§4.29.1Τετελεκότος γὰρ αὐτοῦ τοὺς ἄθλους, καὶ τοῦ θεοῦ χρήσαντος συμφέρειν πρὸ τῆς εἰς θεοὺς μεταλλαγῆς ἀποικίαν εἰς Σαρδὼ πέμψαι καὶ τοὺς ἐκ τῶν Θεσπιάδων αὐτῷ γενομένους υἱοὺς ἡγεμόνας ποιῆσαι ταύτης, ἔκρινε τὸν ἀδελφιδοῦν Ἰόλαον ἐκπέμψαι μετὰ τῶν παίδων διὰ τὸ παντελῶς νέους εἷναι.
For when he had completed his labors, and the god had prophesied that it would be advantageous, before his departure to the gods, to send a colony to Sardo and to make the sons born to him from the daughters of Thespius the leaders of this, he decided to send out his nephew Iolaus with the children because they were entirely young.
§4.29.2ἀναγκαῖον δʼ ἡμῖν φαίνεται προδιελθεῖν περὶ τῆς γενέσεως τῶν παίδων, ἵνα τὸν περὶ τῆς ἀποικίας λόγον καθαρώτερον ἐκθέσθαι δυνηθῶμεν.
But it seems necessary to us to discuss beforehand the birth of the children, so that we may be able to set forth the account concerning the colony more clearly.
Θέσπιος ἦν ἀνὴρ τὸ γένος ἐπιφανὴς ἐκ τῶν Ἀθηνῶν, υἱὸς Ἐρεχθέως, βασιλεύων δὲ τῆς ὁμωνύμου χώρας ἐγέννησεν ἐκ πλειόνων γυναικῶν θυγατέρας πεντήκοντα.
Thespius was a man of illustrious birth from Athens, a son of Erechtheus, and ruling over the land named after him, he begot fifty daughters from several wives.
§4.29.3Ἡρακλέους δʼ ἔτι παιδὸς ὄντος τὴν ἡλικίαν, καὶ ῥώμῃ σώματος ὑπερφυοῦς ὄντος, ἐφιλοτιμήθη τὰς θυγατέρας ἐκ τούτου τεκνοποιήσασθαι.
And when Heracles was still a youth in age, and of extraordinary strength of body, Thespius was eager to beget children from him by his daughters.
διὸ καλέσας αὐτὸν ἐπί τινα θυσίαν καὶ λαμπρῶς ἑστιάσας, ἀπέστειλε κατὰ μίαν τῶν θυγατέρων· αἷς ἀπάσαις μιγεὶς καὶ ποιήσας ἐγκύους ἐγένετο πατὴρ υἱῶν πεντήκοντα.
Therefore, having invited him to a certain sacrifice and feasted him sumptuously, he sent his daughters to him one by one; and having coupled with them all and made them pregnant, Heracles became the father of fifty sons.
ὧν λαβόντων τὴν κοινὴν προσηγορίαν ἀπὸ τῶν Θεσπιάδων, καὶ γενομένων ἐνηλίκων, ἔκρινεν ἐκπέμπειν τούτους εἰς τὴν ἀποικίαν τὴν εἰς Σαρδόνα κατὰ τὸν χρησμόν.
When these had received the common appellation from the daughters of Thespius and had grown to manhood, he decided to send them out to the colony to Sardo in accordance with the oracle.
§4.29.4ἡγουμένου δὲ τοῦ στόλου παντὸς Ἰολάου, καὶ συνεστρατευμένου σχεδὸν ἁπάσας τὰς στρατείας, ἐπέτρεψεν αὐτῷ τὰ περὶ τοὺς Θεσπιάδας καὶ τὴν ἀποικίαν τῶν δὲ πεντήκοντα παίδων δύο μὲν κατέμειναν ἐν ταῖς Θήβαις, ὧν τοὺς ἀπογόνους φασὶ μέχρι τοῦ νῦν τιμᾶσθαι, ἑπτὰ δʼ ἐν Θεσπιαῖς, οὓς ὀνομάζουσι δημούχους, ὧν καὶ τοὺς ἀπογόνους ἡγήσασθαί φασι τῆς πόλεως μέχρι τῶν νεωτέρων καιρῶν.
And since Iolaus led the entire fleet and had shared in almost all his expeditions, Heracles entrusted to him the matters concerning the sons of the daughters of Thespius and the colony. Of the fifty children, two remained in Thebes, whose descendants they say are honored down to the present, and seven in Thespiae, whom they call demouchoi, whose descendants they say also ruled the city down to more recent times.
§4.29.5τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς ἅπαντας Ἰόλαος ἀναλαβὼν καὶ πολλοὺς ἄλλους τοὺς βουλομένους κοινωνεῖν τῆς ἀποικίας, ἔπλευσεν εἰς τὴν Σαρδόνα.
And Iolaus, having taken all the rest and many others who wished to share in the colony, sailed to Sardo.
κρατήσας δὲ μάχῃ τῶν ἐγχωρίων, κατεκληρούχησε τὸ κάλλιστον τῆς νήσου, καὶ μάλιστα τὴν πεδιάδα χώραν, ἣν μέχρι τοῦ νῦν καλεῖσθαι Ἰολαεῖον.
And having overcome the inhabitants in battle, he allotted the most beautiful part of the island, and especially the plain country, which is called Iolaeum down to the present.
§4.29.6ἐξημερώσας δὲ τὴν χώραν καὶ καταφυτεύσας δένδρεσι καρπίμοις κατεσκεύασε περιμάχητον ἐπὶ τοσοῦτο γὰρ ἡ νῆσος διωνομάσθη τῇ τῶν καρπῶν ἀφθονίᾳ ὥστε Καρχηδονίους ὕστερον αὐξηθέντας ἐπιθυμῆσαι τῆς νήσου, καὶ πολλοὺς ἀγῶνας καὶ κινδύνους ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς ἀναδέξασθαι.
And having cultivated the land and planted it with fruit-bearing trees, he made it an object of contention; for the island became so famous for its abundance of fruits that the Carthaginians, having later grown powerful, coveted the island and undertook many struggles and dangers for its sake.
ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν τούτων ἐν τοῖς οἰκείοις χρόνοις ἀναγράψομεν.
But concerning these matters, we shall write in their proper times.