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Tag: herodotus

  • Tales From Herodotus VI. How Arion was saved by a dolphin LITERAL REDUX

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    Rather than post a new translation, here is something a little different. For comparison, here is a more literal translation of the last story. For the most part this means attempting to preserve the tenses of the Greek verbs, particularly the participles. It also means I’m going to incorporate as many of the little enclitics as I can.

    Arion the minstrel, having worn away the much of the time with Periander, the tyrant of Corinth, was eager to sail to Italy and also Sicily. And, having earned great wealth, he wished to come back to Corinth. And so, he set out from Tarentum, but trusting no one more than Corinthians, he hired a ship of Corinthian men. But they, in the sea, planned, after throwing Arion overboard, to have his wealth. And he, after piecing this together, beseeched [them], offering them his money, and begging for his life. Verily, he most certainly did not persuade [them] but rather the sailors ordered him either to kill himself, as he would happen upon burial in the ground, or to jump out into the sea by the quickest [way]. And threatened, Arion, in difficulty, begged them to allow him to sing, in all his attire, having stood amidst the rowing benches; and after singing, he promised to destroy himself.

    The men, for pleasure came into them if they would be about to hear the best singer of men, withdrew from the stern to the middle of the ship. And he, dressed also in all his apparel, and having taken up his lyre, having stood amidst the rowing benches, went through the orthion hymn; and having finished the hymn, he hurled himself into the sea just as he was, with all his apparel.

    And, they sailed away to Corinth whereas, a dolphin, so they say, supporting him, carried out Arion up to Taenarum. And having disembarked he went to Corinth with his apparel, and upon arriving, he told everything that had happened. But Periander, because of disbelief, held Arion under guard, in no way being remiss, and he held carefully of the sailors. And when they did indeed come around, having summoned them he asked if they might say anything about Arion. And after those men saying that he was safe around Italy, and that they left him doing well in Tarentum, Arion showed [himself] to them, being just as when he jumped out. And they, being amazed, were no longer able to deny being accused.

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  • Tales From Herodotus VI. How Arion was saved by a dolphin

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    Arion the minstrel had spent the greater part of his time with Periander, the tyrant of Corinth and he was eager to sail to Italy and Sicily. And then, once he had earned a lot of money, he wished to come back to Corinth. And so he set out from Tarentum, and since he trusted no one more than Corinthians, he hired a ship of Corinthian men. But once at sea, they planned to throw Arion overboard and take his money. When he pieced this together, he beseeched [them] and begged for his life, offering them his money. But he did not at all persuade them and instead the sailors ordered him either to kill himself, and thereby obtain a decent burial, or to jump out into the sea as soon as possible. So threatened, and in dire straights, Arion begged them to allow him to sing [for them] in all his attire, standing amidst the rowing benches. He promised kill himself after he had sung.

    The men, pleased at the chance to hear the best singer of all men*, withdrew from the stern to the middle of the ship. And he, dressed in all his apparel, took up his lyre and stood in the rowing benches, and went through the orthion hymn. And when he had finished the hymn, he hurled himself into the sea just as he was, with all his apparel.

    And they sailed away to Corinth, whereas a dolphin took up Arion, so they say, and carried him all the way to Taenarum. And he came ashore and went to Corinth in his attire, and when he arrived, he told everything that had happened. But Periander, in disbelief, held Arion under guard, being remiss in no way, and he watched carefully for the sailors. And when they did indeed come around, he summoned them and asked if they could say anything about Arion. When those men said that he was safe somewhere in Italy, that they had left him doing well in Tarentum, Arion showed [himself] to them, just as he was when he jumped out [from their ship]. They were so amazed that they were unable to deny his accusations**.

    * εἰσῆλθε γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἡδονὴ εἰ μέλλοιεν ἀκούσεσθαι τοῦ ἀρίστου ἀνθρώπων ἀοιδοῦ – literally, for pleasure came into them if they would be about to hear the best singer of men.

    ** καὶ οἱ δὲ ἐκπλαγέντες οὐκ εἶχον ἔτι ἐλεγχόμενοι ἀρνεῖσθαι – literally, and they, being amazed, were no longer able to deny being accused.

