THE FIRST BOOK OF HERODOTUS. CLIO. HERODOTUS of Halicarnassus' here makes known the result of his researches and inquiries'; in order that the deeds of men may not be obliterated by time, nor the great and wonderful works, achieved by both Hellenes and barbarians, be reft of renown: among other subjects, he will explain the cause that gave rise to the spirit of war between them3. The Persians, skilled in history, assert, therefore, that the Phoenicians were the original authors of this feud. For these people, having migrated from the Erythrian sea, as it is called, to the Mediterranean", and settled in the country that they now inhabit, applied forthwith to long navigations: exporting Egyptian and Assyrian merchandize, they touched at various places; among others, at Argos, a town which, in those days, surpassed, in every respectR, all in the country now called Hellas'. Having arrived at this town. 6 Matt. 404. 6. gоxuv, to excel, to surpass; with the genitive of that over which it excels, and the dative of the thing in which it excelled. Schweigh. in Lex. Herod.-Larcher translates, " That town surpassed then all those in the country, &c."; and, in a note, observes, that in the phrase προεῖχεν ἅπασι τῶν ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι, τῶν is necessarily governed by ἅπασι. 7 Thucyd. i. 2, 3. Búgßagos, 66 alien-a non-Hellenian."" Herod. ii. 158 an of Argos, the Phoenicians, we are told, spread forth their cargo; and on the fifth or sixth day from their coming, when ⚫ they had nearly disposed of their cargo, several women came down to the sea-side; among whom was the king's daughter, whose name, according to the Phoenicians as well as the Hellenes, was Io, daughter of Inachus. While these women were standing near the stern of the vessel, and chaffering" such wares as took most their fancy, the Phoenicians, shouting to one another, made a sally on them: the consequence was, although most of the women made their escape, the sailors seized Io, together with a few others, threw them on 2 board the vessel, and set sail for Egypt. Thus, varying from the Hellenic account, the Persians describe the departure of Io into Egypt; and to this refer the first beginning of unlawful violence. Subsequently, they say, certain Hellenes for they are unable to produce their names—landed at Tyre in Phoenicia, and carried off the king's daughter, Europa. These men were, in all probability, Cretans. In so acting, they certainly did no more than like for like: but after these events, the Hellenes were the authors of the second instance of violence: for they came, in a long ship 10, to Æa, on the river Phasis, in Colchis; from whence, after despatching the other business for which they had come, they carried off the king's daughter, Medea. The Colchian prince", in consequence, sent into Hellas a herald, to demand justice of the rape, and claim back his daughter: the Hellenes, however, made answer, that as those of Asia had not given satisfaction for the violence shewn to Io of Argos, so neither would they, on their part, give any to 3 them. It is also said, that, in the second generation following these events, Alexander 12 the son of Priam, having heard of these occurrences, determined to procure himself, by force, a wife out of Hellas; being fully convinced that he should not be compelled to make any reparation, inasmuch as the Hellenes themselves had not done so. Alexander, accordingly, stole Helena; and the Hellenes thought proper to send instantly messengers to reclaim Helena, and demand justice for such an outrage; but the other party 8 Matt. 342. Herod. v. 6. 10 "Long ship;" built long and narrow, for the purpose of velocity: the merchant vessels were more round, for stowage. The long vessels were vessels of war; the round vessels, merchantmen and transports. IIλoí στρογγύλῳ, φορτηγῷ δηλονότι· μακρὰ γὰρ τὰ πολεμικὰ ὀνομάζουσιν. Ulpian. in Orat. Dem. contra Lept. p. 599, E. Larcher. 11 The Colchian:" understand, 'ruler,' 'sovereign,' or 'prince.' 12 More generally known by the name of Paris. replied to the proposers", by "objecting the rape of Medea; "that, not having themselves given satisfaction, nor made "the required restitution, they should expect such redress "from others." Until then, therefore, nothing had occurred 4 between the two races, say the Persians, with the exception merely of a few rapes: but, from that period, the Hellenes were, in truth, greatly to blame; being the first to levy war against Asia, ere they of Asia made any attack on Europe: now they hold it to be the crime of a wicked man, to ravish women; but that of a simpleton, to trouble oneself about revenge; for prudent men ought to take no account of such females; since it is evident, that, without their own consent, they could not be forced: the Persians consequently declare, that they of Asia never troubled themselves about women that are stolen away; whereas the Hellenes, for the sake of a Lacedæmonian girl, collected an immense fleet, and then, passing over into Asia, overthrew the power of Priam. From that time, they have considered the Hellenic race as their foes: for the Persians claim 14 Asia, and the there residing foreign tribes, as belonging to themselves; while they regard Europe, and the Hellenic people, as wholly distinct. Such is the account of the Persians; and to the capture of 5 Troy they attribute their antipathy to the Hellenes. The Phoenicians, on the other hand, do not assent to the Persian statement concerning Io: they affirm, they made no use of violence1 to remove her into Egypt; but that, having formed a connexion with the master of the merchant-vessel, she found herself with child; and dreading, in consequence, the rebukes of her parents, sailed away, of her own accord, with the Phoenicians, to avoid detection. The above, therefore, are the accounts of the Persians and the Phoenicians. It is not my intention, however, to decide whether things were so, or otherwise; but I shall now, after previously pointing out the man I myself know to have been the first to commit deeds of violence against the Hellenes, proceed on the sequel of my History, touching alike the small and the large estates of men: for of such as were of old and mighty, many have become weak; while of those flourishing in my day, many were originally insignificant: conscious, therefore, of the universal frailty of human prosperity, I shall commemorate both impartially. 