Kunal_Academic Blog: July 2012

There will be other posts from Herodotus. This is the first. It is extracted from Book 1. See http://classics.mit.edu/Herodotus/history.mb.txt

At the end of this time the grief of Croesus was interrupted by intelligence from abroad. He learnt that Cyrus, the son of Cambyses, had destroyed
the empire of Astyages, the son of Cyaxares; and that the Persians were becoming daily more powerful. This led him to consider with himself
whether it were possible to check the growing power of that people before it came to a head. With this design he resolved to make instant
trial of the several oracles in Greece, and of the one in Libya. So he sent his messengers in different directions, some to Delphi, some
to Abae in Phocis, and some to Dodona; others to the oracle of Amphiaraus; others to that of Trophonius; others, again, to Branchidae in Milesia.
These were the Greek oracles which he consulted. To Libya he sent another embassy, to consult the oracle of Ammon. These messengers
were sent to test the knowledge of the oracles, that, if they were found really to return true answers, he might send a second time,
and inquire if he ought to attack the Persians.

The messengers who were despatched to make trial of the oracles were given the following instructions: they were to keep count of the days
from the time of their leaving Sardis, and, reckoning from that date, on the hundredth day they were to consult the oracles, and to inquire
of them what Croesus the son of Alyattes, king of Lydia, was doing at that moment. The answers given them were to be taken down in writing,
and brought back to him. None of the replies remain on record except that of the oracle at Delphi. There, the moment that the Lydians entered
the sanctuary, and before they put their questions, the Pythoness thus answered them in hexameter verse:-

I can count the sands, and I can measure the ocean;
I have ears for the silent, and know what the dumb man meaneth;

Lo! on my sense there striketh the smell of a shell-covered

tortoise,
Boiling now on a fire, with the flesh of a lamb, in a cauldron-

Brass is the vessel below, and brass the cover above it.

These words the Lydians wrote down at the mouth of the Pythoness as she prophesied, and then set off on their return to Sardis. When all
the messengers had come back with the answers which they had received, Croesus undid the rolls, and read what was written in each. Only one
approved itself to him, that of the Delphic oracle. This he had no sooner heard than he instantly made an act of adoration, and accepted
it as true, declaring that the Delphic was the only really oracular shrine, the only one that had discovered in what way he was in fact
employed. For on the departure of his messengers he had set himself to think what was most impossible for any one to conceive of his doing,
and then, waiting till the day agreed on came, he acted as he had determined. He took a tortoise and a lamb, and cutting them in pieces
with his own hands, boiled them both together in a brazen cauldron, covered over with a lid which was also of brass.

Such then was the answer returned to Croesus from Delphi. What the answer was which the Lydians who went to the shrine of Amphiarans
and performed the customary rites obtained of the oracle there, I have it not in my power to mention, for there is no record of it.
All that is known is that Croesus believed himself to have found there also an oracle which spoke the truth.

After this Croesus, having resolved to propitiate the Delphic god with a magnificent sacrifice, offered up three thousand of every kind
of sacrificial beast, and besides made a huge pile, and placed upon it couches coated with silver and with gold, and golden goblets, and
robes and vests of purple; all which he burnt in the hope of thereby making himself more secure of the favour of the god. Further he issued
his orders to all the people of the land to offer a sacrifice according to their means. When the sacrifice was ended, the king melted down
a vast quantity of gold, and ran it into ingots, making them six palms long, three palms broad, and one palm in thickness. The number of
ingots was a hundred and seventeen, four being of refined gold, in weight two talents and a half; the others of pale gold, and in weight
two talents. He also caused a statue of a lion to be made in refined gold, the weight of which was ten talents. At the time when the temple
of Delphi was burnt to the ground, this lion fell from the ingots on which it was placed; it now stands in the Corinthian treasury,
and weighs only six talents and a half, having lost three talents and a half by the fire.

