Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §1.149.1-1.149.2

The Eleven Cities of the Aeolians and Their Land

Passage 149 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The author lists the eleven ancient cities of the Aeolians, explaining that Smyrna was originally the twelfth but was taken by the Ionians, and compares the Aeolians' fertile land and less favorable climate with those of the Ionians.

§1.149.1αὗται μὲν αἱ Ἰάδες πόλιες εἰσί, αἵδε δὲ αἱ Αἰολίδες, Κύμη ἡ Φρικωνὶς καλεομένη, Λήρισαι, Νέον τεῖχος, Τῆμνος, Κίλλα, Νότιον, Αἰγιρόεσσα, Πιτάνη, Αἰγαῖαι, Μύρινα, Γρύνεια.
These are the Ionian cities, and the following are the Aeolian ones: Cyme, which is called Phriconis, Lerisae, Neon Teichos, Temnos, Cilla, Notion, Aegiroessa, Pitane, Aegaeae, Myrina, Gryneia.
αὗται ἕνδεκα Αἰολέων πόλιες αἱ ἀρχαῖαι· μία γὰρ σφέων παρελύθη Σμύρνη ὑπὸ Ἰώνων· ἦσαν γὰρ καὶ αὗται δυώδεκα αἱ ἐν τῆ ἠπείρῳ.
These are the eleven ancient cities of the Aeolians; for one of them, Smyrna, was taken away by the Ionians; for these too, those on the mainland, were once twelve.
§1.149.2οὗτοι δὲ οἱ Αἰολέες χώρην μὲν ἔτυχον κτίσαντες ἀμείνω Ἰώνων, ὡρέων δὲ ἥκουσαν οὐκ ὁμοίως.
Now these Aeolians happened to have founded their cities in a better country than the Ionians, but they did not meet with a similarly favorable climate.

Notes

  1. 1.149.1μία γὰρ σφέων παρελύθη Σμύρνη — σφέων is the Ionic genitive plural of the personal pronoun σφεῖς, functioning as a partitive genitive depending on μία. The verb παρελύθη (aorist passive of παραλύω) here carries the meaning of 'was detached' or 'was taken away', referring to the historical separation of Smyrna from the Aeolian league.
  2. 1.149.2ἔτυχον κτίσαντες — The verb τυγχάνω (here in the aorist ἔτυχον) constructed with a participle (κτίσαντες) is an idiomatic expression meaning 'happened to do' or 'succeeded in doing by chance/fortune'. Here it describes how the Aeolians, in choosing their settlement, turned out to acquire a better land.
  3. 1.149.2ὡρέων δὲ ἥκουσαν οὐκ ὁμοίως — A construction where ἥκω is combined with a genitive of relation (here ὡρέων, 'seasons, climate') and an adverb (οὐκ ὁμοίως), meaning 'to be in a certain state with respect to'. It contrasts their favorable land with their less favorable climate compared to that of the Ionians.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §1.149.1-1.149.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.149.1-1.149.2

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