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Herodotus · Histories §7.153.1-7.153.4

Gelon's Ancestor Telines and the Priesthood

Passage 1216 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Finishing the account of the Argives, the author introduces the ancestry of Gelon of Sicily, describing how his ancestor Telines, despite being reputed as effeminate, restored exiles to Gela using only the sacred objects of the underworld deities and thereby secured the priesthood for his descendants.

§7.153.1τὰ μὲν περὶ Ἀργείων εἴρηται·
What concerns the Argives has been told.
ἐς δὲ τὴν Σικελίην ἄλλοι τε ἀπίκατο ἄγγελοι ἀπὸ τῶν συμμάχων συμμίξοντες Γέλωνι καὶ δὴ καὶ ἀπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων Σύαγρος.
On the other hand, other envoys from the allies had arrived in Sicily to meet with Gelon, and in particular Syagrus from the Lacedaemonians.
τοῦ δὲ Γέλωνος τούτου πρόγονος, οἰκήτωρ ὁ ἐν Γέλῃ, ἦν ἐκ νήσου Τήλου τῆς ἐπὶ Τριοπίῳ κειμένης·
An ancestor of this Gelon, who was a settler in Gela, was from the island of Telos, which lies off Triopion.
ὃς κτιζομένης Γέλης ὑπὸ Λινδίων τε τῶν ἐκ Ῥόδου καὶ Ἀντιφήμου οὐκ ἐλείφθη.
When Gela was being founded by the Lindians from Rhodes and by Antiphemus, he was not left behind.
§7.153.2ἀνὰ χρόνον δὲ αὐτοῦ οἱ ἀπόγονοι γενόμενοι ἱροφάνται τῶν χθονίων θεῶν διετέλεον ἐόντες, Τηλίνεω ἑνός τευ τῶν προγόνων κτησαμένου τρόπῳ τοιῷδε.
In course of time his descendants became and continued to be priests of the underworld deities, after Telines, one of their ancestors, had acquired it in the following manner.
ἐς Μακτώριον πόλιν τὴν ὑπὲρ Γέλης οἰκημένην ἔφυγον ἄνδρες Γελῴων στάσι ἑσσωθέντες·
Some men of Gela, having been defeated in a factional strife, fled to the city of Mactorium, which is situated above Gela.
§7.153.3τούτους ὦν ὁ Τηλίνης κατήγαγε ἐς Γέλην, ἔχων οὐδεμίαν ἀνδρῶν δύναμιν ἀλλὰ ἱρὰ τούτων τῶν θεῶν·
Now Telines brought these men back to Gela, having no force of men but only the sacred objects of these deities.
ὅθεν δὲ αὐτὰ ἔλαβε ἢ αὐτὸς ἐκτήσατο, τοῦτο δὲ οὐκ ἔχω εἰπεῖν· τούτοισι δʼ ὦν πίσυνος ἐὼν κατήγαγε, ἐπʼ ᾧ τε οἱ ἀπόγονοι αὐτοῦ ἱροφάνται τῶν θεῶν ἔσονται.
From where he received them or how he himself acquired them, this I cannot say; but trusting in these, at any rate, he brought them back, on the condition that his descendants should be the priests of the deities.
§7.153.4θῶμά μοι ὦν καὶ τοῦτο γέγονε πρὸς τὰ πυνθάνομαι, κατεργάσασθαι Τηλίνην ἔργον τοσοῦτον· τὰ τοιαῦτα γὰρ ἔργα οὐ πρὸς τοῦ ἅπαντος ἀνδρὸς νενόμικα γίνεσθαι, ἀλλὰ πρὸς ψυχῆς τε ἀγαθῆς καὶ ῥώμης ἀνδρηίης·
Therefore, in view of what I learn, this also has become a wonder to me, that Telines accomplished so great a deed; for I do not think such deeds belong to any ordinary man, but rather to a noble soul and manly strength.
ὁ δὲ λέγεται πρὸς τῆς Σικελίης τῶν οἰκητόρων τὰ ὑπεναντία τούτων πεφυκέναι θηλυδρίης τε καὶ μαλακώτερος ἀνὴρ.
Yet he is said by the inhabitants of Sicily to have been of a nature contrary to these things, an effeminate and rather soft man.

Notes

  1. §7.153.2κτησαμένου — Genitive absolute construction with `Τηλίνεω` as the subject, explaining the historical cause or circumstance of how the descendants came to hold the priesthood.
  2. §7.153.3ἐπʼ ᾧ τε — An idiomatic expression meaning "on condition that," here taking the future indicative (`ἔσονται`).
  3. §7.153.4κατεργάσασθαι — Infinitive in apposition to `τοῦτο`, explaining the specific content of the "wonder" (`θῶμα`), meaning "that Telines accomplished...".
  4. §7.153.4πρὸς τοῦ ἅπαντος ἀνδρὸς — Preposition `πρός` with the genitive case, meaning "belonging to" or "characteristic of" an ordinary man. Note the contrast in usage with `πρὸς τῆς Σικελίης τῶν οἰκητόρων` later in the same sentence, which denotes the agent ("by").

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.153.1-7.153.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.153.1-7.153.4

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