Herodotus · Histories §6.123.1-6.123.2

The Role of the Alcmaeonidae in Liberating Athens

Passage 1028 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Herodotus argues that the Alcmaeonidae hated tyrants no less than Callias and were the true liberators of Athens, far more so than Harmodius and Aristogeiton, thereby rejecting the slander that they raised a shield to the Persians.

§6.123.1καὶ οἱ Ἀλκμεωνίδαι ὁμοίως ἢ οὐδὲν ἧσσον τούτου ἦσαν μισοτύραννοι.

And the Alcmaeonidae were tyrants-haters equally to, or no less than, this man.

θῶμα ὦν μοι καὶ οὐ προσίεμαι τὴν διαβολὴν τούτους γε ἀναδέξαι ἀσπίδα, οἵτινες ἔφευγόν τε τὸν πάντα χρόνον τοὺς τυράννους, ἐκ μηχανῆς τε τῆς τούτων ἐξέλιπον Πεισιστρατίδαι τὴν τυραννίδα, §6.123.2καὶ οὕτω τὰς Ἀθήνας οὗτοι ἦσαν οἱ ἐλευθερώσαντες πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἤ περ Ἁρμόδιός τε καὶ Ἀριστογείτων, ὡς ἐγὼ κρίνω.

It is therefore a wonder to me, and I do not accept the slander, that these men at least should have raised a shield, since they were in exile from the tyrants through all the time, and by their contrivance the Peisistratidae abandoned the tyranny, and so these were the ones who liberated Athens, much more than Harmodius and Aristogeiton, as I judge.

οἳ μὲν γὰρ ἐξηγρίωσαν τοὺς ὑπολοίπους Πεισιστρατιδέων Ἵππαρχον ἀποκτείναντες, οὐδέ τι μᾶλλον ἔπαυσαν τοὺς λοιποὺς τυραννεύοντας· Ἀλκμεωνίδαι δὲ ἐμφανέως ἠλευθέρωσαν, εἰ δὴ οὗτοί γε ἀληθέως ἦσαν οἱ τὴν Πυθίην ἀναπείσαντες προσημαίνειν Λακεδαιμονίοισι ἐλευθεροῦν τὰς Ἀθήνας, ὥς μοι πρότερον δεδήλωται.

For the latter, by killing Hipparchus, made the rest of the Peisistratidae savage, and did not at all stop the remaining ones from being tyrants; but the Alcmaeonidae manifestly liberated it, if indeed they were truly the ones who persuaded the Pythia to signify to the Lacedaemonians to liberate Athens, as has been shown by me before.

Notes

6.123.1τούτου — Genitive of comparison, referring to Callias mentioned in the previous chapter. It emphasizes that the Alcmaeonidae were no less ardent 'tyrant-haters' (μισοτύραννοι) than Callias.
6.123.1οἵτινες — The clause introduced by the relative pronoun ὅστις (nominative plural masculine). Here it describes the character of the antecedent (τούτους γε), carrying a causal nuance: 'since they were such people who...'
6.123.2οἳ μὲν — The article used as a demonstrative pronoun. It is contrasted with the subsequent Ἀλκμεωνίδαι δὲ and refers to the immediately preceding Harmodius and Aristogeiton (Ἁρμόδιός τε καὶ Ἀριστογείτων).
6.123.2ἔπαυσαν τοὺς λοιποὺς τυραννεύοντας — The construction of the verb παύω ('to stop', 'to hinder') followed by an accusative (τοὺς λοιποὺς) and a participle (τυραννεύοντας), meaning 'to stop the remaining ones from acting as tyrants'.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §6.123.1-6.123.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.123.1-6.123.2

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