Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database

¹⁵⁹ ἀνδρῶν ἡρώων θεῖον γένος, οἳ καλέονται ¹⁶⁰ ἡμίθεοι, προτέρη γενεὴ κατʼ ἀπείρονα γαῖαν. ¹⁶¹ καὶ τοὺς μὲν πόλεμός τε κακὸς καὶ φύλοπις αἰνή, ¹⁶² τοὺς μὲν ὑφʼ ἑπταπύλῳ Θήβῃ, Καδμηίδι γαίῃ, ¹⁶³ ὤλεσε μαρναμένους μήλων ἕνεκʼ Οἰδιπόδαο, ¹⁶⁴ τοὺς δὲ καὶ ἐν νήεσσιν ὑπὲρ μέγα λαῖτμα θαλάσσης, ¹⁶⁵ ἐς Τροίην ἀγαγὼν Ἑλένης ἕνεκʼ ἠυκόμοιο. ¹⁶⁶ ἔνθʼ ἤτοι τοὺς μὲν θανάτου τέλος ἀμφεκάλυψε, ¹⁶⁷ τοῖς δὲ δίχʼ ἀνθρώπων βίοτον καὶ ἤθεʼ ὀπάσσας, ¹⁶⁸ Ζεὺς Κρονίδης κατένασσε πατὴρ ἐς πείρατα γαίης. ¹⁶⁹ τηλοῦ ἀπʼ ἀθανάτων· τοῖσιν Κρόνος ἐμβασιλεύει. ¹⁷⁰ καὶ τοὶ μὲν ναίουσιν ἀκηδέα θυμὸν ἔχοντες, ¹⁷¹ ἐν μακάρων νήσοισι παρʼ Ὠκεανὸν βαθυδίνην, ¹⁷² ὄλβιοι ἥρωες, τοῖσιν μελιηδέα καρπὸν, ¹⁷³ τρὶς ἔτεος θάλλοντα φέρει ζείδωρος ἄρουρα.

¹⁵⁹ Impetuous, and they the sun’s bright flame ¹⁶⁰ Would see no more, nor would this race be seen, ¹⁶¹ Themselves, screened by the earth. Cronus’ son then, ¹⁶² Fashioned upon the lavish land one more, ¹⁶³ The fourth, more just and brave – of righteous men, ¹⁶⁴ Called demigods. It was the race before, ¹⁶⁵ Our own upon the boundless earth. Foul war, ¹⁶⁶ And dreadful battles vanquished some of these, ¹⁶⁷ While some in Cadmus’ Thebes, while looking for, ¹⁶⁸ The flocks of Oedipus, found death. The sea, ¹⁶⁹ Took others as they crossed to Troy fight, ¹⁷⁰ For fair-tressed Helen. They were screened as well, ¹⁷¹ In death. Lord Zeus arranged it that they might, ¹⁷² Live far from others. Thus they came to dwell, ¹⁷³ Carefree, among the blessed isles, content,

⁹⁴² ἀθάνατον θνητή· νῦν δʼ ἀμφότεροι θεοί εἰσιν.

⁹⁴² Causes the sacred earth to melt: just so

^2.499 οἵ τʼ ἀμφʼ Ἅρμʼ ἐνέμοντο καὶ Εἰλέσιον καὶ Ἐρυθράς, ^4.391 οἳ δὲ χολωσάμενοι Καδμεῖοι κέντορες ἵππων, ^4.409 κεῖνοι δὲ σφετέρῃσιν ἀτασθαλίῃσιν ὄλοντο·, ^6.130 οὐδὲ γὰρ οὐδὲ Δρύαντος υἱὸς κρατερὸς Λυκόοργος, ^6.131 δὴν ἦν, ὅς ῥα θεοῖσιν ἐπουρανίοισιν ἔριζεν·, ^6.132 ὅς ποτε μαινομένοιο Διωνύσοιο τιθήνας, ^6.133 σεῦε κατʼ ἠγάθεον Νυσήϊον· αἳ δʼ ἅμα πᾶσαι, ^6.134 θύσθλα χαμαὶ κατέχευαν ὑπʼ ἀνδροφόνοιο Λυκούργου, ^6.135 θεινόμεναι βουπλῆγι· Διώνυσος δὲ φοβηθεὶς, ^6.136 δύσεθʼ ἁλὸς κατὰ κῦμα, Θέτις δʼ ὑπεδέξατο κόλπῳ, ^6.137 δειδιότα· κρατερὸς γὰρ ἔχε τρόμος ἀνδρὸς ὁμοκλῇ. ^6.138 τῷ μὲν ἔπειτʼ ὀδύσαντο θεοὶ ῥεῖα ζώοντες, ^6.139 καί μιν τυφλὸν ἔθηκε Κρόνου πάϊς· οὐδʼ ἄρʼ ἔτι δὴν, ^6.140 ἦν, ἐπεὶ ἀθανάτοισιν ἀπήχθετο πᾶσι θεοῖσιν·

^2.499 and Arcesilaus and Prothoënor and Clonius; these were they that dwelt in Hyria and rocky Aulis and Schoenus and Scolus and Eteonus with its many ridges, Thespeia, Graea, and spacious Mycalessus; and that dwelt about Harma and Eilesium and Erythrae;
^4.391 full easily; such a helper was Athene to him. But the Cadmeians, goaders of horses, waxed wroth, and as he journeyed back, brought and set a strong ambush, even fifty youths, and two there were as leaders, Maeon, son of Haemon, peer of the immortals,
^4.409 We declare ourselves to be better men by far than our fathers: we took the seat of Thebe of the seven gates, when we twain had gathered a lesser host against a stronger wall, putting our trust in the portents of the gods and in the aid of Zeus; whereas they perished through their own blind folly.
^6.130 Nay, for even the son of Dryas, mighty Lycurgus, lived not long, seeing that he strove with heavenly gods—he that on a time drave down over the sacred mount of Nysa the nursing mothers of mad Dionysus; and they all let fall to the ground their wands, smitten with an ox-goad by man-slaying Lycurgus. ^6.134 Nay, for even the son of Dryas, mighty Lycurgus, lived not long, seeing that he strove with heavenly gods—he that on a time drave down over the sacred mount of Nysa the nursing mothers of mad Dionysus; and they all let fall to the ground their wands, smitten with an ox-goad by man-slaying Lycurgus. " ^6.135 But Dionysus fled, and plunged beneath the wave of the sea, and Thetis received him in her bosom, filled with dread, for mighty terror gat hold of him at the mans threatenings. Then against Lycurgus did the gods that live at ease wax wroth, and the son of Cronos made him blind;", " ^6.139 But Dionysus fled, and plunged beneath the wave of the sea, and Thetis received him in her bosom, filled with dread, for mighty terror gat hold of him at the mans threatenings. Then against Lycurgus did the gods that live at ease wax wroth, and the son of Cronos made him blind;", ^6.140 and he lived not for long, seeing that he was hated of all the immortal gods. So would not I be minded to fight against the blessed gods. But if thou art of men, who eat the fruit of the field, draw nigh, that thou mayest the sooner enter the toils of destruction. Then spake to him the glorious son of Hippolochus:

