§14.1.16αἱ μὲν οὖν τυραννίδες ἤκμασαν κατὰ Πολυκράτη μάλιστα καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ Συλοσῶντα·
The tyrannies, then, flourished especially in the time of Polycrates and his brother Syloson.
ἦν δʼ ὁ μὲν καὶ τύχῃ καὶ δυνάμει λαμπρὸς ὥστε καὶ θαλαττοκρατῆσαι· τῆς δʼ εὐτυχίας αὐτοῦ σημεῖον τιθέασιν ὅτι ῥίψαντος εἰς τὴν θάλατταν ἐπίτηδες τὸν δακτύλιον λίθου καὶ γλύμματος πολυτελοῦς, ἀνήνεγκε μικρὸν ὕστερον τῶν ἁλιέων τις τὸν καταπιόντα ἰχθὺν αὐτόν· ἀνατμηθέντος δʼ εὑρέθη ὁ δακτύλιος· πυθόμενον δὲ τοῦτο τὸν Αἰγυπτίων βασιλέα φασὶ μαντικῶς πως ἀποφθέγξασθαι ὡς ἐν βραχεῖ καταστρέψει τὸν βίον εἰς οὐκ εὐτυχὲς τέλος ὁ τοσοῦτον ἐξηρμένος ταῖς εὐπραγίαις· καὶ δὴ καὶ συμβῆναι τοῦτο· ληφθέντα γὰρ ἐξ ἀπάτης ὑπὸ τοῦ σατράπου τῶν Περσῶν κρεμασθῆναι.
The former was illustrious both in fortune and power, so that he even ruled the sea; and as a proof of his good fortune they cite this, that when he had intentionally cast into the sea his ring, which was of a precious stone and engraving, a short time afterward one of the fishermen brought up the very fish that had swallowed it; and when it was cut open, the ring was found; and they say that the king of the Egyptians, on hearing this, declared in a somewhat prophetic manner that he who was so highly exalted by his successes would shortly end his life in an unhappy end; and indeed this actually happened; for having been captured through deceit by the satrap of the Persians, he was crucified.
τούτῳ συνεβίωσεν Ἀνακρέων ὁ μελοποιός· καὶ δὴ καὶ πᾶσα ἡ ποίησις πλήρης ἐστὶ τῆς περὶ αὐτοῦ μνήμης.
With him lived Anacreon the lyric poet; and indeed all his poetry is full of the remembrance of him.
ἐπὶ τούτου δὲ καὶ Πυθαγόραν ἱστοροῦσιν ἰδόντα φυομένην τὴν τυραννίδα ἐκλιπεῖν τὴν πόλιν καὶ ἀπελθεῖν εἰς Αἴγυπτον καὶ Βαβυλῶνα φιλομαθείας χάριν· ἐπανιόντα δʼ ἐκεῖθεν, ὁρῶντα ἔτι συμμένουσαν τὴν τυραννίδα, πλεύσαντα εἰς Ἰταλίαν ἐκεῖ διατελέσαι τὸν βίον.
And they report that in his time Pythagoras also, seeing the tyranny arising, left the city and went away to Egypt and Babylon for the sake of learning; and on returning thence, seeing that the tyranny still remained, he sailed to Italy and there ended his life.
περὶ Πολυκράτους μὲν ταῦτα.
So much for Polycrates.
§14.1.17Συλοσῶν δʼ ἀπελείφθη μὲν ἰδιώτης ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ, Δαρείῳ δὲ τῷ Ὑστάσπεω χαρισάμενος ἐσθῆτα, ἧς ἐπεθύμησεν ἐκεῖνος φοροῦντα ἰδών, οὔπω δʼ ἐβασίλευε τότε, βασιλεύσαντος ἀντέλαβε δῶρον τὴν τυραννίδα.
Syloson was left as a private citizen by his brother, but having made a present of a robe to Darius the son of Hystaspes, which the latter, on seeing him wearing it, had desired—and he was not yet king at that time—he received in return, when Darius became king, the tyranny as a gift.
πικρῶς δʼ ἦρξεν, ὥστε καὶ ἐλειπάνδρησεν ἡ πόλις· κἀκεῖθεν ἐκπεσεῖν συνέβη τὴν παροιμίαν
"
ἕκητι Συλοσῶντος εὐρυχωρίη.
But he ruled harshly, so that the city even suffered from loss of population; and from this circumstance arose the proverb: "Thanks to Syloson, there is plenty of room.
