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Polybius · The Histories §30.10.1-30.10.6

Aemilius' Tour of Greece and Awe of the Olympian Zeus

Passage 1152 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

Lucius Aemilius completes the unfinished pillars left by Perseus of Macedon, visits several Greek cities, and is profoundly awed by the magnificent statue of Zeus at Olympia.

§30.10.1ἐξ ὧν μάλιστα κατίδοι τις ἂν ἅμα τὴν ὀξύτητα καὶ τὴν ἀβεβαιότητα τῆς τύχης, ὅταν ἃ μάλιστʼ ἄν τις αὑτοῦ χάριν οἴηται διαπονεῖν, ταῦτα παρὰ πόδας εὑρίσκηται τοῖς ἐχθροῖς κατασκευάζων·
From these things one might especially perceive at once the swiftness and the instability of fortune, when those things which one thinks he is laboring for especially for his own sake, these very things he is found immediately preparing for his enemies.
§30.10.2κίονας γὰρ κατεσκεύαζε Περσεύς, καὶ ταύτας καταλαβὼν ἀτελεῖς Λεύκιος Αἰμίλιος ἐτελείωσε καὶ τὰς ἰδίας εἰκόνας ἐπέστησεν. —
For Perseus was preparing pillars, and Lucius Aemilius, having found them unfinished, completed them and set up his own statues upon them.
§30.10.3ὁ δὲ θαυμάσας τὴν τῆς πόλεως θέσιν καὶ τὴν τῆς ἀκροπόλεως εὐκαιρίαν πρός τε τοὺς ἐντὸς Ἰσθμοῦ καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἐκτὸς ἀπολαμβανομένους τόπους. —
And he, having admired the situation of the city and the advantageous position of the acropolis with respect to the places shut off both within and without the Isthmus.
§30.10.4Ἐπισημηνάμενος δὲ τοῦ Σικυῶνος τὴν ὀχυρότητα καὶ τὸ βάρος τῆς τῶν Ἀργείων πόλεως ἦλθεν εἰς Ἐπίδαυρον. —
And having noted the strength of Sicyon and the importance of the city of the Argives, he went to Epidaurus.
§30.10.5πάλαι μετέωρος ὢν πρὸς τὴν τῆς Ὀλυμπίας θέαν ὥρμησε. — Πολύβιος·
Having long since been eager for the sight of Olympia, he set out.
§30.10.6Λεύκιος Αἰμίλιος παρῆν εἰς τὸ τέμενος τὸ ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ, καὶ τὸ ἄγαλμα θεασάμενος ἐξεπλάγη καὶ τοσοῦτον εἶπεν ὅτι μόνος αὐτῷ δοκεῖ Φειδίας τὸν παρʼ Ὁμήρῳ Δία μεμιμῆσθαι, διότι μεγάλην ἔχων προσδοκίαν τῆς Ὀλυμπίας μείζω τῆς προσδοκίας εὑρηκὼς εἴη τὴν ἀλήθειαν. —
Polybius: Lucius Aemilius was present at the sacred precinct in Olympia, and having gazed upon the statue, he was struck with awe and said only this: that Phidias alone seemed to him to have imitated the Zeus of Homer, because, though having great expectation of Olympia, he had found the reality to be greater than his expectation.

Notes

  1. 30.10.1παρὰ πόδας — An adverbial idiom meaning 'immediately' or 'at once', derived from the literal 'at one's feet'. Here it emphasizes the ironical speed of fortune, where what is prepared for oneself is 'immediately' delivered to enemies.
  2. 30.10.3ὁ δὲ θαυμάσας — Since this passage is preserved as a fragment, it lacks a finite main verb to complete the sentence, leaving only the participle (θαυμάσας). The subject 'ὁ δέ' refers to Lucius Aemilius, continued from the previous section.
  3. 30.10.6εὑρηκὼς εἴη — A perfect active optative in periphrastic form (perfect participle combined with the present optative of εἰμί). In the subordinate clause (the διότι clause) introduced by a historical main verb (εἶπεν), the indicative perfect (εὕρηκε) is changed to the optative of indirect discourse.

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §30.10.1-30.10.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:30.10.1-30.10.6

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