Humanitext Reader

Theophrastus · Fragments §126.1

Themistocles Urging the Plunder of Hieron's Tent

Passage 131 of 196 · Greek

Summary

Theophrastus, in his work On Kingship, records an anecdote where Themistocles urged the Greeks at Olympia to plunder the tent of the tyrant Hieron and block his horses from competing.

§126.1Fr. 126 Θ. ἐν τοῖς περὶ βασιλείας ἱστορεῖ τὸν Θεμιστοκλέα πέμψαντος εἰς Ὀλυμπίαν Ἱέρωνος ἵππους ἀγωνιστὰς καὶ σκηνήν τινα κατεσκευασμένην πολυτελῶς στήσαντος εἰπεῖν ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησι λόγον, ὡς χρὴ τὴν σκηνὴν διαρπάσαι τοῦ τυράννου καὶ κωλῦσαι τοὺς ἵππους ἀγωνίσασθαι.
Theophrastus, in his work On Kingship, records that, when Hieron had sent competing horses to Olympia and had set up a sumptuously furnished tent, Themistocles spoke a word among the Greeks, saying that they ought to plunder the tent of the tyrant and prevent his horses from competing.

Notes

  1. 126.1Ἱέρωνος — The subject of the genitive absolute construction with the participles πέμψαντος ('having sent') and στήσαντος ('having set up'), providing the temporal background for the main action of Themistocles' speaking.
  2. 126.1τὸν Θεμιστοκλέα ... εἰπεῖν — An accusative with infinitive construction acting as the object of the main verb ἱστορεῖ ('records'). The core structure of the sentence is 'Theophrastus records that Themistocles said...'.
  3. 126.1τοῦ τυράννου — Either a possessive genitive modifying τὴν σκηνὴν ('the tent of the tyrant') or an ablative genitive of separation with the verb διαρπάσαι ('to plunder from the tyrant'). In this context, it refers to Hieron, the tyrant of Syracuse.

Cite this passage

Theophrastus, Fragments §126.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0093.tlg010x09.humanitext-grc1:126.1

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