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6465

Herodotus, Histories, 9.16

ἐχόντων δὲ τὸν πόνον τοῦτον τῶν βαρβάρων, Ἀτταγῖνος ὁ Φρύνωνος ἀνὴρ Θηβαῖος παρασκευασάμενος μεγάλως ἐκάλεε ἐπὶ ξείνια αὐτόν τε Μαρδόνιον καὶ πεντήκοντα Περσέων τοὺς λογιμωτάτους, κληθέντες δὲ οὗτοι εἵποντο· ἦν δὲ τὸ δεῖπνον ποιεύμενον ἐν Θήβῃσι. τάδε δὲ ἤδη τὰ ἐπίλοιπα ἤκουον Θερσάνδρου ἀνδρὸς μὲν Ὀρχομενίου, λογίμου δὲ ἐς τὰ πρῶτα ἐν Ὀρχομενῷ. ἔφη δὲ ὁ Θέρσανδρος κληθῆναι καὶ αὐτὸς ὑπὸ Ἀτταγίνου ἐπὶ τὸ δεῖπνον τοῦτο, κληθῆναι δὲ καὶ Θηβαίων ἄνδρας πεντήκοντα, καί σφεων οὐ χωρὶς ἑκατέρους κλῖναι, ἀλλὰ Πέρσην τε καὶ Θηβαῖον ἐν κλίνῃ ἑκάστῃ. ὡς δὲ ἀπὸ δείπνου ἦσαν, διαπινόντων τὸν Πέρσην τὸν ὁμόκλινον Ἑλλάδα γλῶσσαν ἱέντα εἰρέσθαι αὐτὸν ὁποδαπός ἐστι, αὐτὸς δὲ ὑποκρίνασθαι ὡς εἴη Ὀρχομένιος. τὸν δὲ εἰπεῖν “ἐπεὶ νῦν ὁμοτράπεζός τέ μοι καὶ ὁμόσπονδος ἐγένεο, μνημόσυνά τοι γνώμης τῆς ἐμῆς καταλιπέσθαι θέλω, ἵνα καὶ προειδὼς αὐτὸς περὶ σεωυτοῦ βουλεύεσθαι ἔχῃς τὰ συμφέροντα. ὁρᾷς τούτους τοὺς δαινυμένους Πέρσας καὶ τὸν στρατὸν τὸν ἐλίπομεν ἐπὶ τῷ ποταμῷ στρατοπεδευόμενον· τούτων πάντων ὄψεαι ὀλίγου τινὸς χρόνου διελθόντος ὀλίγους τινὰς τοὺς περιγενομένους.” ταῦτα ἅμα τε τὸν Πέρσην λέγειν καὶ μετιέναι πολλὰ τῶν δακρύων. αὐτὸς δὲ θωμάσας τὸν λόγον εἰπεῖν πρὸς αὐτὸν “οὐκῶν Μαρδονίῳ τε ταῦτα χρεόν ἐστι λέγειν καὶ τοῖσι μετʼ ἐκεῖνον ἐν αἴνῃ ἐοῦσι Περσέων;” τὸν δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα εἰπεῖν “ξεῖνε, ὅ τι δεῖ γενέσθαι ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἀμήχανον ἀποτρέψαι ἀνθρώπῳ· οὐδὲ γὰρ πιστὰ λέγουσι ἐθέλει πείθεσθαι οὐδείς. ταῦτα δὲ Περσέων συχνοὶ ἐπιστάμενοι ἑπόμεθα ἀναγκαίῃ ἐνδεδεμένοι, ἐχθίστη δὲ ὀδύνη ἐστὶ τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποισι αὕτη, πολλὰ φρονέοντα μηδενὸς κρατέειν.” ταῦτα μὲν Ὀρχομενίου Θερσάνδρου ἤκουον, καὶ τάδε πρὸς τούτοισι, ὡς αὐτὸς αὐτίκα λέγοι ταῦτα πρὸς ἀνθρώπους πρότερον ἢ γενέσθαι ἐν Πλαταιῇσι τὴν μάχην. While the barbarians were engaged in this task, Attaginus son of Phrynon, a Theban, made great preparations and invited Mardonius with fifty who were the most notable of the Persians to be his guests at a banquet. They came as they were bidden; the dinner was held at Thebes. What follows was told me by Thersander of Orchomenus, one of the most notable men of that place. Thersander too (he said) was invited to this dinner, and fifty Thebans in addition. Attaginus made them sit, not each man by himself but on each couch a Persian and a Theban together. ,Now as they were drinking together after dinner, the Persian who sat with him asked Thersander in the Greek tongue from what country he was. Thersander answered that he was from Orchomenus. Then said the Persian: “Since you have eaten at the board with me and drunk with me afterwards, I would like to leave a memorial of my belief, so that you yourself may have such knowledge as to take fitting counsel for your safety. ,Do you see these Persians at the banquet and that host which we left encamped by the river side? In a little while you shall see but a small remnant left alive of all these.” As he said this, the Persian wept bitterly. ,Marvelling at these words, Thersander answered: “Must you not then tell this to Mardonius and those honorable Persians who are with him?” “Sir,” said the Persian, “that which a god wills to send no man can turn aside, for even truth sometimes finds no one to believe it. ,What I have said is known to many of us Persians, but we follow, in the bonds of necessity. It is the most hateful thing for a person to have much knowledge and no power.” This tale I heard from Thersander of Orchomenus who told me in addition that he had straightway told this to others before the battle of Plataea.

