The beautiful women are sold to the highest bidder; the plain or deformed are given to those who will accept the lowest compensation for such a poor match.
Each and every village once each year does the following. When the maidens became ripe for marriage, they would bring all these girls together, leading them in as a group to one spot. And all around them stood a crowd of men, and a herald stood each girl up, one after the other, and he sold the most good-looking of all of them first; and then, when she found herself sold for much gold, he called up another who was good-looking after that girl. And she too was sold for wedlock. And whosoever was prosperous among the Babylonians and was marriageable, those men outbid each other to buy the most beautiful girls; but whosoever was marriageable of the common people, of the sort not lacking gold, they took home wealth and the more disgraceful maidens. For indeed when the herald had gone through selling the best-looking of the maidens, he would stand up the most-deformed or some crippled girl, and auction her. And whoever was willing to take the smallest amount of gold to wed her, the maiden was given as wife to him. And in this way the well-formed and the deformed both as well as the crippled were married off.
But it was not permitted for each man to offer up his own daughter to whom he might wish.
Nitocris, the Queen of Babylon, contrived a certain deceit as follows. Over the most frequented gates of the town she constructed a tomb up high up, above the gates themselves; and she engraved letters on the tomb saying this:
“Should any king of Babylon of those born after me be in need of wealth, let him open up the tomb and take as much wealth as he wants; should he not, however, truly be in need he shall not otherwise open it; for such bodes not well.”
This tomb was untouched until the monarchy came around to Darius. And it seemed to Darius that it was a fiendish thing both that no-one made use of these gates and also, with the wealth laid within and the wealth itself inviting him, no-one took it. (And no-one made use of these gates for the sake of this, because the body arose over his head whenever passing through.) And having opened the tomb he discovered not the wealth, but a body, and letters that read as follows, “Unless you were insatiable for wealth and shamefully greedy, you would not have opened a grave for bodies.”
The Babylonians revolted, very well prepared for it. And when they revolted, they did this: with the exception of their mothers, each man chose for himself one woman whom he wanted from his own household; and then they brought together all the rest and throttled [them]; thus each took for himself one woman [to be] the breadmaker and they throttled the others so that they would not consume their supplies.
When Darius learned of this, he gathered all of his forces and he campaigned against them. But although he marched against the city and besieged the Babylonians, they thought nothing of a siege; indeed, they mounted the ramparts of the wall and danced defiantly and mocked Darius and his army. One of them said these words, “Why have you sat there, dear Persians, and not departed instead? For you will capture us just as soon as mules bear young.” One of the Babylonian said this in no way believing that a mule would bear young.
Seven months and a year soon passed by. Darius and his entire army both were vexed that they were unable to capture the Babylonians. And further, Darius had been using all his tricks and all his contrivances on them and even so he was unable to capture them, and he even attempted it by other tricks too, including that by which Cyrus captured them. But the Babylonians were fiendishly on guard, and it was not possible to capture them.
§2. The Persian Zopyrus, encouraged by an omen, determines to deceive the Babylonians by feigning desertion, after first mutilating himself.
But then on the twentieth month, for Zopyrus, son of Megabyzus, this marvel came to pass: one of his grain-carrying mules gave birth. When this was reported to him, Zopyrus, due to disbelief, went to see the newborn for himself. And then, after he forbade those who saw it from telling anyone of the occurrence, he formed a plan. In relation to the words of [that] Babylonian, it seemed to Zopyrus that Babylon was ready for capture; for he believed both that man’s speech and his mule giving birth [stood] with god.
And since it seemed to him to be fated that Babylon be captured, he approached Darius and inquired whether he valued highly the capture of Babylon. And when learned just how much he valued this, he planned so that he himself would be her captor and it would be his own deed. So then he did not consider it to be otherwise possible to bring her under their power unless he mutilated himself and deserted to them. Thereupon, and bearing it easily, he mutilated himself by irreversible mutilation; after he cut off his nose and ears, and badly chopped away his hair, and whipped himself, he went to Darius.
Darius bore it heavily to see that a man so honourable had been mutilated. He jumped up from his throne and he shouted out and asked him who the mutilator was. And he said, “Such a man does not exist (except you) in whom there is power to treat me so; it was not some foreigner, my king, that accomplished this, but I myself [did such upon] myself, so indignant [am I] that the Assyrians laugh at the Persians.”
