Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database

Αἰθίοπας τοὶ διχθὰ δεδαίαται, ἔσχατοι ἀνδρῶν,

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⁶⁸² Πέρσαι γεραιοί, τίνα πόλις πονεῖ πόνον; ⁷⁰² λέξας δύσλεκτα φίλοισιν. Δαρεῖος, ⁷³⁹ φεῦ, ταχεῖά γʼ ἦλθε χρησμῶν πρᾶξις, ἐς δὲ παῖδʼ ἐμὸν, ⁷⁵² οὑμὸς ἀνθρώποις γένηται τοῦ φθάσαντος ἁρπαγή. Ἄτοσσα, ⁷⁵⁹ τοιγάρ σφιν ἔργον ἐστὶν ἐξειργασμένον, ⁷⁸⁷ τί οὖν, ἄναξ Δαρεῖε, ποῖ καταστρέφεις, ⁷⁹⁰ εἰ μὴ στρατεύοισθʼ ἐς τὸν Ἑλλήνων τόπον, ⁷⁹⁹ περᾷ τὸν Ἕλλης πορθμὸν Εὐρώπης ἄπο; Δαρεῖος, ⁸⁴² ὡς τοῖς θανοῦσι πλοῦτος οὐδὲν ὠφελεῖ. Χορός, στένει, κέκοπται, καὶ χαράσσεται πέδον. ... ἦ πολλὰ καὶ παρόντα καὶ μέλλοντʼ ἔτι, ἤλγησʼ ἀκούσας βαρβάροισι πήματα. Ἄτοσσα, ὦ δαῖμον, ὥς με πόλλʼ ἐσέρχεται κακὰ, ἄλγη, μάλιστα δʼ ἥδε συμφορὰ δάκνει, ἀτιμίαν γε παιδὸς ἀμφὶ σώματι, ἐσθημάτων κλύουσαν, ἥ νιν ἀμπέχει. ἀλλʼ εἶμι, καὶ λαβοῦσα κόσμον ἐκ δόμων, ὑπαντιάζειν παιδί μου πειράσομαι. οὐ γὰρ τὰ φίλτατʼ ἐν κακοῖς προδώσομεν. Χορός, ὦ πιστὰ πιστῶν ἥλικές θʼ ἥβης ἐμῆς

" ⁶⁸² GHOST OF DARIUS: Ye faithful Persians, honourd now in age, Once the companions of my youth, what ills Afflict the state? The firm earth groans, it opes, Disclosing its vast deeps; and near my tomb I see my wife: this shakes my troubled soul With fearful apprehensions; yet her offrings Pleased I receive. And you around my tomb Chanting the lofty strain, whose solemn air Draws forth the dead, with grief-attemperd notes Mournfully call me: not with ease the way Leads to this upper air; and the stern gods, Prompt to admit, yield not a passage back But with reluctance: much with them my power Availing, with no tardy step I come. Say then, with what new ill doth Persia groan? CHORUS: chanting My wonted awe oercomes me; in thy presence I dare not raise my eyes, I dare not speak. GHOST OF DARIUS: Since from the realms below, by thy sad strains Adjured, I come, speak; let thy words be brief; Say whence thy grief, tell me unawed by fear. I dread to forge a flattering tale, I dread To grieve thee with a harsh offensive truth.", " ⁷⁰² GHOST OF DARIUS: Since fear hath chained his tongue, high-honourd dame, Once my imperial consort, check thy tears, Thy griefs, and speak distinctly. Mortal man Must bear his lot of wo; afflictions rise Many from sea, many from land, if life Be haply measured through a lengthend course. ATOSSA: O thou that graced with Fortunes choicest gifts Surpassing mortals, while thine eye beheld Yon suns ethereal rays, livedst like a god Blessd amid thy Persians; blessd I deem thee now In death, ere sunk in this abyss of ills, Darius, hear at once our sum of wo; Ruin through all her states hath crushd thy Persia. GHOST OF DARIUS: By pestilence, or factions furious storms? ATOSSA: Not so: near Athens perishd all our troops. GHOST OF DARIUS: Say, of my sons, which led the forces thither? ATOSSA: The impetuous Xerxes, thinning all the land. GHOST OF DARIUS: By sea or land dared he this rash attempt? ATOSSA: By both: a double front the war presented. GHOST OF DARIUS: A host so vast what march conducted oer? ATOSSA: From shore to shore he bridged the Hellespont. GHOST OF DARIUS: What! could he chain the mighty Bosphorus? ATOSSA: Evn so, some god assisting his design. GHOST OF DARIUS: Some god of power to cloud his better sense. ATOSSA: The event now shows what mischiefs he achieved. GHOST OF DARIUS: What sufferd they, for whom your sorrows flow? ATOSSA: His navy sunk spreads ruin through the camp. GHOST OF DARIUS: Fell all his host beneath the slaughtring spear? ATOSSA: Susa, through all her streets, mourns her lost sons. GHOST OF DARIUS: How vain the succour, the defence of arms? ATOSSA: In Bactra age and grief are only left. GHOST OF DARIUS: Ah, what a train of warlike youth is lost! ATOSSA: Xerxes, astonished, desolate, alone- GHOST OF DARIUS: How will this end? Nay, pause not. Is he safe? ATOSSA: Fled oer the bridge, that joind the adverse strands. GHOST OF DARIUS: And reachd this shore in safety? Is this true? ATOSSA: True are thy words, and not to be gainsayd.", " ⁷³⁹ GHOST OF DARIUS: With what a winged course the oracles Haste their completion! With the lightnings speed Jove on my son hath hurled his threatend vengeance: Yet I implored the gods that it might fall In times late process: but when rashness drives Impetuous on, the scourge of Heaven upraised Lashes the Fury forward; hence these ills Pour headlong on my friends. Not weighing this, My son, with all the fiery pride of youth, Hath quickened their arrival, while he hoped To bind the sacred Hellespont, to hold The raging Bosphorus, like a slave, in chains, And dared the adventrous passage, bridging firm With links of solid iron his wondrous way, To lead his numerous host; and swelld with thoughts