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Herodotus · Histories §5.45.1-5.45.2

Evidence for and against Dorieus's Involvement

Passage 814 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Both the Sybarites and the Crotoniates present their respective evidence regarding Dorieus' involvement in the war, and the author leaves it to the readers to decide which side to believe.

§5.45.1ταῦτα δὲ οὗτοι λέγουσι.
These are the things they say.
μαρτύρια δὲ τούτων ἑκάτεροι ἀποδεικνύουσι τάδε, Συβαρῖται μὲν τέμενός τε καὶ νηὸν ἐόντα παρὰ τὸν ξηρὸν Κρᾶθιν, τὸν ἱδρύσασθαι συνελόντα τὴν πόλιν Δωριέα λέγουσι Ἀθηναίῃ ἐπωνύμῳ Κραθίῃ· τοῦτο δὲ αὐτοῦ Δωριέος τὸν θάνατον μαρτύριον μέγιστον ποιεῦνται, ὅτι παρὰ τὰ μεμαντευμένα ποιέων διεφθάρη·
And both sides point to the following as evidence of these things: the Sybarites point to a sacred precinct and a temple situated by the dry Crathis, which they say Dorieus, who helped to capture the city, dedicated to Athena surnamed Crathia; and they make the death of Dorieus himself the greatest proof of this, because he was destroyed by acting contrary to the oracle.
εἰ γὰρ δὴ μὴ παρέπρηξε μηδέν, ἐπʼ ὁ δὲ ἐστάλη ἐποίεε, εἷλε ἂν τὴν Ἐρυκίνην χώρην καὶ ἑλὼν κατέσχε, οὐδʼ ἂν αὐτός τε καὶ ἡ στρατιὴ διεφθάρη.
For if he had committed no transgression and had done that for which he was sent, he would have captured the Erycine territory and having captured it would have held it, and neither he himself nor his army would have been destroyed.
§5.45.2οἱ δʼ αὖ Κροτωνιῆται ἀποδεικνῦσι Καλλίῃ μὲν τῷ Ἠλείῳ ἐξαίρετα ἐν γῇ τῇ Κροτωνιήτιδι πολλὰ δοθέντα, τὰ καὶ ἐς ἐμὲ ἔτι ἐνέμοντο οἱ Καλλίεω ἀπόγονοι, Δωριέι δὲ καὶ τοῖσι Δωριέος ἀπογόνοισι οὐδέν.
The Crotoniates, on the other hand, point out that many choice lands in the Crotoniate territory were given to Callias the Elean, which the descendants of Callias still possessed down to my own day, but nothing was given to Dorieus or to the descendants of Dorieus.
καίτοι εἰ συνεπελάβετό γε τοῦ Συβαριτικοῦ πολέμου Δωριεύς, δοθῆναι ἄν οἱ πολλαπλήσια ἢ Καλλίῃ.
And yet, if Dorieus had indeed helped them in the Sybarite war, many times more would have been given to him than to Callias.
ταῦτα μέν νυν ἑκάτεροι αὐτῶν μαρτύρια ἀποφαίνονται, καὶ πάρεστι, ὁκοτέροισί τις πείθεται αὐτῶν, τούτοισι προσχωρέειν.
These, then, are the proofs that both sides produce, and it is open to anyone to side with whichever of them they find persuasive.

Notes

  1. 5.45.1τὸν — A demonstrative pronoun used as a relative pronoun (accusative masculine singular) in the Ionic dialect. Its antecedent is the preceding νηόν (temple, masculine), serving as the direct object of the infinitive ἱδρύσασθαι in the accusative-and-infinitive construction introduced by λέγουσι.
  2. 5.45.1εἰ γὰρ δὴ μὴ παρέπρηξε μηδέν — The protasis of a past contrary-to-fact conditional sentence (εἰ + indicative past παρέπρηξε and ἐποίεε). The apodosis is formed by εἷλε ἂν and οὐδʼ ἂν ... διεφθάρη, employing the typical past contrary-to-fact construction of ἄν + indicative past.
  3. 5.45.2δοθῆναι ἄν — An infinitive with ἄν (δοθῆναι ἄν) representing the apodosis of a contrary-to-fact conditional in indirect discourse (or under the influence of ἀποδεικνῦσι). In direct discourse, this would be expressed as ἐδόθη ἄν (would have been given).

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §5.45.1-5.45.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.45.1-5.45.2

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