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Herodotus · Histories §6.131.1-6.131.2

Genealogy of the Alcmaeonids and Birth of Pericles

Passage 1036 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Following the selection of the suitors, the Alcmeonid family rises to fame, leading to the birth of the Athenian reformer Cleisthenes and, later, the birth of Pericles to Agariste after her ominous dream of giving birth to a lion.

§6.131.1ἀμφὶ μὲν κρίσιος τῶν μνηστήρων τοσαῦτα ἐγένετο καὶ οὕτω Ἀλκμεωνίδαι ἐβώσθησαν ἀνὰ τὴν Ἑλλάδα.
Concerning the selection of the suitors, such were the events, and in this way the Alcmeonidae became famous throughout Greece.
τούτων δὲ συνοικησάντων γίνεται Κλεισθένης τε ὁ τὰς φυλὰς καὶ τὴν δημοκρατίην Ἀθηναίοισι καταστήσας, ἔχων τὸ οὔνομα ἀπὸ τοῦ μητροπάτορος τοῦ Σικυωνίου·
From the marriage of these two, there was born Cleisthenes, the one who established the tribes and the democracy for the Athenians, having his name from his maternal grandfather, the Sicyonian.
§6.131.2οὗτός τε δὴ γίνεται Μεγακλέϊ καὶ Ἱπποκράτης, ἐκ δὲ Ἱπποκράτεος Μεγακλέης τε ἄλλος καὶ Ἀγαρίστη ἄλλη ἀπὸ τῆς Κλεισθένεος Ἀγαρίστης ἔχουσα τὸ οὔνομα·
This man, indeed, and Hippocrates were born to Megacles; and from Hippocrates were born another Megacles and another Agariste, who had her name from Agariste, the daughter of Cleisthenes.
ἣ συνοικήσασά τε Ξανθίππῳ τῷ Ἀρίφρονος καὶ ἔγκυος ἐοῦσα εἶδε ὄψιν ἐν τῷ ὕπνῳ, ἐδόκεε δὲ λέοντα τεκεῖν, καὶ μετʼ ὀλίγας ἡμέρας τίκτει Περικλέα Ξανθίππῳ.
She, having married Xanthippus, the son of Ariphron, and being pregnant, saw a vision in her sleep; she dreamt that she gave birth to a lion, and after a few days she bore Pericles to Xanthippus.

Notes

  1. §6.131.1τούτων δὲ συνοικησάντων — Genitive absolute. The pronoun τούτων refers to Megacles and Agariste, and the participle συνοικησάντων means 'having cohabited' or 'having married'.
  2. §6.131.2οὗτός τε δὴ γίνεται Μεγακλέϊ καὶ Ἱπποκράτης — The verb γίνεται is third-person singular, agreeing with the closer subject οὗτος, despite the compound subject (οὗτος and Ἱπποκράτης). The dative Μεγακλέϊ functions as a dative of possessor/interest, meaning 'to Megacles are born...'.
  3. §6.131.2ἐδόκεε δὲ λέοντα τεκεῖν — The verb ἐδόκεε (imperfect of δοκέω) expresses subjective appearance or a dream state ('she dreamt that...'). The active infinitive τεκεῖν (to give birth to) has its subject omitted because it is coreferential with the main subject (Agariste).

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §6.131.1-6.131.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.131.1-6.131.2

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