Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §1.9.1-1.9.3

Candaules' Plan for Gyges to View the Queen Unseen

Passage 9 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

In response to Gyges' resistance, Candaules proposes a specific plan for Gyges to view his wife's naked body without being detected.

§1.9.1ὃ μὲν δὴ λέγων τοιαῦτα ἀπεμάχετο, ἀρρωδέων μὴ τί οἱ ἐξ αὐτῶν γένηται κακόν, ὃ δʼ ἀμείβετο τοῖσιδε. θάρσεε, Γύγη, καὶ μὴ φοβεῦ μήτε ἐμέ, ὡς σέο πειρώμενος λέγω λόγον τόνδε, μήτε γυναῖκα τὴν ἐμήν, μὴ τὶ τοι ἐξ αὐτῆς γένηται βλάβος.
He indeed, speaking in this manner, tried to fight it off, fearing lest some evil should come upon him from these things; but the other answered with these words: "Take courage, Gyges, and fear neither me, as though I spoke this word to test you, nor my wife, lest any harm should come to you from her.
ἀρχήν γὰρ ἐγὼ μηχανήσομαι οὕτω ὥστε μηδέ μαθεῖν μιν ὀφθεῖσαν ὑπὸ σεῦ.
For to begin with, I shall so contrive that she shall not even know that she has been seen by you.
§1.9.2ἐγὼ γάρ σε ἐς τὸ οἴκημα ἐν τῷ κοιμώμεθα ὄπισθε τῆς ἀνοιγομένης θύρης στήσω.
For I shall station you in the room where we sleep, behind the door when it is opened.
μετὰ δʼ ἐμὲ ἐσελθόντα παρέσται καὶ ἡ γυνὴ ἡ ἐμὴ ἐς κοῖτον.
After I have entered, my wife also will come to bed.
κεῖται δὲ ἀγχοῦ τῆς ἐσόδου θρόνος· ἐπὶ τοῦτον τῶν ἱματίων κατὰ ἕν ἕκαστον ἐκδύνουσα θήσει, καὶ κατʼ ἡσυχίην πολλὴν παρέξει τοι θεήσασθαι.
A chair stands near the entrance; upon this she will lay her garments one by one as she takes them off, and she will afford you ample opportunity to look at her.
§1.9.3ἐπεὰν δέ ἀπὸ τοῦ θρόνου στείχῃ ἐπὶ τὴν εὐνήν κατὰ νώτου τε αὐτῆς γένῃ, σοὶ μελέτω τὸ ἐνθεῦτεν ὅκως μὴ σε ὄψεται ἰόντα διὰ θυρέων.
And when she goes from the chair to the bed, and you are behind her back, let it be your care from that moment that she does not see you as you go out through the doorway."

Notes

  1. §1.9.1ἀρχήν — Accusative of adverbial relation. Although usually used with negatives to mean "at all" or "not at all," here it works in anticipation of the negative clause with ὥστε μηδέ to mean "from the very beginning" or "altogether."
  2. §1.9.1μαθεῖν μιν ὀφθεῖσαν — The verb μανθάνω (here the infinitive μαθεῖν) takes a participle to mean "to perceive or learn that...". Here, μιν (Ionic for αὐτήν, accusative subject) is paired with the passive participle ὀφθεῖσαν as its complement.
  3. §1.9.2μετὰ δʼ ἐμὲ ἐσελθόντα — Preposition μετά followed by an accusative pronoun and an agreeing participle. "After I have entered." Similar to the Latin "ab urbe condita" construction, the combination of the pronoun and the participle forms the object of the preposition.
  4. §1.9.3ὅκως μὴ σε ὄψεται — ὅκως is the Ionic form of ὅπως. Dependent on the expression of care or effort (here, σοὶ μελέτω, "let it be your care"), ὅπως/ὅκως with the future indicative (ὄψεται) expresses the object of precaution: "to take care that she does not see you."

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §1.9.1-1.9.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.9.1-1.9.3

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