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Herodotus · Histories §7.155.1-7.155.2

Gelon's Seizure of Power in Gela and Syracuse

Passage 1218 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Following the death of Hippocrates, Gelon seized power in Gela under the pretext of defending the tyrant's sons, and subsequently gained control of Syracuse by reinstating its exiled aristocrats.

§7.155.1ὡς δὲ καὶ Ἱπποκράτεα τυραννεύσαντα ἴσα ἔτεα τῷ ἀδελφεῷ Κλεάνδρῳ κατέλαβε ἀποθανεῖν πρὸς πόλι Ὕβλῃ στρατευσάμενον ἐπὶ τοὺς Σικελούς, οὕτω δὴ ὁ Γέλων τῷ λόγῳ τιμωρέων τοῖσι Ἱπποκράτεος παισὶ Εὐκλείδῃ τε καὶ Κλεάνδρῳ, οὐ βουλομένων τῶν πολιητέων κατηκόων ἔτι εἶναι, τῷ ἔργῳ, ὡς ἐπεκράτησε μάχῃ τῶν Γελῴων, ἦρχε αὐτὸς ἀποστερήσας τοὺς Ἱπποκράτεος παῖδας.
And when it befell Hippocrates also—having ruled as tyrant for the same number of years as his brother Cleander—to die near the city of Hybla while campaigning against the Sicels, thereupon Gelon, under the pretext of championing the sons of Hippocrates, Euclides and Cleander, when the citizens were no longer willing to be subjects, in actual fact, when he had overcome the people of Gela in battle, ruled himself, having deprived the sons of Hippocrates.
§7.155.2μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο τὸ εὕρημα τοὺς γαμόρους καλεομένους τῶν Συρηκοσίων ἐκπεσόντας ὑπό τε τοῦ δήμου καὶ τῶν σφετέρων δούλων, καλεομένων δὲ Κυλλυρίων, ὁ Γέλων καταγαγὼν τούτους ἐκ Κασμένης πόλιος ἐς τὰς Συρηκούσας ἔσχε καὶ ταύτας· ὁ γὰρ δῆμος ὁ τῶν Συρηκοσίων ἐπιόντι Γέλωνι παραδιδοῖ τὴν πόλιν καὶ ἑωυτόν.
After this stroke of good fortune, Gelon brought back from the city of Casmene to Syracuse those of the Syracusans called Gamoroi, who had been expelled by the common people and their own slaves, who were called Cyllyrioi, and so he held this city as well; for the common people of Syracuse, as Gelon was advancing against them, handed over both the city and themselves.

Notes

  1. 7.155.1κατέλαβε ἀποθανεῖν — The verb καταλαμβάνω is used in an impersonal sense meaning 'to happen to, befall someone,' taking the accusative Ἱπποκράτεα and the infinitive ἀποθανεῖν, meaning 'it befell Hippocrates to die' or 'death overtook Hippocrates.'
  2. 7.155.1τῷ λόγῳ ... τῷ ἔργῳ — The two contrasting datives function as datives of respect or manner, creating the antithesis 'in word (ostensibly) ... in deed (in reality).'
  3. 7.155.2τοῦτο τὸ εὕρημα — The noun εὕρημα (literally 'a find, discovery') here means 'a stroke of good fortune' or 'windfall,' referring to the entire process of Gelon's unexpected acquisition of power in Gela.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.155.1-7.155.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.155.1-7.155.2

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