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Herodotus · Histories §3.140.1-3.140.5

Syloson's Audience with Darius and Request for Samos

Passage 544 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Syloson learns that Darius has become the Persian king and goes to the palace in Susa to present himself as a benefactor. Darius gratefully offers him vast amounts of gold and silver in return for the cloak, but Syloson requests instead the bloodless recovery of Samos.

§3.140.1ὁ μὲν δὴ Συλοσῶν ἠπίστατο τοῦτό οἱ ἀπολωλέναι διʼ εὐηθείην.
Syloson indeed understood that this was lost to him through his simple-mindedness.
ὡς δὲ τοῦ χρόνου προβαίνοντος Καμβύσης τε ἀπέθανε καὶ τῷ Μάγῳ ἐπανέστησαν οἱ ἑπτὰ καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἑπτὰ Δαρεῖος τὴν βασιληίην ἔσχε, πυνθάνεται ὁ Συλοσῶν ὡς ἡ βασιληίη περιεληλύθοι ἐς τοῦτον τὸν ἄνδρα τῷ κοτὲ αὐτὸς ἔδωκε ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ δεηθέντι τὸ εἷμα.
But as time went on, Cambyses died, the Seven rebelled against the Magus, and from among the Seven, Darius obtained the kingship; then Syloson learned that the kingship had come round to this man to whom he himself had once given the garment in Egypt when he requested it.
ἀναβὰς δὲ ἐς τὰ Σοῦσα ἵζετο ἐς τὰ πρόθυρα τῶν βασιλέος οἰκίων καὶ ἔφη Δαρείου εὐεργέτης εἶναι.
And having gone up to Susa, he sat at the gateway of the king's palace and said that he was a benefactor of Darius.
§3.140.2ἀγγέλλει ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ πυλουρὸς τῷ βασιλέι· ὁ δὲ θωμάσας λέγει πρὸς αὐτόν καὶ τίς ἐστὶ Ἑλλήνων εὐεργέτης τῷ ἐγὼ προαιδεῦμαι, νεωστὶ μὲν τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔχων;
The gatekeeper, having heard this, reported it to the king; and he, wondering, said to him: "And who of the Greeks is a benefactor to whom I am under obligation, having only recently obtained the rule?
ἀναβέβηκε δʼ ἤ τις ἢ οὐδείς κω παρʼ ἡμέας αὐτῶν, ἔχω δὲ χρέος εἰπεῖν οὐδὲν ἀνδρὸς Ἕλληνος.
Indeed, either some one or as yet no one of them has come up to us, and I have, I may say, no debt to any Greek man.
ὅμως δὲ αὐτὸν παράγετε ἔσω, ἵνα εἰδέω τί θέλων λέγει ταῦτα. §3.140.3παρῆγε ὁ πυλουρὸς τὸν Συλοσῶντα, στάντα δὲ ἐς μέσον εἰρώτων οἱ ἑρμηνέες τίς τε εἴη καὶ τί ποιήσας εὐεργέτης φησὶ εἶναι βασιλέος.
Nevertheless, bring him inside, so that I may know what he wants by saying this." The gatekeeper brought Syloson in, and when he stood in the midst, the interpreters asked him who he was and what he had done to say that he was a benefactor of the king.
εἶπε ὦν ὁ Συλοσῶν πάντα τὰ περὶ τὴν χλανίδα γενόμενα, καὶ ὡς αὐτὸς εἴη κεῖνος ὁ δούς.
So Syloson told them all that had happened concerning the cloak, and how he himself was that man who had given it.
§3.140.4ἀμείβεται πρὸς ταῦτα Δαρεῖος ὦ γενναιότατε ἀνδρῶν, σὺ κεῖνος εἶς ὃς ἐμοὶ οὐδεμίαν ἔχοντί κω δύναμιν ἔδωκας εἰ καὶ σμικρά, ἀλλʼ ὦν ἴση γε ἡ χάρις ὁμοίως ὡς εἰ νῦν κοθέν τι μέγα λάβοιμι·
Darius answered to this: "O most noble of men, you are that man who gave to me, when I as yet had no power, even if it was small; yet the gratitude is just as great as if I were now to receive some great thing from somewhere.
ἀντʼ ὧν τοι χρυσὸν καὶ ἄργυρον ἄπλετον δίδωμι, ὡς μή κοτέ τοι μεταμελήσῃ Δαρεῖον τὸν Ὑστάσπεος εὖ ποιήσαντι. λέγει πρὸς ταῦτα ὁ Συλοσῶν §3.140.5ἐμοὶ μήτε χρυσὸν ὦ βασιλεῦ μήτε ἄργυρον δίδου, ἀλλʼ ἀνασωσάμενός μοι δὸς τὴν πατρίδα Σάμον, τὴν νῦν ἀδελφεοῦ τοῦ ἐμοῦ Πολυκράτεος ἀποθανόντος ὑπὸ Ὀροίτεω ἔχει δοῦλος ἡμέτερος· ταύτην μοι δὸς ἄνευ τε φόνου καὶ ἐξανδραποδίσιος.
In return for which I give you gold and silver beyond measure, so that you may never regret having done good to Darius, son of Hystaspes." Syloson said to this: "Do not give me, O king, either gold or silver, but recover and give me my homeland Samos, which, now that my brother Polycrates has been killed by Oroetes, our slave holds; give this to me without slaughter and enslavement."

Notes

  1. §3.140.1ὡς ἡ βασιληίη περιεληλύθοι — Because the main verb `πυνθάνεται` (historical present) is treated as a past (secondary) tense, the perfect optative `περιεληλύθοι` is used in the indirect discourse `ὡς` clause instead of the perfect indicative `περιελήλυθε` (oblique optative).
  2. §3.140.2ἔχω δὲ χρέος εἰπεῖν οὐδὲν — The infinitive `εἰπεῖν` is used parenthetically or restrictively, meaning "so to speak" or "as far as I can say." The object of `ἔχω` (I have) is `χρέος οὐδὲν` (no debt).
  3. §3.140.4ὡς μή κοτέ τοι μεταμελήσῃ Δαρεῖον τὸν Ὑστάσπεος εὖ ποιήσαντι — A construction of the impersonal verb `μεταμέλει` (it repents). The person who regrets is expressed by the dative (`τοι` and the agreeing participle `εὖ ποιήσαντι`, "having done good"), while the recipient of the benefit is in the accusative (`Δαρεῖον`) as the object of the participle. The clause means "so that you may never regret having done good to Darius, son of Hystaspes."

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §3.140.1-3.140.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.140.1-3.140.5

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