Intertexts (texts cited often on the same page as the searched text):

3 results
1. Hesiod, Theogony, 469-491, 468 (8th cent. BCE - 7th cent. BCE) 468. A portion of the earth and barren deep.
2. Herodotus, Histories, 1.31, 1.32, 1.59, 1.78, 1.86, 1.87, 1.89, 1.118, 1.124, 1.126, 1.159, 1.204, 1.209, 1.210, 2.66, 2.82, 2.141, 3.10, 3.37, 3.38, 3.40, 3.41, 3.42, 3.43, 3.65, 3.108, 3.153, 4.28, 4.79, 4.119, 4.205, 5.49, 6.27, 6.82, 6.91, 6.98, 6.117, 7.8, 7.10, 7.10.ε, 7.12, 7.13, 7.14, 7.15, 7.16, 7.17, 7.18, 7.37, 7.46, 7.49, 7.57, 7.136, 7.137, 7.233, 8.20, 8.27, 8.37, 8.60, 8.65, 8.77, 8.84, 8.94, 8.109, 8.137, 9.61, 9.62, 9.73, 9.76, 9.120, 9.122 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE) 1.118. Harpagus told the story straight, while Astyages, hiding the anger that he felt against him for what had been done, first repeated the story again to Harpagus exactly as he had heard it from the cowherd, then, after repeating it, ended by saying that the boy was alive and that the matter had turned out well. ,“For,” he said, “I was greatly afflicted by what had been done to this boy, and it weighed heavily on me that I was estranged from my daughter. Now, then, in this good turn of fortune, send your own son to this boy newly come, and (since I am about to sacrifice for the boy's safety to the gods to whom this honor is due) come here to dine with me.”
3. Pausanias, Description of Greece, 6.3.8, 8.2.4, 8.8.3 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) 6.3.8. The statue of Oebotas was set up by the Achaeans by the command of the Delphic Apollo in the eightieth Olympiad 460 B.C., but Oebotas won his victory in the footrace at the sixth Festival 756 B.C. . How, therefore, could Oebotas have taken part in the Greek victory at Plataea ? For it was in the seventy-fifth Olympiad 479B.C. that the Persians under Mardonius suffered their disaster at Plataea . Now I am obliged to report the statements made by the Greeks, though I am not obliged to believe them all. The other incidents in the life of Oebotas I will add to my history of Achaia . See Paus. 7.17.6 . 8.2.4. I for my part believe this story; it has been a legend among the Arcadians from of old, and it has the additional merit of probability. For the men of those days, because of their righteousness and piety, were guests of the gods, eating at the same board ;the good were openly honored by the gods, and sinners were openly visited with their wrath. Nay, in those days men were changed to gods, who down to the present day have honors paid to them—Aristaeus, Britomartis of Crete, Heracles the son of Alcmena, Amphiaraus the son of Oicles, and besides these Polydeuces and Castor. 8.8.3. When I began to write my history I was inclined to count these legends as foolishness, but on getting as far as Arcadia I grew to hold a more thoughtful view of them, which is this. In the days of old those Greeks who were considered wise spoke their sayings not straight out but in riddles, and so the legends about Cronus I conjectured to be one sort of Greek wisdom. In matters of divinity, therefore, I shall adopt the received tradition.

