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Herodotus · Histories §6.74.1-6.74.2

Cleomenes' Flight and Plotting in Arcadia

Passage 976 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Cleomenes flees after his conspiracy against Demaratus is exposed, and attempts to instigate a rebellion against Sparta in Arcadia by forcing its leaders to swear by the water of the Styx, the spring of which in Nonacris is described.

§6.74.1μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα Κλεομένεα ἐπάιστον γενόμενον κακοτεχνήσαντα ἐς Δημάρητον δεῖμα ἔλαβε Σπαρτιητέων, καὶ ὑπεξέσχε ἐς Θεσσαλίην.
After these events, when it became known that Cleomenes had acted maliciously against Demaratus, fear of the Spartans seized him, and he withdrew secretly to Thessaly.
ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ ἀπικόμενος ἐς τὴν Ἀρκαδίην νεώτερα ἔπρησσε πρήγματα, συνιστὰς τοὺς Ἀρκάδας ἐπὶ τῆ Σπάρτῃ, ἄλλους τε ὅρκους προσάγων σφι ἦ μὲν ἕψεσθαι σφέας αὐτῷ τῇ ἂν ἐξηγέηται, καὶ δὴ καὶ ἐς Νώνακριν πόλιν πρόθυμος ἦν τῶν Ἀρκάδων τοὺς προεστεῶτας ἀγινέων ἐξορκοῦν τὸ Στυγὸς ὕδωρ.
Arriving from there in Arcadia, he began to plot revolutionary activities, uniting the Arcadians against Sparta and binding them by other oaths, to the effect that they would surely follow him wherever he might lead; and in particular, he was eager to bring the leaders of the Arcadians to the city of Nonacris to bind them by oath by the water of the Styx.
§6.74.2ἐν δὲ ταύτῃ τῇ πόλι λέγεται εἶναι ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀρκάδων τὸ Στυγὸς ὕδωρ, καὶ δὴ καὶ ἔστι τοιόνδε τι· ὕδωρ ὀλίγον φαινόμενον ἐκ πέτρης στάζει ἐς ἄγκος, τὸ δὲ ἄγκος αἱμασιῆς τις περιθέει κύκλος.
In this city, the water of the Styx is said by the Arcadians to exist, and indeed it is something of this sort: a small amount of water appearing trickles from a rock into a hollow, and a certain stone wall runs around the hollow in a circle.
ἡ δὲ Νώνακρις, ἐν τῇ ἡ πηγὴ αὕτη τυγχάνει ἐοῦσα, πόλις ἐστὶ τῆς Ἀρκαδίης πρὸς Φενεῷ.
Now Nonacris, in which this spring happens to be, is a city of Arcadia near Pheneus.

Notes

  1. §6.74.1Κλεομένεα ... δεῖμα ἔλαβε Σπαρτιητέων — The accusative Κλεομένεα is the direct object of the verb ἔλαβε and is modified by the preceding circumstantial participle phrase ἐπάιστον γενόμενον ... (having been detected). The genitive Σπαρτιητέων depending on δεῖμα (fear) is a subjective genitive, meaning 'fear inspired by the Spartans' (i.e. fear of the Spartans).
  2. §6.74.1ἦ μὲν ἕψεσθαι σφέας αὐτῷ — The particles ἦ μὲν introduce the content of a solemn oath. The subject of the future infinitive ἕψεσθαι is the accusative σφέας (referring to the Arcadians), and the dative αὐτῷ is the object (referring to Cleomenes) governed by the verb of following.
  3. §6.74.1ἐξορκοῦν τὸ Στυγὸς ὕδωρ — The verb ἐξορκόω (to bind by oath) governs a double accusative: the person who is bound (here τοὺς προεστεῶτας, the leaders) and the object sworn by (here τὸ Στυγὸς ὕδωρ, the water of the Styx).
  4. §6.74.2λέγεται εἶναι ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀρκάδων — The prepositional phrase ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀρκάδων expresses the agent of the passive verb λέγεται (it is said). The infinitive εἶναι is used existentially, meaning 'to exist' or 'to be present'.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §6.74.1-6.74.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.74.1-6.74.2

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