§4.9.1τοῖς δὲ Μεσσηνίοις μετὰ τὴν μάχην πονηρὰ γίνεσθαι τὰ πράγματα ἤρχετο· δαπάνῃ τε γὰρ χρημάτων ἀπειρήκεσαν, ἃ τῶν πόλεων ἀνήλισκον ἐς τὰς φρουράς, καὶ οἱ δοῦλοι παρὰ τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους ηὐτομόλουν, τοῖς δὲ καὶ νόσος ἐνέπεσε καὶ ταραχὰς μὲν παρέσχεν ὡς εἴη λοιμώδης, οὐ μὴν ἐς ἅπαντάς γε ἐχώρησεν.
But for the Messenians after the battle, their affairs began to go badly; for they were exhausted by the expenditure of money, which they spent from the cities on the garrisons, and their slaves were deserting to the Lacedaemonians, and disease also fell upon them, which caused confusion as if it were a plague, though indeed it did not spread to everyone.
βουλευομένοις δὲ πρὸς τὰ παρόντα ἐδόκει τὰ μὲν πολλὰ πολίσματα τὰ ἐς μεσόγαιαν πάντα ἐκλείπειν, ἐς δὲ τὸ ὄρος ἀνοικίζεσθαι τὴν Ἰθώμην.
So, as they deliberated in view of the present circumstances, it seemed best to abandon all the small towns, mostly those in the interior, and to migrate up to Mount Ithome.
§4.9.2ἦν δὲ καὶ πόλισμα αὐτόθι οὐ μέγα, ὃ καὶ Ὅμηρόν φασιν ἔχειν ἐν καταλόγῳ· "
καὶ Ἰθώμην κλιμακόεσσαν.
And there was also a small town there, which they say Homer also includes in his catalogue: "and rocky Ithome.
"
ἐς τοῦτο τὸ πόλισμα ἀνῳκίζοντο, ἐπεκτείνοντες τὸν ἀρχαῖον περίβολον ἔρυμα εἶναι πᾶσιν αὔταρκες.
"To this small town they migrated, extending the ancient circuit wall to be a self-sufficient defense for all.
ἦν δὲ τὸ χωρίον καὶ ἄλλως ἐχυρόν· ἡ γὰρ Ἰθώμη μεγέθει τε οὐδενὸς ἀποδεῖ τῶν ὀρῶν ὁπόσα ἐντός ἐστιν ἰσθμοῦ καὶ δύσβατος κατὰ τοῦτο μάλιστα ἦν.
And the place was also otherwise strong; for Ithome is inferior in size to none of the mountains within the Isthmus, and was particularly difficult of access in this respect.
§4.9.3ἐδόκει δὲ καὶ θεωρὸν πέμψαι σφίσιν ἐς Δελφούς.
It also seemed best to them to send a sacred envoy to Delphi.
ἀποστέλλουσιν οὖν Τῖσιν τὸν Ἄλκιδος, καὶ ἀξιώματι οὐδενὸς ὕστερον καὶ ὅτι προσκεῖσθαι μαντικῇ μάλιστα ἐνομίζετο.
So they dispatched Tisis, the son of Alcidas, who was second to none in reputation and because he was considered to be most devoted to the prophetic art.
τοῦτον τὸν Τῖσιν ἐπανιόντα ἐκ Δελφῶν λοχῶσιν ἄνδρες Λακεδαιμονίων ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν Ἀμφείᾳ φρουρᾶς· λοχήσαντες δὲ—οὐ γὰρ ὑπεῖκεν αἰχμάλωτος γενέσθαι— περιμένοντα οὖν ἀμύνεσθαι καὶ ἀνθεστηκότα ἐτίτρωσκον, ἐς ὃ γίνεται βοή σφισιν ἐξ ἀφανοῦς “τὸν χρησμοφόρον μέθες. ” §4.9.4καὶ Τῖσις μὲν ὡς ἀπεσώθη τάχιστα ἐς Ἰθώμην καὶ τὴν μαντείαν παρὰ τὸν βασιλέα ἀνήνεγκε, μετʼ οὐ πολὺ ὑπὸ τῶν τραυμάτων τελευτᾷ· τοὺς δὲ Μεσσηνίους συναθροίσας ὁ Εὐφαὴς ἐπεδείκνυ τὸν χρησμόν· "
κόρην ἄχραντον νερτέροισι δαίμοσι,
κλήρῳ λαχοῦσαν Αἰπυτιδῶν ἀφʼ αἵματος,
θυηπολεῖτε νυκτέροισιν ἐν σφαγαῖς.