τὸν δὲ ἴδεν Κάδμου θυγάτηρ, καλλίσφυρος Ἰνώ,

NA>

" ^2.25 Long-haired Semele, who died in the roar of the thunderbolt, lives among the Olympians; Pallas is her constant friend, and indeed so is father Zeus, and she is loved by her ivy-crowned son. And they say that even in the sea, among the ocean-daughters of Nereus, immortal life 30 is granted to Ino for all time. Truly, for mortal men at least, the time when we will reach the limit of death is by no means fixed, nor when we will bring a peaceful day, the suns child, to an end in unworried well-being. But at various times various currents, both of pleasure and of toil, come to men. 35 In such a way does Fate, who keeps their pleasant fortune to be handed from father to son, bring at another time some painful reversal together with god-sent prosperity, since the destined son met and killed Laius, and fulfilled the oracle of Pytho, spoken long before. But the sharp-eyed Erinys saw it, and destroyed his warlike sons through mutual slaughter. Yet Polyneices, when laid low, left behind him a son, Thersander, honored in youthful contests and in the battles of war, 45 a scion to defend the house of the descendants of Adrastus. And it is fitting that the son of Aenesidamus, whose roots grew from that seed, should meet with songs of praise and with the lyre. For in Olympia he himself received a prize of honor; at Pytho"

^11.1 Pythian 11: For Thrasydaeus of Thebes Foot Race or Double Foot Race 474 or 454 B.C. Daughters of Cadmus, Semele dwelling among the Olympians and Ino Leucothea, sharing the chamber of the Nereid sea-nymphs: come, with the mother of Heracles, greatest in birth, to the presence of Melia; come to the sanctuary of golden tripods, 5 the treasure-house which Loxias honored above all and named the Ismenion, true seat of prophecy. Come, children of Harmonia, where even now he calls the native host of heroines to assemble, so that you may loudly sing of holy Themis and Pytho and the just 10 navel of the earth, at the edge of evening, in honor of seven-gated Thebes and the contest at Cirrha, in which Thrasydaeus caused his ancestral hearth to be remembered by flinging over it a third wreath 15 as a victor in the rich fields of Pylades, the friend of Laconian Orestes, who indeed, when his father was murdered, was taken by his nurse Arsinoe from the strong hands and bitter deceit of Clytaemnestra, when she sent the Dardanian daughter of Priam, Cassandra, together with the soul of Agamemnon, to the shadowy bank of Acheron with her gray blade of bronze, the pitiless woman. Was it Iphigeneia, slaughtered at the Euripus far from her fatherland, that provoked her to raise the heavy hand of her anger? Or was she vanquished by another bed

"̓́Ιακχ ὦ ̓́Ιακχε,"

NA>

¹⁰ αἰνῶ δὲ Κάδμον, ἄβατον ὃς πέδον τόδε ¹¹ τίθησι, θυγατρὸς σηκόν· ἀμπέλου δέ νιν, ⁹³ κεραυνίῳ πληγᾷ·, ⁹⁴ λοχίοις δʼ αὐτίκα νιν δέξατο 95 θαλάμαις Κρονίδας Ζεύς, ⁹⁶ κατὰ μηρῷ δὲ καλύψας, ⁹⁷ χρυσέαισιν συνερείδει, ⁹⁸ περόναις κρυπτὸν ἀφʼ Ἥρας. ⁹⁹ ἔτεκεν δʼ, ἁνίκα Μοῖραι, ¹⁰⁰ τέλεσαν, ταυρόκερων θεὸν, ¹⁰¹ στεφάνωσέν τε δρακόντων, ¹⁰² στεφάνοις, ἔνθεν ἄγραν θηροτρόφον 978 θίασον ἔνθʼ ἔχουσι Κάδμου κόραι, ⁹⁹⁸ περὶ σὰ Βάκχιʼ, ὄργια ματρός τε σᾶς, ¹⁰⁹⁵ ὡς δʼ εἶδον ἐλάτῃ δεσπότην ἐφήμενον, ¹⁰⁹⁶ πρῶτον μὲν αὐτοῦ χερμάδας κραταιβόλους, ¹⁰⁹⁷ ἔρριπτον, ἀντίπυργον ἐπιβᾶσαι πέτραν, ¹⁰⁹⁸ ὄζοισί τʼ ἐλατίνοισιν ἠκοντίζετο. ¹⁰⁹⁹ ἄλλαι δὲ θύρσους ἵεσαν διʼ αἰθέρος, ¹¹⁰⁰ Πενθέως, στόχον δύστηνον· ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἤνυτον. ...