On the completion of these works Croesus sent them away to Delphi, and with them two bowls of an enormous size, one of gold, the other
of silver, which used to stand, the latter upon the right, the former upon the left, as one entered the temple. They too were moved at the
time of the fire; and now the golden one is in the Clazomenian treasury, and weighs eight talents and forty-two minae; the silver one stands
in the corner of the ante-chapel, and holds six hundred amphorae. This is known because the Delphians fill it at the time of the Theophania.
It is said by the Delphians to be a work of Theodore the Samian, and I think that they say true, for assuredly it is the work of no common
artist. Croesus sent also four silver casks, which are in the Corinthian treasury, and two lustral vases, a golden and a silver one. On the
former is inscribed the name of the Lacedaemonians, and they claim it as a gift of theirs, but wrongly, since it was really given by
Croesus. The inscription upon it was cut by a Delphian, who wished to pleasure the Lacedaemonians. His name is known to me, but I forbear
to mention it. The boy, through whose hand the water runs, is (I confess) a Lacedaemonian gift, but they did not give either of the lustral
vases. Besides these various offerings, Croesus sent to Delphi many others of less account, among the rest a number of round silver basins.
Also he dedicated a female figure in gold, three cubits high, which is said by the Delphians to be the statue of his baking-woman; and
further, he presented the necklace and the girdles of his wife.

These were the offerings sent by Croesus to Delphi. To the shrine of Amphiaraus, with whose valour and misfortune he was acquainted,
he sent a shield entirely of gold, and a spear, also of solid gold, both head and shaft. They were still existing in my day at Thebes,
laid up in the temple of Ismenian Apollo.

The messengers who had the charge of conveying these treasures to the shrines, received instructions to ask the oracles whether Croesus
should go to war with the Persians and if so, whether he should strengthen himself by the forces of an ally. Accordingly, when they had reached
their destinations and presented the gifts, they proceeded to consult the oracles in the following terms:- "Croesus, of Lydia and other
countries, believing that these are the only real oracles in all the world, has sent you such presents as your discoveries deserved, and
now inquires of you whether he shall go to war with the Persians, and if so, whether he shall strengthen himself by the forces of a
confederate." Both the oracles agreed in the tenor of their reply, which was in each case a prophecy that if Croesus attacked the Persians,
he would destroy a mighty empire, and a recommendation to him to look and see who were the most powerful of the Greeks, and to make alliance
with them.

At the receipt of these oracular replies Croesus was overjoyed, and feeling sure now that he would destroy the empire of the Persians,
he sent once more to Pytho, and presented to the Delphians, the number of whom he had ascertained, two gold staters apiece. In return for
this the Delphians granted to Croesus and the Lydians the privilege of precedency in consulting the oracle, exemption from all charges,
the most honourable seat at the festivals, and the perpetual right of becoming at pleasure citizens of their town.

After sending these presents to the Delphians, Croesus a third time consulted the oracle, for having once proved its truthfulness, he
wished to make constant use of it. The question whereto he now desired an answer was- "Whether his kingdom would be of long duration?" The
following was the reply of the Pythoness:-

Wait till the time shall come when a mule is monarch of Media;

Then, thou delicate Lydian, away to the pebbles of Hermus;

Haste, oh! haste thee away, nor blush to behave like a coward.

Of all the answers that had reached him, this pleased him far the best, for it seemed incredible that a mule should ever come to be
king of the Medes, and so he concluded that the sovereignty would never depart from himself or his seed after him. Afterwards he turned
his thoughts to the alliance which he had been recommended to contract, and sought to ascertain by inquiry which was the most powerful of
the Grecian states. His inquiries pointed out to him two states as pre-eminent above the rest. These were the Lacedaemonians and the
Athenians, the former of Doric, the latter of Ionic blood. And indeed these two nations had held from very, early times the most distinguished
place in Greece, the being a Pelasgic, the other a Hellenic people, and the one having never quitted its original seats, while the other
had been excessively migratory; for during the reign of Deucalion, Phthiotis was the country in which the Hellenes dwelt, but under Dorus,
the son of Hellen, they moved to the tract at the base of Ossa and Olympus, which is called Histiaeotis; forced to retire from that region
by the Cadmeians, they settled, under the name of Macedni, in the chain of Pindus. Hence they once more removed and came to Dryopis;
and from Dryopis having entered the Peloponnese in this way, they became known as Dorians.