While this Tisis was returning from Delphi, men of the Lacedaemonians from the garrison in Ampheia lay in wait for him; and having ambushed him—for he did not submit to being taken prisoner—they wounded him as he stood his ground and defended himself, until a shout came to them from an unseen source, "Let the oracle-bearer go." And Tisis, having escaped as quickly as possible to Ithome and brought the oracle to the king, died not long after from his wounds; and Euphaes, having assembled the Messenians, showed them the oracle: "A pure maiden to the gods of the underworld, allotted by lot from the blood of the Aepytidae, sacrifice in nightly slaughter.
ἢν δὲ σφαλῆτε, καὶ παρʼ ἀλλοίου τότε
θύειν, διδόντος ἐς σφαγὴν ἑκουσίως. "
But if you fail, then sacrifice from another, who gives himself willingly for slaughter.
§4.9.5ταῦτα τοῦ θεοῦ δηλώσαντος αὐτίκα ἐκληροῦντο ὅσαι παρθένοι τοῦ Αἰπυτιδῶν γένους ἦσαν· καὶ ἐπελάμβανε γὰρ Λυκίσκου θυγατέρα ὁ κλῆρος, ταύτην Ἐπήβολος ὁ μάντις ἀπηγόρευεν ὡς οὐ δέοι θύειν, οὐ γὰρ εἶναι Λυκίσκου· τὴν δὲ γυναῖκα ἣ Λυκίσκῳ συνῴκησεν, ὡς τεκεῖν οὔκουν οἵα τε ἦν, τὴν παῖδα ὑποβαλέσθαι.
"When the god had declared this, they immediately cast lots for all the maidens who were of the family of the Aepytidae; and when the lot fell upon the daughter of Lyciscus, Epebolus the seer forbade her sacrifice, saying that she was not the daughter of Lyciscus, but that the woman who lived with Lyciscus, since she was unable to bear children, had passed off the child as her own.
ἐν ὅσῳ δὲ οὗτος ἀνεδίδασκε τὰ ἐς αὐτήν, ἐν τοσῷδε ὁ Λυκίσκος ἀπαγόμενος ἅμα καὶ τὴν παρθένον ηὐτομόλησεν ἐς Σπάρτην.
While he was explaining the matters concerning her, Lyciscus, taking the maiden with him, deserted to Sparta.
§4.9.6ἐχόντων δὲ ἀθύμως τῶν Μεσσηνίων ὡς Λυκίσκον ἀποδράντα ᾔσθοντο, ἐνταῦθά σφισιν Ἀριστόδημος ἀνὴρ καὶ γένους τοῦ Αἰπυτιδῶν καὶ Λυκίσκου τῇ τε ἄλλῃ δόξῃ καὶ τὰ ἐς πόλεμον ἐπιφανέστερος ἐδίδου τὴν θυγατέρα ἑκὼν θῦσαι.
When the Messenians were disheartened upon perceiving that Lyciscus had fled, Aristodemus, a man of the lineage of the Aepytidae, and more prominent than Lyciscus in general reputation and in matters of war, offered to give his own daughter willingly for sacrifice.
τὰ δὲ ἀνθρώπων καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα τὸ πρόθυμον ἡ πεπρωμένη κατὰ ταὐτὰ ἐπικρύπτει καὶ εἰ ψηφῖδα ἐπιλαβοῦσα ἰλὺς ποταμοῦ, ὅπου καὶ τότε Ἀριστοδήμῳ διασώσασθαι Μεσσήνην ἀγώνισμα ποιουμένῳ ἐμπόδιον ἐπήγαγε τοιόνδε.
But fate conceals the affairs of men, and not least their eagerness, in the same way as the mud of a river covers a pebble; where indeed even then, to Aristodemus who was striving to save Messene, it brought such an obstacle as follows.
§4.9.7ἀνὴρ τῶν Μεσσηνίων—τὸ δὲ ὄνομα οὐ λέγουσιν—ἐρῶν ἔτυχε τοῦ Ἀριστοδήμου τῆς θυγατρός, τότε δὲ ἤδη ἔμελλε καὶ γυναῖκα ἄξεσθαι.
A certain man of the Messenians—they do not tell his name—happened to be in love with the daughter of Aristodemus, and at that time was already about to take her as his wife.