And he answered, “Oh most wretched of men, by saying that you harmed yourself irreversibly because of those besieged, you place the noblest name upon the most shameful deed. And for what [reason], foolish man, with you mutilated, will our enemies surrender? How can you not have taken sail of your senses to so destroy yourself?”
And he said, “If I had told you what I intended to do, you would not have allowed me. But now, having taken it upon myself, I have done it. And so now, unless your part is lacking, we shall capture Babylon.”
§3. Zopyrus discloses to Darius the plan by which he hopes to effect the capture of Babylon.
“For I, as I am, shall desert to the wall and I shall say to them that I suffer this by your hand; and I believe that, having persuaded them that these things are so, an army shall be obtained. And you, on the tenth day, must marshal a thousand against those gates named for Semiramis; and again, on the seventh and tenth day, marshal another two-thousand for my benefit against the gates named for the Ninevites. And then, after twenty days have passed, station four-thousand others, after you have led them against the gates named for the Chaldeans. And let neither the former have arms nor the latter, except daggers. And then, at once after the twentieth day, order the other army to attack the wall all around. And marshal my Persians against the gates named for Baal and Cissia. For so I believe, since I will have displayed a great deed, the Babylonians will turn over to me assorted things but especially the keys to the gates. As to what follows, it is up to me and the Persians both to do what must be done.”
§4. The Babylonians receive Zopyrus, who pretends that he will reveal to them all Darius’ plans of attack. Elated by his apparent successes over the Persian troops, they invest him with the chief command, and he is thus enabled to betray the gates to the Persians.
Having given these orders, he went to the gates, looking over his shoulder as if he were truly a deserter. The men stationed along the gates, seeing him, ran down and opened one of the gates a little and they asked who he was and what he had come for. And he said to them that he was Zopyrus and he was deserting to them. When they heard this, the gate-keepers led him to the assembly of Babylon, and standing before them, he lamented, saying the he had suffered at the hand of Darius that which he had suffered by his own hand, that he suffered this because he advised him to withdraw his army, since no-one could point out any means of capturing [the city]. “And now,” he continued, “For you, good Babylonians, I have come for the greatest good, and for Darius and his army and the Persians, the greatest misfortune. For surely he who mutilated me thus shall not go unpunished; for I know all the ins and outs of his plans.”
He told [them] these sorts of things, and the Babylonians, when they saw that a man so highly honoured among the Persians had been deprived of his nose and ears, and had been marked with a whip and also by blood, they completely believed that he spoke the truth and had come to them an ally, and they were ready to entrust [to him] everything that he needed; and he needed an army.
When he received this from them, he did the very thing that he had agreed upon with Darius; for, on the tenth day, he led out the army of the Babylonians and surrounded the thousand which he first commanded Darius to marshal, slaughtering them. And when the Babylonians learned that he furnished deeds similar to his words, they were certainly very glad, and they were perfectly ready to serve [him] in every way. And after he let pass the agreed upon [number of] days, he again chose some of the Babylonians and led them out and slaughtered two-thousand soldiers of Darius. And when they saw this deed, all the Babylonians had [the name] of Zopyrus on their lips, praising him. And he again let pass the agreed upon [number of] days, and then led [men] out to the fore-ordained [spot], and surrounded and slaughtered the four-thousand. And when he accomplished this, the Babylonians thought that Zopyrus really was all that,* and he was appointed as commander of the army and sentinal of the walls.
And when Darius made an attack, as had been agreed upon, all around the wall, thereupon Zopyrus brought to light the entire deceit. For when the Babylonians mounted the walls and resisted the attacking army of Darius, Zopyrus opened up the gates named for Cissia and Baal, and let the Persians in to the wall. Those of the Babylonians who saw what had been done fled to the temple of the god Baal, while each of those who had not seen remained in his own rank, until they learned that they were betrayed.
§5. Punishment inflicted on the Babylonians and honours heaped upon Zopyrus.
Babylon was thus captured a second time. And Darius, once he had prevailed over the Babylonians, pulled down the wall and tore away all the gates (for previously, when Cyrus captured Babylon, he did neither of these). The leaders of the men, almost three-thousand, he impaled on stakes, and the remaining Babylonians he gave back the city to dwell in.
