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The History of Herodotus: Page 03
Volume One - Book I
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34. After Solon had departed, a great retribution from God came upon
Crœsus, probably because he judged himself to be the happiest of all
men. First there came and stood by him a dream, which showed to him
the truth of the evils that were about to come to pass in respect of
his son. Now Crœsus had two sons, of whom one was deficient, seeing
that he was deaf and dumb, while the other far surpassed his
companions of the same age in all things: and the name of this last
was Atys. As regards this Atys then, the dream signified to Crœsus
that he should lose him by the blow of an iron spear-point:[35] and
when he rose up from sleep and considered the matter with himself, he
was struck with fear on account of the dream; and first he took for
his son a wife; and whereas his son had been wont to lead the armies
of the Lydians, he now no longer sent him forth anywhere on any such
business; and the javelins and lances and all such things which men
use for fighting he conveyed out of the men's apartments and piled
them up in the inner bed-chambers, for fear lest something hanging up
might fall down upon his son.
35. Then while he was engaged about the
marriage of his son, there came to Sardis a man under a misfortune and
with hands not clean, a Phrygian by birth and of the royal house. This
man came to the house of Crœsus, and according to the customs which
prevail in that land made request that he might have cleansing; and
Crœsus gave him cleansing: now the manner of cleansing among the
Lydians is the same almost as that which the Hellenes use. So when
Crœsus had done that which was customary, he asked of him whence he
came and who he was, saying as follows: "Man, who art thou, and from
what region of Phrygia didst thou come to sit upon my hearth? And whom
of men or women didst thou slay?"
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And he replied: "O king, I am the son of Gordias, the son of Midas, and I am called Adrastos; and I slew
my own brother against my will, and therefore am I here, having been
driven forth by my father and deprived of all that I had." And Crœsus
answered thus: "Thou art, as it chances, the offshoot of men who are
our friends and thou hast come to friends, among whom thou shalt want
of nothing so long as thou shalt remain in our land: and thou wilt
find it most for thy profit to bear this misfortune as lightly as may
be." So he had his abode with Crœsus.[36]
36. During this time there was produced in the Mysian Olympos a boar
of monstrous size. This, coming down from the mountain aforesaid,
ravaged the fields of the Mysians, and although the Mysians went out
against it often, yet they could do it no hurt, but rather received
hurt themselves from it; so at length messengers came from the Mysians
to Crœsus and said: "O king, there has appeared in our land a boar of
monstrous size, which lays waste our fields; and we, desiring eagerly
to take it, are not able: now therefore we ask of thee to send with us
thy son and also a chosen band of young men with dogs, that we may
destroy it out of our land." Thus they made request, and Crœsus
calling to mind the words of the dream spoke to them as follows: "As
touching my son, make no further mention of him in this matter; for I
will not send him with you, seeing that he is newly married and is
concerned now with the affairs of his marriage: but I will send with
you chosen men of the Lydians and the whole number of my hunting dogs,
and I will give command to those who go, to be as zealous as may be in
helping you to destroy the wild beast out of your land."
37. Thus he made reply, and while the Mysians were being contented
with this answer, there came in also the son of Crœsus, having heard
of the request made by the Mysians: and when Crœsus said that he would
not send his son with them, the young man spoke as follows: "My
father, in times past the fairest and most noble part was allotted to
us, to go out continually to wars and to the chase and so have good
repute; but now thou hast debarred me from both of these, although
thou hast not observed in me any cowardly or faint-hearted spirit. And
now with what face must I appear when I go to and from the market-
place of the city? What kind of a man shall I be esteemed by the
citizens, and what kind of a man shall I be esteemed by my newly-
married wife? With what kind of a husband will she think that she is
mated? Therefore either let me go to the hunt, or persuade me by
reason that these things are better for me done as now they are."
38.
And Crœsus made answer thus: "My son, not because I have observed in
thee any spirit of cowardice or any other ungracious thing, do I act
thus; but a vision of a dream came and stood by me in my sleep and
told me that thou shouldest be short-lived, and that thou shouldest
perish by a spear-point of iron. With thought of this vision therefore
I both urged on this marriage for thee, and I refuse now to send thee
upon the matter which is being taken in hand, having a care of thee
that I may steal thee from thy fate at least for the period of my own
life, if by any means possible for me to do so. For thou art, as it
chances, my only son: the other I do not reckon as one, seeing that he
is deficient in hearing."