What the language of the Pelasgi was I cannot say with any certainty. If, however, we may form a conjecture from the tongue spoken by the
Pelasgi of the present day- those, for instance, who live at Creston above the Tyrrhenians, who formerly dwelt in the district named Thessaliotis,
and were neighbours of the people now called the Dorians- or those again who founded Placia and Scylace upon the Hellespont, who had
previously dwelt for some time with the Athenians- or those, in short, of any other of the cities which have dropped the name but are in
fact Pelasgian; if, I say, we are to form a conjecture from any of these, we must pronounce that the Pelasgi spoke a barbarous language.
If this were really so, and the entire Pelasgic race spoke the same tongue, the Athenians, who were certainly Pelasgi, must have changed
their language at the same time that they passed into the Hellenic body; for it is a certain fact that the people of Creston speak a
language unlike any of their neighbours, and the same is true of the Placianians, while the language spoken by these two people is the
same; which shows that they both retain the idiom which they brought with them into the countries where they are now settled.

The Hellenic race has never, since its first origin, changed its speech. This at least seems evident to me. It was a branch of the Pelasgic,
which separated from the main body, and at first was scanty in numbers and of little power; but it gradually spread and increased to a multitude
of nations, chiefly by the voluntary entrance into its ranks of numerous tribes of barbarians. The Pelasgi, on the other hand, were, as I think,
a barbarian race which never greatly multiplied.

On inquiring into the condition of these two nations, Croesus found that one, the Athenian, was in a state of grievous oppression and
distraction under Pisistratus, the son of Hippocrates, who was at that time tyrant of Athens. Hippocrates, when he was a private citizen,
is said to have gone once upon a time to Olympia to see the Games, when a wonderful prodigy happened to him. As he was employed in sacrificing,
the cauldrons which stood near, full of water and of the flesh of the victims, began to boil without the help of fire, so that the water
overflowed the pots. Chilon the Lacedaemonian, who happened to be there and to witness the prodigy, advised Hippocrates, if he were
unmarried, never to take into his house a wife who could bear him a child; if he already had one, to send her back to her friends; if
he had a son, to disown him. Chilon's advice did not at all please Hippocrates, who disregarded it, and some time after became the father
of Pisistratus. This Pisistratus, at a time when there was civil contention in Attica between the party of the Sea-coast headed by Megacles the
son of Alcmaeon, and that of the Plain headed by Lycurgus, one of the Aristolaids, formed the project of making himself tyrant, and
with this view created a third party. Gathering together a band of partisans, and giving himself out for the protector of the Highlanders,
he contrived the following stratagem. He wounded himself and his mules, and then drove his chariot into the market-place, professing to have
just escaped an attack of his enemies, who had attempted his life as he was on his way into the country. He besought the people to assign
him a guard to protect his person, reminding them of the glory which he had gained when he led the attack upon the Megarians, and took
the town of Nisaea, at the same time performing many other exploits. The Athenians, deceived by his story, appointed him a band of citizens
to serve as a guard, who were to carry clubs instead of spears, and to accompany him wherever he went. Thus strengthened, Pisistratus
broke into revolt and seized the citadel. In this way he acquired the sovereignty of Athens, which he continued to hold without disturbing
the previously existing offices or altering any of the laws. He administered the state according to the established usages, and his arrangements were wise and salutary.

