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Herodotus · Histories §1.2.1-1.2.3

Abductions of Europa and Medea by the Greeks

Passage 2 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

According to the Persian account, in retaliation for Io's abduction, the Greeks (probably Cretans) abducted Europa and later Medea, refusing to make amends by pointing to the unresolved abduction of Io.

§1.2.1οὕτω μὲν Ἰοῦν ἐς Αἴγυπτον ἀπικέσθαι λέγουσι Πέρσαι, οὐκ ὡς Ἕλληνές, καὶ τῶν ἀδικημάτων πρῶτον τοῦτο ἄρξαι.
Thus the Persians say that Io came to Egypt, not as the Greeks say, and that this was the first beginning of the wrongs.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα Ἑλλήνων τινάς (οὐ γὰρ ἔχουσι τοὔνομα ἀπηγήσασθαι) φασὶ τῆς Φοινίκης ἐς Τύρον προσσχόντας ἁρπάσαι τοῦ βασιλέος τὴν θυγατέρα Εὐρώπην.
After this, they say that certain Greeks (for they cannot tell the name) touched at Tyre in Phoenicia and carried off the king's daughter, Europa.
εἴησαν δʼ ἄν οὗτοι Κρῆτες.
These would probably be Cretans.
ταῦτα μὲν δὴ ἴσα πρὸς ἴσα σφι γενέσθαι, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα Ἕλληνας αἰτίους τῆς δευτέρης ἀδικίης γενέσθαι·
Thus, indeed, things became equal on both sides, but after this, the Greeks became responsible for the second wrong.
§1.2.2καταπλώσαντας γὰρ μακρῇ νηί ἐς Αἶαν τε τὴν Κολχίδα καὶ ἐπὶ Φᾶσιν ποταμόν, ἐνθεῦτεν, διαπρηξαμένους καὶ τἄλλα τῶν εἵνεκεν ἀπίκατο, ἁρπάσαι τοῦ βασιλέος τὴν θυγατέρα Μηδείην.
For they sailed in a ship of war to Aea in Colchis and to the river Phasis, and from there, having accomplished also the other things for which they had come, they carried off the king's daughter, Medea.
§1.2.3πέμψαντά δὲ τὸν Κόλχων βασιλέα ἐς τὴν Ἑλλάδα κήρυκα αἰτέειν τε δίκας τῆς ἁρπαγῆς καὶ ἀπαιτέειν τὴν θυγατέρα.
And the king of the Colchians sent a herald to Greece to demand satisfaction for the abduction and to ask for his daughter back.
τοὺς δὲ ὑποκρίνασθαι ὡς οὐδὲ ἐκεῖνοι Ἰοῦς τῆς Ἀργείης ἔδοσάν σφι δίκας τῆς ἁρπαγῆς· οὐδὲ ὤν αὐτοὶ δώσειν ἐκείνοισι.
But they replied that, since those others had not given them satisfaction for the abduction of Io of Argos, neither would they themselves give it to them.

Notes

  1. §1.2.1εἴησαν δʼ ἄν — The optative with the particle ἄν expresses a tentative assertion or probability about a past event ("these would probably be...").
  2. §1.2.1ἴσα πρὸς ἴσα — An idiomatic expression meaning "equal for equal," i.e., "quits" or "even on both sides."
  3. §1.2.2τῶν εἵνεκεν — A case attraction where the antecedent demonstrative pronoun (τά) is attracted to the genitive case of the relative pronoun (ὧν) before the preposition εἵνεκεν (for τά ὧν εἵνεκεν), meaning "the things for the sake of which."
  4. §1.2.3ὡς οὐδὲ ἐκεῖνοι ... ἔδοσαν — Here ὡς acts as a causal conjunction ("since" or "because"). The fact that it is followed by the indicative aorist ἔδοσαν indicates that it forms a causal clause rather than a dependent clause of indirect statement.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §1.2.1-1.2.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.2.1-1.2.3

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