39. The young man made answer thus: "It may
well be forgiven in thee, O my father, that thou shouldest have a care
of me after having seen such a vision; but that which thou dost not
understand, and in which the meaning of the dream has escaped thee, it
is right that I should expound to thee. Thou sayest the dream declared
that I should end my life by means of a spear-point of iron: but what
hands has a boar, or what spear-point of iron, of which thou art
afraid? If the dream had told thee that I should end my life by a
tusk, or any other thing which resembles that, it would be right for
thee doubtless to do as thou art doing; but it said 'by a spear-
point.' Since therefore our fight will not be with men, let me now
go."
40. Crœsus made answer: "My son, thou dost partly prevail with me
by declaring thy judgment about the dream; therefore, having been
prevailed upon by thee, I change my resolution and allow thee to go to
the chase."
41. Having thus said Crœsus went to summon Adrastos the Phrygian; and
when he came, he addressed him thus: "Adrastos, when thou wast struck
with a grievous misfortune (with which I reproach thee not), I
cleansed thee, and I have received thee into my house supplying all
thy costs. Now therefore, since having first received kindness from me
thou art bound to requite me with kindness, I ask of thee to be the
protector of my son who goes forth to the chase, lest any evil robbers
come upon you by the way to do you harm; and besides this thou too
oughtest to go where thou mayest become famous by thy deeds, for it
belongs to thee as an inheritance from thy fathers so to do, and
moreover thou hast strength for it."
42. Adrastos made answer: "O
king, but for this I should not have been going to any such contest of
valour; for first it is not fitting that one who is suffering such a
great misfortune as mine should seek the company of his fellows who
are in prosperity, and secondly I have no desire for it; and for many
reasons I should have kept myself away. But now, since thou art urgent
with me, and I ought to gratify thee (for I am bound to requite thee
with kindness), I am ready to do this: expect therefore that thy son,
whom thou commandest me to protect, will return home to thee unhurt,
so far as his protector may avail to keep him safe."
43. When he had
made answer to Crœsus in words like these, they afterwards set forth
provided with chosen young men and with dogs. And when they were come
to Mount Olympos, they tracked the animal; and having found it and
taken their stand round in a circle, they were hurling against it
their spears. Then the guest, he who had been cleansed of
manslaughter, whose name was Adrastos, hurling a spear at it missed
the boar and struck the son of Crœsus. So he being struck by the
spear-point fulfilled the saying of the dream. And one ran to report
to Crœsus that which had come to pass, and having come to Sardis he
signified to him of the combat and of the fate of his son.
44. And Crœsus was very greatly disturbed by the death of his son, and was
much the more moved to complaining by this, namely that his son was
slain by the man whom he had himself cleansed of manslaughter. And
being grievously troubled by the misfortune he called upon Zeus the
Cleanser, protesting to him that which he had suffered from his guest,
and he called moreover upon the Protector of Suppliants[37] and the
Guardian of Friendship,[38] naming still the same god, and calling
upon him as the Protector of Suppliants because when he received the
guest into his house he had been fostering ignorantly the slayer of
his son, and as the Guardian of Friendship because having sent him as
a protector he had found him the worst of foes.
45. After this the Lydians came bearing the corpse, and behind it followed the slayer:
and he taking his stand before the corpse delivered himself up to
Crœsus, holding forth his hands and bidding the king slay him over the
corpse, speaking of his former misfortune and saying that in addition
to this he had now been the destroyer of the man who had cleansed him
of it; and that life for him was no more worth living. But Crœsus
hearing this pitied Adrastos, although he was himself suffering so
great an evil of his own, and said to him: "Guest, I have already
received from thee all the satisfaction that is due, seeing that thou
dost condemn thyself to suffer death; and not thou alone art the cause
of this evil, except in so far as thou wert the instrument of it
against thine own will, but some one, as I suppose, of the gods, who
also long ago signified to me that which was about to be." So Crœsus
buried his son as was fitting: but Adrastos the son of Gordias, the
son of Midas, he who had been the slayer of his own brother and the
slayer also of the man who had cleansed him, when silence came of all
men round about the tomb, recognising that he was more grievously
burdened by misfortune than all men of whom he knew, slew himself upon
the grave.