And in the judgement of Darius, no Persian born before or since ever surpassed the good service of Zopyrus, except Cyrus alone (for no Persian was yet worthy to compare himself to that man).** And Darius is often said to make known this opinion, that he would have wanted Zopyrus to be unscathed by outrage more than have twenty Babylons be added to the original. And he honoured him greatly, for he gave gifts to him every year which were the most highly valued by the Persians, and he gave Babylon to him to be ruled exempt from taxes for the length of that man’s life, and he gave him much else besides.
*This amuses me and it’s not too far off from the Greek. The original Greek idiom reads, literally, “Zopyrus was, indeed, everything amongst the Babylonians.”
**I changed the word order of this sentence almost completely from the Greek. The Greek reads more like, “And the good service of Zopyrus, none of the Persians surpassed, in the judgement of Darius, neither of those born since, nor of those before, except Cyrus alone (for to that man none of the Persians was yet worthy to compare himself).”
Cyrus captures Babylon by draining off the Euphrates into the empty basin of a lake.
Cyrus was marching upon Babylon, and the Babylonians marched out for battle and awaited him. And when he came marching near the city, the Babylonians joined battle, but they were defeated and forced into the town, where they had enough provisions for many years.
These people, therefore, had no regard for a siege. So finally he did the following. He stationed an army where the river flowed into the city, and behind the city he stationed another again, where the river flowed out of the city, and he proclaimed to the army, if they should see the stream become crossable, to enter the city by this [route]. And having so stationed and advised, he marched away with a useless [remnant] of his army. He arrived at a lake, a marsh really, and by leading the river into it by means of a trench, he made the ancient stream crossable by lowering it. And once such a thing happened, the Persians, those very men appointed for this very purpose, when the Euphrates river lowered to about the middle of a man’s thigh, they entered into Babylon along the stream.
Now if the Babylonians had learned or had discovered the doings of Cyrus, they would have seen the Persians entering the city and they would have killed the worst. For they would have closed all the gates that led to the river and, mounting those walls of loose stone that had been built by the bank of the river, they would have shot them like fish in a barrel.* But now the Persians stood by them unexpectedly. For beyond the borders of the city, those around the edges of the city had been captured, and so they dwelling in central Babylon did not learn this, but instead (since it happened to be a festival) they were dancing and making merry the whole time, until they learned the truth.
*The Greek is so close to this expression that I felt no guilt using it. ἔλαβον ἂν αὐτους ὡς ἐν κύρτῃ, “they would have taken them as if in a κύρτη“. A kurte is a special basket for catching fish (or, a bird-cage).
Pactyes fled, for fear of the Persians, going away to Cyme. Mazares, then, sent messengers to Cyme, ordering [the city] to hand over Pactyes. The Cymeans decided to refer to the god in Branchidae for advice concerning this. For there was at that place a shrine established from antiquity, at which the Ionians and the Aeolians both were wont to consult. Therefore, the Cymeans sent messengers* to ask what sort of action concerning Pactyes would be pleasing to the gods. And when they asked this, an oracle came [telling them] to hand over Pactyes to the Persians.
When they heard this, the Cymeans were eager to hand [him] over; But although the majority were eager, Aristodicus, an honoured man of the townsmen, distrusted the oracle, and believed that the messengers* did not speak truthfully; and he held the Cymeans from doing this until they would ask again. And so other messengers* were [sent] one of whom was Aristodicus,
When they arrived at Branchidae, he consulted on behalf of them all, asking this, “O Lord, a supplicant came to us, Pactyes the Lydian, fleeing violent death at the hand of the Persians; and they demanded him, ordering the Cymeans to send him forth. And we, although we feared the power of the Persians, have not at this point dared to hand [him] over, until your wishes were clearly shown to us what we should do.”
That is what he asked. And the god again revealed an oracle to him, ordering [them] to hand over Pactyes to the Persians. In reply to this, Aristodicus, with deliberate intent, did this: going around the temple in a circle he removed the sparrows, and all other kinds of birds, anything whatsoever that had been hatched that were in the temple. And when he did this, there arose a voice from the sanctuary, saying this, “Wickedest of men, how dare you do this? Would you destroy the supplicants of my temple?” Aristodicus, at no loss for words, said in response to this, “Oh Lord, thus do you yourself give aid to supplicants, but you order the Cymeans to hand over a supplicant.” And the god again replied to this man, “Indeed I do order it, so that all ye acting impiously should more quickly perish; and so in the future you will not come to the oracle concerning the surrender of supplicants.”