However, after a little time, the partisans of Megacles and those of Lycurgus agreed to forget their differences, and united to drive
him out. So Pisistratus, having by the means described first made himself master of Athens, lost his power again before it had time
to take root. No sooner, however, was he departed than the factions which had driven him out quarrelled anew, and at last Megacles, wearied
with the struggle, sent a herald to Pisistratus, with an offer to re-establish him on the throne if he would marry his daughter. Pisistratus
consented, and on these terms an agreement was concluded between the two, after which they proceeded to devise the mode of his restoration.
And here the device on which they hit was the silliest that I find on record, more especially considering that the Greeks have been from
very ancient times distinguished from the barbarians by superior sagacity and freedom from foolish simpleness, and remembering that the persons
on whom this trick was played were not only Greeks but Athenians, who have the credit of surpassing all other Greeks in cleverness.
There was in the Paeanian district a woman named Phya, whose height only fell short of four cubits by three fingers' breadth, and who
was altogether comely to look upon. This woman they clothed in complete armour, and, instructing her as to the carriage which she was to maintain
in order to beseem her part, they placed her in a chariot and drove to the city. Heralds had been sent forward to precede her, and to
make proclamation to this effect: "Citizens of Athens, receive again Pisistratus with friendly minds. Minerva, who of all men honours him
the most, herself conducts him back to her own citadel." This they proclaimed in all directions, and immediately the rumour spread throughout
the country districts that Minerva was bringing back her favourite. They of the city also, fully persuaded that the woman was the veritable
goddess, prostrated themselves before her, and received Pisistratus back.

Pisistratus, having thus recovered the sovereignty, married, according to agreement, the daughter of Megacles. As, however, he had already
a family of grown up sons, and the Alcmaeonidae were supposed to be under a curse, he determined that there should be no issue of the
marriage. His wife at first kept this matter to herself, but after a time, either her mother questioned her, or it may be that she told
it of her own accord. At any rate, she informed her mother, and so it reached her father's ears. Megacles, indignant at receiving an
affront from such a quarter, in his anger instantly made up his differences with the opposite faction, on which Pisistratus, aware of what was
planning against him, took himself out of the country. Arrived at Eretria, he held a council with his children to decide what was to
be done. The opinion of Hippias prevailed, and it was agreed to aim at regaining the sovereignty. The first step was to obtain advances
of money from such states as were under obligations to them. By these means they collected large sums from several countries, especially
from the Thebans, who gave them far more than any of the rest. To be brief, time passed, and all was at length got ready for their return.
A band of Argive mercenaries arrived from the Peloponnese, and a certain Naxian named Lygdamis, who volunteered his services, was particularly
zealous in the cause, supplying both men and money.

In the eleventh year of their exile the family of Pisistratus set sail from Eretria on their return home. They made the coast of Attica,
near Marathon, where they encamped, and were joined by their partisans from the capital and by numbers from the country districts, who loved
tyranny better than freedom. At Athens, while Pisistratus was obtaining funds, and even after he landed at Marathon, no one paid any attention
to his proceedings. When, however, it became known that he had left Marathon, and was marching upon the city, preparations were made for
resistance, the whole force of the state was levied, and led against the returning exiles. Meantime the army of Pisistratus, which had
broken up from Marathon, meeting their adversaries near the temple of the Pallenian Minerva, pitched their camp opposite them. Here a
certain soothsayer, Amphilytus by name, an Acarnanian, moved by a divine impulse, came into the presence of Pisistratus, and approaching
him uttered this prophecy in the hexameter measure:-

Now has the cast been made, the net is out-spread in the water,

Through the moonshiny night the tunnies will enter the meshes.

Such was the prophecy uttered under a divine inspiration. Pisistratus, apprehending its meaning, declared that he accepted the oracle, and
instantly led on his army. The Athenians from the city had just finished their midday meal, after which they had betaken themselves, some to
dice, others to sleep, when Pisistratus with his troops fell upon them and put them to the rout. As soon as the flight began, Pisistratus
bethought himself of a most wise contrivance, whereby the might be induced to disperse and not unite in a body any more. He mounted his
sons on horseback and sent them on in front to overtake the fugitives, and exhort them to be of good cheer, and return each man to his home.
The Athenians took the advice, and Pisistratus became for the third time master of Athens.

