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Herodotus · Histories §5.42.1-5.42.3

Dorieus's Failed Colonization of Libya

Passage 811 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

This chunk contrasts the characters of Cleomenes and Dorieus, and describes how Dorieus, outraged at losing the kingship, led a colony to Libya without consulting the oracle, only to be driven out and return to the Peloponnese.

§5.42.1ὁ μὲν δὴ Κλεομένης, ὡς λέγεται, ἦν τε οὐ φρενήρης ἀκρομανής τε, ὁ δὲ Δωριεὺς ἦν τῶν ἡλίκων πάντων πρῶτος, εὖ τε ἐπίστατο κατʼ ἀνδραγαθίην αὐτὸς σχήσων τὴν βασιληίην.
Cleomenes, as it is said, was not of sound mind and was somewhat mad, whereas Dorieus was the first among all his peers and was fully confident that by his own manly virtue he himself would hold the kingship.
§5.42.2ὥστε ὦν οὕτω φρονέων, ἐπειδὴ ὅ τε Ἀναξανδρίδης ἀπέθανε καὶ οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι χρεώμενοι τῷ νόμῳ ἐστήσαντο βασιλέα τὸν πρεσβύτατον Κλεομένεα, ὁ Δωριεὺς δεινόν τε ποιεύμενος καὶ οὐκ ἀξιῶν ὑπὸ Κλεομένεος βασιλεύεσθαι, αἰτήσας λεὼν Σπαρτιήτας ἦγε ἐς ἀποικίην, οὔτε τῷ ἐν Δελφοῖσι χρηστηρίῳ χρησάμενος ἐς ἥντινα γῆν κτίσων ἴῃ, οὔτε ποιήσας οὐδὲν τῶν νομιζομένων·
And so, because he thought in this way, when Anaxandrides died and the Lacedaemonians, following their law, established the eldest, Cleomenes, as king, Dorieus, taking it as an outrage and not deigning to be ruled by Cleomenes, asked the Spartans for a body of men and led them to found a colony, without having either consulted the oracle at Delphi as to what land he should go to settle, or performed any of the customary rites.
οἷα δὲ βαρέως φέρων, ἀπίει ἐς τὴν Λιβύην τὰ πλοῖα· κατηγέοντο δέ οἱ ἄνδρες Θηραῖοι.
But in his anger, he set sail with his ships for Libya; and certain men of Thera acted as his guides.
§5.42.3ἀπικόμενος δὲ ἐς Λιβύην οἴκισε χῶρον κάλλιστον τῶν Λιβύων παρὰ Κίνυπα ποταμόν.
When he arrived in Libya, he settled in the finest region of Libya, by the Cinyps river.
ἐξελασθεὶς δὲ ἐνθεῦτεν τρίτῳ ἔτεϊ ὑπὸ Μακέων τε Λιβύων καὶ Καρχηδονίων ἀπίκετο ἐς Πελοπόννησον.
But being driven out from there in the third year by the Macae, who are Libyans, and the Carthaginians, he returned to the Peloponnese.

Notes

  1. 5.42.1αὐτὸς σχήσων — The future participle σχήσων is used as a supplementary participle with the verb ἐπίστατο. Since its subject is the same as that of the main clause, the intensive pronoun αὐτός is in the nominative case instead of the accusative.
  2. 5.42.2ἐς ἥντινα γῆν κτίσων ἴῃ — An indirect question clause where ἴῃ is the present subjunctive third-person singular of εἶμι (to go). It represents the deliberative subjunctive of the direct question retained in the indirect form. The future participle κτίσων expresses purpose.
  3. 5.42.2οἷα δὲ βαρέως φέρων — A causal construction where the particle οἷα, combined with the participle φέρων, indicates an objective cause or ground.
  4. 5.42.3τρίτῳ ἔτεϊ — Dative of time when. Following the ancient Greek practice of inclusive reckoning, where the first year of arrival is counted as year one, 'in the third year' corresponds to 'after two years' in modern reckoning.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §5.42.1-5.42.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.42.1-5.42.3

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