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  • Tales From Herodotus V. Stories of Amasis, who usurped the throne of Egypt

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    c) Former spendthrift and dishonest habits of Amasis; his unexpected treatment, after his accession to the throne, of the oracular shrines which had encouraged his practices.

    Amasis said that even when he was a private citizen, he loved drinking and joking, and he was in no way a serious man, so much so that while he was drinking and making merry, he would run out of the necessities of life, and he would steal to survive. And those who claimed that he had [stolen] their wealth, they would take him, denying [his guilt], to whichever oracle was nearest each time. And although he was often convicted by the oracles, he was just as often acquitted.

    And so when he became king, he did the following: whichever of the gods had set him free [saying] that he was not a thief, of these temples neither did he take care of them nor did he give them anything in reparation; he would not even sacrifice to them on the grounds that they were worthless, since they procured false prophecy; but whichever temples had convicted him as a thief, to these he gave the greatest care, since they were truly from the gods and supplied unerring prophecy.

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  • Tales From Herodotus V. Stories of Amasis, who usurped the throne of Egypt

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    b) How he justified his relaxation.

    In such manner, he won over the Egyptians, so that they consented to be obedient. And he managed that state of affairs as follows; in the morning, until the marketplace filled [i.e. noon], he eagerly managed the matters brought before him; and after that he drank and made jokes with his fellows and he was idle and playful.

    Those of his friends disgusted by these [antics] admonished him, saying this, “My king, you are not conducting yourself properly, leading yourself into too much frivolity. You must sit solemnly on the solemn throne managing the affairs of state for the entire day. In this way, the Egyptians would see that they were led by a man of greatness, and you would have a better reputation; but you are not now behaving in a kingly manner.”

    He replied to them this, “Those who possess bows, when they need to use them, string them; and when they have used them, they unstring them; for if they kept them strung at all times, they would break, and they would not have their use when they were needed. Thus too is the nature of a man. If he wished to be always serious and never, in turn, let himself relax in play, he would never get away with it without going mad or having a stroke. Knowing this, I allot a turn to each.”

    “he would never get away with it without going mad or…”: this is a very loose translation of λάθοι ἂν ἤτοι μανεὶς ἢ…, but I hope it keeps the spirit of the Greek better than a literal translation (something more like, “truly he would escape by going mad or…”)

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  • Tales From Herodotus V. Stories of Amasis, who usurped the throne of Egypt

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    a) How, in spite of his low birth, he induced his subjects to respect him.

    After Apries was deposed, Amasis became king. At first, the Egyptians despised Amasis and held him in no great respect, since he was formerly a commoner and from an undistinguished house. But Amasis soon won them over, not by bluster, but by skill. He had a golden basin for washing feet, in which he himself and also all his guests always washed their feet, and countless other fine things besides. And so, he cut this into pieces and made from it a statue of a god, and he set it up where it was most useful; and the Egyptians came to and fro before the statue and worshiped it greatly.

    When Amasis discovered this, he called the Egyptians together and he revealed it, saying that from the wash-basin, the statue had come to be, into what the Egyptians had previously vomited and washed their feet, they then greatly worshiped. And then he went on to say that he had done himself the same way as with the statue; for if he had previously been a commoner, he was nevertheless at present their king. And he bid them to honour him and show respect for him.

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  • Tales From Herodotus IV: Story of Mycerinus

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    In this case I went with a looser translation. Changing participles to indicative English comprises most of my changes.

    The deeds of his father displeased Mycerinus; so he opened up the temples and sent forth the people, worn down to the extremity of hardship, against their doings and sacrifices; and for the people he made the fairest judgments of all the kings. But although Mycerinus was kind toward his citizens and attended to these things, his daughter experienced the foremost of hardships, dying, she who was the only child born to him in his household. And after the suffering of his daughter, a second thing happened to this king as follows. An oracle came to him from the city, Buto, that after living six years, he was destined to die on the seventh. He took it badly, and sent to the oracle a reproach for the god, casting blame in turn, “My father and uncle, not only did they close off the temples and forget the gods, but they also ruined the people, yet they lived for many years; I, on the other hand, despite being pious, I am destined soon to die.”