Upon this he set himself to root his power more firmly, by the aid of a numerous body of mercenaries, and by keeping up a full exchequer,
partly supplied from native sources, partly from the countries about the river Strymon. He also demanded hostages from many of the Athenians
who had remained at home, and not left Athens at his approach; and these he sent to Naxos, which he had conquered by force of arms, and
given over into the charge of Lygdamis. Farther, he purified the island of Delos, according to the injunctions of an oracle, after the following
fashion. All the dead bodies which had been interred within sight of the temple he dug up, and removed to another part of the isle.
Thus was the tyranny of Pisistratus established at Athens, many of the Athenians having fallen in the battle, and many others having
fled the country together with the son of Alcmaeon.

Such was the condition of the Athenians when Croesus made inquiry concerning them. Proceeding to seek information concerning the Lacedaemonians,
he learnt that, after passing through a period of great depression, they had lately been victorious in a war with the people of Tegea;
for, during the joint reign of Leo and Agasicles, kings of Sparta, the Lacedaemonians, successful in all their other wars, suffered continual
defeat at the hands of the Tegeans. At a still earlier period they had been the very worst governed people in Greece, as well in matters
of internal management as in their relations towards foreigners, from whom they kept entirely aloof. The circumstances which led to their
being well governed were the following:- Lycurgus, a man of distinction among the Spartans, had gone to Delphi, to visit the oracle. Scarcely
had he entered into the inner fane, when the Pythoness exclaimed aloud,

Oh! thou great Lycurgus, that com'st to my beautiful dwelling,

Dear to love, and to all who sit in the halls of Olympus,

Whether to hail thee a god I know not, or only a mortal,

But my hope is strong that a god thou wilt prove, Lycurgus.

Some report besides, that the Pythoness delivered to him the entire system of
laws which are still observed by the Spartans. The Lacedaemonians,however. themselves assert that Lycurgus, when he was guardian of
his nephew, Labotas, king of Sparta, and regent in his room, introduced them from Crete; for as soon as he became regent, he altered the whole
of the existing customs, substituting new ones, which he took care should be observed by all. After this he arranged whatever appertained
to war, establishing the Enomotiae, Triacades, and Syssitia, besides which he instituted the senate,' and the ephoralty. Such was the way
in which the Lacedaemonians became a well-governed people.

On the death of Lycurgus they built him a temple, and ever since they have worshipped him with the utmost reverence. Their soil being good
and the population numerous, they sprang up rapidly to power, and became a flourishing people. In consequence they soon ceased to be
satisfied to stay quiet; and, regarding the Arcadians as very much their inferiors, they sent to consult the oracle about conquering
the whole of Arcadia. The Pythoness thus answered them:

Cravest thou Arcady? Bold is thy craving. I shall not content it.

Many the men that in Arcady dwell, whose food is the acorn-

They will never allow thee. It is not I that am niggard.

I will give thee to dance in Tegea, with noisy foot-fall,

And with the measuring line mete out the glorious champaign. When the Lacedaemonians received this reply, leaving the rest of Arcadia
untouched, they marched against the Tegeans, carrying with them fetters, so confident had this oracle (which was, in truth, but of base metal)
made them that they would enslave the Tegeans. The battle, however, went against them, and many fell into the enemy's hands. Then these
persons, wearing the fetters which they had themselves brought, and fastened together in a string, measured the Tegean plain as they executed
their labours. The fetters in which they worked were still, in my day, preserved at Tegea where they hung round the walls of the temple
of Minerva Alea.

Throughout the whole of this early contest with the Tegeans, the Lacedaemonians met with nothing but defeats; but in the time of Croesus, under the kings Anaxandrides and Aristo, fortune had turned in their favour,
in the manner which I will now relate. Having been worsted in every engagement by their enemy, they sent to Delphi, and inquired of the
oracle what god they must propitiate to prevail in the war against the Tegeans. The answer of the Pythoness was that before they could
prevail, they must remove to Sparta the bones of Orestes, the son of Agamemnon. Unable to discover his burial-place, they sent a second
time, and asked the god where the body of the hero had been laid.
The following was the answer they received:-

Level and smooth is the plain where Arcadian Tegea standeth;

There two winds are ever, by strong necessity, blowing,
Counter-stroke answers stroke, and evil lies upon evil.
There all-teeming Earth doth harbour the son of Atrides;

Bring thou him to thy city, and then be Tegea's master.