Presumptuous, deemd, vain mortal! that his power Should rise above the gods, and Neptunes might. And was riot this the phrensy of the soul? But much I fear lest all my treasured wealth Fall to some daring hand an easy prey.", " ⁷⁵² ATOSSA: This from too frequent converse with bad men The impetuous Xerxes learnd; these caught his ear With thy great deeds, as winning for thy sons Vast riches with thy conquering spear, while he Timrous and slothful, never, save in sport, Lifted his lance, nor added to the wealth Won by his noble fathers. This reproach oft by bad men repeated, urged his soul To attempt this war, and lead his troops to Greece.", " ⁷⁵⁹ GHOST OF DARIUS: Great deeds have they achieved, and memorable For ages: never hath this wasted state Sufferd such ruin, since heavens awful king Gave to one lord Asias extended plains White with innumerous flocks, and to his hands Consignd the imperial sceptre. Her brave hosts A Mede first led; the virtues of his son Fixd firm the empire, for his temperate soul Breathed prudence. Cyrus next, by fortune graced, Adornd the throne, and blessd his grateful friends With peace: he to his mighty monarchy Joind Lydia, and the Phrygians; to his power Ionia bent reluctant; but the gods His son then wore the regal diadem. With victory his gentle virtues crownd His son then wore the regal diadem. Next to disgrace his country, and to stain The splendid glories of this ancient throne, Rose Mardus: him, with righteous vengeance fired Artaphernes, and his confederate chiefs Crushd in his palace: Maraphis assumed The sceptre: after him Artaphernes. Me next to this exalted eminence, Crowning my great ambition, Fortune raised. In many a glorious field my glittering spear Flamed in the van of Persias numerous hosts; But never wrought such ruin to the state. Xerxes, my son, in all the pride of youth Listens to youthful counsels, my commands No more rememberd; hence, my hoary friends, Not the whole line of Persias sceptred lords, You know it well, so wasted her brave sons.", ⁷⁸⁷ LEADER OF THE CHORUS: Why this? To what fair end are these thy words Directed? Sovereign lord, instruct thy Persians How, mid this ruin, best to guide their state. " ⁷⁹⁰ GHOST OF DARIUS: No more gainst Greece lead your embattled hosts; Not though your deepning phalanx spreads the field Outnumbring theirs: their very earth fights for them. LEADER: What may thy words import? How fight for them? GHOST OF DARIUS: With famine it destroys your cumbrous train. LEADER: Choice levies, prompt for action, will we send, GHOST OF DARIUS: Those, in the fields of Greece that now remain, Shall not revisit safe the Persian shore. LEADER: What! shall not all the host of Persia pass Again from Europe oer the Hellespont?", " ⁷⁹⁹ GHOST OF DARIUS: of all their numbers few, if aught avails The faith of heaven-sent oracles to him That weighs the past, in their accomplishment Not partial: hence he left, in faithless hope Confiding, his selected train of heroes. These have their station where Asopus flows Watring the plain, whose grateful currents roll Diffusing plenty through Boeotias fields. There misery waits to crush them with the load of heaviest ills, in vengeance for their proud And impious daring; for whereer they held Through Greece their march, they feard not to profane The statues of the gods; their hallowd shrines Emblazed, oerturnd their altars, and in ruins, Rent from their firm foundations, to the ground Levelld their temples; such their frantic deeds, Nor less their suffrings; greater still await them; For Vengeance hath not wasted all her stores; The heap yet swells; for in Plataeas plains Beneath the Doric spear the clotted mass of carnage shall arise, that the high mounds, Piled oer the dead, to late posterity Shall give this silent record to mens eyes, That proud aspiring thoughts but ill beseem Weak mortals: for oppression, when it springs, Puts forth the blade of vengeance, and its fruit Yields a ripe harvest of repentant wo. Behold this vengeance, and remember Greece, Remember Athens: henceforth let not pride, Her present state disdaining, strive to grasp Anothers, and her treasured happiness Shed on the ground: such insolent attempts Awake the vengeance of offended Jove. But you, whose age demands more temperate thoughts, With words of well-placed counsel teach his youth To curb that pride, which from the gods calls down Destruction on his head. To ATOSSA: And thou, whose age The miseries of thy Xerxes sink with sorrow, Go to thy house, thence choose the richest robe, And meet thy son; for through the rage of grief His gorgeous vestments from his royal limbs Are foully rent. With gentlest courtesy Soothe his affliction; for is duteous ear, I know, will listen to thy voice alone. Now to the realms of darkness I descend. My ancient friends, farewell, and mid these ills Each day in pleasures battle your drooping spirits, For treasured riches naught avail the dead.", " ⁸⁴² The GHOST OF DARIUS vanishes into the tomb. LEADER: These many present, many future ills Denounced on Persia, sink my soul with grief. ATOSSA: Unhappy fortune, what a tide of ills Bursts oer me! Chief this foul disgrace, which shows My son divested of his rich attire, His royal robes all rent, distracts my thoughts. But I will go, choose the most gorgeous vest, And haste to meet my son. Never in his woes Will I forsake whom my soul holds most dear. ATOSSA: departs as the CHORUS begins its song.",

