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Herodotus · Histories §1.21.1-1.21.2

Alyattes' Truce Envoy and Thrasybulus's Stratagem

Passage 21 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Alyattes sends an envoy to seek a temporary truce for rebuilding the temple, but Thrasybulus, forewarned of this plan, orders all the city's food to be gathered in the market and commands the citizens to hold a massive feast.

§1.21.1Μιλήσιοι μέν νυν οὕτω λέγουσι γενέσθαι.
Now the Milesians say it happened in this way.
Ἀλυάττης δέ, ὡς οἱ ταῦτα ἐξαγγέλθη, αὐτίκα ἔπεμπε κήρυκα ἐς Μίλητον βουλόμενος σπονδὰς ποιήσασθαι Θρασυβούλῳ τε καὶ Μιλησίοισι χρόνον ὅσον ἂν τὸν νηὸν οἰκοδομέῃ.
But Alyattes, when this was reported to him, immediately sent a herald to Miletus, wishing to make a truce with Thrasybulus and the Milesians for as long a time as he should be rebuilding the temple.
ὃ μὲν δὴ ἀπόστολος ἐς τὴν Μίλητον ἦν, Θρασύβουλος δὲ σαφέως προπεπυσμένος πάντα λόγον, καὶ εἰδὼς τὰ Ἀλυάττης μέλλοι ποιήσειν, μηχανᾶται τοιάδε· §1.21.2ὅσος ἦν ἐν τῷ ἄστεϊ σῖτος καὶ ἑωυτοῦ καὶ ἰδιωτικός, τοῦτον πάντα συγκομίσας ἐς τὴν ἀγορὴν προεῖπε Μιλησίοισι, ἐπεὰν αὐτὸς σημήνῃ, τότε πίνειν τε πάντας καὶ κώμῳ χρᾶσθαι ἐς ἀλλήλους.
He indeed was on his way as envoy to Miletus, but Thrasybulus, having clearly learned beforehand the whole story, and knowing what Alyattes was about to do, devised the following scheme: having gathered into the marketplace all the corn that was in the city, both his own and that of private individuals, he gave orders beforehand to the Milesians that, when he himself should give the signal, then they should all drink and engage in revelry with one another.

Notes

  1. 1.21.1χρόνον ὅσον ἂν τὸν νηὸν οἰκοδομέῃ — The relative clause of time introduced by `ὅσον ἂν` with the subjunctive `οἰκοδομέῃ` denotes a temporal limitation in the future ('for as long as he should rebuild'). `νηὸν` is the Ionic form for the Attic `νεών` ('temple').
  2. 1.21.1ὃ μὲν δὴ ἀπόστολος — The article `ὃ`, acting as a demonstrative pronoun with `μὲν`, refers back to the preceding `κήρυκα` ('herald'). The noun `ἀπόστολος` is used here in a personal sense to mean 'the messenger' or 'envoy'.
  3. 1.21.1τὰ Ἀλυάττης μέλλοι ποιήσειν — The relative pronoun `τὰ` (Ionic for the Attic `ἅ`) contains its own antecedent and functions as the object of `εἰδὼς`. The optative `μέλλοι` is an oblique optative (optative in indirect discourse) triggered by the historical present `μηχανᾶται` in the main clause.
  4. 1.21.2ὅσος ἦν... τοῦτον πάντα — A correlative structure typical of Greek, where the relative clause starting with `ὅσος` ('how much soever') precedes the main clause, and its content is resumed by the demonstrative phrase `τοῦτον πάντα` ('all this').

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §1.21.1-1.21.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.21.1-1.21.2

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