¹⁰ I praise Kadmos, who has made this place hallowed, the shrine of his daughter; and I have covered it all around with the cluster-bearing leaf of the vine.I have left the wealthy lands of the Lydians and Phrygians, the sun-parched plains of the Persians, ¹¹ I praise Kadmos, who has made this place hallowed, the shrine of his daughter; and I have covered it all around with the cluster-bearing leaf of the vine.I have left the wealthy lands of the Lydians and Phrygians, the sun-parched plains of the Persians, ⁹³ the thunder of Zeus flying upon her, his mother cast from her womb, leaving life by the stroke of a thunderbolt. Immediately Zeus, Kronos’ son, ⁹⁴ the thunder of Zeus flying upon her, his mother cast from her womb, leaving life by the stroke of a thunderbolt. Immediately Zeus, Kronos’ son, ⁹⁵ received him in a chamber fit for birth, and having covered him in his thigh shut him up with golden clasps, hidden from Hera.And he brought forth, when the Fate, ⁹⁷ received him in a chamber fit for birth, and having covered him in his thigh shut him up with golden clasps, hidden from Hera.And he brought forth, when the Fate, ⁹⁸ received him in a chamber fit for birth, and having covered him in his thigh shut him up with golden clasps, hidden from Hera.And he brought forth, when the Fate, ⁹⁹ And when the Fates had fully formed the horned god, he brought him forth and crowned him with a coronal of snakes, whence it is the thyrsus-bearing Maenads hunt the snake to twine about their hair. O Thebes, nurse of Semele! crown thyself with ivy; burst forth, burst forth with blossoms fair of green convolvulus, and with the boughs of oak and pine join in the Bacchic revelry; don thy coat of dappled fawn-skin, decking it with tufts of silvered hair; with reverent hand the sportive wand now wield. Anon shall the whole land be dancing, when Bromius leads his revellers to the hills, to the hills away! where wait him groups of maidens from loom and shuttle roused in frantic haste by Dionysus. ¹⁰⁰ had perfected him, the bull-horned god, and he crowned him with crowns of snakes, for which reason Maenads cloak their wild prey over their locks. Choru, ¹⁰² had perfected him, the bull-horned god, and he crowned him with crowns of snakes, for which reason Maenads cloak their wild prey over their locks. Choru,
⁹⁷⁸ Go to the mountain, go, fleet hounds of Madness, where the daughters of Kadmos hold their company, and drive them raving,
⁹⁹⁸ Whoever with wicked mind and unjust rage regarding your rites, Bacchus, and those of your mother, comes with raving heart,
¹⁰⁹⁵ When they saw my master sitting in the pine, first they climbed a rock towering opposite the tree and began to hurl at him boulders violently thrown. Some aimed with pine branches and other women hurled their thyrsoi through the air, ¹⁰⁹⁹ When they saw my master sitting in the pine, first they climbed a rock towering opposite the tree and began to hurl at him boulders violently thrown. Some aimed with pine branches and other women hurled their thyrsoi through the air, ¹¹⁰⁰ at Pentheus, a sad target indeed. But they did not reach him, for the wretched man, caught with no way out, sat at a height too great for their eagerness. Finally like lightning they smashed oak branches and began to tear up the roots of the tree with ironless levers. ...

⁷¹⁷ λαιψηρὰ πηδᾷ νυκτιπόλοις ἅμα σὺν Βάκχαις,

⁷¹⁷ that rear your rocky heads to heaven, where Bacchus with uplifted torch of blazing pine bounds nimbly amid his bacchanals, that range by night! Never to my city come this boy!

, ¹⁷⁵⁴ στολιδωσαμένα ποτ ἐγὼ Σεμέλας" ¹⁷⁵⁶ θίασον ἱερὸν ὄρεσιν ἀνεχόρευσα, ¹⁷⁵⁷ χάριν ἀχάριτον ἐς θεοὺς διδοῦσα; "

¹⁷⁵⁴ Bromius, for whom I once dressed in the Theban fawn-skin and ¹⁷⁵⁵ danced upon the hills in the holy choir of Semele—shall I now offer the gods homage that is not homage? Oedipu, ¹⁷⁵⁷ danced upon the hills in the holy choir of Semele—shall I now offer the gods homage that is not homage? Oedipu,

³⁰⁶ νῦν δ ἴσθι σοί τε τοῦθ ὅσην τιμὴν φέρει," ³⁰⁷ κἀμοὶ παραινεῖν οὐ φόβον φέρει, τέκνον, ³⁰⁸ ἄνδρας βιαίους καὶ κατείργοντας νεκροὺς, ³⁰⁹ τάφου τε μοίρας καὶ κτερισμάτων λαχεῖν, " ³¹⁰ ἐς τήνδ ἀνάγκην σῇ καταστῆσαι χερί,", " ³⁹⁹ τίς γῆς τύραννος; πρὸς τίν ἀγγεῖλαί με χρὴ", ⁷³⁹ ̓Ετεοκλέους τε σύμβασιν ποιουμένου, ⁷⁴⁰ μέτρια θέλοντος, οὐκ ἐχρῄζομεν λαβεῖν, " ⁷⁴¹ κἄπειτ ἀπωλόμεσθα. ὁ δ αὖ τότ εὐτυχής,", "

³⁰⁶ to venture somewhat for injured folk; and this, my son, it is that brings thee now thy honour, and causes me no fear to urge that thou shouldst use Line 310 is rejected by Nauck. thy power to make men of violence, who prevent the dead from receiving their meed of burial and funeral rites, ³⁰⁷ to venture somewhat for injured folk; and this, my son, it is that brings thee now thy honour, and causes me no fear to urge that thou shouldst use Line 310 is rejected by Nauck. thy power to make men of violence, who prevent the dead from receiving their meed of burial and funeral rites, ³⁰⁹ to venture somewhat for injured folk; and this, my son, it is that brings thee now thy honour, and causes me no fear to urge that thou shouldst use Line 310 is rejected by Nauck. thy power to make men of violence, who prevent the dead from receiving their meed of burial and funeral rites, ³¹⁰ perform this bounden duty, and check those who would confound the customs of all Hellas; for this it is that holds men’s states together,—strict observance of the laws. And some, no doubt, will say, ’twas cowardice made thee stand aloof in terror,
³⁹⁹ Who is the despot of this land? To whom must I announce,
⁷³⁹ human race? On thee we all depend, and all we do is only what thou listest. We thought our Argos irresistible, ourselves a young and lusty host, and so when Eteocles was for making terms, ⁷⁴⁰ in spite of his fair offer we would not accept them, and so we perished. Then in their turn those foolish folk of Cadmus, to fortune raised, like some beggar with his newly-gotten wealth, waxed wanton, and, waxing so, were ruined in their turn. Ye foolish sons of men! who strain your bow like men who shoot, ⁷⁴¹ in spite of his fair offer we would not accept them, and so we perished. Then in their turn those foolish folk of Cadmus, to fortune raised, like some beggar with his newly-gotten wealth, waxed wanton, and, waxing so, were ruined in their turn. Ye foolish sons of men! who strain your bow like men who shoot,