"
^1.8 This Candaules, then, fell in love with his own wife, so much so that he believed her to be by far the most beautiful woman in the world; and believing this, he praised her beauty beyond measure to Gyges son of Dascylus, who was his favorite among his bodyguard; for it was to Gyges that he entrusted all his most important secrets. After a little while, Candaules, doomed to misfortune, spoke to Gyges thus: “Gyges, I do not think that you believe what I say about the beauty of my wife; men trust their ears less than their eyes: so you must see her naked.” Gyges protested loudly at this. “Master,” he said, “what an unsound suggestion, that I should see my mistress naked! When a womans clothes come off, she dispenses with her modesty, too. Men have long ago made wise rules from which one ought to learn; one of these is that one should mind ones own business. As for me, I believe that your queen is the most beautiful of all women, and I ask you not to ask of me what is lawless.”", "
^1.11 For the present she made no sign and kept quiet. But as soon as it was day, she prepared those of her household whom she saw were most faithful to her, and called Gyges. He, supposing that she knew nothing of what had been done, answered the summons; for he was used to attending the queen whenever she summoned him. When Gyges came, the lady addressed him thus: “Now, Gyges, you have two ways before you; decide which you will follow. You must either kill Candaules and take me and the throne of Lydia for your own, or be killed yourself now without more ado; that will prevent you from obeying all Candaules commands in the future and seeing what you should not see. One of you must die: either he, the contriver of this plot, or you, who have outraged all custom by looking on me uncovered.” Gyges stood awhile astonished at this; presently, he begged her not to compel him to such a choice. But when he could not deter her, and saw that dire necessity was truly upon him either to kill his master or himself be killed by others, he chose his own life. Then he asked: “Since you force me against my will to kill my master, I would like to know how we are to lay our hands on him.” She replied, “You shall come at him from the same place where he made you view me naked: attack him in his sleep.”", " ^1.12 When they had prepared this plot, and night had fallen, Gyges followed the woman into the chamber (for Gyges was not released, nor was there any means of deliverance, but either he or Candaules must die). She gave him a dagger and hid him behind the same door; and presently he stole out and killed Candaules as he slept. Thus he made himself master of the kings wife and sovereignty. He is mentioned in the iambic verses of Archilochus of Parus who lived about the same time.",
^1.17 He continued the war against the Milesians which his father had begun. This was how he attacked and besieged Miletus : he sent his army, marching to the sound of pipes and harps and bass and treble flutes, to invade when the crops in the land were ripe; and whenever he came to the Milesian territory, he neither demolished nor burnt nor tore the doors off the country dwellings, but let them stand unharmed; but he destroyed the trees and the crops of the land, and so returned to where he came from; for as the Milesians had command of the sea, it was of no use for his army to besiege their city. The reason that the Lydian did not destroy the houses was this: that the Milesians might have homes from which to plant and cultivate their land, and that there might be the fruit of their toil for his invading army to lay waste.
^1.21 The Milesians say it happened so. Then, when the Delphic reply was brought to Alyattes, he promptly sent a herald to Miletus, offering to make a truce with Thrasybulus and the Milesians during his rebuilding of the temple. So the envoy went to Miletus . But Thrasybulus, forewarned of the whole matter, and knowing what Alyattes meant to do, devised the following plan: he brought together into the marketplace all the food in the city, from private stores and his own, and told the men of Miletus all to drink and celebrate together when he gave the word.
