- 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-grc2:6.83.1-6.83.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
Due to the depletion of Argive men, their slaves take control of the state until the surviving sons grow up and expel them to Tiryns, where a prophet named Cleandrus incites the slaves to wage war against their former masters.
Ἄργος δὲ ἀνδρῶν ἐχηρώθη1 οὕτω ὥστε οἱ δοῦλοι αὐτῶν ἔσχον2 πάντα τὰ πρήγματα ἄρχοντές τε καὶ διέποντες, ἐς ὃ ἐπήβησαν οἱ τῶν ἀπολομένων παῖδες· ἔπειτα σφέας οὗτοι ἀνακτώμενοι ὀπίσω ἐς ἑωυτοὺς τὸ Ἄργος ἐξέβαλον· ἐξωθεύμενοι δὲ οἱ δοῦλοι μάχῃ ἔσχον Τίρυνθα.
Argos was so depleted of men that their slaves took possession of all affairs, ruling and managing them until the sons of those who had perished reached manhood. Then, recovering Argos back for themselves, these sons drove out the slaves; and the slaves, being expelled, seized Tiryns by battle.
τέως μὲν δή σφι ἦν ἄρθμια3 ἐς ἀλλήλους, ἔπειτα δὲ ἐς τοὺς δούλους ἦλθε ἀνὴρ μάντις Κλέανδρος, γένος ἐὼν Φιγαλεὺς ἀπʼ Ἀρκαδίης· οὗτος τοὺς δούλους ἀνέγνωσε4 ἐπιθέσθαι τοῖσι δεσπότῃσι. ἐκ τούτου δὴ πόλεμός σφι ἦν ἐπὶ χρόνον συχνόν, ἐς ὃ δὴ μόγις οἱ Ἀργεῖοι ἐπεκράτησαν.
For a time indeed there was a friendly agreement between them, but then a prophet named Cleandrus, a Phigalian from Arcadia by birth, came to the slaves. This man persuaded the slaves to attack their masters. Consequently, there was war between them for a considerable time, until at last the Argives with difficulty prevailed.
- 6.83.1ἀνδρῶν ἐχηρώθη
The verb ἐχηρώθη (3rd person singular aorist passive of χηρόω, 'to deprive, make destitute') is accompanied by the genitive noun ἀνδρῶν, which functions as a genitive of separation or deprivation, meaning 'was depleted of men.'
- 6.83.1ἔσχον
The aorist form of the verb ἔχω functions here in an ingressive (or aspectual) sense, meaning 'took possession of' or 'seized,' rather than simply 'held' or 'possessed' as a continuous state.
- 6.83.2ἄρθμια
The neuter plural form of the adjective ἄρθμιος ('friendly, united') is used substantively in the impersonal construction ἦν ἄρθμια to mean 'friendly relations' or 'concord.' The singular verb ἦν is used with this neuter plural subject.
- 6.83.2ἀνέγνωσε
The verb ἀναγινώσκω is frequently used in the Ionic dialect of Herodotus with the meaning of 'to persuade' (corresponding to Attic ἀναπείθω). Here, taking the accusative (τοὺς δούλους) and the infinitive (ἐπιθέσθαι), it conveys 'persuaded the slaves to attack.'