- 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-grc2:6.86A.1-6.86A.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
Since the Athenians refuse to return the deposit, Leotychides begins to tell the story of Glaucus, a Spartan renowned for his justice. A Milesian, trusting Glaucus' reputation, brought half his property in cash to deposit with him, along with tokens.
οὐ φαμένων1 δὲ ἀποδώσειν τῶν Ἀθηναίων, ἔλεξέ σφι Λευτυχίδης τάδε. ὦ Ἀθηναῖοι, ποιέετε μὲν ὁκότερα βούλεσθε αὐτοί· καὶ γὰρ ἀποδιδόντες ποιέετε ὅσια, καὶ μὴ ἀποδιδόντες τὰ ἐναντία τούτων· ὁκοῖον μέντοι τι ἐν τῇ Σπάρτῃ συνηνείχθη γενέσθαι περὶ παρακαταθήκης, βούλομαι ὑμῖν εἶπαι.
When the Athenians declared they would not restore it, Leotychides spoke to them as follows: “O Athenians, do whichever of the two you yourselves wish; for by restoring it you do what is holy, and by not restoring it, the opposite of this. However, I wish to tell you what sort of thing happened to occur in Sparta concerning a deposit.
λέγομεν ἡμεῖς οἱ Σπαρτιῆται γενέσθαι ἐν τῇ Λακεδαίμονι κατὰ τρίτην γενεὴν τὴν ἀπʼ ἐμέο Γλαῦκον Ἐπικύδεος παῖδα· τοῦτον τὸν ἄνδρα φαμὲν τά τε ἄλλα πάντα περιήκειν τὰ πρῶτα, καὶ δὴ καὶ ἀκούειν ἄριστα2 δικαιοσύνης πέρι πάντων ὅσοι τὴν Λακεδαίμονα τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον οἴκεον.
We Spartans say that there lived in Lacedaemon, in the third generation from me, Glaucus the son of Epicydes. We say that this man not only surpassed all others in all other respects but also was in the highest repute for justice among all who inhabited Lacedaemon at that time.
συνενειχθῆναι δέ οἱ ἐν χρόνῳ ἱκνευμένῳ τάδε λέγομεν. ἄνδρα Μιλήσιον ἀπικόμενον ἐς Σπάρτην βούλεσθαί οἱ ἐλθεῖν ἐς λόγους προϊσχόμενον τοιάδε. εἰμὶ μὲν Μιλήσιος, ἥκω δὲ τῆς σῆς Γλαῦκε βουλόμενος δικαιοσύνης ἀπολαῦσαι.
And we say that in the course of time the following happened to him. A man of Miletus, having arrived in Sparta, wished to enter into conversation with him, making the following proposal: ‘I am a Milesian, and I have come, Glaucus, wishing to enjoy the benefit of your justice.
ὡς γὰρ δὴ ἀνὰ πᾶσαν μὲν τὴν ἄλλην Ἑλλάδα, ἐν δὲ καὶ περὶ Ἰωνίην τῆς σῆς δικαιοσύνης ἦν λόγος πολλός, ἐμεωυτῷ λόγους ἐδίδουν καὶ ὅτι ἐπικίνδυνος ἐστὶ αἰεί κοτε ἡ Ἰωνίη, ἡ δὲ Πελοπόννησος ἀσφαλέως ἱδρυμένη, καὶ διότι χρήματα οὐδαμὰ τοὺς αὐτούς ἐστι ὁρᾶν ἔχοντας.3
For since there was much talk of your justice throughout all the rest of Greece, and especially about Ionia, I reasoned with myself both that Ionia is always in danger, while the Peloponnese is securely established, and also because one can never see the same men keeping possession of wealth.
ταῦτά τε ὦν ἐπιλεγομένῳ καὶ βουλευομένῳ ἔδοξέ μοι τὰ ἡμίσεα πάσης τῆς οὐσίης ἐξαργυρώσαντα4 θέσθαι παρὰ σέ, εὖ ἐξεπισταμένῳ ὥς μοι κείμενα ἔσται παρὰ σοὶ σόα. σὺ δή μοι καὶ τὰ χρήματα δέξαι καὶ τάδε τὰ σύμβολα σῶζε λαβών· ὃς δʼ ἂν ἔχων ταῦτα ἀπαιτέῃ, τούτῳ ἀποδοῦναι.
Pondering and deliberating on these things, therefore, I resolved to turn half of all my property into money and deposit it with you, well knowing that it will lie safe with you. Do you then receive the money for me, and take and keep these tokens; and to whoever demands it back having these, restore it.’”
- 6.86A.1οὐ φαμένων
The negative particle οὐ modifies the participle of φημί (to say), yielding the meaning "to say that... not" or "to refuse". It forms a genitive absolute construction with τῶν Ἀθηναίων.
- 6.86A.2ἀκούειν ἄριστα
The verb ἀκούω (to hear), accompanied by the adverb ἄριστα, is used in a passive sense meaning "to be best spoken of" or "to have the highest reputation".
- 6.86A.4τοὺς αὐτούς ἐστι ὁρᾶν ἔχοντας
The impersonal ἔστι (it is possible) is followed by the infinitive ὁρᾶν (to see), which takes the accusative τοὺς αὐτούς with the participle ἔχοντας as its object-complement expression, meaning "it is possible to see the same people possessing".
- 6.86A.5ἐπιλεγομένῳ ... ἐξαργυρώσαντα
The dative participle ἐπιλεγομένῳ agrees with the dative μοι (to me) governed by the impersonal ἔδοξε. However, the participle ἐξαργυρώσαντα, which functions as the subject of the infinitive θέσθαι, is in the accusative, representing a common grammatical shift from dative to accusative with infinitives.