" §14.1.18Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ πρότερον μὲν πέμψαντες στρατηγὸν Περικλέα καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ Σοφοκλέα τὸν ποιητὴν πολιορκίᾳ κακῶς διέθηκαν ἀπειθοῦντας τοὺς Σαμίους, ὕστερον δὲ καὶ κληρούχους ἔπεμψαν δισχιλίους ἐξ ἑαυτῶν, ὧν ἦν καὶ Νεοκλῆς ὁ Ἐπικούρου τοῦ φιλοσόφου πατήρ, γραμματοδιδάσκαλος, ὥς φασι· καὶ δὴ καὶ τραφῆναί φασιν ἐνθάδε καὶ ἐν Τέῳ καὶ ἐφηβεῦσαι Ἀθήνησι· γενέσθαι δʼ αὐτῷ συνέφηβον Μένανδρον τὸν κωμικόν· Σάμιος δʼ ἦν καὶ Κρεώφυλος, ὅν φασι δεξάμενον ξενίᾳ ποτὲ Ὅμηρον λαβεῖν δῶρον τὴν ἐπιγραφὴν τοῦ ποιήματος ὃ καλοῦσιν Οἰχαλίας ἅλωσιν. Καλλίμαχος δὲ τοὐναντίον ἐμφαίνει διʼ ἐπιγράμματός τινος, ὡς ἐκείνου μὲν ποιήσαντος λεγομένου δʼ Ὁμήρου διὰ τὴν λεγομένην ξενίαν
"
τοῦ Σαμίου πόνος εἰμί, δόμῳ ποτὲ θεῖον Ὅμηρον
δεξαμένου· κλείω δʼ Εὔρυτον ὅσσʼ ἔπαθεν,
καὶ ξανθὴν Ἰόλειαν·
"The Athenians formerly, having sent Pericles as general and with him Sophocles the poet, treated the disobedient Samians harshly by a siege; and later they also sent two thousand colonists from among themselves, among whom was Neocles, the father of Epicurus the philosopher, a schoolmaster, as they say; and indeed they say that Epicurus was brought up here and in Teos, and served as an ephebe at Athens; and that Menander the comic poet was his fellow-ephebe; and Creophylus was also a Samian, who, they say, having once received Homer as a guest, received as a gift the inscription of the poem which they call "The Capture of Oechalia." But Callimachus indicates the contrary in a certain epigram, to the effect that the poem was indeed composed by Creophylus but was ascribed to Homer because of the hospitality: "I am the work of the Samian, who once in his house divine Homer received; and I sing of Eurytus, all that he suffered, and of golden-haired Ioleia; but I am called a Homeric writing; by dear Zeus, this is a great thing for Creophylus.
Ὁμήρειον δὲ καλεῦμαι
γράμμα· Κρεωφύλῳ, Ζεῦ φίλε, τοῦτο μέγα. "
τινὲς δὲ διδάσκαλον Ὁμήρου τοῦτόν φασιν, οἱ δʼ οὐ τοῦτον ἀλλʼ Ἀριστέαν τὸν Προκοννήσιον.
"Some say that this man was Homer's teacher, but others say not him, but Aristeas of Proconnesus.
§14.1.19παράκειται δὲ τῇ Σάμῳ νῆσος Ἰκαρία ἀφʼ ἧς τὸ Ἰκάριον πέλαγος.
Adjacent to Samos is the island Icaria, from which the Icarian Sea takes its name.
αὕτη δʼ ἐπώνυμός ἐστιν Ἰκάρου παιδὸς τοῦ Δαιδάλου, ὅν φασι τῷ πατρὶ κοινωνήσαντα τῆς φυγῆς, ἡνίκα ἀμφότεροι πτερωθέντες ἀπῆραν ἐκ Κρήτης, πεσεῖν ἐνθάδε μὴ κρατήσαντα τοῦ δρόμου· μετεωρισθέντι γὰρ πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον ἐπὶ πλέον περιρρυῆναι τὰ πτερὰ τακέντος τοῦ κηροῦ.
This island is named after Icarus, the son of Daedalus, who, they say, having shared with his father in the flight when both of them, equipped with wings, flew away from Crete, fell here when he was unable to control his course; for, having risen too high toward the sun, his wings fell off when the wax melted.
τριακοσίων δʼ ἐστὶ τὴν περίμετρον σταδίων ἡ νῆσος ἅπασα καὶ ἀλίμενος πλὴν ὑφόρμων, ὧν ὁ κάλλιστος Ἱστοὶ λέγονται· ἄκρα δʼ ἐστὶν ἀνατείνουσα πρὸς ζέφυρον.
The entire island is three hundred stadia in circumference, and is harborless except for anchorages, of which the finest is called Histi; and there is a cape extending toward Zephyrus.
ἔστι δὲ καὶ Ἀρτέμιδος ἱερὸν καλούμενον Ταυροπόλιον ἐν τῇ νήσῳ καὶ πολισμάτιον Οἰνόη, καὶ ἄλλο Δράκανον ὁμώνυμον τῇ ἄκρᾳ ἐφʼ ᾗ ἵδρυται, πρόσορμον ἔχον· ἡ δὲ ἄκρα διέχει τῆς Σαμίων ἄκρας τῆς Κανθαρίου καλουμένης ὀγδοήκοντα σταδίους, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἐλάχιστον δίαρμα τὸ μεταξύ.
There is also a temple of Artemis called Tauropolium on the island, and a small town Oenoe, and another town Dracanum, of the same name as the cape on which it is situated, having an anchorage; and the cape is eighty stadia distant from the cape of the Samians called Cantharius, which is the shortest crossing between them.
νυνὶ μέντοι λιπανδροῦσαν Σάμιοι νέμονται τὰ πολλὰ βοσκημάτων χάριν.
Now, however, the Samians hold it, though it is thin of population, mostly for the sake of their herds.