^1.26 After the death of Alyattes, his son Croesus, then thirty-five years of age, came to the throne. The first Greeks whom he attacked were the Ephesians. These, besieged by him, dedicated their city to Artemis; they did this by attaching a rope to the city wall from the temple of the goddess, which stood seven stades away from the ancient city which was then besieged. These were the first whom Croesus attacked; afterwards he made war on the Ionian and Aeolian cities in turn, upon different pretexts: he found graver charges where he could, but sometimes alleged very petty grounds of offense. ^1.27 Then, when he had subjugated all the Asiatic Greeks of the mainland and made them tributary to him, he planned to build ships and attack the islanders; but when his preparations for shipbuilding were underway, either Bias of Priene or Pittacus of Mytilene (the story is told of both) came to Sardis and, asked by Croesus for news about Hellas, put an end to the shipbuilding by giving the following answer: “O King, the islanders are buying ten thousand horse, intending to march to Sardis against you.” Croesus, thinking that he spoke the truth, said: “Would that the gods would put this in the heads of the islanders, to come on horseback against the sons of the Lydians!” Then the other answered and said: “O King, you appear to me earnestly to wish to catch the islanders riding horses on the mainland, a natural wish. And what else do you suppose the islanders wished, as soon as they heard that you were building ships to attack them, than to catch Lydians on the seas, so as to be revenged on you for the Greeks who dwell on the mainland, whom you enslaved?” Croesus was quite pleased with this conclusion, for he thought the man spoke reasonably and, heeding him, stopped building ships. Thus he made friends with the Ionians inhabiting the islands. ^1.28 As time went on, Croesus subjugated almost all the nations west of the Halys ; for except the Cilicians and Lycians, all the rest Croesus held subject under him. These were the Lydians, Phrygians, Mysians, Mariandynians, Chalybes, Paphlagonians, the Thracian Thynians and Bithynians, Carians, Ionians, Dorians, Aeolians, and Pamphylians; ^1.29 and after these were subdued and subject to Croesus in addition to the Lydians, all the sages from Hellas who were living at that time, coming in different ways, came to Sardis, which was at the height of its property; and among them came Solon the Athenian, who, after making laws for the Athenians at their request, went abroad for ten years, sailing forth to see the world, he said. This he did so as not to be compelled to repeal any of the laws he had made, ince the Athenians themselves could not do that, for they were bound by solemn oaths to abide for ten years by whatever laws Solon should make. ^1.30 So for that reason, and to see the world, Solon went to visit Amasis in Egypt and then to Croesus in Sardis . When he got there, Croesus entertained him in the palace, and on the third or fourth day Croesus told his attendants to show Solon around his treasures, and they pointed out all those things that were great and blest. After Solon had seen everything and had thought about it, Croesus found the opportunity to say, “My Athenian guest, we have heard a lot about you because of your wisdom and of your wanderings, how as one who loves learning you have traveled much of the world for the sake of seeing it, so now I desire to ask you who is the most fortunate man you have seen.” Croesus asked this question believing that he was the most fortunate of men, but Solon, offering no flattery but keeping to the truth, said, “O King, it is Tellus the Athenian.” Croesus was amazed at what he had said and replied sharply, “In what way do you judge Tellus to be the most fortunate?” Solon said, “Tellus was from a prosperous city, and his children were good and noble. He saw children born to them all, and all of these survived. His life was prosperous by our standards, and his death was most glorious: when the Athenians were fighting their neighbors in Eleusis, he came to help, routed the enemy, and died very finely. The Athenians buried him at public expense on the spot where he fell and gave him much honor.”, ... " ^8.53 In time a way out of their difficulties was revealed to the barbarians, since according to the oracle all the mainland of Attica had to become subject to the Persians. In front of the acropolis, and behind the gates and the ascent, was a place where no one was on guard, since no one thought any man could go up that way. Here some men climbed