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Polybius · The Histories §12.5.1-12.5.11

Defense of Aristotle's Account on the Origin of Locri

Passage 741 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

Polybius mentions his own political services to the city of Epizephyrian Locri, and then argues that Aristotle's account of the colony's origins (noble lineage derived from women) is more accurate than that of Timaeus, proving it through Locrian customs such as the 'Hundred Houses' and the office of the 'cup-bearer'.

§12.5.1ἐμοὶ δὴ συμβαίνει καὶ παραβεβληκέναι πλεονάκις εἰς τὴν τῶν Λοκρῶν πόλιν καὶ παρεσχῆσθαι χρείας αὐτοῖς ἀναγκαίας·
Indeed, it has been my lot to visit the city of the Locrians on several occasions and to render them essential services.
§12.5.2καὶ γὰρ τῆς εἰς Ἰβηρίαν στρατείας αὐτοὺς παραλυθῆναι συνέβη διʼ ἐμὲ καὶ τῆς εἰς Δαλματεῖς, ἣν ὤφειλον κατὰ θάλατταν ἐκπέμπειν Ῥωμαίοις κατὰ τὰς συνθήκας.
For it was through my influence that they happened to be exempted from the campaign to Iberia, and also from that against the Dalmatians, which they were bound under treaty to send by sea to the Romans.
§12.5.3ἐξ ὧν καὶ κακοπαθείας καὶ κινδύνου καὶ δαπάνης ἱκανῆς τινος ἀπολυθέντες πᾶσιν ἡμᾶς ἠμείψαντο τοῖς τιμίοις καὶ φιλανθρώποις· διόπερ ὀφείλω μᾶλλον εὐλογεῖν Λοκροὺς ἢ τοὐναντίον.
Having been relieved by these means of considerable hardship, danger, and expense, they repaid us with every kind of honor and kindness; wherefore I am bound to speak well of the Locrians rather than the contrary.
§12.5.4ἀλλʼ ὅμως οὐκ ὤκνησα καὶ λέγειν καὶ γράφειν ὅτι τὴν ὑπʼ Ἀριστοτέλους παραδιδομένην ἱστορίαν περὶ τῆς ἀποικίας ἀληθινωτέραν εἶναι συμβαίνει τῆς ὑπὸ Τιμαίου λεγομένης.
Nevertheless, I did not hesitate to say and to write that the history of the colony handed down by Aristotle is more truthful than that told by Timaeus.
§12.5.5σύνοιδα γὰρ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὁμολογοῦσιν ὅτι παραδόσιμος αὐτοῖς ἐστιν αὕτη περὶ τῆς ἀποικίας ἡ φήμη παρὰ πατέρων, ἣν Ἀριστοτέλης εἴρηκεν, οὐ Τίμαιος.
For I know that the people themselves admit that this tradition concerning the colony, which Aristotle has recorded and not Timaeus, is the one handed down to them from their fathers.
καὶ τούτων γε τοιαύτας ἔφερον ἀποδείξεις.
And of this they adduced the following proofs.
§12.5.6πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι πάντα τὰ διὰ προγόνων ἔνδοξα παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν γυναικῶν, οὐκ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἐστιν, οἷον εὐθέως εὐγενεῖς παρὰ σφίσι νομίζεσθαι τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ἑκατὸν οἰκιῶν λεγομένους· §12.5.7ταύτας δʼ εἶναι τὰς ἑκατὸν οἰκίας τὰς προκριθείσας ὑπὸ τῶν Λοκρῶν πρὶν ἢ τὴν ἀποικίαν ἐξελθεῖν, ἐξ ὧν ἔμελλον οἱ Λοκροὶ κατὰ τὸν χρησμὸν κληροῦν τὰς ἀποσταλησομένας παρθένους εἰς Ἴλιον.
First, that all noble distinctions inherited from their ancestors among them are derived from women and not from men; as, for instance, those are immediately considered noble among them who are said to belong to the "Hundred Houses"; and that these hundred houses were those selected by the Locrians before the colony set out, from which the Locrians were, in accordance with the oracle, to choose by lot the virgins to be sent to Ilium.
§12.5.8τούτων δή τινας τῶν γυναικῶν συνεξᾶραι μετὰ τῆς ἀποικίας, ὧν τοὺς ἀπογόνους ἔτι νῦν εὐγενεῖς νομίζεσθαι καὶ καλεῖσθαι τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ἑκατὸν οἰκιῶν. §12.5.9πάλιν ὑπὲρ τῆς φιαληφόρου παρʼ αὐτοῖς λεγομένης τοιαύτη τις ἱστορία παραδέδοτο, §12.5.10διότι καθʼ ὃν καιρὸν τοὺς Σικελοὺς ἐκβάλοιεν τοὺς κατασχόντας τὸν τόπον τοῦτον τῆς Ἰταλίας, ὧν καὶ ταῖς θυσίαις προηγεῖτο τῶν ἐνδοξοτάτων καὶ τῶν εὐγενεστάτων ὑπάρχων παῖς, αὐτοὶ καὶ πλείω τῶν Σικελικῶν ἐθῶν παραλαβόντες διὰ τὸ μηδὲν αὐτοῖς πάτριον ὑπάρχειν καὶ τοῦτο διαφυλάττοιεν ἀπʼ ἐκείνων, §12.5.11αὐτὸ δὲ τοῦτο διορθώσαιντο, τὸ μὴ παῖδα ποιεῖν ἐξ αὑτῶν τὸν φιαληφόρον, ἀλλὰ παρθένον, διὰ τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν γυναικῶν εὐγένειαν.
Indeed, some of the women belonging to these houses accompanied the colony, and their descendants are still considered noble and are called those of the "Hundred Houses." Again, concerning the female official called among them the "Cup-bearer," some such tradition was handed down: that at the time when they expelled the Sicels who had occupied this part of Italy, in whose sacrifices a boy belonging to the most illustrious and noble families used to lead the procession, they themselves, having adopted most of the Sicel customs because they had no ancestral ones of their own, kept up this practice also from them, but corrected this very point, that they should not make a boy from among themselves the cup-bearer, but a virgin, on account of the nobility derived from women.

Notes

  1. 12.5.2τῆς εἰς Ἰβηρίαν στρατείας αὐτοὺς παραλυθῆναι συνέβη — The accusative with infinitive clause 'αὐτοὺς παραλυθῆναι' functions as the subject of the impersonal verb 'συνέβη' ('it happened that'). The infinitive 'παραλυθῆναι' (passive of 'παραλύω', 'to release, exempt') governs the genitive 'τῆς ... στρατείας' ('from the campaign'), meaning 'it happened that they were exempted from the campaign'.
  2. 12.5.5σύνοιδα γὰρ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὁμολογοῦσιν — The verb 'σύνοιδα' ('to know with, be conscious') here takes a dative noun 'τοῖς ἀνθρώποις' and a dative participle 'ὁμολογοῦσιν' to mean 'I know that the people admit' or 'I am aware of the people admitting.' This is a standard construction where the person and their action/state are expressed in the dative.
  3. 12.5.10τῶν ἐνδοξοτάτων καὶ τῶν εὐγενεστάτων ὑπάρχων παῖς — The present participle 'ὑπάρχων' (nominative masculine singular of 'ὑπάρχω') modifies the subject 'παῖς' (a boy). When 'ὑπάρχω' governs a genitive ('τῶν ἐνδοξοτάτων...'), it means 'to belong to' or 'to be of the class of.' Thus, the phrase means 'a boy belonging to the most illustrious and noble families'.

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §12.5.1-12.5.11. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:12.5.1-12.5.11

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