46. For two years then Crœsus remained quiet in his mourning, because
he was deprived of his son: but after this period of time the
overthrowing of the rule of Astyages the son of Kyaxares by Cyrus the
son of Cambyses, and the growing greatness of the Persians caused
Crœsus to cease from his mourning, and led him to a care of cutting
short the power of the Persians, if by any means he might, while yet
it was in growth and before they should have become great.
So having formed this design he began forthwith to make trial of the
Oracles, both those of the Hellenes and that in Libya, sending
messengers some to one place and some to another, some to go to
Delphi, others to Abai of the Phokians, and others to Dodona; and some
were sent to the shrine of Amphiaraos and to that of Trophonios,
others to Branchidai in the land of Miletos: these are the Oracles of
the Hellenes to which Crœsus sent messengers to seek divination; and
others he sent to the shrine of Ammon in Libya to inquire there. Now
he was sending the messengers abroad to the end that he might try the
Oracles and find out what knowledge they had, so that if they should
be found to have knowledge of the truth, he might send and ask them
secondly whether he should attempt to march against the Persians.
47.
And to the Lydians whom he sent to make trial of the Oracles he gave
charge as follows,--that from the day on which they set out from
Sardis they should reckon up the number of the days following and on
the hundredth day they should consult the Oracles, asking what Crœsus
the son of Alyattes king of the Lydians chanced then to be doing: and
whatever the Oracles severally should prophesy, this they should cause
to be written down[39] and bear it back to him. Now what the other
Oracles prophesied is not by any reported, but at Delphi, so soon as
the Lydians entered the sanctuary of the temple[40] to consult the god
and asked that which they were commanded to ask, the Pythian
prophetess spoke thus in hexameter measure:
"But the number of sand I know,[41] and the measure of drops in the ocean;
The dumb man I understand, and I hear the speech of the speechless:
And there hath come to my soul the smell of a strong-shelled tortoise
Boiling in caldron of bronze, and the flesh of a lamb mingled with it;
Under it bronze is laid, it hath bronze as a clothing upon it."
48. When the Pythian prophetess had uttered this oracle, the Lydians
caused the prophecy to be written down, and went away at once to
Sardis. And when the rest also who had been sent round were there
arrived with the answers of the Oracles, then Crœsus unfolded the
writings one by one and looked upon them: and at first none of them
pleased him, but when he heard that from Delphi, forthwith he did
worship to the god and accepted the answer,[42] judging that the
Oracle at Delphi was the only true one, because it had found out what
he himself had done. For when he had sent to the several Oracles his
messengers to consult the gods, keeping well in mind the appointed day
he contrived the following device,--he thought of something which it
would be impossible to discover or to conceive of, and cutting up a
tortoise and a lamb he boiled them together himself in a caldron of
bronze, laying a cover of bronze over them.
49. This then was the
answer given to Crœsus from Delphi; and as regards the answer of
Amphiaraos, I cannot tell what he replied to the Lydians after they
had done the things customary in his temple,[43] for there is no
record of this any more than of the others, except only that Crœsus
thought that he also[44] possessed a true Oracle.
50. After this with great sacrifices he endeavoured to win the favour
of the god at Delphi: for of all the animals that are fit for
sacrifice he offered three thousand of each kind, and he heaped up
couches overlaid with gold and overlaid with silver, and cups of gold,
and robes of purple, and tunics, making of them a great pyre, and this
he burnt up, hoping by these means the more to win over the god to the
side of the Lydians: and he proclaimed to all the Lydians that every
one of them should make sacrifice with that which each man had. And
when he had finished the sacrifice, he melted down a vast quantity of
gold, and of it he wrought half-plinths[45] making them six palms[46]
in length and three in breadth, and in height one palm; and their
number was one hundred and seventeen. Of these four were of pure
gold[47] weighing two talents and a half[48] each, and others of gold
alloyed with silver[49] weighing two talents. And he caused to be made
also an image of a lion of pure gold weighing ten talents; which lion,
when the temple of Delphi was being burnt down, fell from off the
half-plinths, for upon these it was set,[50] and is placed now in the
treasury of the Corinthians, weighing six talents and a half, for
three talents and a half were melted away from it.
