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Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database



6465
Herodotus, Histories, 7.49


ὃ δʼ ἀμείβετο λέγων “ὦ βασιλεῦ, οὔτε στρατὸν τοῦτον, ὅστις γε σύνεσιν ἔχει, μέμφοιτʼ ἂν οὔτε τῶν νεῶν τὸ πλῆθος· ἢν δὲ πλεῦνας συλλέξῃς, τὰ δύο τοι τὰ λέγω πολλῷ ἔτι πολεμιώτερα γίνεται. τὰ δὲ δύο ταῦτα ἐστὶ γῆ τε καὶ θάλασσα. οὔτε γὰρ τῆς θαλάσσης ἐστὶ λιμὴν τοσοῦτος οὐδαμόθι, ὡς ἐγὼ εἰκάζω, ὅστις ἐγειρομένου χειμῶνος δεξάμενός σευ τοῦτο τὸ ναυτικὸν φερέγγυος ἔσται διασῶσαι τὰς νέας. καίτοι οὐκὶ ἕνα αὐτὸν δεῖ εἶναι τὸν λιμένα, ἀλλὰ παρὰ πᾶσαν τὴν ἤπειρον παρʼ ἣν δὴ κομίζεαι. οὔκων δὴ ἐόντων τοι λιμένων ὑποδεξίων, μάθε ὅτι αἱ συμφοραὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἄρχουσι καὶ οὐκὶ ὥνθρωποι τῶν συμφορέων. καὶ δὴ τῶν δύο τοι τοῦ ἑτέρου εἰρημένου τὸ ἕτερον ἔρχομαι ἐρέων. γῆ δὲ πολεμίη τῇδέ τοι κατίσταται· εἰ θέλει τοι μηδὲν ἀντίξοον καταστῆναι, τοσούτῳ τοι γίνεται πολεμιωτέρη ὅσῳ ἂν προβαίνῃς ἑκαστέρω, τὸ πρόσω αἰεὶ κλεπτόμενος· εὐπρηξίης δὲ οὐκ ἔστι ἀνθρώποισι οὐδεμία πληθώρη. καὶ δή τοι, ὡς οὐδενὸς ἐναντιευμένου, λέγω τὴν χώρην πλεῦνα ἐν πλέονι χρόνῳ γινομένην λιμὸν τέξεσθαι. ἀνὴρ δὲ οὕτω ἂν εἴη ἄριστος, εἰ βουλευόμενος μὲν ἀρρωδέοι, πᾶν ἐπιλεγόμενος πείσεσθαι χρῆμα, ἐν δὲ τῷ ἔργῳ θρασὺς εἴη.”Artabanus answered and said, “O king, there is no fault that any man of sound judgment could find either with this army or with the number of your ships; and if you gather more, those two things I speak of become even much more your enemies. These two are the land and the sea. ,The sea has nowhere any harbor, as I conjecture, that will be able to receive this navy and save your ships if a storm arise. Yet there has to be not just one such harbor, but many of them all along the land you are sailing by. ,Since there are no harbors able to receive you, understand that men are the subjects and not the rulers of their accidents. I have spoken of one of the two, and now I will tell you of the other. ,The land is your enemy in this way: if nothing is going to stand in your way and hinder you, the land becomes more your enemy the further you advance, constantly unaware of what lies beyond; no man is ever satisfied with success. ,So I say that if no one opposes you, the increase of your territory and the time passed in getting it will breed famine. The best man is one who is timid while making plans because he takes into account all that may happen to him, but is bold in action.”