up, near the sacred precinct of Cecrops daughter Aglaurus, although the place was a sheer cliff. When the Athenians saw that they had ascended to the acropolis, some threw themselves off the wall and were killed, and others fled into the chamber. The Persians who had come up first turned to the gates, opened them, and murdered the suppliants. When they had levelled everything, they plundered the sacred precinct and set fire to the entire acropolis.", ^8.54 So it was that Xerxes took complete possession of Athens, and he sent a horseman to Susa to announce his present success to Artabanus. On the day after the messenger was sent, he called together the Athenian exiles who accompanied him and asked them go up to the acropolis and perform sacrifices in their customary way, an order given because he had been inspired by a dream or because he felt remorse after burning the sacred precinct. The Athenian exiles did as they were commanded. " ^8.55 I will tell why I have mentioned this. In that acropolis is a shrine of Erechtheus, called the “Earthborn,” and in the shrine are an olive tree and a pool of salt water. The story among the Athenians is that they were set there by Poseidon and Athena as tokens when they contended for the land. It happened that the olive tree was burnt by the barbarians with the rest of the sacred precinct, but on the day after its burning, when the Athenians ordered by the king to sacrifice went up to the sacred precinct, they saw a shoot of about a cubits length sprung from the stump, and they reported this.",
^8.99 When the first message came to Susa, saying that Xerxes had taken Athens, it gave such delight to the Persians who were left at home that they strewed all the roads with myrtle boughs and burnt incense and gave themselves up to sacrificial feasts and jollity. The second, however, coming on the heels of the first, so confounded them that they all tore their tunics, and cried and lamented without ceasing, holding Mardonius to blame; it was not so much in grief for their ships that they did this as because they feared for Xerxes himself. "
^8.109 When Themistocles perceived that he could not persuade the greater part of them to sail to the Hellespont, he turned to the Athenians (for they were the angriest at the Persians escape, and they were minded to sail to the Hellespont even by themselves, if the rest would not) and addressed them as follows: “This I have often seen with my eyes and heard yet more often, namely that beaten men, when they be driven to bay, will rally and retrieve their former mishap. Therefore I say to you,—as it is to a fortunate chance that we owe ourselves and Hellas, and have driven away so mighty a band of enemies—let us not pursue men who flee, for it is not we who have won this victory, but the gods and the heroes, who deemed Asia and Europe too great a realm for one man to rule, and that a wicked man and an impious one who dealt alike with temples and bones, burning and overthrowing the images of the gods,—yes, and one who scourged the sea and threw fetters into it. But as it is well with us for the moment, let us abide now in Hellas and take thought for ourselves and our households. Let us build our houses again and be diligent in sowing, when we have driven the foreigner completely away. Then when the next spring comes, let us set sail for the Hellespont and Ionia.” This he said with intent to have something to his credit with the Persian, so that he might have a place of refuge if ever (as might chance) he should suffer anything at the hands of the Athenians—and just that did in fact happen.",
^8.115 So the herald took that response and departed, but Xerxes left Mardonius in Thessaly. He himself journeyed with all speed to the Hellespont and came in forty-five days to the passage for crossing, bringing back with him as good as none (if one may say so) of his host. Wherever and to whatever people they came, they seized and devoured its produce. If they found none, they would eat the grass of the field and strip the bark and pluck the leaves of the trees, garden and wild alike, leaving nothing—such was the degree of their starvation. Moreover, pestilence and dysentery broke out among them on their way, from which they died. Some who were sick Xerxes left behind, charging the cities to which he came in his march to care for them and nourish them, some in Thessaly and some in Siris of Paeonia and in Macedonia. In Siris he had left the sacred chariot of Zeus when he was marching to Hellas, but on his return he did not get it back again. The Paeonians had given it to the Thracians, and when Xerxes demanded it back, they said that the horses had been carried off from pasture by the Thracians of the hills who dwelt about the headwaters of the Strymon.
