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Herodotus · Histories §3.41.1-3.41.2

Polycrates Casts His Signet Ring into the Sea

Passage 445 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Polycrates follows Amasis's advice and decides to discard his most precious possession, an emerald signet ring crafted by Theodorus. He sails out to sea and casts the ring away, but returns home in deep grief.

§3.41.1ταῦτα ἐπιλεξάμενος ὁ Πολυκράτης καὶ νόῳ λαβὼν ὥς οἱ εὖ ὑπετίθετο Ἄμασις, ἐδίζητο ἐπʼ ᾧ ἂν μάλιστα τὴν ψυχὴν ἀσηθείη ἀπολομένῳ τῶν κειμηλίων, διζήμενος δὲ εὕρισκε τόδε.
Polycrates, having read this and having understood in his mind that Amasis was advising him well, began to search which of his treasures, if lost, would most grieve his soul; and as he searched, he found the following.
ἦν οἱ σφρηγὶς τὴν ἐφόρεε χρυσόδετος, σμαράγδου μὲν λίθου ἐοῦσα, ἔργον δὲ ἦν Θεοδώρου τοῦ Τηλεκλέος Σαμίου.
He had a signet ring which he used to wear, set in gold, being of emerald stone, and it was the work of Theodorus, the son of Telecles, the Samian.
§3.41.2ἐπεὶ ὦν ταύτην οἱ ἐδόκεε ἀποβαλεῖν, ἐποίεε τοιάδε· πεντηκόντερον πληρώσας ἀνδρῶν ἐσέβη ἐς αὐτήν, μετὰ δὲ ἀναγαγεῖν ἐκέλευε ἐς τὸ πέλαγος·
When, therefore, it seemed good to him to throw this away, he did as follows: having manned a fifty-oared ship with men, he went on board it, and then ordered them to put out into the deep sea.
ὡς δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς νήσου ἑκὰς ἐγένετο, περιελόμενος τὴν σφρηγῖδα πάντων ὁρώντων τῶν συμπλόων ῥίπτει ἐς τὸ πέλαγος.
And when he was far from the island, taking off the signet ring in the sight of all his fellow-voyagers, he threw it into the deep sea.
τοῦτο δὲ ποιήσας ἀπέπλεε, ἀπικόμενος δὲ ἐς τὰ οἰκία συμφορῇ ἐχρᾶτο.
Having done this, he sailed back, and coming to his house, he behaved as if a great misfortune had befallen him.

Notes

  1. 3.41.1ἐπʼ ᾧ ἂν μάλιστα τὴν ψυχὴν ἀσηθείη ἀπολομένῳ τῶν κειμηλίων — The relative pronoun `ᾧ` (governed by the preposition `ἐπί`) refers to a specific item among the partitive genitive `τῶν κειμηλίων`, with the aorist participle `ἀπολομένῳ` agreeing with it to express a condition ("if it were lost"). The combination of `ἂν ... ἀσηθείη` (optative + `ἄν`) denotes potentiality ("would grieve most").
  2. 3.41.2μετὰ δὲ — Here `μετά` is not a preposition but functions as an adverb with the particle `δέ`, meaning "afterwards" or "after that" (equivalent to `μετὰ ταῦτα` in Classical prose).
  3. 3.41.2συμφορῇ ἐχρᾶτο — Beyond the literal sense of "experiencing a misfortune," this is an idiomatic expression denoting outward behavior, meaning "he behaved as if a great misfortune had befallen him" or "he showed deep mourning."

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §3.41.1-3.41.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.41.1-3.41.2

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