Subjects of this text:

subject	book bibliographic info
aphiaraus	Edmunds, Greek Myth (2021) 69
arcadia	Edmunds, Greek Myth (2021) 69
artabanus of persia	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 160
athenians, trust in gods and heroes	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 82
battles, keressos 6th cent. bc(	Lalone, Athena Itonia: Geography and Meaning of an Ancient Greek War Goddess (2019) 140
cambyses of persia, dreams of	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 82, 227
cambyses of persia, impieties of	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 160
cecrops	Edmunds, Greek Myth (2021) 69
croesus of lydia, piety of	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 160
croesus of lydia, solon and	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 82
cronus	Edmunds, Greek Myth (2021) 69
cyrus of persia, divine favor of	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 160, 227
dedications	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 199
dioscouroi	Edmunds, Greek Myth (2021) 69
divine visits, herodotus	Moxon, Peter's Halakhic Nightmare: The 'Animal' Vision of Acts 10:9–16 in Jewish and Graeco-Roman Perspective (2017) 389
divine voices, graeco-roman	Moxon, Peter's Halakhic Nightmare: The 'Animal' Vision of Acts 10:9–16 in Jewish and Graeco-Roman Perspective (2017) 389
dreams and visions, dream figures, phantoms'	Moxon, Peter's Halakhic Nightmare: The 'Animal' Vision of Acts 10:9–16 in Jewish and Graeco-Roman Perspective (2017) 389
dreams and visions, examples, herodotus	Moxon, Peter's Halakhic Nightmare: The 'Animal' Vision of Acts 10:9–16 in Jewish and Graeco-Roman Perspective (2017) 389
dreams and visions, examples, popular, personal, therapeutic	Moxon, Peter's Halakhic Nightmare: The 'Animal' Vision of Acts 10:9–16 in Jewish and Graeco-Roman Perspective (2017) 389
graeca interpretatio	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 160
heracles	Edmunds, Greek Myth (2021) 69
heroes and heroines	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 82
impiety, of violating and destroying sanctuaries	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 82
impiety	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 82, 160
lamb (ἄρνη), a spring	Edmunds, Greek Myth (2021) 69
lattamyas	Lalone, Athena Itonia: Geography and Meaning of an Ancient Greek War Goddess (2019) 140
league, koinon, federation, confederacy, boiotian	Lalone, Athena Itonia: Geography and Meaning of an Ancient Greek War Goddess (2019) 140
lycaon	Edmunds, Greek Myth (2021) 69
mantinea	Edmunds, Greek Myth (2021) 69
necessity	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 160, 227
niobe	Edmunds, Greek Myth (2021) 69
omens, herodotus	Moxon, Peter's Halakhic Nightmare: The 'Animal' Vision of Acts 10:9–16 in Jewish and Graeco-Roman Perspective (2017) 389
omens	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 199
oracles, reports, herodotus	Moxon, Peter's Halakhic Nightmare: The 'Animal' Vision of Acts 10:9–16 in Jewish and Graeco-Roman Perspective (2017) 389
oracles	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 199
pausanias xv, xvii	Edmunds, Greek Myth (2021) 69
pheretima of cyrene	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 82
phthonos	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 82, 160, 199
plataia, boiotian city	Lalone, Athena Itonia: Geography and Meaning of an Ancient Greek War Goddess (2019) 140
polycrates of samos	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 82
portents, herodotus	Moxon, Peter's Halakhic Nightmare: The 'Animal' Vision of Acts 10:9–16 in Jewish and Graeco-Roman Perspective (2017) 389
poseidon	Edmunds, Greek Myth (2021) 69
prayers	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 199
prophecy, herodotus	Moxon, Peter's Halakhic Nightmare: The 'Animal' Vision of Acts 10:9–16 in Jewish and Graeco-Roman Perspective (2017) 389
sacrifices	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 199
solon of athens	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 82
themistocles of athens	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 82
tyche	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 160
xerxes of persia, dreams of	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 82, 227
xerxes of persia, impieties of	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 82
xerxes of persia, phthonos and	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 82
zeus, lycaean	Edmunds, Greek Myth (2021) 69
zeus, of persia	Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars (2003) 160
zeus	Edmunds, Greek Myth (2021) 69