Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §5.56.1-5.56.2

The Ominous Dream and Murder of Hipparchus

Passage 825 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The cryptic dream-vision of Hipparchus on the eve of the Panathenaea is described, and his subsequent assassination during the festival procession after consulting dream-interpreters is recounted.

§5.56.1ἡ μέν νυν ὄψις τοῦ Ἱππάρχου ἐνυπνίου ἦν ἥδε·
Now the dream-vision of Hipparchus was as follows.
ἐν τῇ προτέρῃ νυκτὶ τῶν Παναθηναίων ἐδόκεε ὁ Ἵππαρχος ἄνδρα οἱ ἐπιστάντα μέγαν καὶ εὐειδέα αἰνίσσεσθαι τάδε τὰ ἔπεα. " τλῆθι λέων ἄτλητα παθὼν τετληότι θυμῷ· οὐδεὶς ἀνθρώπων ἀδικῶν τίσιν οὐκ ἀποτίσει. "
On the night before the Panathenaea, it seemed to Hipparchus that a tall and handsome man stood over him and spoke these words in riddles: "Bear the unbearable, O lion, with a bearing heart; no man who does wrong shall escape paying the penalty.
§5.56.2ταῦτα δέ, ὡς ἡμέρη ἐγένετο τάχιστα, φανερὸς ἦν ὑπερτιθέμενος ὀνειροπόλοισι· μετὰ δὲ ἀπειπάμενος τὴν ὄψιν ἔπεμπε τὴν πομπήν, ἐν τῇ δὴ τελευτᾷ.
"As soon as day broke, he was openly communicating these things to interpreters of dreams; but afterwards, having dismissed the vision, he went on to conduct the procession, in which indeed he met his end.

Notes

  1. §5.56.1ἐδόκεε ὁ Ἵππαρχος ἄνδρα οἱ ἐπιστάντα ... αἰνίσσεσθαι — A personal construction with the nominative ὁ Ἵππαρχος as the subject of ἐδόκεε, literally meaning "Hipparchus seemed to [see]...". The accusative ἄνδρα is the subject accusative of the infinitive αἰνίσσεσθαι, with the aorist participle ἐπιστάντα modifying it. The pronoun οἱ is a dative of reference referring to Hipparchus.
  2. §5.56.2φανερὸς ἦν ὑπερτιθέμενος — The construction "φανερὸς εἰμί + participle" functions adverbially, meaning "he was openly/manifestly doing something." The participle ὑπερτιθέμενος (present middle of ὑπερτίθημι) means "consulting" or "communicating for advice."
  3. §5.56.2ἀπειπάμενος τὴν ὄψιν — The aorist middle participle of ἀπεῖπον, meaning "having refused" or "having dismissed." In this context, it refers to either performing apotropaic rites to avert the ill omen of the dream, or simply disregarding the dream-vision.
  4. §5.56.2ἐν τῇ δὴ τελευτᾷ — The feminine relative pronoun τῇ refers back to the antecedent τὴν πομπήν (the procession). The verb τελευτᾷ is the third-person singular present of {@link τελευτάω} (to die, end), used as a historical present to add dramatic vividness: "in which indeed he met his end."

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §5.56.1-5.56.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.56.1-5.56.2

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