51. So Crœsus
having finished all these things sent them to Delphi, and with them
these besides:--two mixing bowls of great size, one of gold and the
other of silver, of which the golden bowl was placed on the right hand
as one enters the temple, and the silver on the left, but the places
of these also were changed after the temple was burnt down, and the
golden bowl is now placed in the treasury of the people of Clazomenai,
weighing eight and a half talents and twelve pounds over,[51] while
the silver one is placed in the corner of the vestibule[52] and holds
six hundred amphors[53] (being filled with wine by the Delphians on
the feast of the Theophania): this the people of Delphi say is the
work of Theodoros the Samian,[54] and, as I think, rightly, for it is
evident to me that the workmanship is of no common kind: moreover
Crœsus sent four silver wine-jars, which stand in the treasury of the
Corinthians, and two vessels for lustral water,[55] one of gold and
the other of silver, of which the gold one is inscribed "from the
Lacedemonians," who say that it is their offering: therein however
they do not speak rightly; for this also is from Crœsus, but one of
the Delphians wrote the inscription upon it, desiring to gratify the
Lacedemonians; and his name I know but will not make mention of it.
The boy through whose hand the water flows is from the Lacedemonians,
but neither of the vessels for lustral water. And many other votive
offerings Crœsus sent with these, not specially distinguished, among
which are certain castings[56] of silver of a round shape, and also a
golden figure of a woman three cubits high, which the Delphians say is
a statue of the baker of Crœsus. Moreover Crœsus dedicated the
ornaments from his wife's neck and her girdles.
52. These are the
things which he sent to Delphi; and to Amphiaraos, having heard of his
valour and of his evil fate, he dedicated a shield made altogether of
gold throughout, and a spear all of solid gold, the shaft being of
gold also as well as the two points, which offerings were both
remaining even to my time at Thebes in the temple of Ismenian Apollo.
53. To the Lydians who were to carry these gifts to the temples Crœsus
gave charge that they should ask the Oracles this question also,--
whether Crœsus should march against the Persians, and if so, whether
he should join with himself any army of men as his friends. And when
the Lydians had arrived at the places to which they had been sent and
had dedicated the votive offerings, they inquired of the Oracles and
said: "Crœsus, king of the Lydians and of other nations, considering
that these are the only true Oracles among men, presents to you[57]
gifts such as your revelations deserve, and asks you again now whether
he shall march against the Persians, and if so, whether he shall join
with himself any army of men as allies." They inquired thus, and the
answers of both the Oracles agreed in one, declaring to Crœsus that if
he should march against the Persians he should destroy a great empire:
and they counselled him to find out the most powerful of the Hellenes
and join these with himself as friends.
54. So when the answers were
brought back and Crœsus heard them, he was delighted with the oracles,
and expecting that he would certainly destroy the kingdom of Cyrus, he
sent again to Pytho,[58] and presented to the men of Delphi, having
ascertained the number of them, two staters of gold for each man: and
in return for this the Delphians gave to Crœsus and to the Lydians
precedence in consulting the Oracle and freedom from all payments, and
the right to front seats at the games, with this privilege also for
all time, that any one of them who wished should be allowed to become
a citizen of Delphi.
55. And having made presents to the men of
Delphi, Crœsus consulted the Oracle the third time; for from the time
when he learnt the truth of the Oracle, he made abundant use of
it.[59] And consulting the Oracle he inquired whether his monarchy
would endure for a long time. And the Pythian prophetess answered him
thus:
"But when it cometh to pass that a mule of the Medes shall be monarch
Then by the pebbly Hermos, O Lydian delicate-footed,
Flee and stay not, and be not ashamed to be callèd a coward."
