§27#2Οἱ δὲ ταῦτα ἀκούσαντες καὶ ἐλθόντες ἐς Κῶ, τὰ μαντευθέντα ἀπήγγειλαν· ἀπορεύντων δὲ τῶν Κώων καὶ ἀγνοεύντων τὸ μάντευμα, ἀνέστη ἀνὴρ, γένος μὲν Ἀσκληπιάδης, πρόγονος δὲ ἡμέτερος, ἰητρὸς δὲ Ἑλλήνων κράτιστος ὁμολογούμενος τῶν τότε, ὄνομά οἱ ἦν Νεβρὸς, ὅστις ὀνομαστὶ ἔφη τὸ θέσφατον ἥκειν πρὸς ἑωυτόν·
And having heard this, they went to Cos and announced the oracle; and when the Coans were at a loss and ignorant of the oracle's meaning, a man stood up, by family an Asclepiad, an ancestor of ours, and acknowledged as the best physician among the Greeks of that time, whose name was Nebros, who said that the oracle had come to himself by name.
εἴπερ ὁ θεὸς οὕτω παρῄνεσεν ὑμῖν, ἐλθόντας ἐς Κῶ ἐλάφου παῖδα ἐς ἐπικουρίην ἀγαγεῖν·
"If indeed the god so advised you, to go to Cos and bring the 'child of a deer' for help.
Κὼς μὲν γὰρ αὐτὴ, τὰ δὲ ἐλάφων ἔκγονα νεβροὶ καλέονται, Νεβρὸς δέ μοι οὔνομα, ἐπικουρίη δ’ ἂν ἄλλη τίς·
For Cos is itself here, and the offspring of deer are called nebri, and my name is Nebros.
προτέρα γένοιτο στρατοπέδῳ νοσέοντι ἰητροῦ;
And what other help would come before that of a physician for a diseased camp?
καὶ μὴν τόδε εὐθὺ ἐχόμενον, οὐ δοκέω, ὅτι τοὺς τοσοῦτον Ἑλλήνων ὑπερέχοντας ὄλβῳ ἐξ Κῶ προελθόντας ἔταξεν ὁ θεὸς, νόμισμα χρυσοῦν αἰτεῖν· ἀλλὰ τοῦτο τὸ θέσφατον ἐς τὴν ἐμὴν οἰκίην ἔρχεται·
And furthermore, immediately following this, I do not think that the god ordered those who so greatly surpass the Greeks in wealth to go forth from Cos to demand a gold coin; rather, this oracle comes to my house.
Χρύσος γάρ μοι κεκλέαται ἀῤῥένων παίδων ὁ νεώτατος ἔστι δὲ πάντῃ καὶ ἰδέῃ καὶ ἐς ψυχὴν· ἀρετῇ, ὡς πατέρα λέγειν, διάκριτος τῶν πολιτῶν.
For my youngest of male children is called Chrysos (Gold), and he is in every way, both in appearance and in the virtue of his soul—to speak as a father—distinguished among the citizens.
Ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν, εἰ μὴ ὑμῖν ἄλλο δοκέει, αὐτός τε εἶμι καὶ τὸν παῖδα ἄξω, πεντηκόντορον πληρώσας τοῖς ἐμοῖς τέλεσιν, ὑπηρεσίας τε ἰητρικὰς καὶ πολεμικὰς, ἵνα εἰς ἀμφότερα βοηθῶμεν. Ὁ μὲν εἶπε, τοῖς δὲ ἔδοξεν, οἱ δὲ ἀπεστάλησαν.
Therefore, unless you think otherwise, I will go myself and bring my son, having equipped a fifty-oared ship at my own expense, providing both medical and military services, so that we may help in both ways." He spoke, and it seemed good to them, and they were sent.
Συνενέβησε δὲ ὁ Νεβρὸς οὗτος καὶ Καλυδώνιον ἄνδρα παρ’ ἑωυτέῳ τρεφόμενον, ὑπὲρ οὗ τὸ αὐτίκα ὁ λόγος δηλώσει, ὅταν ἡ χρῆσις ἔλθῃ.