^1.46 After the loss of his son, Croesus remained in deep sorrow for two years. After this time, the destruction by Cyrus son of Cambyses of the sovereignty of Astyages son of Cyaxares, and the growth of the power of the Persians, distracted Croesus from his mourning; and he determined, if he could, to forestall the increase of the Persian power before they became great. Having thus determined, he at once made inquiries of the Greek and Libyan oracles, sending messengers separately to Delphi, to Abae in Phocia, and to Dodona, while others were despatched to Amphiaraus and Trophonius, and others to Branchidae in the Milesian country. These are the Greek oracles to which Croesus sent for divination: and he told others to go inquire of Ammon in Libya . His intent in sending was to test the knowledge of the oracles, so that, if they were found to know the truth, he might send again and ask if he should undertake an expedition against the Persians. ^1.47 And when he sent to test these shrines he gave the Lydians these instructions: they were to keep track of the time from the day they left Sardis, and on the hundredth day inquire of the oracles what Croesus, king of Lydia, son of Alyattes, was doing then; then they were to write down whatever the oracles answered and bring the reports back to him. Now none relate what answer was given by the rest of the oracles. But at Delphi, no sooner had the Lydians entered the hall to inquire of the god and asked the question with which they were entrusted, than the Pythian priestess uttered the following hexameter verses: 1.48 Having written down this inspired utterance of the Pythian priestess, the Lydians went back to Sardis . When the others as well who had been sent to various places came bringing their oracles, Croesus then unfolded and examined all the writings. Some of them in no way satisfied him. But when he read the Delphian message, he acknowledged it with worship and welcome, considering Delphi as the only true place of divination, because it had discovered what he himself had done. For after sending his envoys to the oracles, he had thought up something which no conjecture could discover, and carried it out on the appointed day: namely, he had cut up a tortoise and a lamb, and then boiled them in a cauldron of bronze covered with a lid of the same. ^1.49 Such, then, was the answer from Delphi delivered to Croesus. As to the reply which the Lydians received from the oracle of Amphiaraus when they had followed the due custom of the temple, I cannot say what it was, for nothing is recorded of it, except that Croesus believed that from this oracle too he had obtained a true answer.
^1.52 Such were the gifts which he sent to Delphi . To Amphiaraus, of whose courage and fate he had heard, he dedicated a shield made entirely of gold and a spear all of solid gold, point and shaft alike. Both of these were until my time at Thebes, in the Theban temple of Ismenian Apollo. ^1.53 The Lydians who were to bring these gifts to the temples were instructed by Croesus to inquire of the oracles whether he was to send an army against the Persians and whether he was to add an army of allies. When the Lydians came to the places where they were sent, they presented the offerings, and inquired of the oracles, in these words: “Croesus, king of Lydia and other nations, believing that here are the only true places of divination among men, endows you with such gifts as your wisdom deserves. And now he asks you whether he is to send an army against the Persians, and whether he is to add an army of allies.” Such was their inquiry; and the judgment given to Croesus by each of the two oracles was the same: namely, that if he should send an army against the Persians he would destroy a great empire. And they advised him to discover the mightiest of the Greeks and make them his friends. ^1.54 When the divine answers had been brought back and Croesus learned of them, he was very pleased with the oracles. So, altogether expecting that he would destroy the kingdom of Cyrus, he sent once again to Pytho and endowed the Delphians, whose number he had learned, with two gold staters apiece. The Delphians, in return, gave Croesus and all Lydians the right of first consulting the oracle, exemption from all charges, the chief seats at festivals, and perpetual right of Delphian citizenship to whoever should wish it. ^1.55 After his gifts to the Delphians, Croesus made a third inquiry of the oracle, for he wanted to use it to the full, having received true answers from it; and the question which he asked was whether his sovereignty would be of long duration. To this the Pythian priestess answered as follows: 1.56 When he heard these verses, Croesus was pleased with them above all, for he thought that a mule would never be king of the Medes instead of a man, and therefore that he and his posterity would never lose his empire. Then he sought very carefully to discover who the mightiest of the Greeks were, whom he should make his friends. He found by inquiry that the chief peoples were the Lacedaemonians among those of Doric, and the Athenians among those of Ionic stock. These races, Ionian and Dorian, were the foremost in ancient time, the first a Pelasgian and the second a Hellenic people. The Pelasgian race has never yet left its home; the Hellenic has wandered often and far. For in the days of king Deucalion it inhabited the land of Phthia, then the country called Histiaean, under Ossa and Olympus, in the time of Dorus son of Hellen; driven from this Histiaean country by the Cadmeans, it settled about Pindus in the territory called Macedonian; from there again it migrated to Dryopia, and at last came from Dryopia into the Peloponnese, where it took the name of Dorian.
^1.65 So Croesus learned that at that time such problems were oppressing the Athenians, but that the Lacedaemonians had escaped from the great evils and had mastered the Tegeans in war. In the kingship of Leon and Hegesicles at Sparta, the Lacedaemonians were successful in all their other wars but met disaster only against the Tegeans. Before this they had been the worst-governed of nearly all the Hellenes and had had no dealings with strangers, but they changed to good government in this way: Lycurgus, a man of reputation among the Spartans, went to the oracle at Delphi . As soon as he entered the hall, the priestess said in hexameter: 1.66 Thus they changed their bad laws to good ones, and when Lycurgus died they built him a temple and now worship him greatly. Since they had good land and many men, they immediately flourished and prospered. They were not content to live in peace, but, confident that they were stronger than the Arcadians, asked the oracle at Delphi about gaining all the Arcadian land. She replied in hexameter: 1.67 In the previous war the Lacedaemonians continually fought unsuccessfully against the Tegeans, but in the time of Croesus and the kingship of Anaxandrides and Ariston in Lacedaemon the Spartans had gained the upper hand. This is how: when they kept being defeated by the Tegeans, they sent ambassadors to Delphi to ask which god they should propitiate to prevail against the Tegeans in war. The Pythia responded that they should bring back the bones of Orestes, son of Agamemnon. When they were unable to discover Orestes tomb, they sent once more to the god to ask where he was buried. The Pythia responded in hexameter to the messengers: 1.68 It was Lichas, one of these men, who found the tomb in Tegea by a combination of luck and skill. At that time there was free access to Tegea, so he went into a blacksmiths shop and watched iron being forged, standing there in amazement at what he saw done. The smith perceived that he was amazed, so he stopped what he was doing and said, “My Laconian guest, if you had seen what I saw, then you would really be amazed, since you marvel so at ironworking. I wanted to dig a well in the courtyard here, and in my digging I hit upon a coffin twelve feet long. I could not believe that there had ever been men taller than now, so I opened it and saw that the corpse was just as long as the coffin. I measured it and then reburied it.” So the smith told what he had seen, and Lichas thought about what was said and reckoned that this was Orestes, according to the oracle. In the smiths two bellows he found the winds, hammer and anvil were blow upon blow, and the forging of iron was woe upon woe, since he figured that iron was discovered as an evil for the human race. After reasoning this out, he went back to Sparta and told the Lacedaemonians everything. They made a pretence of bringing a charge against him and banishing him. Coming to Tegea, he explained his misfortune to the smith and tried to rent the courtyard, but the smith did not want to lease it. Finally he persuaded him and set up residence there. He dug up the grave and collected the bones, then hurried off to Sparta with them. Ever since then the Spartans were far superior to the Tegeans whenever they met each other in battle. By the time of Croesus inquiry, the Spartans had subdued most of the Peloponnese .", "