^8.143 But to Alexander the Athenians replied as follows: “We know of ourselves that the power of the Mede is many times greater than ours. There is no need to taunt us with that. Nevertheless in our zeal for freedom we will defend ourselves to the best of our ability. But as regards agreements with the barbarian, do not attempt to persuade us to enter into them, nor will we consent. Now carry this answer back to Mardonius from the Athenians, that as long as the sun holds the course by which he now goes, we will make no agreement with Xerxes. We will fight against him without ceasing, trusting in the aid of the gods and the heroes whom he has disregarded and burnt their houses and their adornments. Come no more to Athenians with such a plea, nor under the semblance of rendering us a service, counsel us to act wickedly. For we do not want those who are our friends and protectors to suffer any harm at Athenian hands.”, "
^9.109 As time went on, however, the truth came to light, and in such manner as I will show. Xerxes wife, Amestris, wove and gave to him a great gaily-colored mantle, marvellous to see. Xerxes was pleased with it, and went to Artaynte wearing it. Being pleased with her too, he asked her what she wanted in return for her favors, for he would deny nothing at her asking. Thereupon—for she and all her house were doomed to evil—she said to Xerxes, “Will you give me whatever I ask of you?” He promised this, supposing that she would ask anything but that; when he had sworn, she asked boldly for his mantle. Xerxes tried to refuse her, for no reason except that he feared that Amestris might have clear proof of his doing what she already guessed. He accordingly offered her cities instead and gold in abundance and an army for none but herself to command. Armies are the most suitable of gifts in Persia. But as he could not move her, he gave her the mantle; and she, rejoicing greatly in the gift, went flaunting her finery.", "
^9.111 Nevertheless, since Amestris was insistent and the law compelled him (for at this royal banquet in Persia every request must of necessity be granted), he unwillingly consented, and delivered the woman to Amestris. Then, bidding her do what she wanted, he sent for his brother and spoke as follows: “Masistes, you are Darius son and my brother, and a good man; hear me then. You must no longer live with her who is now your wife. I give you my daughter in her place. Take her for your own, but do away with the wife that you have, for it is not my will that you should have her.” At that Masistes was amazed; “Sire,” he said, “what is this evil command that you lay upon me, telling me to deal with my wife in this way? I have by her young sons and daughters, of whom you have taken a wife for your own son, and I am very content with her herself. Yet you are asking me to get rid of my wife and wed your daughter? Truly, O king, I consider it a great honor to be accounted worthy of your daughter, but I will do neither the one nor the other. No, rather, do not force me to consent to such a desire. You will find another husband for your daughter as good as I, but permit me to keep my own wife.” This was Masistes response, but Xerxes was very angry and said: “You have come to this pass, Masistes. I will give you no daughter of mine as a wife, nor will you any longer live with her whom you now have. In this way you will learn to accept that which is offered you.” Hearing that, Masistes said “No, sire, you have not destroyed me yet!” and so departed.",
^9.122 This Artayctes who was crucified was the grandson of that Artembares who instructed the Persians in a design which they took from him and laid before Cyrus; this was its purport: “Seeing that Zeus grants lordship to the Persian people, and to you, Cyrus, among them, let us, after reducing Astyages, depart from the little and rugged land which we possess and occupy one that is better. There are many such lands on our borders, and many further distant. If we take one of these, we will all have more reasons for renown. It is only reasonable that a ruling people should act in this way, for when will we have a better opportunity than now, when we are lords of so many men and of all Asia?” Cyrus heard them, and found nothing to marvel at in their design; “Go ahead and do this,” he said; “but if you do so, be prepared no longer to be rulers but rather subjects. Soft lands breed soft men; wondrous fruits of the earth and valiant warriors grow not from the same soil.” The Persians now realized that Cyrus reasoned better than they, and they departed, choosing rather to be rulers on a barren mountain side than dwelling in tilled valleys to be slaves to others.