*The Cymeans sent messengers, θεοπρόπος, to the shrine as opposed to the more usual sort of messenger, ἀγγέλος (which is the sort that Mazares sent to the Cymeans). The θεοπρόπος was a specific kind of public messenger sent to enquire of oracles.
a) Solon, the Athenian statesman and philosopher, visits Croesus, the rich king of Lydia. He does not regard his wealth as a criterion for happiness.
After Solon went abroad, he arrived at Sardis, at the house of Croesus. When he arrived, he was entertained at the palace by Croesus. And then on the third or fourth day, servants, as Croesus ordered, led Solon around, all through the treasures, and they showed off that everything was great and blessed. And once he saw everything, Croesus asked him this, “My Athenian guest, much word has reached us about you, on account of both your wisdom and your travels. And so now a desire has come upon me to ask who of all those you’ve seen is the most blessed.” He asked this hoping to be [named] the most blessed of men. Solon, however, as he flattered no-one, offering the truth instead, said, “Good king, Tellos the Athenian.” Croesus was surprised by what had been said, and he asked eagerly, “And how do you determine that Tellos is the most blessed?” And he said, “For one, the children of Tellos were noble and good, and he saw all of them have children of their own, all of whom survived [childhood]; and further, he had a most illustrious end to his life. For there came a battle for the Athenians against their neighbours in Eleusis, and after he gave them aid and brought about a route of their opponents, he died the noblest [of deaths]. And the Athenians buried him at public expense just where he fell, and they honoured him highly.”
b) Story of Cleobis and Biton; the gods’ best reward.
When Solon had gone through the story of Tellos, Croesus asked him whom he saw as second after that man, for he thought that he would surely win the second-place, at any rate. But he said, “Cleobis and Biton;for although they were Argives by birth*, they had a sufficient livelihood at hand and in addition to that, such bodily might as follows: they were both of them similarly prize-winners, and moreover the following story is told. There was a festival to Hera and it was altogether necessary to convey their mother in an oxen-yoked wagon to the temple. But the oxen were not at hand from the field in time. So the young men put their own shoulders under the yoke and they pulled the wagon, and their mother was borne upon the wagon. They carried her five stades and forty (a little more than 5 miles) and arrived at the temple. After they did this, and they were seen by the whole assembly of the people, they obtained the very best end to their lives. In them, the gods showed that it was better for a person to die than to live. The Argive men milling about congratulated the strength of the young men, and the women their mother that she had gotten such children. Because their mother was so pleased by the deed and by the reputation, she stood in the presence of the idol and beseeched the god to give Cleobis and Biton that which was best for a person to obtain. After this prayer, and after they sacrificed and were sumptuously feasted, they went to sleep in the temple itself, and the young men never again arose, but were instead kept in that end. And the Argives had their likenesses made and put up at Delphi, for being the best of men.
c) Solon’s criterion for happiness, which Croesus finds unacceptable.
And so Solon allotted the second-rank of good fortune to these [young men]; but Croesus hastily said, “My Athenian guest, is our own good fortune thus cast aside to nothing?” He said, “Good Croesus, I know well that the divine power is envious and trouble-making, and yet you would inquire about human affairs. You seem to me to have great wealth and to be king of many people; but I will not yet say that you are fortunate, not until I have learned that your life ended nobly. The way that the end of the entire affair turns out must be considered. For there are many whom god, after showing them a glimpse of happiness, overthrew utterly.” Solon did not in any way please Croesus by telling him this. Croesus dismissed him and considered his word worthless, and thought him very ignorant who cast away the present good and demanded to see the end of the whole affair.
d) Subsequent misfortunes of Croesus, who at length acknowledges the wisdom of Solon’s words.
After Solon went away, a great retribution from god took Croesus because, so far as one can guess, he believed himself to be the most blessed of all men. For the Persians captured Sardis and they took Croesus himself prisoner after he had ruled for fourteen years. And they took him, and piling up a great pyre, made Croesus ascend upon it, bound in chains, with twice seven sons of Lydia at his side. And although he was in such great misfortune the words of Solon came to Croesus, as though spoken with god, “No one of the living is blessed.” And caught up, he groaned aloud, breaking a long silence, and he named Solon three times. Cyrus heard this and he ordered his interpreters to ask Croesus whom he had called upon, so they went to him and asked. Croesus kept silent for a while, but finally he said that Solon had come and after he had seen every blessed thing of his, he had made light [of it]. And everything had turned out for him just as that man said, speaking no more with regard to himself than to all humanity, and the worst are those who consider themselves blessed.
e) Cyrus relents, and with the assistance of Apollo, Croesus is saved from the flames.