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1. Herodotus, Histories, 1.26, 1.27, 1.28, 1.29, 1.30, 1.31, 1.32, 1.33, 1.34, 1.35, 1.36, 1.37, 1.38, 1.39, 1.40, 1.41, 1.42, 1.43, 1.44, 1.45, 1.46, 1.47, 1.48, 1.49, 1.50, 1.51, 1.52, 1.53, 1.54, 1.55, 1.56, 1.69, 1.70, 1.71, 1.72, 1.73, 1.74, 1.75, 1.76, 1.77, 1.78, 1.79, 1.80, 1.81, 1.82, 1.83, 1.84, 1.85, 1.86, 1.87, 1.88, 1.89, 1.90, 1.91, 1.126, 1.206, 1.207, 1.208, 1.209, 1.210, 1.211, 1.212, 1.213, 1.214, 3.14, 3.15, 3.37, 3.38, 3.52, 3.117, 3.119, 4.202, 4.205, 5.92, 6.44, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 7.6, 7.7, 7.8, 7.9, 7.10, 7.10.ε, 7.11, 7.12, 7.13, 7.14, 7.15, 7.16, 7.17, 7.18, 7.19, 7.20, 7.21, 7.22, 7.22.1, 7.23, 7.24, 7.25, 7.26, 7.27, 7.28, 7.29, 7.30, 7.31, 7.32, 7.33, 7.34, 7.35, 7.36, 7.37, 7.38, 7.39, 7.40, 7.41, 7.42, 7.43, 7.44, 7.45, 7.46, 7.47, 7.48, 7.50, 7.51, 7.52, 7.53, 7.54, 7.55, 7.56, 7.57, 7.59, 7.60, 7.61, 7.62, 7.63, 7.64, 7.65, 7.66, 7.67, 7.68, 7.69, 7.70, 7.71, 7.72, 7.73, 7.74, 7.75, 7.76, 7.77, 7.78, 7.79, 7.80, 7.81, 7.82, 7.83, 7.84, 7.85, 7.86, 7.87, 7.88, 7.89, 7.90, 7.91, 7.92, 7.93, 7.94, 7.95, 7.96, 7.97, 7.98, 7.99, 7.100, 7.101, 7.102, 7.103, 7.104, 7.105, 7.107, 7.111, 7.113, 7.114, 7.115, 7.116, 7.117, 7.118, 7.119, 7.120, 7.123, 7.129, 7.130, 7.131, 7.132, 7.133, 7.134, 7.135, 7.136, 7.137, 7.138, 7.139, 7.140, 7.141, 7.142, 7.143, 7.144, 7.145, 7.147, 7.148, 7.149, 7.150, 7.151, 7.152, 7.153, 7.154, 7.155, 7.156, 7.157, 7.158, 7.159, 7.160, 7.161, 7.162, 7.163, 7.165, 7.166, 7.169, 7.170, 7.171, 7.172, 7.173, 7.174, 7.176, 7.178, 7.181, 7.183, 7.184, 7.185, 7.186, 7.187, 7.188, 7.189, 7.190, 7.191, 7.192, 7.193, 7.194, 7.197, 7.201, 7.202, 7.203, 7.204, 7.206, 7.208, 7.209, 7.210, 7.211, 7.212, 7.213, 7.214, 7.215, 7.216, 7.217, 7.218, 7.219, 7.220, 7.221, 7.222, 7.223, 7.224, 7.226, 7.227, 7.228, 7.230, 7.233, 7.237, 7.238, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5, 8.6, 8.11, 8.12, 8.13, 8.14, 8.15, 8.17, 8.21, 8.22, 8.25, 8.37, 8.99, 8.103, 8.115, 8.118, 8.119, 8.120, 9.16, 9.108, 9.109, 9.110, 9.111, 9.112, 9.113, 9.122 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)

1.126. So when they all came with sickles as ordered, Cyrus commanded them to reclaim in one day a thorny tract of Persia, of two and one quarter or two and one half miles each way in extent. ,The Persians accomplished the task appointed; Cyrus then commanded them to wash themselves and come the next day; meanwhile, collecting his father's goats and sheep and oxen in one place, he slaughtered and prepared them as a feast for the Persian host, providing also wine and all the foods that were most suitable. ,When the Persians came on the next day he had them sit and feast in a meadow. After dinner he asked them which they liked more: their task of yesterday or their present pastime. ,They answered that the difference was great: all yesterday they had had nothing but evil, to-day nothing but good. Then, taking up their word, Cyrus laid bare his whole purpose, and said: ,“This is your situation, men of Persia : obey me and you shall have these good things and ten thousand others besides with no toil and slavery; but if you will not obey me, you will have labors unnumbered like your toil of yesterday. ,Now, then, do as I tell you, and win your freedom. For I think that I myself was born by a divine chance to undertake this work; and I hold you fully as good men as the Medes in war and in everything else. All this is true; therefore revolt from Astyages quickly now!”
2. Thucydides, The History of The Peloponnesian War, 4 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)



Subjects of this text:

subject book bibliographic info
"historiography, classical" Hau, Moral History from Herodotus to Diodorus Siculus (2017) 183
"justice, divine" Hau, Moral History from Herodotus to Diodorus Siculus (2017) 183
ability to handle good fortune Hau, Moral History from Herodotus to Diodorus Siculus (2017) 183
arrogance Hau, Moral History from Herodotus to Diodorus Siculus (2017) 183
artabanus de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 363
artabanus of persia Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 160
artemisium Rengakos and Tsakmakis, Brill's Companion to Thucydides (2006) 289
audience Kingsley Monti and Rood, The Authoritative Historian: Tradition and Innovation in Ancient Historiography (2022) 126
author Kingsley Monti and Rood, The Authoritative Historian: Tradition and Innovation in Ancient Historiography (2022) 126
cambyses de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 363
cambyses of persia, impieties of Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 160
cleon Rengakos and Tsakmakis, Brill's Companion to Thucydides (2006) 289
croesus Hau, Moral History from Herodotus to Diodorus Siculus (2017) 183; de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 363
croesus of lydia, piety of Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 160
cyrus of persia, divine favor of Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 160
darius Kingsley Monti and Rood, The Authoritative Historian: Tradition and Innovation in Ancient Historiography (2022) 126
delphi Konig, The Folds of Olympus: Mountains in Ancient Greek and Roman Culture (2022) 203
emotions, pity de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 363
enviousness (of the gods) Versnel, Coping with the Gods: Wayward Readings in Greek Theology (2011) 527
gauls Konig, The Folds of Olympus: Mountains in Ancient Greek and Roman Culture (2022) 203
gods, mortal, human' Versnel, Coping with the Gods: Wayward Readings in Greek Theology (2011) 527
graeca interpretatio Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 160
hellespont Konig, The Folds of Olympus: Mountains in Ancient Greek and Roman Culture (2022) 203
herodotus, histories Konig, The Folds of Olympus: Mountains in Ancient Greek and Roman Culture (2022) 203
herodotus, irony Kingsley Monti and Rood, The Authoritative Historian: Tradition and Innovation in Ancient Historiography (2022) 126
herodotus Hau, Moral History from Herodotus to Diodorus Siculus (2017) 183; de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 363
historiography Konig, The Folds of Olympus: Mountains in Ancient Greek and Roman Culture (2022) 203
humility Hau, Moral History from Herodotus to Diodorus Siculus (2017) 183
impiety Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 160
juxtaposition, as a means of moralising Hau, Moral History from Herodotus to Diodorus Siculus (2017) 183
landscape, landscape, alteration of Konig, The Folds of Olympus: Mountains in Ancient Greek and Roman Culture (2022) 203
luxury Hau, Moral History from Herodotus to Diodorus Siculus (2017) 183
macedonia Rengakos and Tsakmakis, Brill's Companion to Thucydides (2006) 289
mount athos Konig, The Folds of Olympus: Mountains in Ancient Greek and Roman Culture (2022) 203
mount pelion Konig, The Folds of Olympus: Mountains in Ancient Greek and Roman Culture (2022) 203
mountains, history Konig, The Folds of Olympus: Mountains in Ancient Greek and Roman Culture (2022) 203
necessity Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 160
overconfidence Hau, Moral History from Herodotus to Diodorus Siculus (2017) 183
patterning Hau, Moral History from Herodotus to Diodorus Siculus (2017) 183
pausanias Konig, The Folds of Olympus: Mountains in Ancient Greek and Roman Culture (2022) 203
periander de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 363
peripeteia Hau, Moral History from Herodotus to Diodorus Siculus (2017) 183
persia, persians Konig, The Folds of Olympus: Mountains in Ancient Greek and Roman Culture (2022) 203
persia/persians Kingsley Monti and Rood, The Authoritative Historian: Tradition and Innovation in Ancient Historiography (2022) 126
persians de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 363
personification of mountains Konig, The Folds of Olympus: Mountains in Ancient Greek and Roman Culture (2022) 203
phthonos Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 160
rutherford, r.b. Kingsley Monti and Rood, The Authoritative Historian: Tradition and Innovation in Ancient Historiography (2022) 126
salamis Rengakos and Tsakmakis, Brill's Companion to Thucydides (2006) 289
sicking, c.m.j. Versnel, Coping with the Gods: Wayward Readings in Greek Theology (2011) 527
solon de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 363
speech de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 363
storms Konig, The Folds of Olympus: Mountains in Ancient Greek and Roman Culture (2022) 203
tears de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 363
thermopylae Rengakos and Tsakmakis, Brill's Companion to Thucydides (2006) 289
thermopylai Konig, The Folds of Olympus: Mountains in Ancient Greek and Roman Culture (2022) 203
thucydides, son of melesias, chronology Rengakos and Tsakmakis, Brill's Companion to Thucydides (2006) 289
thunder Konig, The Folds of Olympus: Mountains in Ancient Greek and Roman Culture (2022) 203
truth Kingsley Monti and Rood, The Authoritative Historian: Tradition and Innovation in Ancient Historiography (2022) 126
tyche Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 160
uncertainty of human life Hau, Moral History from Herodotus to Diodorus Siculus (2017) 183
vignettes, moralising Hau, Moral History from Herodotus to Diodorus Siculus (2017) 183
wise-adviser scene de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 363
xerxes Hau, Moral History from Herodotus to Diodorus Siculus (2017) 183; Konig, The Folds of Olympus: Mountains in Ancient Greek and Roman Culture (2022) 203; Rengakos and Tsakmakis, Brill's Companion to Thucydides (2006) 289; de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 363
zeus, of persia Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 160