^1.86 The Persians gained Sardis and took Croesus prisoner. Croesus had ruled fourteen years and been besieged fourteen days. Fulfilling the oracle, he had destroyed his own great empire. The Persians took him and brought him to Cyrus, who erected a pyre and mounted Croesus atop it, bound in chains, with twice seven sons of the Lydians beside him. Cyrus may have intended to sacrifice him as a victory-offering to some god, or he may have wished to fulfill a vow, or perhaps he had heard that Croesus was pious and put him atop the pyre to find out if some divinity would deliver him from being burned alive. So Cyrus did this. As Croesus stood on the pyre, even though he was in such a wretched position it occurred to him that Solon had spoken with gods help when he had said that no one among the living is fortunate. When this occurred to him, he heaved a deep sigh and groaned aloud after long silence, calling out three times the name “Solon.” Cyrus heard and ordered the interpreters to ask Croesus who he was invoking. They approached and asked, but Croesus kept quiet at their questioning, until finally they forced him and he said, “I would prefer to great wealth his coming into discourse with all despots.” Since what he said was unintelligible, they again asked what he had said, persistently harassing him. He explained that first Solon the Athenian had come and seen all his fortune and spoken as if he despised it. Now everything had turned out for him as Solon had said, speaking no more of him than of every human being, especially those who think themselves fortunate. While Croesus was relating all this, the pyre had been lit and the edges were on fire. When Cyrus heard from the interpreters what Croesus said, he relented and considered that he, a human being, was burning alive another human being, one his equal in good fortune. In addition, he feared retribution, reflecting how there is nothing stable in human affairs. He ordered that the blazing fire be extinguished as quickly as possible, and that Croesus and those with him be taken down, but despite their efforts they could not master the fire.", " ^1.87 Then the Lydians say that Croesus understood Cyrus change of heart, and when he saw everyone trying to extinguish the fire but unable to check it, he invoked Apollo, crying out that if Apollo had ever been given any pleasing gift by him, let him offer help and deliver him from the present evil. Thus he in tears invoked the god, and suddenly out of a clear and windless sky clouds gathered, a storm broke, and it rained violently, extinguishing the pyre. Thus Cyrus perceived that Croesus was dear to god and a good man. He had him brought down from the pyre and asked, “Croesus, what man persuaded you to wage war against my land and become my enemy instead of my friend?” He replied, “O King, I acted thus for your good fortune, but for my own ill fortune. The god of the Hellenes is responsible for these things, inciting me to wage war. No one is so foolish as to choose war over peace. In peace sons bury their fathers, in war fathers bury their sons. But I suppose it was dear to the divinity that this be so.”", "
^1.90 When Cyrus heard this, he was exceedingly pleased, for he believed the advice good; and praising him greatly, and telling his guard to act as Croesus had advised, he said: “Croesus, now that you, a king, are determined to act and to speak with integrity, ask me directly for whatever favor you like.” “Master,” said Croesus, “you will most gratify me if you will let me send these chains of mine to that god of the Greeks whom I especially honored and to ask him if it is his way to deceive those who serve him well.” When Cyrus asked him what grudge against the god led him to make this request, Croesus repeated to him the story of all his own aspirations, and the answers of the oracles, and more particularly his offerings, and how the oracle had encouraged him to attack the Persians; and so saying he once more insistently pled that he be allowed to reproach the god for this. At this Cyrus smiled, and replied, “This I will grant you, Croesus, and whatever other favor you may ever ask me.” When Croesus heard this, he sent Lydians to Delphi, telling them to lay his chains on the doorstep of the temple, and to ask the god if he were not ashamed to have persuaded Croesus to attack the Persians, telling him that he would destroy Cyrus power; of which power (they were to say, showing the chains) these were the first-fruits. They should ask this; and further, if it were the way of the Greek gods to be ungrateful.", " ^1.91 When the Lydians came, and spoke as they had been instructed, the priestess (it is said) made the following reply. “No one may escape his lot, not even a god. Croesus has paid for the sin of his ancestor of the fifth generation before, who was led by the guile of a woman to kill his master, though he was one of the guard of the Heraclidae, and who took to himself the royal state of that master, to which he had no right. And it was the wish of Loxias that the evil lot of Sardis fall in the lifetime of Croesus sons, not in his own; but he could not deflect the Fates. Yet as far as they gave in, he did accomplish his wish and favor Croesus: for he delayed the taking of Sardis for three years. And let Croesus know this: that although he is now taken, it is by so many years later than the destined hour. And further, Loxias saved Croesus from burning. But as to the oracle that was given to him, Croesus is wrong to complain concerning it. For Loxias declared to him that if he led an army against the Persians, he would destroy a great empire. Therefore he ought, if he had wanted to plan well, to have sent and asked whether the god spoke of Croesus or of Cyrus empire. But he did not understood what was spoken, or make further inquiry: for which now let him blame himself. When he asked that last question of the oracle and Loxias gave him that answer concerning the mule, even that Croesus did not understand. For that mule was in fact Cyrus, who was the son of two parents not of the same people, of whom the mother was better and the father inferior: for she was a Mede and the daughter of Astyages king of the Medes; but he was a Persian and a subject of the Medes and although in all respects her inferior he married this lady of his.” This was the answer of the priestess to the Lydians. They carried it to Sardis and told Croesus, and when he heard it, he confessed that the sin was not the gods, but his. And this is the story of Croesus rule, and of the first overthrow of Ionia .", " ^1.92 There are many offerings of Croesus in Hellas, and not only those of which I have spoken. There is a golden tripod at Thebes in Boeotia, which he dedicated to Apollo of Ismenus; at Ephesus there are the oxen of gold and the greater part of the pillars; and in the temple of Proneia at Delphi, a golden shield. All these survived to my lifetime; but other of the offerings were destroyed. And the offerings of Croesus at Branchidae of the Milesians, as I learn by inquiry, are equal in weight and like those at Delphi . Those which he dedicated at Delphi and the shrine of Amphiaraus were his own, the first-fruits of the wealth inherited from his father; the rest came from the estate of an enemy who had headed a faction against Croesus before he became king, and conspired to win the throne of Lydia for Pantaleon. This Pantaleon was a son of Alyattes, and half-brother of Croesus: Croesus was Alyattes son by a Carian and Pantaleon by an Ionian mother. So when Croesus gained the sovereignty by his fathers gift, he put the man who had conspired against him to death by drawing him across a carding-comb, and first confiscated his estate, then dedicated it as and where I have said. This is all that I shall say of Croesus offerings.",
^2.23 The opinion about Ocean is grounded in obscurity and needs no disproof; for I know of no Ocean river; and I suppose that Homer or some older poet invented this name and brought it into his poetry.