^6.56 τὸν δ’ οὖν Ἁρμόδιον ἀπαρνηθέντα τὴν πείρασιν, ὥσπερ διενοεῖτο, προυπηλάκισεν: ἀδελφὴν γὰρ αὐτοῦ κόρην ἐπαγγείλαντες ἥκειν κανοῦν οἴσουσαν ἐν πομπῇ τινί, ἀπήλασαν λέγοντες οὐδὲ ἐπαγγεῖλαι τὴν ἀρχὴν διὰ τὸ μὴ ἀξίαν εἶναι. χαλεπῶς δὲ ἐνεγκόντος τοῦ Ἁρμοδίου πολλῷ δὴ μᾶλλον δι’ ἐκεῖνον καὶ ὁ Ἀριστογείτων παρωξύνετο. καὶ αὐτοῖς τὰ μὲν ἄλλα πρὸς τοὺς ξυνεπιθησομένους τῷ ἔργῳ ἐπέπρακτο, περιέμενον δὲ Παναθήναια τὰ μεγάλα, ἐν ᾗ μόνον ἡμέρᾳ οὐχ ὕποπτον ἐγίγνετο ἐν ὅπλοις τῶν πολιτῶν τοὺς τὴν πομπὴν πέμψοντας ἁθρόους γενέσθαι: καὶ ἔδει ἄρξαι μὲν αὐτούς, ξυνεπαμύνειν δὲ εὐθὺς τὰ πρὸς τοὺς δορυφόρους ἐκείνους. ἦσαν δὲ οὐ πολλοὶ οἱ ξυνομωμοκότες ἀσφαλείας ἕνεκα: ἤλπιζον γὰρ καὶ τοὺς μὴ προειδότας, εἰ καὶ ὁποσοιοῦν τολμήσειαν, ἐκ τοῦ παραχρῆμα ἔχοντάς γε ὅπλα ἐθελήσειν σφᾶς αὐτοὺς ξυνελευθεροῦν. ^6.57 καὶ ὡς ἐπῆλθεν ἡ ἑορτή, Ἱππίας μὲν ἔξω ἐν τῷ Κεραμεικῷ καλουμένῳ μετὰ τῶν δορυφόρων διεκόσμει ὡς ἕκαστα ἐχρῆν τῆς πομπῆς προϊέναι, ὁ δὲ Ἁρμόδιος καὶ ὁ Ἀριστογείτων ἔχοντες ἤδη τὰ ἐγχειρίδια ἐς τὸ ἔργον προῇσαν. καὶ ὡς εἶδόν τινα τῶν ξυνωμοτῶν σφίσι διαλεγόμενον οἰκείως τῷ Ἱππίᾳ (ἦν δὲ πᾶσιν εὐπρόσοδος ὁ Ἱππίας), ἔδεισαν καὶ ἐνόμισαν μεμηνῦσθαί τε καὶ ὅσον οὐκ ἤδη ξυλληφθήσεσθαι. τὸν λυπήσαντα οὖν σφᾶς καὶ δι’ ὅνπερ πάντα ἐκινδύνευον ἐβούλοντο πρότερον, εἰ δύναιντο, προτιμωρήσασθαι, καὶ ὥσπερ εἶχον ὥρμησαν ἔσω τῶν πυλῶν, καὶ περιέτυχον τῷ Ἱππάρχῳ παρὰ τὸ Λεωκόρειον καλούμενον, καὶ εὐθὺς ἀπερισκέπτως προσπεσόντες καὶ ὡς ἂν μάλιστα δι’ ὀργῆς ὁ μὲν ἐρωτικῆς, ὁ δὲ ὑβρισμένος, ἔτυπτον καὶ ἀποκτείνουσιν αὐτόν. καὶ ὁ μὲν τοὺς δορυφόρους τὸ αὐτίκα διαφεύγει ὁ Ἀριστογείτων, ξυνδραμόντος τοῦ ὄχλου, καὶ ὕστερον ληφθεὶς οὐ ῥᾳδίως διετέθη: Ἁρμόδιος δὲ αὐτοῦ παραχρῆμα ἀπόλλυται. ^6.58 ἀγγελθέντος δὲ Ἱππίᾳ ἐς τὸν Κεραμεικόν, οὐκ ἐπὶ τὸ γενόμενον, ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ τοὺς πομπέας τοὺς ὁπλίτας, πρότερον ἢ αἰσθέσθαι αὐτοὺς ἄπωθεν ὄντας, εὐθὺς ἐχώρησε, καὶ ἀδήλως τῇ ὄψει πλασάμενος πρὸς τὴν ξυμφορὰν ἐκέλευσεν αὐτούς, δείξας τι χωρίον, ἀπελθεῖν ἐς αὐτὸ ἄνευ τῶν ὅπλων. καὶ οἱ μὲν ἀνεχώρησαν οἰόμενοί τι ἐρεῖν αὐτόν, ὁ δὲ τοῖς ἐπικούροις φράσας τὰ ὅπλα ὑπολαβεῖν ἐξελέγετο εὐθὺς οὓς ἐπῃτιᾶτο καὶ εἴ τις ηὑρέθη ἐγχειρίδιον ἔχων: μετὰ γὰρ ἀσπίδος καὶ δόρατος εἰώθεσαν τὰς πομπὰς ποιεῖν.

