μάλιστα, ὃς οὐκ ἔφη αὐτὸν οὐδένα ἄξειν χαίροντα Αἰγινητέων· ἄνευ γάρ μιν Σπαρτιητέων τοῦ κοινοῦ ποιέειν ταῦτα, ὑπʼ Ἀθηναίων ἀναγνωσθέντα χρήμασι· ἅμα γὰρ ἄν μιν τῷ ἑτέρῳ βασιλέι ἐλθόντα συλλαμβάνειν.2
When he attempted to make the arrests, other Aeginetans opposed him, and especially Crios, the son of Polycritus, who said that Cleomenes would not carry off any of the Aeginetans with impunity; for (he claimed) he was doing this without the common consent of the Spartans, having been persuaded with money by the Athenians; for otherwise he would have come with the other king to make the arrest.
ἔλεγε δὲ ταῦτα ἐξ ἐπιστολῆς τῆς Δημαρήτου. Κλεομένης δὲ ἀπελαυνόμενος ἐκ τῆς Αἰγίνης εἴρετο τὸν Κριὸν ὅ τι οἱ εἴη τὸ οὔνομα· ὁ δέ οἱ τὸ ἐὸν ἔφρασε. ὁ δὲ Κλεομένης πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔφη ἤδη νῦν καταχαλκοῦ ὦ κριὲ3 τὰ κέρεα, ὡς συνοισόμενος μεγάλῳ κακῷ.
He said this on the instructions of a letter from Demaratus. Cleomenes, as he was being driven away from Aegina, asked Crios what his name was; and he told him the truth. Then Cleomenes said to him: “Now indeed, O Ram, plate your horns with bronze, for you are going to clash with great disaster.”
- 6.50.2ἐπειρᾶτο συλλαμβάνων
The participle συλλαμβάνων is used as a complement to the verb ἐπειρᾶτο (imperfect of πειράομαι, "attempt, try") instead of an infinitive, indicating an attempt that was actually set in motion.
- 6.50.2ἄν μιν ... συλλαμβάνειν
Indirect discourse introduced by οὐκ ἔφη in the preceding sentence. The infinitive συλλαμβάνειν with ἄν represents a past contrary-to-fact apodosis (which would be ἂν συνέλλαμβε in direct speech: "he would have arrested"). The pronoun μιν is the Ionic accusative singular of the third-person pronoun (equivalent to αὐτόν), referring to Cleomenes.
- 6.50.3ὦ κριὲ
A play on words (pun) on the proper name Krios (Κριός), which as a common noun means "ram" (κριός). The following phrase τὰ κέρεα ("horns") and the middle imperative καταχαλκοῦ ("plate for yourself with bronze") continue this wordplay.