    From the shrine there came to him a second [oracle], saying, “For this very reason, your life hastens to an end. For you have not done that which was necessary to do. For Egypt must be afflicted for fifty years and one hundred. The two kings who came before you learned this, but not you.”

    When Mycerinus heard this, since some of his punishments had already been assigned, he had many lamps made for himself, and lit them whenever night fell, and he drank and made merry, never relaxing, neither day nor night, [often] wandering into the marshes and groves, wherever in the world he had learned were places most suitable to pleasure. He contrived these things, wishing to prove the oracle fooled, so that he might have twelve years instead of six years by making days of the nights.

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  • Tales From Herodotus III. How crocodiles are worshipped by some Egyptians, captured and eaten by others

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    To some of the Egyptians crocodiles are sacred, and to others they are not, treating them, instead, like opponents. Those who live around Thebes and Lake Moeris consider them very holy. Each one raises a crocodile, taught to be tame; they treat them like the noblest of all living things, inserting ornaments into their ears and bracelets around their front claws, and giving them specially prepared food and sacrifices; and when they die, they bury them embalmed in holy tombs.

    But those who live around the city Elephantine eat them, and they do not consider them holy. They have established many and various ways of catching them; and here I write what strikes me as the best part of the story. Whenever the back of a hog is used as bait on hook, it is cast out into the middle of the river. And he having a living sow on the riverbank strikes her. The crocodile, hearing the noise, hastens toward the sound; and coming upon the pork, swallows it, and they drag it in. Then, when it is dragged out onto land, the first hunter of all of them spreads mud over its eyes; once this is done, the rest subdue it much more easily; otherwise it would be done with a struggle.

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  • Tales From Herodotus II. How the Egyptian king Psammeticus discovered the oldest race on Earth.

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    I love this story. Psammeticus is a ruthless scientist!

    The Egyptians, when Psammeticus was king of them, considered themselves to have been first of all peoples. But when Psammeticus became king, he wished to know who were the first [peoples], [and] from then on they knew that the Phrygians were the first before them, but that were before all others. And so when Psammeticus, by inquiring, was unable to discover anything of this matter, who were the first of peoples, he contrived as follows. He gave two newborn children of ordinary people to a shepherd to raise, commanded that he never utter any sound before them, and to lay them by themselves in a lonely house, and at the time that the shepherd leads his goats to them, to accomplish filling them with milk and every other thing necessary. and Psammeticus considered this and he also ordered that he wished to hear whatever noise the children first voice, once their inarticulate babbling had ended. And so those very things happened; for once two years had passed, when the shepherd opened the door and entered, both children begging at his knees were saying, “Bekos,” stretching out their hands. And having heard the first [words], the shepherd kept quiet; But as this word was frequently heard by him, visiting often and taking care, he thus gave word to his master and led the children into the sight of that man. And when Psammeticus himself heard, he sought out whichever peoples called what, “Bekos.” And, inquiring, he discovered that the Phrygians called bread this. Thus the Egyptians agreed, having measured by these events that the Phrygians were older than they.

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  • Tales From Herodotus

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    Well why don’t I get started. I’m translating from Tales From Herodotus. It amounts to beginner’s Greek, and I am pleased to find that it’s pretty easy going for the most part. I am trying to stick to fairly literal translations, even if the resulting phrasing is a little awkward.  Here and there I might [insert] a word to make the meaning clear.

    I. How games were invented by the Lydians to relieve their distress in times of famine.

    The Lydians say that games, both those played by the Greek and by themselves, were their own invention, telling of them the following. In the time of Atys, son of Manes the king, there happened a severe famine throughout all Lydia, and for a while the Lydians endured patiently, but as it did not cease they sought remedies, one man after another devising [cures].  And so it was then discovered, [games] of 6-sided dice, of 4-sided dice, of balls and every other kind of game except those of gaming stones; for the Lydians do not claim the discovery of these. And having discovered games, they did the following to stave off the hunger. They played games every other day so that they did not seek food and they ate the next day, once they ended the games. In this way they got through twenty-two difficult years.

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