Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §3.40.1-3.40.4

Amasis's Letter of Advice to Polycrates

Passage 444 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Amasis, concerned that Polycrates' excessive success will provoke the jealousy of the gods, writes a letter advising him to deliberately court misfortune by discarding his most precious possession to avoid ruin.

§3.40.1καί κως τὸν Ἄμασιν εὐτυχέων μεγάλως ὁ Πολυκράτης οὐκ ἐλάνθανε, ἀλλά οἱ τοῦτʼ ἦν ἐπιμελές.
And somehow the great success of Polycrates did not escape the notice of Amasis, but this was a matter of concern to him.
πολλῷ δὲ ἔτι πλεῦνός οἱ εὐτυχίης γινομένης γράψας ἐς βυβλίον τάδε ἐπέστειλε ἐς Σάμον.
And as still much more success accrued to him, he wrote these words in a letter and sent them to Samos.
Ἄμασις Πολυκράτεϊ ὧδε λέγει. §3.40.2ἡδὺ μὲν πυνθάνεσθαι ἄνδρα φίλον καὶ ξεῖνον εὖ πρήσσοντα· ἐμοὶ δὲ αἱ σαὶ μεγάλαι εὐτυχίαι οὐκ ἀρέσκουσι, τὸ θεῖον ἐπισταμένῳ ὡς ἔστι φθονερόν· καί κως βούλομαι καὶ αὐτὸς καὶ τῶν ἂν κήδωμαι τὸ μέν τι εὐτυχέειν τῶν πρηγμάτων τὸ δὲ προσπταίειν, καὶ οὕτω διαφέρειν τὸν αἰῶνα ἐναλλὰξ πρήσσων ἢ εὐτυχέειν τὰ πάντα.
"Amasis speaks thus to Polycrates: It is pleasant indeed to hear that a friend and guest-friend is faring well; but your great successes do not please me, knowing as I do how jealous the divine nature is; and somehow I wish, both for myself and for those I care for, to succeed in some of our affairs but to stumble in others, and thus to pass through life faring alternately rather than being successful in everything.
§3.40.3οὐδένα γάρ κω λόγῳ οἶδα ἀκούσας ὅστις ἐς τέλος οὐ κακῶς ἐτελεύτησε πρόρριζος, εὐτυχέων τὰ πάντα.
For I have never yet heard by report of anyone who, being successful in everything, did not end miserably in the end, destroyed root and branch.
σύ νυν ἐμοὶ πειθόμενος ποίησον πρὸς τὰς εὐτυχίας τοιάδε· §3.40.4φροντίσας τὸ ἂν εὕρῃς ἐόν τοι πλείστου ἄξιον καὶ ἐπʼ ᾧ σὺ ἀπολομένῳ μάλιστα τὴν ψυχὴν ἀλγήσεις, τοῦτο ἀπόβαλε οὕτω ὅκως μηκέτι ἥξει ἐς ἀνθρώπους·
Do you then now, obeying me, do as follows against your successes: having considered what you find to be of most value to you and for the loss of which you will most grieve in your soul, throw this away in such a manner that it will never again come among men.
ἤν τε μὴ ἐναλλὰξ ἤδη τὠπὸ τούτου αἱ εὐτυχίαι τοι τῇσι πάθῃσι προσπίπτωσι, τρόπῳ τῷ ἐξ ἐμεῦ ὑποκειμένῳ ἀκέο.
And if, from this time forward, your successes do not alternate with sufferings, cure it in the manner suggested by me."

Notes

  1. 3.40.1οὐκ ἐλάνθανε — The construction of λανθάνω with a participle (here, εὐτυχέων). It means "to do something unnoticed"; with the negative οὐκ, it signifies "did not fail to be noticed as being successful," i.e., "was well known to be successful."
  2. 3.40.2ἐπισταμένῳ — A dative participle agreeing with and modifying the preceding dative pronoun ἐμοί ("to me"). In its object clause ὡς ἔστι φθονερόν, the natural subject τὸ θεῖον is anticipated (prolepsis) as the accusative object of the participle.
  3. 3.40.2τῶν ἂν κήδωμαι — A relative clause with the verb κήδομαι (to care for), which governs the genitive. It represents a contraction where the antecedent is omitted from τῶν ὧν ἂν κήδωμαι ("those whom I care for"). The particle ἄν with the subjunctive expresses a general or future condition.
  4. 3.40.4ἀπολομένῳ — An aorist middle participle in the dative, agreeing with the dative relative pronoun ᾧ ("for which"). It carries a temporal or conditional force: "when it is lost" or "if it should be lost."

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §3.40.1-3.40.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.40.1-3.40.4

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