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Herodotus · Histories §1.122.1-1.122.3

Cyrus Reunited with Parents and the Dog Legend

Passage 122 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Cyrus returns safely to his parents' home in Persia. Upon learning how he survived, his parents utilize the name of his foster mother, Cyno ("bitch"), to spread the legend that Cyrus was reared by a dog.

§1.122.1ταῦτα εἶπας ὁ Ἀστυάγης ἀποπέμπει τὸν Κῦρον.
Having said this, Astyages sent Cyrus away.
νοστήσαντα δέ μιν ἐς τοῦ Καμβύσεω τὰ οἰκία ἐδέξαντο οἱ γεινάμενοι, καὶ δεξάμενοι ὡς ἐπύθοντο, μεγάλως ἀσπάζοντο οἷα δὴ ἐπιστάμενοι αὐτίκα τότε τελευτῆσαι, ἱστόρεόν τε ὅτεῳ τρόπῳ περιγένοιτο.
When he returned to the house of Cambyses, his parents received him, and having received him, when they learned who he was, they embraced him warmly, since they had believed that he had died at that very time, and they asked him in what way he had survived.
§1.122.2ὁ δέ σφι ἔλεγε, φὰς πρὸ τοῦ μὲν οὐκ εἰδέναι ἀλλʼ ἡμαρτηκέναι πλεῖστον, κατʼ ὁδὸν δὲ πυθέσθαι πᾶσαν τὴν ἑωυτοῦ πάθην· ἐπίστασθαι μὲν γὰρ ὡς βουκόλου τοῦ Ἀστυάγεος εἴη παῖς, ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς κεῖθεν ὁδοῦ τὸν πάντα λόγον τῶν πομπῶν πυθέσθαι.
He told them, saying that before this he did not know but had been utterly mistaken, but on the way he had learned all his own story; for he said he had believed that he was the son of Astyages' herdsman, but from the journey from there he had learned the whole story from his escorts.
§1.122.3τραφῆναι δὲ ἔλεγε ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ βουκόλου γυναικός, ἤιέ τε ταύτην αἰνέων διὰ παντός, ἦν τέ οἱ ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τὰ πάντα ἡ Κυνώ.
And he said that he had been brought up by the herdsman's wife, and he went on praising her continually, and in his talk Cyno was everything to him.
οἱ δὲ τοκέες παραλαβόντες τὸ οὔνομα τοῦτο, ἵνα θειοτέρως δοκέῃ τοῖσι Πέρσῃσι περιεῖναί σφι ὁ παῖς, κατέβαλον φάτιν ὡς ἐκκείμενον Κῦρον κύων ἐξέθρεψε.
His parents, seizing upon this name, so that their boy might seem to the Persians to have survived in a more divine manner, spread the rumor that a dog had reared the exposed Cyrus.

Notes

  1. §1.122.1οἷα δὴ ἐπιστάμενοι — The conjunction οἷα with the particle δή and a participle (here ἐπιστάμενοι) expresses a subjective (and in this case, incorrect) reason: "since they believed / thinking as they did." It indicates that the parents had firmly believed Cyrus died immediately after birth.
  2. §1.122.3ἤιέ τε ταύτην αἰνέων — The imperfect ἤιε (from εἶμι) combined with the present participle αἰνέων forms a progressive/continuative construction meaning "he went on praising her" or "he continually praised her."
  3. §1.122.3ἦν τέ οἱ ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τὰ πάντα ἡ Κυνώ — οἱ is the third-person singular dative pronoun ("to him"). τὰ πάντα is a neuter plural nominative meaning "everything," functioning as a predicate with the feminine singular proper noun ἡ Cyno (Cyno): "Cyno was everything to him in his talk" (meaning his conversation was entirely about her).

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §1.122.1-1.122.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.122.1-1.122.3

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