As Croesus related this, the edges of the pyre, already lit, caught fire. When Cyrus heard from his interpreters what Croesus said, he considered that he himself being a man, was giving to the pyre another man who lived, being no lesser [than he] with respect to his good fortune, and so he changed his mind, and gave an order to quench the kindled pyre as quickly as possible, and to take down Croesus and those with Croesus. But those who tried this were no longer able to control the pyre. Thereupon Croesus understood the change in the mind of Cyrus, and he beseeched Apollo, calling upon him to be at hand and to deliver him from the present misfortune. Weeping, he called upon the god. And from a clear sky and calm [weather], the clouds suddenly ran together and a storm burst forth and rained a torrential downpour of water, quenching the fire.
* The phrase here is a circumstantial participle, οὔσι γένος Ἀργείοις, “they being Argive by birth”. The translator has a lot of freedom to choose how to relate such phrases to the main body of the sentence (e.g. by using when, since, although, etc.) There’s no special reason here to translate it concessively except my own perverse amusement at making Solon appear a smidgen provincial, but I freely concede that this seems a bit out of character for Solon.
§1. At the instigation of Harpagus, Cyrus induces the Persians to revolt by a practical demonstration of the advantages they would enjoy as the dominant race.
When Cyrus became a man, he was the bravest of any his age, and Harpagus pressed upon him and sent him gifts, longing to take vengeance on Astyages. Even before this, since Astyages was harsh on the Medes, he was in communication with each of the foremost Medes, arguing that Cyrus must end the governance of Astyages over the kingdom.
And so Cyrus considered the wisest way by which he might compel the Persians to revolt. Considering this, he found the most opportune [way] was as follows. He wrote in a book what he wanted, and he brought about an assembly of the Persians. And then he opened the book, and reading it, he said that Astyages had appointed him as the general of the Persians. “And now,” he continued, “o Persians, I proclaim that you go forward, each man wielding a sickle.” This is what Cyrus proclaimed. And so everyone advanced, whereupon Cyrus ordered them to reclaim a certain thorny patch of ground within the day. And when the Persians completed the challenge he had set before them, he ordered them to wash and be present the next day.
In the meantime, Cyrus gathered together all his father’s herds and flocks of goats, cattle and sheep, and he sacrificed them and made preparations for welcoming the army of the Persians. And on the next day, when the Persians arrived, they reclined in the meadow and he feasted them. When they were done the meal, Cyrus asked which was most desirable, what they had the day before or the present circumstance. They said that the difference was great, for the earlier day had brought them every misfortune, and the present circumstance all the good.
Cyrus took them on their word and he disclosed the whole story, saying, “Men of Persia, it is thus for you; for you who would obey me, there is this and countless other good things, no-one shall have servile toil; but for those who would not obey me, there are for you innumerable toils, similar to yesterday’s. And so now, those who would obey me, become free men, revolt against Astyages immediately.”
§2. Revolt of the Persians, ending in the accession of Cyrus to the throne.
Now that the Persians had obtained a leader, they were pleased to be set free, since they had long thought it terrible to be ruled by the Medes. When Astyages found out what Cyrus had done, he sent a messenger to summon him. But Cyrus ordered the messenger to report back that he would come to that man sooner than Astyages himself would want. And when Astyages heard this, he armed all the Medes and, as if struck mad by the gods, appointed Harpagus as their general. And so the Medes campaigned and when they mixed with the Persians, some of them fought, whosoever was not in on the plan, others deserted to the Persians, and most were cowardly and they fled. But although the Median army was shamefully destroyed, so Astyages very soon discovered, he threatened Cyrus, saying, “Nevertheless, Cyrus shall not go unpunished!” Having made so great a threat, he first put up on stakes those oneiromancers who had persuaded him to release Cyrus. Then he armed those of the Medes who remained, the youths and the old men. And he led them out and joined into battle with the Persians and he was defeated. Astyages himself was taken prisoner and he lost those whom he had led out. But Cyrus kept Astyages by him until he died, doing him no other harm.