After this
reply, the Lacedaemonians were no nearer discovering the burial-place
than before, though they continued to search for it diligently; until
at last a man named Lichas, one of the Spartans called Agathoergi,
found it. The Agathoergi are citizens who have just served their time
among the knights. The five eldest of the knights go out every year,
and are bound during the year after their discharge to go wherever
the State sends them, and actively employ themselves in its service.

Lichas was one of this body when, partly by good luck, partly by his
own wisdom, he discovered the burial-place. Intercourse between the
two States existing just at this time, he went to Tegea, and, happening
to enter into the workshop of a smith, he saw him forging some iron.
As he stood marvelling at what he beheld, he was observed by the smith
who, leaving off his work, went up to him and said, 

"Certainly, then, you Spartan stranger, you would have been wonderfully
surprised if you had seen what I have, since you make a marvel even
of the working in iron. I wanted to make myself a well in this room,
and began to dig it, when what think you? I came upon a coffin seven
cubits long. I had never believed that men were taller in the olden
times than they are now, so I opened the coffin. The body inside was
of the same length: I measured it, and filled up the hole again."

Such was the man's account of what he had seen. The other, on turning
the matter over in his mind, conjectured that this was the body of
Orestes, of which the oracle had spoken. He guessed so, because he
observed that the smithy had two bellows, which he understood to be
the two winds, and the hammer and anvil would do for the stroke and
the counterstroke, and the iron that was being wrought for the evil
lying upon evil. This he imagined might be so because iron had been
discovered to the hurt of man. Full of these conjectures, he sped
back to Sparta and laid the whole matter before his countrymen. Soon
after, by a concerted plan, they brought a charge against him, and
began a prosecution. Lichas betook himself to Tegea, and on his arrival
acquainted the smith with his misfortune, and proposed to rent his
room of him. The smith refused for some time; but at last Lichas persuaded
him, and took up his abode in it. Then he opened the grave, and collecting
the bones, returned with them to Sparta. From henceforth, whenever
the Spartans and the Tegeans made trial of each other's skill in arms,
the Spartans always had greatly the advantage; and by the time to
which we are now come they were masters of most of the Peloponnese.

Croesus, informed of all these circumstances, sent messengers to Sparta,
with gifts in their hands, who were to ask the Spartans to enter into
alliance with him. They received strict injunctions as to what they
should say, and on their arrival at Sparta spake as follows:-

"Croesus, king of the Lydians and of other nations, has sent us to
speak thus to you: 'Oh Lacedaemonians, the god has bidden me to make
the Greek my friend; I therefore apply to you, in conformity with
the oracle, knowing that you hold the first rank in Greece, and desire
to become your friend and ally in all true faith and honesty.'"

Such was the message which Croesus sent by his heralds. The Lacedaemonians,
who were aware beforehand of the reply given him by the oracle, were
full of joy at the coming of the messengers, and at once took the
oaths of friendship and alliance: this they did the more readily as
they had previously contracted certain obligations towards him. They
had sent to Sardis on one occasion to purchase some gold, intending
to use it on a statue of Apollo- the statue, namely, which remains
to this day at Thornax in Laconia, when Croesus, hearing of the matter,
gave them as a gift the gold which they wanted. 

This was one reason why the Lacedaemonians were so willing to make
the alliance: another was, because Croesus had chosen them for his
friends in preference to all the other Greeks.

Kunal_Academic Blog

Thursday, July 26, 2012

For PG 1.1

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Material for Course 5.4 (Herodotus)

Monday, July 23, 2012