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Herodotus · Histories §5.66.1-5.66.2

Rivalry of Cleisthenes and Creation of the Ten Tribes

Passage 835 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

In Athens, which grew stronger after being freed from tyrants, Cleisthenes and Isagoras vied for power. To overcome his disadvantage, Cleisthenes allied with the common people and reorganized the traditional four tribes into ten new tribes named after local heroes.

§5.66.1Ἀθῆναι, ἐοῦσαι καὶ πρὶν μεγάλαι, τότε ἀπαλλαχθεῖσαι τυράννων ἐγίνοντο μέζονες·
Athens, which had been great even before, then having been freed from tyrants, became still greater.
ἐν δὲ αὐτῇσι δύο ἄνδρες ἐδυνάστευον, Κλεισθένης τε ἀνὴρ Ἀλκμεωνίδης, ὅς περ δὴ λόγον ἔχει τὴν Πυθίην ἀναπεῖσαι, καὶ Ἰσαγόρης Τισάνδρου οἰκίης μὲν ἐὼν δοκίμου, ἀτὰρ τὰ ἀνέκαθεν οὐκ ἔχω φράσαι· θύουσι δὲ οἱ συγγενέες αὐτοῦ Διὶ Καρίῳ.
In Athens, two men were vying for power: Cleisthenes, a man of the Alcmaeonid family, the very one who is rumored to have bribed the Pythia, and Isagoras the son of Tisander, who was of an illustrious house, though I cannot declare his ancestry; but his kinsmen sacrifice to Carian Zeus.
§5.66.2οὗτοι οἱ ἄνδρες ἐστασίασαν περὶ δυνάμιος, ἑσσούμενος δὲ ὁ Κλεισθένης τὸν δῆμον προσεταιρίζεται.
These men contended for power, and Cleisthenes, being worsted, won the common people to his side.
μετὰ δὲ τετραφύλους ἐόντας Ἀθηναίους δεκαφύλους ἐποίησε, τῶν Ἴωνος παίδων Γελέοντος καὶ Αἰγικόρεος καὶ Ἀργάδεω καὶ Ὅπλητος ἀπαλλάξας τὰς ἐπωνυμίας, ἐξευρὼν δὲ ἑτέρων ἡρώων ἐπωνυμίας ἐπιχωρίων, πάρεξ Αἴαντος· τοῦτον δὲ ἅτε ἀστυγείτονα καὶ σύμμαχον, ξεῖνον ἐόντα προσέθετο.
Thereafter, he made the Athenians, who had been divided into four tribes, into ten tribes, doing away with the names derived from the sons of Ion—Geleon, Aegicores, Argades, and Hoples—and devising names from other indigenous heroes, except for Ajax; him, though he was a foreigner, he added as being a neighbor and an ally.

Notes

  1. §5.66.1λόγον ἔχει τὴν Πυθίην ἀναπεῖσαι — The expression 'λόγον ἔχει' ('he is rumored' or 'is said to') takes an accusative and infinitive construction (τὴν Πυθίην ἀναπεῖσαι). The verb 'ἀναπεῖσαι' (aorist active infinitive of ἀναπείθω), beyond its basic meaning of 'to persuade', carries a contextual connotation of 'to win over by improper means' or 'to bribe'.
  2. §5.66.2ἑσσούμενος — This is the present middle-passive participle of the verb ἑσσόομαι (the Ionic form of the Attic ἡσσάομαι, 'to be defeated' or 'be inferior'). Here, it represents an ongoing state of 'being worsted' or 'getting the worse of it' in the political rivalry, serving as the causal or circumstantial background to the main verb.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §5.66.1-5.66.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.66.1-5.66.2

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