B. Boyhood of Cyrus: How the Secret of His Birth is Discovered
§1. Cyrus plays at being king over his companions.
When the boy was ten years old, the occurrence of affairs such as follow revealed him. He was playing on the road with other [children] of his age; and playing, the children chose him to be king over them, although he was nominally the son of a herdsman. And he appointed some of them to build a house, others to be spearmen, and of course, one of them to be “the Eye of the King,” assigning tasks to each of them separately. One of these children playing with him, however, who was the child of Artembares, an esteemed man among the Medes, did not do the task assigned by Cyrus. He therefore ordered the other children to seize him. The children obeyed and Cyrus handled the child very roughly, and whipped him. Although he was soon released, he was very much aggrieved, since he certainly considered himself unworthy of such afflictions. And so he returned to the city and complained to his father. Artembares went in a fit of anger to Astyages, taking his son with him, and he related the monstrous event that he had suffered, saying, “My king, we have been wantonly insulted by your servant, the child of a herdsman, like so!” (And he showed him the shoulders of his child.)
§2. Astyages sends for Cyrus and, suspecting the truth, forces the herdsman to confess.
Astyages listened and saw and since he wished to avenge the child, for the sake of the honour of Artembares, he sent for the herdsman and his son. Once both were present, Astyages beheld Cyrus and said, “Did you, the son of this sort of man, did you truly have the effrontery to handle this boy, son of him first in my esteem, with such outrage?”
He replied as follows, “Master, I did this to him with just cause. For the children of the village, of whom he is one, were playing and they established me as their king. For I seemed to them to be the most fit for this. But while the other children performed their assigned duties, this one disobeyed and paid no-one any attention; until he received judgement. If I am worthy of any harm because of this, then here I stand before you.”
When the child said this, a recognition came upon Astyages; the character of his face seemed to resemble his own and his answer was very frank; and the timing of the exposure seemed to coincide with the child’s age. He was amazed by this and speechless for a moment. But at last, and with some difficulty, he recovered and spoke, since he wished to send Artembares away in order to get the herdsman alone and cross-examine him, “Artembares, I shall settle this matter such that you and your child will be blameless.” He sent Artembares [away] and ordered his servants to lead Cyrus inside. Once the herdsman was left behind, alone, Astyages asked him whence he received the child and from whom. He said that he had been born in his own house and that she who had borne him was still with him. But Astyages said that he was not well-counselled, being so eager to get to great torture. As he said this, he gave a sign to his spearmen to take him. And when he was led away to torture, he revealed the whole story. He ended in prayers bidding him to have forgiveness for him.
§3. Astyages pardons the herdsman and obtains a confession from Harpagus, whom he also pretends to pardon.
Astyages gave little thought to the herdsman once he had revealed the true story; but upon Harpagus, on the other hand, he placed great blame, and he ordered his spearmen to summon him, and when Harpagus arrived, Astyages asked him, “Harpagus, by what manner of death did you kill the child, the one which I handed over to you, born of my daughter?”
Harpagus, since he saw that the herdsman was within, did not betake himself down the path of falsehood so that he could not be caught out in a lie, but rather, he gave the straight story. And Astyages, concealing his choler, was again told of the affair by Harpagus just as he had first heard it from the herdsman, and he ended by saying, “So the boy lives, and this happenstance is good. For I was greatly afflicted by what I had done with regard to this child, and I did not easily bear being slandered by my daughter. And so, since our fortune has taken a turn for the better, first of all, let us send your child to our newcomer child, and second, (since I intend to sacrifice a thanks-offering to the gods for the child’s salvation), be present with me for dinner.
When Harpagus heard this, he prostrated himself, and he was greatly pleased that his mistake had turned out to serve him well, and he went to his house. He very quickly arrived and sent out his only-begotten son, who was three years old and ten, bidding him to go to Astyages and to do whatever that man asked of him. He was very glad, and he told his wife all that had occurred.
§4. Abominable punishment inflicted upon Harpagus.