13 gorova, instead of the dative agreeing with op. So, a little below, occurs a similar anacolouthia, raτιόντων for ἀπαιτέουσι. See Schweigh. Not. Herod. vol. iii. p. 9. 11 oix, "claim for themselves." See Herod. i. 94. ix. 15. 15 Matt. 413. : 6 16 Croesus was by birth a Lydian, son of Alyattes, and had usurped the supremacy over the nations within the Halys, a river that runs between the Syrians" and Paphlagonians, from south to north, and falls into the Euxine sea. This Croesus was the first of the aliens, we know of, that subjected any of the Hellenes to the payment of tribute, and united others to himself by alliance. He not only reduced the Ionian, Æolian and Dorian settlers in Asia, but also framed a treaty of friendship with the Lacedæmonians. Previous to Croesus's empire, all the Hellenes had been free; for the expedition of the Cimmerians, which was anterior to Cræsus, although directed against Ionia, was not so much a subjugation of states, as an irruption, having rapine for its object 18 7 The empire, which had previously been in the possession of the Heraclidæ, passed over to the line of Croesus, called the Mermnadæ, in the following manner. Candaules, named Myrsilus by the Hellenes, was tyrant of Sardis, and a descendant of Alcæus the son of Hercules: for Agron son of Ninus, grandson of Belus, great-grandson of Alcæus, was the first king of Sardis on the Heraclid line, and Candaules son of Myrsus the last. The previous rulers of this country, predecessors of Agron, were the progeny of Lydus son of Atys; from whom the whole nation, originally called Mæonians, took the name of Lydians. The Heraclidæ, sprung from a female-slave of Jardanus and from Hercules, having been entrusted with the affairs" by the above family, seized the power, according to an oracular behest: they ruled for twenty-two generations20 of men, five hundred and five years; the son inheriting the throne from the father, down to Can8 daules the son of Myrsus. This Candaules, therefore, was enamoured of his wife: impelled by his love, he fancied to himself that she was by far the most beautiful of all women. I must first observe", that one of his body-guards, Gyges 16 rúgavvos, the usurper over a people once free or under a βασιλεύς : it applies sometimes even to a ruler invested with conditional power only: "Omnes autem et habentur et dicuntur tyranni, qui potestate perpetuâ in eâ civitate, quæ libertate usa sit." Cor. Nep. Miltiad. 17 The Syrians (not to be confounded with Tyrians), or LeucoSyri, are the same as the Cappadocians. Herod. i. 72. 18 The irruption here alluded to occurred under the reign of the Lydian Ardys. Herod. i. 15. 19 TesToμai, meæ curæ traditur―mihi committitur: ᾧ λαοὶ ἐπιτετράφαται, Hom. Il. ii. 25. cui populi commissi sunt. Herodotus often uses this expression: ii. 121. iii. 155, 157, etc. Larcher. 20 The word yvà is, apparently, here taken in a sense somewhat different from what it bears in other places (Herod. ii. 143); but, for the actual reigns from father to son, twenty-three years each, on an average. 21 Concerning this hyperbaton, consult Matt. 613, iv; and more particularly Schweigh. Not. Herod. vol. irirgapuivres, aor. i. pass. of i-iii. p. 22, at the bottom. 66 66 66 66 22 11 the son of Dascylus, was his particular favourite; to whom he was wont to confide his more important affairs, and exaggerating especially his consort's beauty to this person. Candaules, after a brief lapse of time, (for he was doomed to be miserable) addressed Gyges in these words: "Gyges, I think you give me no credit, when I attempt to describe to you "the beauties of my wife: the ears of men, we know, are more incredulous than their eyes: I will have you see her "naked." Gyges, uttering a loud exclamation, replied: "My lord! what unseemly language do you hold, enjoining me to cast my eyes on my naked queen! At the same "time woman strips off her garments, she casts off her "modesty also. Our fathers of old devised the maxims of virtue, and it is our duty to follow them: among these is "this saying, 'Let every man look to his own concerns.' I "firmly believe this lady to be the most beautiful in the world, but entreat you not to exact any thing wicked" By this reply, Gyges sought to combat the proposal, dreading 9 that some harm might accrue to himself. But the king resumed in these words: "Take courage, my Gyges: be not “fearful that I have any design to tempt you by this discourse: be not alarmed at any disagreable consequences "to yourself, on the part of my wife. First and foremost 3, "I will take care she shall not even know that she has been seen by you. I will place you in the room we sleep in, "behind the open door; and when I enter, and my wife fol'lows me to bed, there stands hard by the entrance an armchair 24, on which she will lay each of her garments, as she "casts them off: there, at your leisure, you may take the opportunity of looking at her; and when she steps from the "chair towards the bed, you will be at her back then, have "a care, and mind she do not get a glimpse of you, as you go " out by the door." Gyges was unable to evade: he held him- 10 self therefore ready. Candaules, on the other hand, when he thought it was time to go to bed, took Gyges into the sleepingchamber; and immediately after, the lady made her appearance, and Gyges saw her as she came in and laid her clothes on the chair: the lady, turning then her back to him, stepped forward to the bed; and he crept softly out; but she spied him as he went away. She saw what her husband had been doing; but modesty restrained her from crying out, nor did she shew any emotion 25, being determined to have revenge on Can 66 66 66 66 22 See Herod. iii. 44. Matt. 330, 332. dex, without the article, for iv 23 ἀρχῇ govos, an arm-chair with a foot board; the seat of dignity, the king's throne, the judge's bench. 25 Rather, "she pretended total ignorance of what had occurred." |