56. By these lines when they came to him Crœsus was pleased more than
by all the rest, for he supposed that a mule would never be ruler of
the Medes instead of a man, and accordingly that he himself and his
heirs would never cease from their rule. Then after this he gave
thought to inquire which people of the Hellenes he should esteem the
most powerful and gain over to himself as friends. And inquiring he
found that the Lacedemonians and the Athenians had the pre-eminence,
the first of the Dorian and the others of the Ionian race. For these
were the most eminent races in ancient time, the second being a
Pelasgian and the first a Hellenic race: and the one never migrated
from its place in any direction, while the other was very exceedingly
given to wanderings; for in the reign of Deucalion this race dwelt in
Pthiotis, and in the time of Doros the son of Hellen in the land lying
below Ossa and Olympos, which is called Histiaiotis; and when it was
driven from Histiaiotis by the sons of Cadmos, it dwelt in Pindos and
was called Makednian; and thence it moved afterwards to Dryopis, and
from Dryopis it came finally to Peloponnesus, and began to be called
Dorian.
57. What language however the Pelasgians used to speak I am not able
with certainty to say. But if one must pronounce judging by those that
still remain of the Pelasgians who dwelt in the city of Creston[60]
above the Tyrsenians, and who were once neighbours of the race now
called Dorian, dwelling then in the land which is now called
Thessaliotis, and also by those that remain of the Pelasgians who
settled at Plakia and Skylake in the region of the Hellespont, who
before that had been settlers with the Athenians,[61] and of the
natives of the various other towns which are really Pelasgian, though
they have lost the name,--if one must pronounce judging by these, the
Pelasgians used to speak a Barbarian language. If therefore all the
Pelasgian race was such as these, then the Attic race, being
Pelasgian, at the same time when it changed and became Hellenic,
unlearnt also its language. For the people of Creston do not speak the
same language with any of those who dwell about them, nor yet do the
people of Phakia, but they speak the same language one as the other:
and by this it is proved that they still keep unchanged the form of
language which they brought with them when they migrated to these
places.
58. As for the Hellenic race, it has used ever the same
language, as I clearly perceive, since it first took its rise; but
since the time when it parted off feeble at first from the Pelasgian
race, setting forth from a small beginning it has increased to that
great number of races which we see,[62] and chiefly because many
Barbarian races have been added to it besides. Moreover it is true, as
I think,[62a] of the Pelasgian race also,[63] that so far as it
remained Barbarian it never made any great increase.
59. Of these races then Crœsus was informed that the Athenian was held
subject and torn with faction by Peisistratos[64] the son of
Hippocrates, who then was despot of the Athenians. For to Hippocrates,
when as a private citizen he went to view the Olympic games, a great
marvel had occurred. After he had offered the sacrifice, the caldrons
which were standing upon the hearth, full of pieces of flesh and of
water, boiled without fire under them and ran over. And Chilon the
Lacedemonian, who chanced to have been present and to have seen the
marvel, advised Hippocrates first not to bring into his house a wife
to bear him children, and secondly, if he happened to have one
already, to dismiss her, and if he chanced to have a son, to disown
him. When Chilon had thus recommended, Hippocrates, they say, was not
willing to be persuaded, and so there was born to him afterwards this
Peisistratos; who, when the Athenians of the shore[65] were at feud
with those of the plain, Megacles the son of Alcmaion being leader of
the first faction, and Lycurgos the son of Aristolaïdes of that of the
plain, aimed at the despotism for himself and gathered a third party.
So then, after having collected supporters and called himself leader
of the men of the mountain-lands,[66] he contrived a device as
follows:--he inflicted wounds upon himself and upon his mules, and
then drove his car into the market-place, as if he had just escaped
from his opponents, who, as he alleged, had desired to kill him when
he was driving into the country: and he asked the commons that he
might obtain some protection from them, for before this he had gained
reputation in his command against the Megarians, during which he took
Nisaia and performed other signal service. And the commons of the
Athenians being deceived gave him those[67] men chosen from the
dwellers in the city who became not indeed the spear-men[68] of
Peisistratos but his club-men; for they followed behind him bearing
wooden clubs. And these made insurrection with Peisistratos and
obtained possession of the Acropolis. Then Peisistratos was ruler of
the Athenians, not having disturbed the existing magistrates nor
changed the ancient laws; but he administered the State under that
constitution of things which was already established, ordering it
fairly and well.