When the son of Harpagus arrived, Astyages cut his throat and cut apart his limbs, and some he roasted, and the rest of the flesh, he boiled. And when the time came for dinner, he set these before Harpagus, except for the head and hands and feet; these he kept aside, covered up in a basket. When Harpagus seemed to have had enough food, Astyages asked him if he had at all enjoyed the feast. When Harpagus said that he had enjoyed it very much, some [servants] brought to him the covered head and hands and feet of his son. They bid Harpagus to uncover the things set before him and to take whatever he wished from them. Harpagus obeyed, and uncovering [the basket], he saw the remains of his child. Upon seeing this, he found his center and he was not struck out of his senses. Astyages asked him if he knew from what beast was the meat he had eaten. He said that he knew and that everything that the king did was pleasing. And having made this reply, he took the remainder of the flesh and went to his house. And there, so I think, he intended to bury all the gathered [pieces].
§5. The Magi decide that Astyages need have no more fear of Cyrus; so the boy is sent home safely to his parents in Persia.
Thus Astyages inflicted this punishment upon Harpagus; and to make plans concerning Cyrus, he summoned those same Magi who had previously interpreted the dream for him. When they arrived, Astyages asked in what way they interpreted the vision; and they said the same things, saying that he would have had to become king if he had survived, but not if he had first died. And he answered them this, “The child lives, and he survives; in the passage of his life, the children of the village set him up as king over the countryside. And he completed [this], doing everything whatsoever that real kings [did]; for he had spearmen, gatekeepers, messengers, and all the rest. So now what tidings does this reveal to you?”
The Magi said, “If the child survived and became a king unintentionally, then take courage because of this, and be good; for he shall not rule a second time.”
When he heard this, Astyages rejoiced, and he summoned Cyrus and said to him this, “My dear child, due to an unfulfilled vision from a dream, I did you wrong, but you survived in your lot. So now go to Persia and fare well, and I will send escorts with you. And when you go there, find your mother and father, of a different kind than the herdsman and his wife.”
After he said this, Astyages sent Cyrus away. And once returned to his parents, they received him into the household of Cambyses, and those who received him made a great welcome.
§1. As a result of a dream, Astyages, king of the Medes, determines to destroy the new-born child Cyrus. He orders Harpagus to put the boy to death.
The oneiromancers of the Magi showed Astyages signs from a certain dream that the child of his daughter was destined to be king instead of him. And so when Cyrus was born, Astyages, to guard himself against this, summoned Harpagus, a man of his household, the most trustworthy of the Medes, and steward of all his wealth, and he said to him the following, “Whatever task I put before you, do not neglect it in any way. Take the child of Mandane, bring it to your own house, and kill it. You may then bury it in whatever way you wish.” And he replied, “My king, if this is pleasing to you, it shall thus come to pass, for my part must certainly be carried out.”
And having so answered, the child was surrendered to him and he went, weeping, to his estate. When he arrived, he told his wife the whole story as related by Astyages. And she said to him, “Now then, what do you intend to do?” He answered, “Certainly not as Atyages commanded, not even if he goes out of his mind and becomes enraged beyond his present madness shall I, myself, consent to his purpose, nor shall I serve in this sort of slaughter. For a good many reasons, I shall not murder the child; for one, he is of the same family as myself; and also, Astyages is an old man and childless of male offspring. If, once he has died, the crown is destined to be passed on through his daughter, whose son Astyages now kills by my hand, then the greatest risk is left to me in the future; for the sake of my own safety, this child must die, but his murderer must come from the household of Astyages, not mine.”
§2. Harpagus transfers the task of slaying the child to one of Astyages’ own herdsmen.
He said this and then immediately sent a messenger to a certain herdsman whom he knew pastured in the most suitable fields but also in mountains teeming with wild beasts, whose name was Mitradates. The herdsman, summoned, arrived with great haste, and Harpagus said to him, “Astyages commands you to take this child and place it in the loneliest spot in the mountains, that it should most quickly perish. And he commanded [me] to tell you that if you do not kill it, but instead in some way save it, that you shall die the most horrible of deaths. And I have been appointed to supervise the exposure [of the child].”
§3. The herdsman returns home with the child and relates the story to his wife.
After he heard this, he took the child and went back along the same way, and he arrived at his hut. As it happens, his wife had also borne him a child on that very day. When the herdsman returned, his wife immediately asked him why Harpagus had so urgently sent for him. He said, “Oh my wife, when I went to the city, I saw and heard things which I ought not to have seen. The entire household of Harpagus was gripped in lamentation. I entered, amazed. Quickly inside, I saw a child laid out, squirming and crying, adorned with gold and richly-dyed garments. When Harpagus saw me, he commanded me to take the child and be gone as quickly as possible, to bring it to a place in the mountains most teeming with wildlife and place it there, threatening much should I not do this thing. I took it and carried it away, and along the way I learned the whole story from a servant who escorted me and entrusted the baby [to me], that it is actually the child of Mandane and Cambyses, that Astyages commanded that it be killed. And now here it is.”
