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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §5.78.1-5.78.4

Minos and His Brothers: Their Rule and His Death

Passage 400 of 406 · Greek

Summary

The narrative introduces the heroes of Crete who appeared generations after the gods, particularly Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Sarpedon. It focuses on Minos, the eldest, detailing his foundation of cities, legislation, naval dominance, and eventual death in Sicily during a military campaign.

§5.78.1μετὰ δὲ τὰς τῶν θεῶν γενέσεις ὕστερον πολλαῖς γενεαῖς φασι γενέσθαι κατὰ τὴν Κρήτην ἥρωας οὐκ ὀλίγους, ὧν ὑπάρχειν ἐπιφανεστάτους τοὺς περὶ Μίνω καὶ Ῥαδάμανθυν καὶ Σαρπηδόνα.
After the births of the gods, many generations later, they say that not a few heroes were born in Crete, of whom the most illustrious were Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Sarpedon.
τούτους γὰρ μυθολογοῦσιν ἐκ Διὸς γεγεννῆσθαι καὶ τῆς Ἀγήνορος Εὐρώπης, ἥν φασιν ἐπὶ ταύρου διακομισθῆναι προνοίᾳ θεῶν εἰς τὴν Κρήτην.
For they relate in myth that these were born of Zeus and Europa, the daughter of Agenor, who, they say, was carried across on a bull by the providence of the gods to Crete.
§5.78.2Μίνω μὲν οὖν πρεσβύτατον ὄντα βασιλεῦσαι τῆς νήσου, καὶ κτίσαι πόλεις οὐκ ὀλίγας ἐν αὐτῇ, τούτων δʼ ἐπιφανεστάτας τρεῖς, Κνωσὸν μὲν ἐν τοῖς πρὸς τὴν Ἀσίαν νεύουσι μέρεσι τῆς νήσου, Φαιστὸν δʼ ἐπὶ θαλάττης ἐστραμμένην ἐπὶ μεσημβρίαν, Κυδωνίαν δʼ ἐν τοῖς πρὸς ἑσπέραν τόποις κατʼ ἀντικρὺ τῆς Πελοποννήσου.
Minos, then, being the eldest, ruled over the island and founded not a few cities in it, of which the three most illustrious were Knossos in the parts of the island turning toward Asia, Phaestus situated on the sea facing south, and Cydonia in the western regions opposite the Peloponnese.
§5.78.3θεῖναι δὲ καὶ νόμους τοῖς Κρησὶν οὐκ ὀλίγους, προσποιούμενον παρὰ Διὸς τοῦ πατρὸς λαμβάνειν, συνερχόμενον εἰς λόγους αὐτῷ κατά τι σπήλαιον.
And he also established not a few laws for the Cretans, pretending to receive them from his father Zeus, meeting with him for discourse in a certain cave.
κτήσασθαι δὲ καὶ δύναμιν ναυτικὴν μεγάλην, καὶ τῶν τε νήσων τὰς πλείστας καταστρέψασθαι καὶ πρῶτον τῶν Ἑλλήνων θαλαττοκρατῆσαι.
Moreover, he acquired a great naval power, subdued most of the islands, and was the first of the Greeks to rule the sea.
§5.78.4μεγάλην δὲ δόξαν περιποιησάμενον ἐπʼ ἀνδρείᾳ καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ, καταστρέψαι τὸν βίον ἐν Σικελίᾳ κατὰ τὴν ἐπὶ Κώκαλον στρατείαν, περὶ ἧς τὰ κατὰ μέρος ἀνεγράψαμεν ὅτε τὰ περὶ Δαίδαλον ἀνεγράφομεν, διʼ ὃν καὶ τὴν στρατείαν συνέβη γενέσθαι.
And having acquired a great reputation for courage and justice, he ended his life in Sicily during the campaign against Cocalus, about which we have recorded the details when we wrote about Daedalus, on whose account it also happened that the campaign took place.

Notes

  1. 5.78.1ὧν ὑπάρχειν ἐπιφανεστάτους τοὺς περὶ Μίνω καὶ Ῥαδάμανθυν καὶ Σαρπηδόνα — The relative pronoun in the genitive, ὧν, is a partitive genitive referring back to ἥρωας. Under the influence of the accusative and infinitive construction introduced by φασί, the relative clause also has an infinitive (ὑπάρχειν) with its subject in the accusative (τοὺς περὶ...). The idiomatic expression τοὺς περὶ + accusative ("those around...") here refers directly to the individuals themselves: Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Sarpedon.
  2. 5.78.1ὕστερον πολλαῖς γενεαῖς — The dative πολλαῖς γενεαῖς is a dative of measure of difference modifying the adverb ὕστερον, meaning "many generations later" (literally, "later by many generations").
  3. 5.78.2Μίνω μὲν οὖν πρεσβύτατον ὄντα βασιλεῦσαι — The influence of the main verb φασί continues here, making the accusative Μίνω the subject of the infinitive βασιλεῦσαι. The present participle ὄντα is in the accusative to agree with Μίνω and functions adverbially to express cause ("being the eldest").
  4. 5.78.4διʼ ὃν καὶ τὴν στρατείαν συνέβη γενέσθαι — The accusative and infinitive construction τὴν στρατείαν γενέσθαι ("for the campaign to take place") functions as the subject of the impersonal verb συνέβη ("it happened"). The phrase διʼ ὃν consists of the preposition διά and the relative pronoun ὅν, referring back to the antecedent Daedalus (Δαίδαλον).

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §5.78.1-5.78.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc5:5.78.1-5.78.4

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