60. However, no long time after this the followers of Megacles and those of Lycurgos joined together and drove him forth.
Thus Peisistratos had obtained possession of Athens for the first
time, and thus he lost the power before he had it firmly rooted. But
those who had driven out Peisistratos became afterwards at feud with
one another again. And Megacles, harassed by the party strife,[69]
sent a message to Peisistratos asking whether he was willing to have
his daughter to wife on condition of becoming despot. And Peisistratos
having accepted the proposal and made an agreement on these terms,
they contrived with a view to his return a device the most simple by
far, as I think, that ever was practised, considering at least that it
was devised at a time when the Hellenic race had been long marked off
from the Barbarian as more skilful and further removed from foolish
simplicity, and among the Athenians who are accounted the first of the
Hellenes in ability.[70] In the deme of Paiania there was a woman
whose name was Phya, in height four cubits all but three fingers,[71]
and also fair of form. This woman they dressed in full armour and
caused her to ascend a chariot and showed her the bearing in which she
might best beseem her part,[72] and so they drove to the city, having
sent on heralds to run before them, who, when they arrived at the
city, spoke that which had been commanded them, saying as follows: "O
Athenians, receive with favour Peisistratos, whom Athene herself,
honouring him most of all men, brings back to her Acropolis." So the
heralds went about hither and thither saying this, and straightway
there came to the demes in the country round a report that Athene was
bringing Peisistratos back, while at the same time the men of the
city, persuaded that the woman was the very goddess herself, were
paying worship to the human creature and receiving Peisistratos.
61.
So having received back the despotism in the manner which has been
said, Peisistratos according to the agreement made with Megacles
married the daughter of Megacles; but as he had already sons who were
young men, and as the descendants of Alcmaion were said to be under a
curse,[73] therefore not desiring that children should be born to him
from his newly-married wife, he had commerce with her not in the
accustomed manner. And at first the woman kept this secret, but
afterwards she told her mother, whether in answer to her inquiry or
not I cannot tell; and the mother told her husband Megacles. He then
was very indignant that he should be dishonoured by Peisistratos; and
in his anger straightway he proceeded to compose his quarrel with the
men of his faction. And when Peisistratos heard of that which was
being done against himself, he departed wholly from the land and came
to Eretria, where he took counsel together with his sons: and the
advice of Hippias having prevailed, that they should endeavour to win
back the despotism, they began to gather gifts of money from those
States which owed them obligations for favours received: and many
contributed great sums, but the Thebans surpassed the rest in the
giving of money. Then, not to make the story long, time elapsed and at
last everything was prepared for their return. For certain Argives
came as mercenaries from the Peloponnesus, and a man of Naxos had come
to them of his own motion, whose name was Lygdamis, and showed very
great zeal in providing both money and men.
62. So starting from
Eretria after the lapse of ten years[74] they returned back; and in
Attica the first place of which they took possession was Marathon.
While they were encamping here, their partisans from the city came to
them, and also others flowed in from the various demes, to whom
despotic rule was more welcome than freedom. So these were gathering
themselves together; but the Athenians in the city, so long as Peisistratos was collecting the money, and afterwards when he took
possession of Marathon, made no account of it; but when they heard
that he was marching from Marathon towards the city, then they went to
the rescue against him. These then were going in full force to fight
against the returning exiles, and the forces of Peisistratos, as they
went towards the city starting from Marathon, met them just when they
came to the temple of Athene Pallenis, and there encamped opposite to
them. Then moved by divine guidance[75] there came into the presence
of Peisistratos Amphilytos the Arcarnanian,[76] a soothsayer, who
approaching him uttered an oracle in hexameter verse, saying thus:
"But now the cast hath been made and the net hath been widely extended,
And in the night the tunnies will dart through the moon-lighted waters."
More History
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