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Herodotus · Histories §1.173.1-1.173.5

Origins and Matrilineal Customs of the Lycians

Passage 173 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The passage traces the origins of the Lycians back to Crete and explains how they derived their name through Sarpedon and Lycus, highlighting their unique custom of matrilineal descent.

§1.173.1καὶ οὗτοι μὲν τρόποισι τοιούτοισι χρέωνται, οἱ δὲ Λύκιοι ἐκ Κρήτης τὠρχαῖον γεγόνασι (τὴν γὰρ Κρήτην εἶχον τὸ παλαιὸν πᾶσαν βάρβαροι)·
And while these people practice such customs, the Lycians were originally from Crete (for in ancient times barbarians held the whole of Crete).
§1.173.2διενειχθέντων δὲ ἐν Κρήτῃ περὶ τῆς βασιληίης τῶν Εὐρώπης παίδων Σαρπηδόνος τε καὶ Μίνω, ὡς ἐπεκράτησε τῇ στάσι Μίνως, ἐξήλασε αὐτόν τε Σαρπηδόνα καὶ τοὺς στασιώτας αὐτοῦ, οἳ δὲ ἀπωσθέντες ἀπίκοντο τῆς Ἀσίης ἐς γῆν τὴν Μιλυάδα·
When a dispute arose in Crete concerning the kingship between Sarpedon and Minos, the sons of Europa, and Minos got the upper hand in the faction, he drove out Sarpedon himself and his factionalists; and they, being driven out, came to the land of Milyas in Asia.
τὴν γὰρ νῦν Λύκιοι νέμονται, αὕτη τὸ παλαιὸν ἦν Μιλυάς, οἱ δὲ Μιλύαι τότε Σόλυμοι ἐκαλέοντο.
For the land which the Lycians now inhabit was anciently Milyas, and the Milyans were then called Solymi.
§1.173.3ἕως μὲν δὴ αὐτῶν Σαρπηδὼν ἦρχε, οἳ δὲ ἐκαλέοντο τό πέρ τε ἠνείκαντο οὔνομα καὶ νυν ἔτι καλέονται ὑπὸ τῶν περιοίκων οἱ Λύκιοι Τερμίλαι·
Now as long as Sarpedon ruled them, they were called by the name which they had brought with them, and even now the Lycians are still called Termilae by their neighbors.
ὡς δὲ ἐξ Ἀθηνέων Λύκος ὁ Πανδίονος, ἐξελασθεὶς καὶ οὗτος ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀδελφεοῦ Αἰγέος, ἀπίκετο ἐς τοὺς Τερμίλας παρὰ Σαρπηδόνα, οὕτω δὴ κατὰ τοῦ Λύκου τὴν ἐπωνυμίην Λύκιοι ἀνὰ χρόνον ἐκλήθησαν.
But when Lycus son of Pandion, who had also been driven out of Athens by his brother Aegeus, came to the Termilae to Sarpedon, thus indeed in time they came to be called Lycians after the name of Lycus.
§1.173.4νόμοισι δὲ τὰ μὲν Κρητικοῖσι τὰ δὲ Καρικοῖσι χρέωνται.
They practice customs partly Cretan and partly Carian.
ἓν δὲ τόδε ἴδιον νενομίκασι καὶ οὐδαμοῖσι ἄλλοισι συμφέρονται ἀνθρώπων· καλέουσι ἀπὸ τῶν μητέρων ἑωυτοὺς καὶ οὐκὶ ἀπὸ τῶν πατέρων·
But they have established this one custom peculiar to themselves, in which they agree with no other men: they call themselves after their mothers and not after their fathers.
§1.173.5εἰρομένου δὲ ἑτέρου τὸν πλησίον τίς εἴη, καταλέξει ἑωυτὸν μητρόθεν καὶ τῆς μητρὸς ἀνανεμέεται τὰς μητέρας.
If one asks his neighbor who he is, he will reckon up his pedigree from his mother and retrace his mother's mothers.
καὶ ἢν μέν γε γυνὴ ἀστὴ δούλῳ συνοικήσῃ, γενναῖα τὰ τέκνα νενόμισται· ἢν δὲ ἀνὴρ ἀστὸς καὶ ὁ πρῶτος αὐτῶν γυναῖκα ξείνην ἢ παλλακὴν ἔχῃ, ἄτιμα τὰ τέκνα γίνεται.
And if a female citizen cohabits with a slave, the children are deemed noble; but if a male citizen, even the first among them, has a foreign wife or a concubine, the children are without rights.

Notes

  1. §1.173.2οἳ δὲ — The relative pronoun `οἵ` functions as a demonstrative pronoun ("and they") in combination with the conjunction `δέ`. This is a characteristic usage in Homeric and Ionic Greek.
  2. §1.173.3τό πέρ τε ἠνείκαντο οὔνομα — `ἠνείκαντο` is the Ionic aorist middle third-person plural of `φέρω` (to bear, bring), equivalent to Attic `ἠνέγκαντο`. Here it means "the name which they brought or carried with themselves" during their migration.
  3. §1.173.5καὶ ὁ πρῶτος αὐτῶν — The conjunction `καί` is used adverbially here to mean "even", modifying `ὁ πρῶτος αὐτῶν` ("the first among them", i.e., the citizen of the highest social standing).

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §1.173.1-1.173.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.173.1-1.173.5

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