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Herodotus · Histories §1.64.1-1.64.3

Consolidation of Pisistratus' Rule and Delos Purified

Passage 64 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Pisistratus consolidated his third tyranny through mercenaries, revenue, and hostages, and carried out measures such as subjugating Naxos and purifying Delos. Consequently, some Athenians fell in battle while others went into exile with the Alcmaeonids.

§1.64.1πειθομένων δὲ τῶν Ἀθηναίων, οὕτω δὴ Πεισίστρατος τὸ τρίτον σχὼν Ἀθήνας ἐρρίζωσε τὴν τυραννίδα ἐπικούροισί τε πολλοῖσι καὶ χρημάτων συνόδοισι, τῶν μὲν αὐτόθεν τῶν δὲ ἀπὸ Στρυμόνος ποταμοῦ συνιόντων, ὁμήρους τε τῶν παραμεινάντων Ἀθηναίων καὶ μὴ αὐτίκα φυγόντων παῖδας λαβὼν καὶ καταστήσας ἐς Νάξον §1.64.2(καὶ γὰρ ταύτην ὁ Πεισίστρατος κατεστρέψατο πολέμῳ καὶ ἐπέτρεψε Λυγδάμι) πρὸς τε ἔτι τούτοισι τὴν νῆσον Δῆλον καθήρας ἐκ τῶν λογίων καθήρας δὲ ὧδε· ἐπʼ ὅσον ἔποψις τοῦ ἱροῦ εἶχε, ἐκ τούτου τοῦ χώρου παντὸς ἐξορύξας τοὺς νεκροὺς μετεφόρεε ἐς ἄλλον χῶρον τῆς Δήλου.
And when the Athenians obeyed, in this way Pisistratus, having secured Athens for the third time, rooted his tyranny by means of many mercenaries and revenues of money, coming in partly from the land itself and partly from the river Strymon, and by taking as hostages the children of those Athenians who had remained and had not fled immediately, and placing them in Naxos (for Pisistratus had also subjugated this island by war and entrusted it to Lygdamis); and furthermore, besides these things, he purified the island of Delos in accordance with the oracles, and he purified it in this manner: from all that area as far as the temple was in sight, he dug up the dead bodies and carried them to another part of Delos.
§1.64.3καὶ Πεισίστρατος μὲν ἐτυράννευε Ἀθηνέων, Ἀθηναίων δὲ οἳ μὲν ἐν τῇ μάχη ἐπεπτώκεσαν, οἳ δὲ αὐτῶν μετʼ Ἀλκμεωνιδέων ἔφευγον ἐκ τῆς οἰκηίης.
Thus Pisistratus was tyrant over the Athenians, while of the Athenians, some had fallen in the battle, and others were fleeing from their homeland together with the Alcmaeonids.

Notes

  1. 1.64.1τῶν μὲν αὐτόθεν τῶν δὲ ἀπὸ Στρυμόνος ποταμοῦ συνιόντων — A participial phrase modifying the preceding neuter noun χρημάτων (revenues/money). The words τῶν μὲν ... τῶν δὲ function as partitive genitives, meaning 'of which (the money), some coming from the land itself, and some from the river Strymon.'
  2. 1.64.2ἐπʼ ὅσον ἔποψις τοῦ ἱροῦ εἶχε — A relative clause introduced by ὅσον. The verb ἔχω (εἶχε) is used intransitively here (meaning 'to extend' or 'to reach'), and combined with the subject ἔποψις, it means 'as far as the view of the temple extended.'
  3. 1.64.3ἐπεπτώκεσαν — The pluperfect third-person plural of πίπτω (to fall, to die in battle). It indicates that the state of having fallen in battle had already been realized prior to the time of Pisistratus's rule (denoted by the imperfect ἐτύραννευε).

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §1.64.1-1.64.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.64.1-1.64.3

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