§4. The wife implores the herdsman to spare the child. At her suggestion he exposes their own dead infant on the mountains instead of Cyrus, and they bring up Cyrus as their son.
As the herdsman said this he also uncovered [the child] and showed it [to her]. When she saw that the child was big and beautiful, she wept and clasped her husband by the knees and begged that he in no way kill it. But he said that he was unable to do anything otherwise; for spies from Harpagus were always around, watching [them]; and he would die the most horrible death if did not do this thing. And so when she did not at first convince her husband, the wife spoke again as follows, “Since I am unable to convince you not to kill, nevertheless do this, if it is indeed absolutely necessary to be seen exposing a child; for I too have given birth but that baby has died; take that one, place it out, and let us raise the child of Astyages’ daughter as if [he were] ours. In this way neither shall you be arrested for doing your master wrong, nor will it have been badly planned by us; for the one that died will obtain a royal burial, and the survivor shall not lose his life.”
It seemed to the herdsman that his wife spoke very well and at once he did this; what he carried, the child sentenced to death, this he handed over to his wife; and his own, already dead, he took and placed into the basket in which he had carried the other; he clothed it in all the clothing of the other child, carried it out to the loneliest spot of the mountains and put it there.
After three days passed, the herdsman went to the city, and going into the house of Harpagus, he said that the body of the child was ready to show. Harpagus sent his most trustworthy bodyguards and by their proxy he saw and buried the child of the herdsman. And the wife of the herdsman took Cyrus and raised him.
a) He neglects the sacred sheep of Apollonia, and is punished with blindness by his fellow citizens.
There are sheep in Apollonia sacred to the sun, which feed along a certain river during the day, and at night chosen men guard them, those of the townsmen most highly-placed with respect to wealth and birth; for truly, the Apollonians value these sheep highly, due to a certain prophecy; and they camp out in a cave far away from the city. And so, at this time, Euenius was chosen to guard them.
One time, after Euenius went to sleep, wolves came into the cave and killed about sixty of the sheep. When he discovered this, he kept silent and told no one, for he had in mind to substitute others that he would purchase. But these events did not escape the notice of the Apollonians, and when they learned of it, they brought him to trial at the courthouse, and they condemned him to be deprived of his sight.
b) The gods declare that the punishment is excessive, and that Euenius must be given whatever compensation he chooses to claim.
When they had blinded Euenius, immediately thereupon, neither did the sheep bear them any young, nor likewise did the earth bear fruit. And to those who inquired, both at Dodona* and at Delphi, the gods explained the cause of the present misfortune as follows, “Unjustly was Euenius, the guard of the sacred sheep, deprived of his sight. For we ourselves incited the wolves, and only when you give the compensation which he chooses and considers just shall we cease taking vengeance for that man, and no sooner. And once this is done, we ourselves shall give Euenius a gift of the sort which many men will consider him blessed for possessing.”
c) The Apolloniates trick Euenius into making only a moderate demand. The gods bestow in addition the gift of prophecy.
The Apollonians kept these oracles a secret, and assigned them to certain townsmen to be carried out; and they accomplished this for them as follows: they came upon Euenius sitting down and they sat next to him, and they pondered over other matters until finally coming ’round to sympathizing with his plight. Leading him on in this way, they asked him what compensation he might choose, should the Apollonians undertake to give compensation for what they did. He had not heard the prophecy, and so he said that if certain fields were given to him, those being the finest of any in Apollonia, and in addition to them, a house which he knew to be the finest of any in the city, he would no longer bear resentment, and this compensation would be sufficient. He said these things, and those sitting beside him replied, saying, “Euenius, for blinding you, the Apollonians will pay this compensation, in accordance with the prophecy that was given.”
He was indignant in response to this, after he learned the whole story, that he had been cheated; but they gave him what he had chosen. But immediately after that, he possessed an innate gift of prophesy, and so he became famous.
* Dodona, “a town in the mountains of Epirus in northwest Greece. It was famous as the seat of an ancient and venerable oracle of Zeus.” — Farnell & Goff, pg. 153
Seriously. WTF?!
