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Herodotus · Histories §5.62.1-5.62.3

The Alcmaeonidae and the Rebuilding of Delphi

Passage 831 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Resuming the narrative of Athens' liberation from tyrants, the Alcmaeonidae, after a failed attempt to return by force, contracted to rebuild the temple of Delphi and constructed it more sumptuously than agreed.

§5.62.1ἡ μὲν δὴ ὄψις τοῦ Ἱππάρχου ἐνυπνίου καὶ οἱ Γεφυραῖοι ὅθεν ἐγεγόνεσαν, τῶν ἦσαν οἱ Ἱππάρχου φονέες, ἀπήγηταί μοι· δεῖ δὲ πρὸς τούτοισι ἔτι ἀναλαβεῖν τὸν κατʼ ἀρχὰς ἤια λέξων λόγον, ὡς τυράννων ἐλευθερώθησαν Ἀθηναῖοι.
The vision of the dream of Hipparchus and the origin of the Gephyraeans from whom the slayers of Hipparchus came have been related by me; but in addition to these, I must now resume the account which I set out to tell at the beginning, of how the Athenians were liberated from tyrants.
§5.62.2Ἱππίεω τυραννεύοντος καὶ ἐμπικραινομένου Ἀθηναίοισι διὰ τὸν Ἱππάρχου θάνατον, Ἀλκμεωνίδαι γένος ἐόντες Ἀθηναῖοι καὶ φεύγοντες Πεισιστρατίδας, ἐπείτε σφι ἅμα τοῖσι ἄλλοισι Ἀθηναίων φυγάσι πειρωμένοισι κατὰ τὸ ἰσχυρὸν οὐ προεχώρεε κάτοδος, ἀλλὰ προσέπταιον μεγάλως πειρώμενοι κατιέναι τε καὶ ἐλευθεροῦν τὰς Ἀθήνας, Λειψύδριον τὸ ὑπὲρ Παιονίης τειχίσαντες, ἐνθαῦτα οἱ Ἀλκμεωνίδαι πᾶν ἐπὶ τοῖσι Πεισιστρατίδῃσι μηχανώμενοι παρʼ Ἀμφικτυόνων τὸν νηὸν μισθοῦνται τὸν ἐν Δελφοῖσι, τὸν νῦν ἐόντα τότε δὲ οὔκω, τοῦτον ἐξοικοδομῆσαι.
When Hippias was tyrant and was growing more bitter against the Athenians because of the death of Hipparchus, the Alcmaeonidae, who were Athenians by birth and were in exile from the Peisistratidae, found that their return did not succeed when they tried it by force along with the other Athenian exiles, but rather they met with a great defeat when trying to return and liberate Athens, after they had fortified Leipsydrion which is above Paeonia. Thereupon, the Alcmaeonidae, devising every means against the Peisistratidae, contracted with the Amphictyons to build the temple in Delphi, the one which exists now but did not yet exist then.
§5.62.3οἷα δὲ χρημάτων εὖ ἥκοντες καὶ ἐόντες ἄνδρες δόκιμοι ἀνέκαθεν ἔτι, τόν τε νηὸν ἐξεργάσαντο τοῦ παραδείγματος κάλλιον τά τε ἄλλα καὶ συγκειμένου σφι πωρίνου λίθου ποιέειν τὸν νηόν, Παρίου τὰ ἔμπροσθε αὐτοῦ ἐξεποίησαν.
And being well provided with wealth and being men of high repute from of old, they completed the temple more beautifully than the model; and in particular, although it was agreed for them to build the temple of porous stone, they finished its front parts with Parian marble.

Notes

  1. §5.62.1ἤια λέξων — ἤια is the Ionic imperfect first-person singular of εἶμι (to go), corresponding to Attic ᾖα. Accompanied by the future participle λέξων (to say/tell), it literally means 'I was going to tell,' indicating a return to the narrative originally intended.
  2. §5.62.2Ἀλκμεωνίδαι ... οἱ Ἀλκμεωνίδαι — The nominative Ἀλκμεωνίδαι at the beginning of the sentence is left hanging due to the intervention of the ἐπείτε clause and the dative modifiers (πειρωμένοισι, etc.). The subject is re-introduced as οἱ Ἀλκμεωνίδαι before the main verb μισθοῦνται. This is an instance of anacoluthon, reflecting the natural flow of the author's thought.
  3. §5.62.3χρημάτων εὖ ἥκοντες — εὖ ἥκω is an idiomatic expression meaning 'to be well off in respect of,' which takes a genitive of reference. Here, it governs the genitive χρημάτων (wealth, money), meaning 'being well off for money.'
  4. §5.62.3συγκειμένου σφι ... ποιέειν — συγκειμένου is an impersonal genitive absolute expressing a concessive sense ('although it had been agreed'). The content of the agreement is expressed by the infinitive phrase πωρίνου λίθου ποιέειν τὸν νηόν (to build the temple of porous stone).

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §5.62.1-5.62.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.62.1-5.62.3

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