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Herodotus · Histories §6.86.1

Athenian Refusal to Return the Hostages

Passage 988 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Leotychides goes to Athens to demand the return of the hostages, but the Athenians refuse to restore them, arguing that they were deposited by two kings.

§6.86.1ὡς δὲ ἀπικόμενος Λευτυχίδης ἐς τὰς Ἀθήνας ἀπαίτεε τὴν παραθήκην, οἱ δʼ Ἀθηναῖοι προφάσιας εἷλκον οὐ βουλόμενοι ἀποδοῦναι, φάντες δύο σφέας ἐόντας βασιλέας παραθέσθαι καὶ οὐ δικαιοῦν τῷ ἑτέρῳ ἄνευ τοῦ ἑτέρου ἀποδιδόναι·
But when Leotychides, having arrived in Athens, demanded the return of the deposit, the Athenians, not wishing to restore it, dragged out excuses, saying that two kings had deposited it with them and they did not think it right to restore it to the one without the other.

Notes

  1. §6.86.1προφάσιας εἷλκον — Literally 'they dragged out excuses,' an idiomatic expression describing how they kept making up excuses to delay the return of the hostages.
  2. §6.86.1σφέας — This accusative pronoun refers to the Athenians (the subject of the main clause) and functions here as a dative ('to them'). This is a characteristic of the Ionic dialect in Herodotus.
  3. §6.86.1παραθέσθαι — The aorist middle infinitive of παρατίθημι, meaning 'to deposit for safekeeping, entrust.' Its subject is the accusative δύο βασιλέας ('two kings').

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §6.86.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.86.1

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