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Herodotus · Histories §1.118.1-1.118.2

Astyages's Feigned Relief and Invitation to Harpagus

Passage 118 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Astyages conceals his anger toward Harpagus, pretends to be pleased that Cyrus is alive, and commands Harpagus to send his son to Cyrus and to attend a celebratory dinner.

§1.118.1Ἅρπαγος μὲν δὴ τὸν ἰθὺν ἔφαινε λόγον·
Harpagus, then, revealed the direct story.
Ἀστυάγης δὲ κρύπτων τὸν οἱ ἐνεῖχε χόλον διὰ τὸ γεγονός, πρῶτα μέν, κατά περ ἤκουσε αὐτὸς πρὸς τοῦ βουκόλου τὸ πρῆγμα, πάλιν ἀπηγέετο τῷ Ἁρπάγῳ, μετὰ δὲ ὣς οἱ ἐπαλιλλόγητο, κατέβαινε λέγων ὡς περίεστί τε ὁ παῖς καὶ τὸ γεγονὸς ἔχει καλῶς·
But Astyages, hiding the anger he held against him on account of what had happened, first recounted the matter again to Harpagus, just as he himself had heard it from the herdsman; and after it had been thus repeated to him, he ended by saying that the boy was alive and that what had happened was well.
§1.118.2τῷ τε γὰρ πεποιημένῳ ἔφη λέγων ἐς τὸν παῖδα τοῦτον ἔκαμνον μεγάλως, καὶ θυγατρὶ τῇ ἐμῇ διαβεβλημένος οὐκ ἐν ἐλαφρῷ ἐποιεύμην.
"For," he said, "I was greatly troubled by what had been done to this boy, and being alienated from my daughter, I did not take it lightly.
ὡς ὦν τῆς τύχης εὖ μετεστεώσης, τοῦτο μὲν τὸν σεωυτοῦ παῖδα ἀπόπεμψον παρὰ τὸν παῖδα τὸν νεήλυδα, τοῦτο δὲ (σῶστρα γὰρ τοῦ παιδὸς μέλλω θύειν τοῖσι θεῶν τιμὴ αὕτη προσκέεται) πάρισθί μοι ἐπὶ δεῖπνον.
Since, therefore, fortune has changed for the better, on the one hand, send your own son to the newly arrived boy, and on the other hand (for I am about to sacrifice thank-offerings for the safety of the child to those of the gods to whom this honor is assigned), join me at dinner."

Notes

  1. 1.118.1τὸν οἱ ἐνεῖχε χόλον — The pronoun οἱ is a third-person singular dative referring to Harpagus, functioning as the object towards which the anger is directed by the verb ἐνεῖχε (from ἐνέχω, to hold against someone). Thus, it means 'the anger which he held against him.'
  2. 1.118.1μετὰ δὲ ὣς οἱ ἐπαλιλλόγητο — The word ὣς is an Ionic and poetic form of οὕτως (thus). ἐπαλιλλόγητο is the pluperfect passive third-person singular of ἐπαλιλλογέω (to repeat), used here impersonally with the dative οἱ (to him), meaning 'after it had been thus repeated to him.'
  3. 1.118.2τῷ τε γὰρ πεποιημένῳ — A dative of cause. The perfect passive participle in the neuter singular, πεποιημένῳ, is used substantively and is modified by the phrase ἐς τὸν παῖδα τοῦτον (against this boy), indicating the reason: 'because of what had been done to this boy.'
  4. 1.118.2τοῖσι θεῶν τιμὴ αὕτη προσκέεται — The form τοῖσι is the Ionic dative plural of the relative pronoun οἷσι. θεῶν is a partitive genitive depending on the relative pronoun. The clause translates to 'to those of the gods to whom this honor (of receiving such sacrifices) is assigned.'

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §1.118.1-1.118.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.118.1-1.118.2

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