^2.43 Concerning Heracles, I heard it said that he was one of the twelve gods. But nowhere in Egypt could I hear anything about the other Heracles, whom the Greeks know. I have indeed a lot of other evidence that the name of Heracles did not come from Hellas to Egypt, but from Egypt to Hellas (and in Hellas to those Greeks who gave the name Heracles to the son of Amphitryon), besides this: that Amphitryon and Alcmene, the parents of this Heracles, were both Egyptian by descent ; and that the Egyptians deny knowing the names Poseidon and the Dioscuri, nor are these gods reckoned among the gods of Egypt . Yet if they got the name of any deity from the Greeks, of these not least but in particular would they preserve a recollection, if indeed they were already making sea voyages and some Greeks, too, were seafaring men, as I expect and judge; so that the names of these gods would have been even better known to the Egyptians than the name of Heracles. But Heracles is a very ancient god in Egypt ; as the Egyptians themselves say, the change of the eight gods to the twelve, one of whom they acknowledge Heracles to be, was made seventeen thousand years before the reign of Amasis. ^2.44 Moreover, wishing to get clear information about this matter where it was possible so to do, I took ship for Tyre in Phoenicia, where I had learned by inquiry that there was a holy temple of Heracles. There I saw it, richly equipped with many other offerings, besides two pillars, one of refined gold, one of emerald: a great pillar that shone at night; and in conversation with the priests, I asked how long it was since their temple was built. I found that their account did not tally with the belief of the Greeks, either; for they said that the temple of the god was founded when Tyre first became a city, and that was two thousand three hundred years ago. At Tyre I saw yet another temple of the so-called Thasian Heracles. Then I went to Thasos, too, where I found a temple of Heracles built by the Phoenicians, who made a settlement there when they voyaged in search of Europe ; now they did so as much as five generations before the birth of Heracles the son of Amphitryon in Hellas . Therefore, what I have discovered by inquiry plainly shows that Heracles is an ancient god. And furthermore, those Greeks, I think, are most in the right, who have established and practise two worships of Heracles, sacrificing to one Heracles as to an immortal, and calling him the Olympian, but to the other bringing offerings as to a dead hero. ^2.45 And the Greeks say many other ill-considered things, too; among them, this is a silly story which they tell about Heracles: that when he came to Egypt, the Egyptians crowned him and led him out in a procession to sacrifice him to Zeus; and for a while (they say) he followed quietly, but when they started in on him at the altar, he resisted and killed them all. Now it seems to me that by this story the Greeks show themselves altogether ignorant of the character and customs of the Egyptians; for how should they sacrifice men when they are forbidden to sacrifice even beasts, except swine and bulls and bull-calves, if they are unblemished, and geese? And furthermore, as Heracles was alone, and, still, only a man, as they say, how is it natural that he should kill many myriads? In talking so much about this, may I keep the goodwill of gods and heroes!
^2.54 But about the oracles in Hellas, and that one which is in Libya, the Egyptians give the following account. The priests of Zeus of Thebes told me that two priestesses had been carried away from Thebes by Phoenicians; one, they said they had heard was taken away and sold in Libya, the other in Hellas ; these women, they said, were the first founders of places of divination in the aforesaid countries. When I asked them how it was that they could speak with such certain knowledge, they said in reply that their people had sought diligently for these women, and had never been able to find them, but had learned later the story which they were telling me. ^2.55 That, then, I heard from the Theban priests; and what follows, the prophetesses of Dodona say: that two black doves had come flying from Thebes in Egypt, one to Libya and one to Dodona ; the latter settled on an oak tree, and there uttered human speech, declaring that a place of divination from Zeus must be made there; the people of Dodona understood that the message was divine, and therefore established the oracular shrine. The dove which came to Libya told the Libyans (they say) to make an oracle of Ammon; this also is sacred to Zeus. Such was the story told by the Dodonaean priestesses, the eldest of whom was Promeneia and the next Timarete and the youngest Nicandra; and the rest of the servants of the temple at Dodona similarly held it true. ^2.56 But my own belief about it is this. If the Phoenicians did in fact carry away the sacred women and sell one in Libya and one in Hellas, then, in my opinion, the place where this woman was sold in what is now Hellas, but was formerly called Pelasgia, was Thesprotia ; and then, being a slave there, she established a shrine of Zeus under an oak that was growing there; for it was reasonable that, as she had been a handmaid of the temple of Zeus at Thebes , she would remember that temple in the land to which she had come. After this, as soon as she understood the Greek language, she taught divination; and she said that her sister had been sold in Libya by the same Phoenicians who sold her. ^2.57 I expect that these women were called “doves” by the people of Dodona because they spoke a strange language, and the people thought it like the cries of birds; then the woman spoke what they could understand, and that is why they say that the dove uttered human speech; as long as she spoke in a foreign tongue, they thought her voice was like the voice of a bird. For how could a dove utter the speech of men? The tale that the dove was black signifies that the woman was Egyptian . The fashions of divination at Thebes of Egypt and at Dodona are like one another; moreover, the practice of divining from the sacrificed victim has also come from Egypt .
^3.19 When Cambyses determined to send the spies, he sent for those Fish-eaters from the city of Elephantine who understood the Ethiopian language. While they were fetching them, he ordered his fleet to sail against Carthage . But the Phoenicians said they would not do it; for they were bound, they said, by strong oaths, and if they sailed against their own progeny they would be doing an impious thing; and the Phoenicians being unwilling, the rest were inadequate fighters. Thus the Carthaginians escaped being enslaved by the Persians; for Cambyses would not use force with the Phoenicians, seeing that they had willingly surrendered to the Persians, and the whole fleet drew its strength from them. The Cyprians too had come of their own accord to aid the Persians against Egypt .
^5.59 I have myself seen Cadmean writing in the temple of Ismenian Apollo at Thebes of Boeotia engraved on certain tripods and for the most part looking like Ionian letters. On one of the tripods there is this inscription: 5.60 A second tripod says, in hexameter verse: 5.61 The third tripod says, in hexameter verse again:
8.37 Now when the barbarians drew near and could see the temple, the prophet, whose name was Aceratus, saw certain sacred arms, which no man might touch without sacrilege, brought out of the chamber within and laid before the shrine. So he went to tell the Delphians of this miracle, but when the barbarians came with all speed near to the temple of Athena Pronaea, they were visited by miracles yet greater than the aforesaid. Marvellous indeed it is, that weapons of war should of their own motion appear lying outside in front of the shrine, but the visitation which followed was more wondrous than anything else ever seen. When the barbarians were near to the temple of Athena Pronaea, they were struck by thunderbolts from the sky, and two peaks broken off from Parnassus came rushing among them with a mighty noise and overwhelmed many of them. In addition to this a shout and a cry of triumph were heard from the temple of Athena.
^8.133 The Greeks, then, sailed to Delos, and Mardonius wintered in Thessaly. Having his headquarters there he sent a man of Europus called Mys to visit the places of divination, charging him to inquire of all the oracles which he could test. What it was that he desired to learn from the oracles when he gave this charge, I cannot say, for no one tells of it. I suppose that he sent to inquire concerning his present business, and that alone. ^8.134 This man Mys is known to have gone to Lebadea and to have bribed a man of the country to go down into the cave of Trophonius and to have gone to the place of divination at Abae in Phocis. He went first to Thebes where he inquired of Ismenian Apollo (sacrifice is there the way of divination, as at Olympia), and moreover he bribed one who was no Theban but a stranger to lie down to sleep in the shrine of Amphiaraus. No Theban may seek a prophecy there, for Amphiaraus bade them by an oracle to choose which of the two they wanted and forgo the other, and take him either for their prophet or for their ally. They chose that he should be their ally. Therefore no Theban may lie down to sleep in that place. " ^8.135 But at this time there happened, as the Thebans say, a thing at which I marvel greatly. It would seem that this man Mys of Europus came in his wanderings among the places of divination to the precinct of Ptoan Apollo. This temple is called Ptoum, and belongs to the Thebans. It lies by a hill, above lake Copais, very near to the town Acraephia. When the man called Mys entered into this temple together with three men of the town who were chosen on the states behalf to write down the oracles that should be given, straightway the diviner prophesied in a foreign tongue. The Thebans who followed him were astonished to hear a strange language instead of Greek and knew not what this present matter might be. Mys of Europus, however, snatched from them the tablet which they carried and wrote on it that which was spoken by the prophet, saying that the words of the oracle were Carian. After writing everything down, he went back to Thessaly."

