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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §5.83.1-5.83.5

Colonization of Tenedos by Tennes, Myth, and Laws

Passage 405 of 406 · Greek

Summary

This passage relates the colonization of Tenedos by Tennes, the myth of his betrayal and miraculous survival, and the resulting laws established on the island.

§5.83.1ὕστερον δὲ τῆς κατὰ τὴν Λέσβον ἀποικίας ἱκανοῖς τισι χρόνοις συνέβη τὴν νῆσον τὴν ὀνομαζομένην Τένεδον κατοικισθῆναι τοιῷδέ τινι τρόπῳ.
A considerable time after the colonization of Lesbos, it happened that the island named Tenedos was colonized in some such manner.
Τέννης ἦν υἱὸς μὲν Κύκνου τοῦ βασιλεύσαντος Κολώνης τῆς ἐν τῇ Τρῳάδι, ἀνὴρ δʼ ἐπίσημος διʼ ἀρετήν.
Tennes was a son of Cycnus, who had ruled over Colonae in the Troad, and a man distinguished for his virtue.
§5.83.2οὗτος οἰκήτορας ἀθροίσας καὶ τὴν ὁρμὴν ἐκ τῆς ἀντιπέρας ἠπείρου ποιησάμενος, κατελάβετο νῆσον ἔρημον οὖσαν τὴν ὀνομαζομένην Λεύκοφρυν· κατακληρουχήσας δʼ αὐτὴν τοῖς ὑπʼ αὐτὸν ταττομένοις, καὶ κτίσας ἐν αὐτῇ πόλιν, ὠνόμασεν ἀφʼ ἑαυτοῦ Τένεδον.
Having gathered colonists and made his departure from the opposite mainland, he seized the island, which was uninhabited and called Leucophrys; and having distributed it by lot to those marshalled under him, and having founded a city in it, he named it Tenedos after himself.
§5.83.3πολιτευόμενος δὲ καλῶς καὶ πολλὰ τοὺς ἐγχωρίους εὐεργετήσας ζῶν μὲν μεγάλης ἀποδοχῆς ἐτύγχανε, τελευτήσας δʼ ἀθανάτων τιμῶν ἠξιώθη· καὶ γὰρ τέμενος αὐτοῦ κατεσκεύασαν καὶ θυσίαις ὡς θεὸν ἐτίμων, ἃς διετέλουν θύοντες μέχρι τῶν νεωτέρων καιρῶν.
And governing well and having bestowed many benefits upon the inhabitants, while alive he met with great acceptance, and when he died he was deemed worthy of immortal honors; for they established a sacred precinct for him and honored him with sacrifices as a god, which they continued to offer until more recent times.
§5.83.4οὐ παραλειπτέον δʼ ἡμῖν περὶ τῶν παρὰ τοῖς Τενεδίοις μυθολογουμένων περὶ τοῦ κτίσαντος τὴν πόλιν Τέννου· Κύκνον γάρ φασι τὸν πατέρα πιστεύσαντα γυναικὸς διαβολαῖς ἀδίκοις τὸν υἱὸν Τέννην εἰς λάρνακα θέντα καταποντίσαι· ταύτην δʼ ὑπὸ τοῦ κλύδωνος φερομένην προσενεχθῆναι τῇ Τενέδῳ, καὶ τὸν Τέννην παραδόξως σωθέντα θεῶν τινος προνοίᾳ τῆς νήσου βασιλεῦσαι, καὶ γενόμενον ἐπιφανῆ διὰ τὴν δικαιοσύνην καὶ τὰς ἄλλας ἀρετὰς τυχεῖν ἀθανάτων τιμῶν.
And we must not omit what is mythologically related among the Tenedians concerning Tennes, the founder of the city; for they say that his father Cycnus, believing the unjust slanders of his wife, put his son Tennes into a chest and cast him into the sea; and that this chest, carried by the waves, was brought to Tenedos, and Tennes, having been saved unexpectedly by the providence of some god, became king of the island, and having become illustrious for his justice and other virtues, obtained immortal honors.
κατὰ δὲ τὰς τῆς μητρυιᾶς διαβολὰς αὐλητοῦ τινος ψευδῶς καταμαρτυρήσαντος, νόμιμον ἔθεντο μηδένα αὐλητὴν εἰς τὸ τέμενος εἰσιέναι.
And because, in connection with the slanders of his stepmother, a certain flute-player had given false testimony, they established a law that no flute-player should enter the sacred precinct.
§5.83.5κατὰ δὲ τοὺς Τρωικοὺς χρόνους Ἀχιλλέως τὸν Τέννην ἀνελόντος καθʼ ὃν καιρὸν ἐπόρθησαν οἱ Ἕλληνες τὴν Τένεδον, νόμον ἔθεσαν οἱ Τενέδιοι μηδένα ἐξεῖναι ἐν τῷ τεμένει τοῦ κτίστου ὀνομάσαι Ἀχιλλέα.
And during the times of the Trojan War, when Achilles killed Tennes at the time when the Greeks plundered Tenedos, the Tenedians established a law that no one should be permitted to name Achilles in the sacred precinct of the founder.
περὶ μὲν οὖν τῆς Τενέδου καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ τὸ παλαιὸν οἰκησάντων τοιαῦτα μυθολογοῦσιν.
Concerning Tenedos, then, and those who inhabited it in ancient times, they relate such myths.

Notes

  1. §5.83.1ὕστερον δὲ τῆς ... ἀποικίας ἱκανοῖς τισι χρόνοις — The adverb `ὕστερον` governs the genitive `τῆς ... ἀποικίας` (genitive of comparison), while the dative `ἱκανοῖς τισι χρόνοις` acts as a dative of degree of difference, indicating the measure of time elapsed.
  2. §5.83.4πιστεύσαντα — The aorist active participle of `πιστεύω` (to believe) governs the dative `διαβολαῖς` as its object. The following accusative `τὸν υἱὸν Τέννην` is not the object of the participle, but rather the direct object of the infinitive `καταποντίσαι` in the accusative-with-infinitive construction depending on `φασί`.
  3. §5.83.5Ἀχιλλέως ... ἀνελόντος — A genitive absolute construction. `Ἀχιλλέως` serves as the logical subject and `ἀνελόντος` (aorist participle of `ἀναιρέω`) as the logical predicate, forming a temporal adverbial clause ("when Achilles slew...") separate from the main clause's subject `οἱ Τενέδιοι`. It is interrupted by the relative clause starting with `καθʼ ὃν καιρὸν...`.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §5.83.1-5.83.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc5:5.83.1-5.83.5

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