This Nebros also embarked with him a Calydonian man who was being reared at his house, about whom the story will immediately make clear when the need arises.
Ὅτε δ’ οὖν ἀφίκοντο οὗτοι οἱ ἄνδρες οὗ τὸ στρατόπεδον ἐπετελεῖτο, ὁ θεὸς ἔχαιρεν· οἵ τε γὰρ θάνατοι τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἔληξαν, καὶ θείῃ τύχῃ ἵππου τοῦ Εὐρυλόχου, ὃς ἡγεῖτο τοῦ πολέμου Θεσσαλὸς ἐὼν καὶ ἄνωθεν ἐξ Ἡρακλειδῶν, κρούσαντος τὸν σωλῆνα τῇ ὁπλῇ, δι’ οὗ τὸ ὕδωρ ἤγετο ἐς τὸ τεῖχος, ὁκότε διακονίεσθαι ἤθελεν, Νεβρὸς φαρμάκοισιν ἐμίηνε τὸ ὕδωρ·
So when these men arrived where the camp was established, the god rejoiced; for the deaths of the soldiers ceased, and by a divine chance, when the horse of Eurylochus—who led the war, being a Thessalian and descended from Heracles—struck with its hoof the pipe through which water was led to the wall, when he wished to be served, Nebros contaminated the water with drugs.
ἔνθεν αἱ κοιλίαι τῶν Κρισαίων ἐφθάρησαν, καὶ μεγάλα δή τι ξυνεβάλετο πρὸς τὸ ἁλῶναι τὴν πόλιν· καὶ ἐντεῦθεν αἱ γνῶμαι ἐπήρθησαν τῶν πολιορκεόντων, ὡς τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπικουρέοντος ἤδη σαφῶς.
From this, the bowels of the Crisaeans were ruined, and this contributed greatly to the capture of the city; and thence the morale of the besiegers was raised, as the god was now clearly helping.
Προσβολὰς δὲ ποιευμένων καὶ ἆθλα προτιθέντων τοῖς πρώτοις ἐπὶ τὸ τεῖχος ἀναβήσασιν, ὁ ἀγὼν ἦν καρτερώτατος, καὶ ἡ πόλις ᾑρεῖτο· ἀνέβη γὰρ πρῶτος ἐπὶ τὸ τεῖχος Χρύσος καὶ κατέλαβε τὸν πύργον, ξυνείπετο δὲ αὐτέῳ ἐκ ποδὸς ξυνασπίζων ὁ ἀνὴρ ὁ Καλυδώνιος, περὶ οὗ προέλεξα.
And when they made assaults and offered prizes to the first to scale the wall, the fight was most fierce, and the city was taken; for Chrysos scaled the wall first and captured the tower, and the Calydonian man, whom I mentioned before, followed him closely, sharing his shield.
Ὁ μὲν Χρύσος δόρατι πληγεὶς ἔπεσε κατ’ ἄκρης ἐκ τοῦ πύργου ὑπὸ Μερμοδέω, τοῦ Λύκου δὲ ἀδελφεοῦ, ὃς ἀπέθανε λευσθεὶς, ὅτε ἦλθεν εἰς τὸ ἄδυτον τὸν τρίποδα συλήσων.
Chrysos, struck by a spear, fell headlong from the tower at the hands of Mermodes, the brother of Lycus, who himself died by stoning when he came to the adytum to plunder the tripod.
Ἡ δ’ οὖν πόλις οὕτως ἥλω· ἥ τε τοῦ Νεβροῦ ἐπικουρίη σὺν Χρύσῳ ὀρθῶς ἀπήντησε καὶ κατὰ τὰ ἰατρικὰ καὶ κατὰ τὰ πολεμικὰ, ὅ τε θεὸς ἠλήθευσε, καὶ ἃ ὑπέσχετο ἐποίησεν.
In this way, then, the city was taken; the help of Nebros with Chrysos met the need rightly, both in medical and in military matters, and the god proved true and performed what he had promised.
