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Herodotus · Histories §5.89.1-5.89.3

Delphic Oracle on Aegina and the Athenian Reaction

Passage 858 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The author explains why the Argive and Aeginetan women wore larger brooches, references the origin of Athenian hostility, and describes the Delphic oracle given to Athens advising a thirty-year delay, which the Athenians, unable to bear the delay, ignored except for founding Aeacus's shrine.

§5.89.1Ἀργείων μέν νυν καὶ Αἰγινητέων αἱ γυναῖκες ἐκ τόσου κατʼ ἔριν τὴν Ἀθηναίων περόνας ἔτι καὶ ἐς ἐμὲ ἐφόρεον μέζονας ἢ πρὸ τοῦ, τῆς δὲ ἔχθρης τῆς πρὸς Αἰγινήτας ἐξ Ἀθηναίων γενομένης ἀρχὴ κατὰ τὰ εἴρηται ἐγένετο.
Thus, the women of the Argives and the Aeginetans, from that time onward out of rivalry with the Athenians, wore even down to my own day brooches larger than before; and the beginning of the enmity on the part of the Athenians toward the Aeginetans arose in the manner described.
τότε δὲ Θηβαίων ἐπικαλεομένων, προθύμως τῶν περὶ τὰ ἀγάλματα γενομένων ἀναμιμνησκόμενοι οἱ Αἰγινῆται ἐβοήθεον τοῖσι Βοιωτοῖσι.
And at that time, when the Thebans called upon them, the Aeginetans, eagerly remembering what had happened concerning the statues, came to the aid of the Boeotians.
§5.89.2Αἰγινῆταί τε δὴ ἐδηίουν τῆς Ἀττικῆς τὰ παραθαλάσσια, καὶ Ἀθηναίοισι ὁρμημένοισι ἐπʼ Αἰγινήτας στρατεύεσθαι ἦλθε μαντήιον ἐκ Δελφῶν, ἐπισχόντας ἀπὸ τοῦ Αἰγινητέων ἀδικίου τριήκοντα ἔτεα, τῷ ἑνὶ καὶ τριηκοστῷ Αἰακῷ τέμενος ἀποδέξαντας ἄρχεσθαι τοῦ πρὸς Αἰγινήτας πολέμου, καί σφι χωρήσειν τὰ βούλονται·
So the Aeginetans plundered the coastal districts of Attica; and when the Athenians were eager to march against the Aeginetans, an oracle came from Delphi, bidding them to hold back from the wrongdoing of the Aeginetans for thirty years, and in the thirty-first year to mark out a sacred precinct for Aeacus and then begin the war against the Aeginetans, and that things would go as they wished.
ἢν δὲ αὐτίκα ἐπιστρατεύωνται, πολλὰ μὲν σφέας ἐν τῷ μεταξὺ τοῦ χρόνου πείσεσθαι πολλὰ δὲ καὶ ποιήσειν, τέλος μέντοι καταστρέψεσθαι.
But if they should march against them immediately, they would suffer many things in the intervening time and also inflict many, though in the end they would conquer them.
§5.89.3ταῦτα ὡς ἀπενειχθέντα ἤκουσαν οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι, τῷ μὲν Αἰακῷ τέμενος ἀπέδεξαν τοῦτο τὸ νῦν ἐπὶ τῆς ἀγορῆς ἵδρυται, τριήκοντα δὲ ἔτεα οὐκ ἀνέσχοντο ἀκούσαντες ὅκως χρεὸν εἴη ἐπισχεῖν πεπονθότας ὑπʼ Αἰγινητέων ἀνάρσια.
When the Athenians heard these reports brought back, they marked out for Aeacus that precinct which is now situated in the market-place, but they could not bear to wait thirty years upon hearing that they must hold back, since they had suffered outrageous treatment at the hands of the Aeginetans.

Notes

  1. 5.89.1κατʼ ἔριν τὴν Ἀθηναίων — The genitive `τὴν Ἀθηναίων` is an objective genitive, meaning rivalry or hostility "directed toward" the Athenians.
  2. 5.89.2ἐπισχόντας — The accusative plural participles `ἐπισχόντας` (and `ἀποδέξαντας`) refer semantically to the dative `Ἀθηναίοισι` in the main clause, but are put in the accusative to agree with the subject of the infinitive `ἄρχεσθαι` in indirect discourse.
  3. 5.89.3πεπονθότας — The accusative perfect participle `πεπονθότας` refers to the Athenians themselves as the subject of the infinitive `ἐπισχεῖν` (or as a supplementary participle with `οὐκ ἀνέσχοντο`), indicating their state of "having suffered outrageous treatment at the hands of the Aeginetans."

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §5.89.1-5.89.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.89.1-5.89.3

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