⁹⁵⁵ And Dryas’s son, the Edonian king swift to rage, was tamed in recompense for his frenzied insults, when, by the will of Dionysus, he was shut in a rocky prison. There the fierce and swelling force of his madness trickled away. ⁹⁵⁶ And Dryas’s son, the Edonian king swift to rage, was tamed in recompense for his frenzied insults, when, by the will of Dionysus, he was shut in a rocky prison. There the fierce and swelling force of his madness trickled away. ⁹⁵⁹ And Dryas’s son, the Edonian king swift to rage, was tamed in recompense for his frenzied insults, when, by the will of Dionysus, he was shut in a rocky prison. There the fierce and swelling force of his madness trickled away. ⁹⁶⁰ That man came to know the god whom in his frenzy he had provoked with mockeries. For he had sought to quell the god-inspired women and the Bacchanalian fire, ⁹⁶⁴ That man came to know the god whom in his frenzy he had provoked with mockeries. For he had sought to quell the god-inspired women and the Bacchanalian fire, ⁹⁶⁵ and he angered the Muses who love the flute.

^3.60 τοιαῦτα μὲν οἱ Πλαταιῆς εἶπον. οἱ δὲ Θηβαῖοι δείσαντες πρὸς τὸν λόγον αὐτῶν μὴ οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοί τι ἐνδῶσι, παρελθόντες ἔφασαν καὶ αὐτοὶ βούλεσθαι εἰπεῖν, ἐπειδὴ καὶ ἐκείνοις παρὰ γνώμην τὴν αὑτῶν μακρότερος λόγος ἐδόθη τῆς πρὸς τὸ ἐρώτημα ἀποκρίσεως. ὡς δ’ ἐκέλευσαν, ἔλεγον τοιάδε. ^3.61 ‘τοὺς μὲν λόγους οὐκ ἂν ᾐτησάμεθα εἰπεῖν, εἰ καὶ αὐτοὶ βραχέως τὸ ἐρωτηθὲν ἀπεκρίναντο καὶ μὴ ἐπὶ ἡμᾶς τραπόμενοι κατηγορίαν ἐποιήσαντο καὶ περὶ αὑτῶν ἔξω τῶν προκειμένων καὶ ἅμα οὐδὲ ᾐτιαμένων πολλὴν τὴν ἀπολογίαν καὶ ἔπαινον ὧν οὐδεὶς ἐμέμψατο. νῦν δὲ πρὸς μὲν τὰ ἀντειπεῖν δεῖ, τῶν δὲ ἔλεγχον ποιήσασθαι, ἵνα μήτε ἡ ἡμετέρα αὐτοὺς κακία ὠφελῇ μήτε ἡ τούτων δόξα, τὸ δ’ ἀληθὲς περὶ ἀμφοτέρων ἀκούσαντες κρίνητε. ‘ἡμεῖς δὲ αὐτοῖς διάφοροι ἐγενόμεθα πρῶτον ὅτι ἡμῶν κτισάντων Πλάταιαν ὕστερον τῆς ἄλλης Βοιωτίας καὶ ἄλλα χωρία μετ’ αὐτῆς, ἃ ξυμμείκτους ἀνθρώπους ἐξελάσαντες ἔσχομεν, οὐκ ἠξίουν οὗτοι, ὥσπερ ἐτάχθη τὸ πρῶτον, ἡγεμονεύεσθαι ὑφ’ ἡμῶν, ἔξω δὲ τῶν ἄλλων Βοιωτῶν παραβαίνοντες τὰ πάτρια, ἐπειδὴ προσηναγκάζοντο, προσεχώρησαν πρὸς Ἀθηναίους καὶ μετ’ αὐτῶν πολλὰ ἡμᾶς ἔβλαπτον, ἀνθ’ ὧν καὶ ἀντέπασχον. ^3.62 ‘ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ ὁ βάρβαρος ἦλθεν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα, φασὶ μόνοι Βοιωτῶν οὐ μηδίσαι, καὶ τούτῳ μάλιστα αὐτοί τε ἀγάλλονται καὶ ἡμᾶς λοιδοροῦσιν. ἡμεῖς δὲ μηδίσαι μὲν αὐτοὺς οὔ φαμεν διότι οὐδ’ Ἀθηναίους, τῇ μέντοι αὐτῇ ἰδέᾳ ὕστερον ἰόντων Ἀθηναίων ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας μόνους αὖ Βοιωτῶν ἀττικίσαι. καίτοι σκέψασθε ἐν οἵῳ εἴδει ἑκάτεροι ἡμῶν τοῦτο ἔπραξαν. ἡμῖν μὲν γὰρ ἡ πόλις τότε ἐτύγχανεν οὔτε κατ’ ὀλιγαρχίαν ἰσόνομον πολιτεύουσα οὔτε κατὰ δημοκρατίαν: ὅπερ δέ ἐστι νόμοις μὲν καὶ τῷ σωφρονεστάτῳ ἐναντιώτατον, ἐγγυτάτω δὲ τυράννου, δυναστεία