Ἐφ’ οἷς οἱ Ἀμφικτύονες τῷ μὲν Ἀπόλλωνι νηὸν ἀνέθεσαν, τὸν νῦν ἐόντα ἐν Δελφοῖς, ἀγῶνά τε γυμνικὸν καὶ ἱππικὸν πρότερον οὐ τιθέντες νῦν τιθέασι, τήν τε τῶν Κρισαίων χώρην ἅπασαν καθιέρωσαν, τῷ δόντι ἃ ἔδωκε διδόντες καθ’ ὅ τι ἔχρησε, τόν τε τοῦ Νεβροῦ παῖδα Χρύσον ἔθαψαν ἐν τῷ ἱπποδρόμῳ, καὶ ξυνέταξαν δημοσίῃ Δελφοὺς ἐναγίζειν·
On these accounts, the Amphictyons dedicated to Apollo the temple which is now in Delphi, and established the gymnastic and equestrian contests which they did not hold before, and dedicated all the land of the Crisaeans, giving back what they gave to the giver according to what he had decreed, and buried Nebros' son Chrysos in the hippodrome, and ordered the Delphians to perform sacrifices to him publicly.
Ἀσκληπιάδαις δὲ τοῖς ἐν Κῷ ἐδόθη Νεβροῦ χάριτι προμυθίη πρὸς μαντείην, καθάπερ τοῖσιν ἱερομνήμοσι, Καλυδωνίοις δὲ ἀπ’ ἐκείνου τοῦ ἀνδρὸς καὶ ἐκείνης τῆς ὑπουργίης καὶ νῦν ἐν Δελφοῖς προμαντείη καὶ αἰεισιτίη δέδοται.
And to the Asclepiads in Cos, on account of Nebros, was given the right to consult the oracle first, just as to the sacred recorders; and to the Calydonians, from that man and that service, is given even now in Delphi the right to consult the oracle first and lifetime dining rights.
Ἀλλ’ ἐπάνειμι ἐπὶ τὰ ἡμέτερα· ὅτι γὰρ ἀληθέα λέγω, τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ ἐμεῦ ἐπελθόντων, Ἀμφικτύονες ἀνενεώσαντο ταῦτα καὶ ἀπέδοσαν, καὶ ἐν στήλῃ ἀναγράψαντες ἐν Δελφοῖς ἀνέθεσαν.
But I will return to our own affairs; for that I speak the truth, when my father and I went there, the Amphictyons renewed and restored these things, and having inscribed them on a stele, dedicated it in Delphi.
Καὶ τούτου μέν μοι τοῦ λόγου τέλος· ἐνταῦθα καθαρῶς δείκνυσιν τοὺς ἡμετέρους προγόνους ὑμέων εὐεργέτας.
And this is the end of this story for me; here it clearly shows our ancestors as your benefactors.
Τοῦτον δὲ καθέμενος, ἄλλον αἱρήσομαι περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν, οὐ τὸν αὐτόν· ὅτε γὰρ βασιλεὺς ὁ μέγας ξὺν Πέρσαισι καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις βαρβάροις ἐστράτευσεν ἐπὶ τοὺς μὴ διδόντας ὕδωρ καὶ γῆν Ἑλλήνων, ἡ πατρὶς ἡ ἡμετέρη εἵλετο μᾶλλον πανδημεὶ ἀπολέσθαι, ὡς μὴ καθ’ ὑμέων τε καὶ τῶν ταὐτὰ ὑμῖν γινωσκόντων ὅπλα πολέμια λάβῃ καὶ ἐν νεῦσι στρατείην ἀποστείλῃ, ἀλλ’ ἀνένευσε καλόν τι καὶ ἄξιον τῶν πατέρων μεγαλοφρονευμένη, οἳ λέγονται γηγενέες τε εἶναι καὶ Ἡρακλεῖδαι.
Setting this story aside, I will choose another on the same subject, yet not the same: for when the Great King with the Persians and other barbarians campaigned against those of the Greeks who did not give water and earth, our homeland chose rather to perish utterly as a whole people than to take up hostile arms against you and those who share your sentiments, and to send an expedition in ships; instead, carrying herself high, she refused in a noble manner worthy of her fathers, who are said to be earthborn and descendants of Heracles.