^6.56 To return to Harmodius; Hipparchus having been repulsed in his solicitations insulted him as he had resolved, by first inviting a sister of his, a young girl, to come and bear a basket in a certain procession, and then rejecting her, on the plea that she had never been invited at all owing to her unworthiness. If Harmodius was indigt at this, Aristogiton for his sake now became more exasperated than ever; and having arranged everything with those who were to join them in the enterprise, they only waited for the great feast of the Panathenaea, the sole day upon which the citizens forming part of the procession could meet together in arms without suspicion. Aristogiton and Harmodius were to begin, but were to be supported immediately by their accomplices against the bodyguard. The conspirators were not many, for better security, besides which they hoped that those not in the plot would be carried away by the example of a few daring spirits, and use the arms in their hands to recover their liberty. ^6.57 At last the festival arrived; and Hippias with his bodyguard was outside the city in the Ceramicus, arranging how the different parts of the procession were to proceed. Harmodius and Aristogiton had already their daggers and were getting ready to act, when seeing one of their accomplices talking familiarly with Hippias, who was easy of access to every one, they took fright, and concluded that they were discovered and on the point of being taken; and eager if possible to be revenged first upon the man who had wronged them and for whom they had undertaken all this risk, they rushed, as they were, within the gates, and meeting with Hipparchus by the Leocorium recklessly fell upon him at once, infuriated, Aristogiton by love, and Harmodius by insult, and smote him and slew him. Aristogiton escaped the guards at the moment, through the crowd running up, but was afterwards taken and dispatched in no merciful way: Harmodius was killed on the spot. ^6.58 When the news was brought to Hippias in the Ceramicus, he at once proceeded not to the scene of action, but to the armed men in the procession, before they, being some distance away, knew anything of the matter, and composing his features for the occasion, so as not to betray himself, pointed to a certain spot, and bade them repair thither without their arms. They withdrew accordingly, fancying he had something to say; upon which he told the mercenaries to remove the arms, and there and then picked out the men he thought guilty and all found with daggers, the shield and spear being the usual weapons for a procession.