Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §1.45.1-1.45.3

Forgiveness of Croesus and Suicide of Adrastus

Passage 45 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Adrastus surrenders himself to Croesus and begs for death, but Croesus forgives him, attributing the tragedy to a god. Nevertheless, unable to bear his guilt, Adrastus commits suicide on the prince's tomb.

§1.45.1παρῆσαν δὲ μετὰ τοῦτο οἱ Λυδοὶ φέροντες τὸν νεκρόν, ὄπισθε δὲ εἵπετό οἱ ὁ φονεύς.
After this, the Lydians arrived bearing the corpse, and behind it followed the murderer.
στὰς δὲ οὗτος πρὸ τοῦ νεκροῦ παρεδίδου ἑωυτὸν Κροίσῳ προτείνων τὰς χεῖρας, ἐπικατασφάξαι μιν κελεύων τῷ νεκρῷ, λέγων τήν τε προτέρην ἑωυτοῦ συμφορήν, καὶ ὡς ἐπʼ ἐκείνῃ τὸν καθήραντα ἀπολωλεκὼς εἴη, οὐδέ οἱ εἴη βιώσιμον.
Standing before the corpse, he surrendered himself to Croesus, stretching out his hands and begging him to slaughter him over the dead body, speaking of his former misfortune and how, on top of that, he had ruined the man who had purified him, and that life was no longer worth living for him.
§1.45.2Κροῖσος δὲ τούτων ἀκούσας τόν τε Ἄδρηστον κατοικτείρει, καίπερ ἐὼν ἐν κακῷ οἰκηίῳ τοσούτῳ καὶ λέγει πρὸς αὐτόν ἔχω ὦ ξεῖνε παρὰ σεῦ πᾶσαν τὴν δίκην, ἐπειδὴ σεωυτοῦ καταδικάζεις θάνατον.
Hearing this, Croesus pitied Adrastus, although he himself was in such great domestic grief, and said to him: "Stranger, I have received full satisfaction from you, since you condemn yourself to death.
εἶς δὲ οὐ σύ μοι τοῦδε τοῦ κακοῦ αἴτιος, εἰ μὴ ὅσον ἀέκων ἐξεργάσαο, ἀλλὰ θεῶν κού τις, ὅς μοι καὶ πάλαι προεσήμαινε τὰ μέλλοντα ἔσεσθαι. §1.45.3Κροῖσος μέν νυν ἔθαψε ὡς οἰκὸς ἦν τὸν ἑωυτοῦ παῖδα· Ἄδρηστος δὲ ὁ Γορδίεω τοῦ Μίδεω, οὗτος δὴ ὁ φονεὺς μὲν τοῦ ἑωυτοῦ ἀδελφεοῦ γενόμενος φονεὺς δὲ τοῦ καθήραντος, ἐπείτε ἡσυχίη τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐγένετο περὶ τὸ σῆμα, συγγινωσκόμενος ἀνθρώπων εἶναι τῶν αὐτὸς ᾔδεε βαρυσυμφορώτατος, ἐπικατασφάζει τῷ τύμβῳ ἑωυτόν.
You are not the cause of this evil to me, except insofar as you did it unwillingly, but rather some god, who long ago forewarned me of what was to come." So Croesus buried his son as was fitting; but Adrastus, the son of Gordias, son of Midas—the man who had become the murderer of his own brother and the murderer of the one who had purified him—when silence fell around the tomb and everyone had departed, recognizing himself to be the most heavily afflicted of all the men he knew, slaughtered himself upon the grave.

Notes

  1. 1.45.1οὐδέ οἱ εἴη βιώσιμον — An impersonal construction meaning "it was not livable for him" (i.e., life was no longer worth living for him). The neuter singular nominative of the adjective βιώσιμος is used with the copula εἴη (optative of indirect discourse after λέγων). οἱ is the Ionic third-person dative pronoun referring to Adrastus.
  2. 1.45.2εἶς — The second-person singular present indicative of the verb εἰμί (to be). Although homonymous with the numeral εἷς (one), here it functions as the verb "you are," serving as the copula for the subject σύ in the clause "you are not the cause of this evil to me" (οὐ σύ μοι ... αἴτιος).
  3. 1.45.3φονεὺς δὲ τοῦ καθήραντος — Literally "the murderer of the one who had purified him." Although Adrastus killed Croesus' son Atys rather than Croesus himself, this expression is used because by destroying Croesus' lineage and only heir, he effectively brought ruin upon his benefactor.
  4. 1.45.3συγγινωσκόμενος ἀνθρώπων εἶναι τῶν αὐτὸς ᾔδεε βαρυσυμφορώτατος — The infinitive εἶναι is used as the complement of the participle συγγινωσκόμενος (recognizing, admitting), and its predicate adjective βαρυσυμφορώτατος (most heavily afflicted) is in the nominative case to agree with the subject of the participle. The genitive phrase ἀνθρώπων τῶν αὐτὸς ᾔδεε ("of the men he himself knew") denotes the group within which the comparison is made. ᾔδεε is the Ionic form of the third-person singular pluperfect of οἶδα (to know).

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §1.45.1-1.45.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.45.1-1.45.3

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