οὗτος κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν ἐς ἀμφισβήτησιν Ἀριστοδήμῳ προῆλθεν, ἐκεῖνον μὲν ἐγγυήσαντά οἱ μηκέτι εἶναι κύριον τῆς παιδός, αὐτὸς δὲ ἐγγυησάμενος κυριώτερος ἐκείνου γίνεσθαι.
At first, this man entered into a dispute with Aristodemus, claiming that since Aristodemus had betrothed her to him, he was no longer lord of the girl, and that he himself, having betrothed her, had greater authority over her than the father.
δεύτερα δὲ ὡς τοῦτο οὐχ ἑώρα οἱ κατορθούμενον, ἐπʼ ἀναίσχυντον τρέπεται λόγον· §4.9.8ξυγγενέσθαι τε τῇ παιδὶ καὶ κύειν ἐξ αὐτοῦ.
But secondly, when he saw that this was not succeeding for him, he turned to a shameless story: that he had slept with the girl and that she was pregnant by him.
τέλος δὲ ἐς τοσοῦτον Ἀριστόδημον προήγαγεν ὡς ἐκμανέντα ὑπὸ τοῦ θυμοῦ τὴν θυγατέρα ἀποκτεῖναι· μετὰ δὲ ἀνέτεμνε καὶ ἐπεδείκνυεν αὐτὴν οὐκ ἔχουσαν ἐν γαστρί.
Finally, he drove Aristodemus to such a point that, driven mad by anger, he killed his daughter; and afterwards he cut her open and showed that she was not with child.
παρὼν δὲ Ἐπήβολος ἐκέλευεν ἄλλον τινὰ τὸν θυγατέρα ἐπιδώσοντα γενέσθαι· τῆς γὰρ τοῦ Ἀριστοδήμου πλέον εἶναί σφισιν ἀποθανούσης οὐδέν· φονεῦσαι γὰρ τὸν πατέρα αὐτήν, θεοῖς δὲ οἷς ἡ Πυθία προσέταξεν οὐ θῦσαι.
But Epebolus, who was present, ordered that someone else should be the one to give his daughter; for they had gained nothing more by the death of the daughter of Aristodemus, since her father had slain her, and they had not sacrificed her to the gods whom the Pythia had commanded.
§4.9.9τοιαῦτα εἰπόντος τοῦ μάντεως τὸ πλῆθος τῶν Μεσσηνίων ὥρμησεν ἀποκτενοῦντες τὸν μνηστῆρα τῆς παιδός, ὡς Ἀριστοδήμῳ τε μίασμα εἰκαῖον προσάψαντα καὶ σφίσι τῆς σωτηρίας τὴν ἐλπίδα ἀμφίβολον πεποιηκότα.
When the seer spoke thus, the multitude of the Messenians rushed to kill the suitor of the girl, on the grounds that he had attached a baseless pollution to Aristodemus and had made the hope of their salvation doubtful.
ἢν δὲ ὁ ἀνὴρ οὗτος ἐς τὰ μάλιστα τῷ Εὐφαεῖ φίλος· πείθει οὖν τοὺς Μεσσηνίους Εὐφαὴς τόν τε χρησμὸν ἔχειν τέλος ἀποθανούσης τῆς παιδὸς καὶ σφίσιν ἀποχρᾶν τὰ ὑπὸ Ἀριστοδήμου πεποιημένα.
But this man happened to be a very close friend to Euphaes; Euphaes therefore persuaded the Messenians that they had the fulfillment of the oracle through the death of the girl, and that what had been done by Aristodemus was sufficient for them.
§4.9.10λέγοντος δὲ ταῦτα ἔφασαν τὰ ὄντα λέγειν ὅσοι τοῦ Αἰπυτιδῶν γένους ἦσαν· ἀπεῖναι γάρ σφισι τὸ δέος τὸ ἐπὶ τῇ θυγατρὶ ἕκαστος ἔσπευδε.
And when he said this, all those of the family of the Aepytidae said that he spoke the truth; for each was eager to be free of the fear concerning his own daughter.
καὶ οἱ μὲν τοῦ βασιλέως τῇ παραινέσει πειθόμενοι τὴν ἐκκλησίαν διαλύουσι καὶ ἀπʼ αὐτῆς πρός τε θυσίας θεῶν καὶ ἑορτὴν τρέπονται·
And they, obeying the advice of the king, dissolved the assembly, and turned from it to sacrifices to the gods and a festival.