- 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-grc2:6.62.1-6.62.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
Ariston, driven by love, makes a pact with Agetus to exchange any one possession of their choice, and subsequently demands and takes Agetus's beautiful wife as his prize.
τὸν δὲ Ἀρίστωνα ἔκνιζε ἄρα τῆς γυναικὸς ταύτης ὁ ἔρως· μηχανᾶται δὴ τοιάδε· αὐτός τε τῷ ἑταίρῳ, τοῦ ἦν ἡ γυνὴ αὕτη, ὑποδέκεται δωτίνην δώσειν τῶν ἑωυτοῦ πάντων ἕν, τὸ ἂν αὐτὸς ἐκεῖνος ἕληται,1 καὶ τὸν ἑταῖρον ἑωυτῷ ἐκέλευε ὡσαύτως τὴν ὁμοίην διδόναι· ὁ δὲ οὐδὲν φοβηθεὶς ἀμφὶ τῇ γυναικί, ὁρέων ἐοῦσαν καὶ Ἀρίστωνι γυναῖκα,2 καταινέει ταῦτα· ἐπὶ τούτοισι δὲ ὅρκους ἐπήλασαν.
Now Ariston was tormented by love for this woman; so he devised the following plan. He himself promised to give to his friend, whose wife this woman was, one thing of his own possessions, whichever the friend himself should choose, and he bade his friend in the same way to give a similar thing to him. But the friend, having no fear at all for his wife, seeing that Ariston also had a wife, agreed to this; and upon these terms they swore oaths to each other.
μετὰ δὲ αὐτός τε ὁ Ἀρίστων ἔδωκε τοῦτο, ὅ τι δὴ ἦν, τὸ εἵλετο τῶν κειμηλίων τῶν Ἀρίστωνος ὁ Ἄγητος, καὶ αὐτὸς τὴν ὁμοίην ζητέων φέρεσθαι παρʼ ἐκείνου, ἐνθαῦτα δὴ τοῦ ἑταίρου τὴν γυναῖκα ἐπειρᾶτο ἀπάγεσθαι. ὁ δὲ πλὴν τούτου μούνου τὰ ἄλλα ἔφη καταινέσαι· ἀναγκαζόμενος μέντοι τῷ τε ὅρκῳ καὶ τῆς ἀπάτης τῇ παραγωγῇ ἀπιεῖ ἀπάγεσθαι.3
Afterwards, Ariston himself gave this, whatever it was, which Agetus chose from Ariston’s treasures, and seeking to receive a similar thing from him in return, he then indeed attempted to lead away his friend’s wife. But the friend said that he had agreed to all the other things except this one alone; nevertheless, being compelled by both the oath and the deception of the trick, he let her be led away.
- 6.62.1τὸ ἂν αὐτὸς ἐκεῖνος ἕληται
A relative clause introduced by the relative pronoun τὸ (equivalent to Attic ὅ), accompanied by ἄν and the subjunctive ἕληται (aorist middle of αἱρέω), expressing a future or general condition ('whichever he himself should choose').
- 6.62.1ὁρέων ἐοῦσαν καὶ Ἀρίστωνι γυναῖκα
The participle ὁρέων (ὁράω) expresses cause ('seeing that...'). In its supplementary participle construction ἐοῦσαν ... γυναῖκα ('that there was a wife'), ἐοῦσαν is the feminine singular accusative present participle of εἰμί. καὶ Ἀρίστωνι is a dative of possession ('to Ariston also').
- 6.62.2ἀπιεῖ ἀπάγεσθαι
ἀπιεῖ is the Ionic form of the third-person singular present indicative active of ἀπίημι ('let go', 'allow'). Together with the infinitive ἀπάγεσθαι (to lead away, or to be led away), it expresses permission or concession: 'he let her be led away.'