- Source
- Diodorus Siculus. Diodori Bibliotheca Historica. Vols. 4-5 (partial). Bekker, Immanuel; Dindorf, Ludwig; Fischer, Curt Theodor; editors. Leipzig: Teubner, 1903-1906.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
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- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc6:20.70.1-20.70.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-06
Reflecting on the remarkable reversals of Agathocles' campaign, the author discusses the poetic justice of divine retribution, wherein God punished Agathocles for murdering his guest-friend Ophellas by causing the death of his own two sons.
τῆς δʼ Ἀγαθοκλέους στρατείας1 εἰς Λιβύην ἐπισημήναιτʼ ἄν τις τό τε παράδοξον καὶ τὴν εἰς τὰ τέκνα γενομένην τιμωρίαν οἷον τῇ θείᾳ προνοίᾳ. ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ τῆς Σικελίας ἡττηθεὶς καὶ τὴν πλείστην τῆς δυνάμεως ἀπολέσας ἐπὶ τῆς Λιβύης μικρῷ μέρει τοὺς προνενικηκότας κατεπολέμησεν.
Regarding the campaign of Agathocles to Libya, one might well remark upon both its paradoxical nature and the punishment brought upon his children, as if by divine providence. For although he had been defeated in Sicily and had lost the greatest part of his force, in Libya, with only a small portion, he utterly defeated those who had previously conquered him.
καὶ τὰς μὲν ἐν τῇ Σικελίᾳ πόλεις ἁπάσας ἀποβαλὼν πρὸς Συρακούσσαις ἐπολιορκεῖτο, κατὰ δὲ τὴν Λιβύην πασῶν τῶν ἄλλων πόλεων ἐγκρατὴς γενόμενος εἰς πολιορκίαν κατέκλεισε τοὺς Καρχηδονίους, τῆς τύχης ὥσπερ ἐπίτηδες ἐπιδεικνυμένης τὴν ἰδίαν δύναμιν ἐπὶ τῶν ἀπηλπισμένων.
And while in Sicily he had lost all the cities and was besieged at Syracuse, in Libya he became master of all the other cities and shut up the Carthaginians in a siege, Fortune, as if on purpose, displaying her own power over those who were in despair.
εἰς τηλικαύτην δʼ ὑπεροχὴν ἐλθόντος αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸν Ὀφέλλαν φονεύσαντος, ὄντα φίλον καὶ ξένον, φανερῶς ἐπεσημήνατο τὸ δαιμόνιον ὡς διὰ τὴν εἰς τοῦτον παρανομίαν τῶν ὕστερον αὐτῷ γεγενημένων τὸ θεῖον ἐπιστήσαι·2 τοῦ γὰρ αὐτοῦ μηνὸς καὶ τῆς αὐτῆς ἡμέρας Ὀφέλλαν ἀνελὼν παρέλαβε τὴν δύναμιν καὶ πάλιν τοὺς υἱοὺς ἀπολέσας ἀπέβαλε τὸ στρατόπεδον.
But when he had risen to such a height of superiority and had murdered Ophellas, who was his friend and guest, the divinity clearly indicated that on account of his lawless act against this man, the deity superintended the things that afterwards happened to him; for in the same month and on the same day that he killed Ophellas and took over his army, he again, having lost his sons, lost his camp.
καὶ τὸ πάντων ἰδιώτατον, ὁ θεὸς ὥσπερ ἀγαθὸς νομοθέτης διπλῆν ἔλαβε παρʼ αὐτοῦ τὴν κόλασιν· ἕνα γὰρ φίλον ἀδίκως φονεύσας δυεῖν υἱῶν ἐστερήθη, τῶν μετʼ Ὀφέλλα παραγενομένων προσενεγκάντων τὰς χεῖρας3 τοῖς νεανίσκοις. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἡμῖν εἰρήσθω πρὸς τοὺς καταφρονοῦντας τῶν τοιούτων.
And what was most remarkable of all, God, like a good lawgiver, exacted a double punishment from him; for having unjustly murdered one friend, he was deprived of two sons, those who had come with Ophellas being the ones who laid hands upon the young men. Let these things, then, be our answer to those who look down on such matters.
- 20.70.1τῆς δʼ Ἀγαθοκλέους στρατείας
A genitive of reference or topic governed by the verb ἐπισημήναιτο (potential optative with ἄν). The subsequent accusatives (τό τε παράδοξον καὶ...) function as direct objects specifying the exact aspects of the campaign to be remarked upon.
- 20.70.3τὸ θεῖον ἐπιστήσαι
An accusative with infinitive clause introduced by ὡς. Here, ἐπιστήσαι is the aorist active infinitive of ἐφίστημι used transitively ("to set over" or "to superintend/direct"). τὸ θεῖον is the subject of the infinitive, and the genitive phrase τῶν ὕστερον αὐτῷ γεγενημένων is its object, meaning "that the divinity superintended the subsequent events that befell him."
- 20.70.4τῶν μετʼ Ὀφέλλα παραγενομένων προσενεγκάντων τὰς χεῖρας
A genitive absolute construction. The subject is "those who had come with Ophellas" (τῶν μετʼ Ὀφέλλα παραγενομένων) and the participle is προσενεγκάντων ("having laid hands on", from προσφέρω τὰς χεῖρας with dative). This highlights the poetic irony that the very soldiers who accompanied the murdered Ophellas became the executioners of Agathocles' sons.