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Herodotus · Histories §6.126.1-6.126.3

Cleisthenes of Sicyon Invites Suitors for His Daughter

Passage 1031 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Two generations later, Cleisthenes, the tyrant of Sicyon, won a victory in the Olympic chariot race and made a proclamation to invite suitors from all over Greece for his daughter Agariste, preparing athletic facilities for them.

§6.126.1μετὰ δὲ γενεῇ δευτέρῃ ὕστερον Κλεισθένης αὐτὴν ὁ Σικυώνιος τύραννος ἐξήειρε, ὥστε πολλῷ ὀνομαστοτέρην γενέσθαι ἐν τοῖσι Ἕλλησι ἢ πρότερον ἦν.
But two generations later, Cleisthenes, the tyrant of Sicyon, raised it so that it became much more famous among the Greeks than it had been before.
Κλεισθένεϊ γὰρ τῷ Ἀριστωνύμου τοῦ Μύρωνος τοῦ Ἀνδρέω γίνεται θυγάτηρ τῇ οὔνομα ἦν Ἀγαρίστη.
For to Cleisthenes, the son of Aristonymus, who was the son of Myron, who was the son of Andreas, was born a daughter whose name was Agariste.
ταύτην ἠθέλησε, Ἑλλήνων ἁπάντων ἐξευρὼν τὸν ἄριστον, τούτῳ γυναῖκα προσθεῖναι.
He wished, having found the best of all the Greeks, to give her to this man as a wife.
§6.126.2Ὀλυμπίων ὦν ἐόντων καὶ νικῶν ἐν αὐτοῖσι τεθρίππῳ ὁ Κλεισθένης κήρυγμα ἐποιήσατο, ὅστις Ἑλλήνων ἑωυτὸν ἀξιοῖ Κλεισθένεος γαμβρὸν γενέσθαι, ἥκειν ἐς ἑξηκοστὴν ἡμέρην ἢ καὶ πρότερον ἐς Σικυῶνα, ὡς κυρώσοντος Κλεισθένεος τὸν γάμον ἐν ἐνιαυτῷ, ἀπὸ τῆς ἑξηκοστῆς ἀρξαμένου ἡμέρης.
So, when the Olympic games were being held and Cleisthenes had won a victory in them with a four-horse chariot, he made a proclamation that whoever of the Greeks deemed himself worthy to become Cleisthenes' son-in-law should come to Sicyon on the sixtieth day or even before, because Cleisthenes would decide on the marriage within a year, starting from that sixtieth day.
§6.126.3ἐνθαῦτα Ἑλλήνων ὅσοι σφίσι τε αὐτοῖσι ἦσαν καὶ πάτρῃ ἐξωγκωμένοι, ἐφοίτεον μνηστῆρες· τοῖσι Κλεισθένης καὶ δρόμον καὶ παλαίστρην ποιησάμενος ἐπʼ αὐτῷ τούτῳ εἶχε.
Thereupon, all those of the Greeks who were proud of themselves and of their native land came as suitors; for whom Cleisthenes, having constructed a running track and a wrestling school for this very purpose, kept them ready.

Notes

  1. 6.126.1γενεῇ δευτέρῃ ὕστερον — The dative 'γενεῇ δευτέρῃ' is used with the adverb 'ὕστερον' to express the degree of difference in time. Literally, 'later by two generations,' meaning 'two generations later.'
  2. 6.126.2ὡς κυρώσοντος — A genitive absolute constructed with the conjunction 'ὡς' and the future participle 'κυρώσοντος'. It presents the subjective intention or plan of Cleisthenes (the subject of the main clause) as an asserted expectation. The future participle adds the nuance of 'with the intention of deciding' or 'on the ground that he would decide'.
  3. 6.126.2ἀρξαμένου — A genitive participle following the preposition 'ἀπό'. Here, it acts as a neuter singular genitive (impersonal) or agrees in gender and number with the genitive word for 'day', forming an adverbial phrase meaning 'starting from' or 'reckoning from'.
  4. 6.126.3ποιησάμενος... εἶχε — The combination of the aorist middle participle 'ποιησάμενος' and the imperfect 'εἶχε'. It represents either the simple sense of 'having made them, he held/kept them' or an early instance of the periphrastic perfect ('ἔχω' + participle) expressing a completed action with lasting results, meaning 'he had built them [and kept them ready]'.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §6.126.1-6.126.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.126.1-6.126.3

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