Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §5.70.1-5.70.2

Isagoras Enlists Cleomenes to Demand Cleisthenes' Exile

Passage 839 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Isagoras, having been defeated, sought assistance from his guest-friend, the Spartan king Cleomenes, who then sent a herald to Athens demanding the banishment of Cleisthenes and his supporters on the pretext of an inherited curse.

§5.70.1ἐν τῷ μέρεϊ δὲ ἑσσούμενος ὁ Ἰσαγόρης ἀντιτεχνᾶται τάδε· ἐπικαλέεται Κλεομένεα τὸν Λακεδαιμόνιον γενόμενον ἑωυτῷ ξεῖνον ἀπὸ τῆς Πεισιστρατιδέων πολιορκίης·
Now Isagoras, being defeated in his turn, devised a counter-scheme: he called in Cleomenes the Lacedaemonian, who had become a guest-friend to him since the siege of the Pisistratidae.
τὸν δὲ Κλεομένεα εἶχε αἰτίη φοιτᾶν παρὰ τοῦ Ἰσαγόρεω τὴν γυναῖκα.
Indeed, Cleomenes was under suspicion of visiting the wife of Isagoras.
§5.70.2τὰ μὲν δὴ πρῶτα πέμπων ὁ Κλεομένης ἐς τὰς Ἀθήνας κήρυκα ἐξέβαλλε Κλεισθένεα καὶ μετʼ αὐτοῦ ἄλλους πολλοὺς Ἀθηναίων, τοὺς ἐναγέας ἐπιλέγων· ταῦτα δὲ πέμπων ἔλεγε ἐκ διδαχῆς τοῦ Ἰσαγόρεω. οἱ μὲν γὰρ Ἀλκμεωνίδαι καὶ οἱ συστασιῶται αὐτῶν εἶχον αἰτίην τοῦ φόνου τούτου, αὐτὸς δὲ οὐ μετεῖχε οὐδʼ οἱ φίλοι αὐτοῦ.
At first, Cleomenes, sending a herald to Athens, demanded the banishment of Cleisthenes and with him many other Athenians, calling them "the accursed." He made this demand by message at the instigation of Isagoras; for the Alcmaeonidae and their partisans were held responsible for that murder, but Isagoras himself had no part in it, nor did his friends.

Notes

  1. 5.70.1τὸν δὲ Κλεομένεα εἶχε αἰτίη φοιτᾶν — The phrase εἶχε αἰτίη (literally, "accusation held him") means "he was suspected of" or "there was a charge against him." The infinitive φοιτᾶν ("to visit regularly") serves as an explanatory or appositional infinitive clarifying the content of αἰτίη.
  2. 5.70.2ἐξέβαλλε — The imperfect tense ἐξέβαλλε, in the context of sending a messenger (πέμπων ... κήρυκα), expresses an attempt or a demand ("attempted to banish" or "demanded the banishment of") rather than an accomplished action, representing a conative imperfect.
  3. 5.70.2αὐτὸς δὲ οὐ μετεῖχε — The pronoun αὐτός refers to Isagoras, the political rival of Cleisthenes. It emphasizes that Isagoras himself and his followers, unlike the Alcmaeonidae, were not involved in the ancient murder (the Cylonian affair) and thus free from the curse.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §5.70.1-5.70.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.70.1-5.70.2

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.