- 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-grc2:6.86C.1-6.86C.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
The Milesians depart in despair, while Glaucus consults the oracle at Delphi about keeping the money by a false oath. The Pythia warns him of the divine retribution awaiting oath-breakers and declares that tempting the god is equal to committing the deed.
οἱ μὲν δὴ Μιλήσιοι συμφορὴν ποιησάμενοι ἀπαλλάσσοντο ὡς ἀπεστερημένοι1 τῶν χρημάτων, Γλαῦκος δὲ ἐπορεύετο ἐς Δελφοὺς χρησόμενος τῷ χρηστηρίῳ. ἐπειρωτῶντα δὲ αὐτὸν τὸ χρηστήριον εἰ ὅρκῳ τὰ χρήματα ληίσηται, ἡ Πυθίη μετέρχεται τοῖσιδε τοῖσι ἔπεσι.
So the Milesians departed, considering it a calamity, as if they had been deprived of their money; but Glaucus journeyed to Delphi to consult the oracle. And when he asked the oracle whether he should plunder the money by an oath, the Pythia answered him with these verses:
" γλαῦκʼ Ἐπικυδείδη, τὸ μὲν αὐτίκα κέρδιον οὕτω ὅρκῳ νικῆσαι καὶ χρήματα ληίσσασθαι. ὄμνυ, ἐπεὶ θάνατός γε καὶ εὔορκον μένει ἄνδρα. ἀλλʼ ὅρκου πάις ἐστίν, ἀνώνυμος, οὐδʼ ἔπι χεῖρες οὐδὲ πόδες· κραιπνὸς δὲ μετέρχεται, εἰς ὅ κε πᾶσαν συμμάρψας ὀλέσῃ γενεὴν καὶ οἶκον ἅπαντα. ἀνδρὸς δʼ εὐόρκου γενεὴ μετόπισθεν ἀμείνων." ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ Γλαῦκος συγγνώμην τὸν θεὸν παραιτέετο αὐτῷ ἴσχειν τῶν ῥηθέντων.2 ἡ δὲ Πυθίη ἔφη τὸ πειρηθῆναι τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὸ ποιῆσαι ἴσον δύνασθαι.3
”Glaucus, son of Epicydes, for the immediate present indeed it is more profitable thus, to win by an oath and plunder the money. Swear, since death awaits even the man who keeps his oath. But Oath has a son, nameless, who has neither hands or feet; yet swift he pursues, until he seizes and destroys the whole race and the entire house. But the race of a man who keeps his oath is better in times to come.” When Glaucus heard this, he entreated the god to grant him forgiveness for what he had said. But the Pythia said that to tempt the god and to do the deed were of equal power.
- 6.86C.1ὡς ἀπεστερημένοι
The conjunction ὡς with the perfect passive participle ἀπεστερημένοι (nominative plural, agreeing with οἱ Μιλήσιοι) expresses a subjective reason or belief ("as if they had been deprived of their money").
- 6.86C.2συγγνώμην τὸν θεὸν παραιτέετο αὐτῷ ἴσχειν τῶν ῥηθέντων
The verb παραιτέομαι ("to entreat") takes an accusative of the person (τὸν θεόν) and an infinitive (ἴσχειν, "to hold/grant"). συγγνώμην is the object of ἴσχειν, meaning "to grant forgiveness". The dative αὐτῷ functions as a dative of advantage for Glaucus, and τῶν ῥηθέντων is a genitive of cause or reference ("for what had been said/asked").
- 6.86C.2ἴσον δύνασθαι
The infinitive δύνασθαι ("to have power, to be equivalent") takes two articular infinitives (τὸ πειρηθῆναι τοῦ θεοῦ and τὸ ποιῆσαι) as its coordinate subjects, with ἴσον ("equally" or "equal") acting as an adverbial accusative or predicate accusative.