ὀλίγων ἀνδρῶν εἶχε τὰ πράγματα. καὶ οὗτοι ἰδίας δυνάμεις ἐλπίσαντες ἔτι μᾶλλον σχήσειν εἰ τὰ τοῦ Μήδου κρατήσειε, κατέχοντες ἰσχύι τὸ πλῆθος ἐπηγάγοντο αὐτόν: καὶ ἡ ξύμπασα πόλις οὐκ αὐτοκράτωρ οὖσα ἑαυτῆς τοῦτ’ ἔπραξεν, οὐδ’ ἄξιον αὐτῇ ὀνειδίσαι ὧν μὴ μετὰ νόμων ἥμαρτεν. ἐπειδὴ γοῦν ὅ τε Μῆδος ἀπῆλθε καὶ τοὺς νόμους ἔλαβε, σκέψασθαι χρή, Ἀθηναίων ὕστερον ἐπιόντων τήν τε ἄλλην Ἑλλάδα καὶ τὴν ἡμετέραν χώραν πειρωμένων ὑφ’ αὑτοῖς ποιεῖσθαι καὶ κατὰ στάσιν ἤδη ἐχόντων αὐτῆς τὰ πολλά, εἰ μαχόμενοι ἐν Κορωνείᾳ καὶ νικήσαντες αὐτοὺς ἠλευθερώσαμεν τὴν Βοιωτίαν καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους νῦν προθύμως ξυνελευθεροῦμεν, ἵππους τε παρέχοντες καὶ παρασκευὴν ὅσην οὐκ ἄλλοι τῶν ξυμμάχων. ^3.63 ‘καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐς τὸν μηδισμὸν τοσαῦτα ἀπολογούμεθα: ὡς δὲ ὑμεῖς μᾶλλόν τε ἠδικήκατε τοὺς Ἕλληνας καὶ ἀξιώτεροί ἐστε πάσης ζημίας, πειρασόμεθα ἀποφαίνειν. ἐγένεσθε ἐπὶ τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ τιμωρίᾳ, ὡς φατέ, Ἀθηναίων ξύμμαχοι καὶ πολῖται. οὐκοῦν χρῆν τὰ πρὸς ἡμᾶς μόνον ὑμᾶς ἐπάγεσθαι αὐτοὺς καὶ μὴ ξυνεπιέναι μετ’ αὐτῶν ἄλλοις, ὑπάρχον γε ὑμῖν, εἴ τι καὶ ἄκοντες προσήγεσθε ὑπ’ Ἀθηναίων, τῆς τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων τῶνδε ἤδη ἐπὶ τῷ Μήδῳ ξυμμαχίας γεγενημένης, ἣν αὐτοὶ μάλιστα προβάλλεσθε: ἱκανή γε ἦν ἡμᾶς τε ὑμῶν ἀποτρέπειν, καί, τὸ μέγιστον, ἀδεῶς παρέχειν βουλεύεσθαι. ἀλλ’ ἑκόντες καὶ οὐ βιαζόμενοι ἔτι εἵλεσθε μᾶλλον τὰ Ἀθηναίων. καὶ λέγετε ὡς αἰσχρὸν ἦν προδοῦναι τοὺς εὐεργέτας: πολὺ δέ γε αἴσχιον καὶ ἀδικώτερον τοὺς πάντας Ἕλληνας καταπροδοῦναι, οἷς ξυνωμόσατε, ἢ Ἀθηναίους μόνους, τοὺς μὲν καταδουλουμένους τὴν Ἑλλάδα, τοὺς δὲ ἐλευθεροῦντας. καὶ οὐκ ἴσην αὐτοῖς τὴν χάριν ἀνταπέδοτε οὐδὲ αἰσχύνης ἀπηλλαγμένην: ὑμεῖς μὲν γὰρ ἀδικούμενοι αὐτούς, ὡς φατέ, ἐπηγάγεσθε, τοῖς δὲ ἀδικοῦσιν ἄλλους ξυνεργοὶ κατέστητε. καίτοι τὰς ὁμοίας χάριτας μὴ ἀντιδιδόναι αἰσχρὸν μᾶλλον ἢ τὰς μετὰ δικαιοσύνης μὲν ὀφειληθείσας, ἐς ἀδικίαν δὲ ἀποδιδομένας. ^3.64 δῆλόν τε ἐποιήσατε οὐδὲ τότε τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἕνεκα μόνοι οὐ μηδίσαντες, ἀλλ’ ὅτι οὐδ᾽ Ἀθηναῖοι, ὑμεῖς δὲ τοῖς μὲν ταὐτὰ βουλόμενοι ποιεῖν, τοῖς δὲ τἀναντία. καὶ νῦν ἀξιοῦτε, ἀφ’ ὧν δι’ ἑτέρους ἐγένεσθε ἀγαθοί, ἀπὸ τούτων ὠφελεῖσθαι. ἀλλ’ οὐκ εἰκός: ὥσπερ δὲ Ἀθηναίους εἵλεσθε, τούτοις ξυναγωνίζεσθε, καὶ μὴ προφέρετε τὴν τότε γενομένην ξυνωμοσίαν ὡς χρὴ ἀπ’ αὐτῆς νῦν σῴζεσθαι. ἀπελίπετε γὰρ αὐτὴν καὶ παραβάντες ξυγκατεδουλοῦσθε μᾶλλον Αἰγινήτας καὶ ἄλλους τινὰς τῶν ξυνομοσάντων ἢ διεκωλύετε, καὶ ταῦτα οὔτε ἄκοντες ἔχοντές τε τοὺς νόμους οὕσπερ μέχρι τοῦ δεῦρο καὶ οὐδενὸς ὑμᾶς βιασαμένου ὥσπερ ἡμᾶς. τὴν τελευταίαν τε πρὶν περιτειχίζεσθαι πρόκλησιν ἐς ἡσυχίαν ἡμῶν, ὥστε μηδετέροις ἀμύνειν, οὐκ ἐδέχεσθε. τίνες ἂν οὖν ὑμῶν δικαιότερον πᾶσι τοῖς Ἕλλησι μισοῖντο, οἵτινες ἐπὶ τῷ ἐκείνων κακῷ ἀνδραγαθίαν προύθεσθε; καὶ ἃ μέν ποτε χρηστοὶ ἐγένεσθε, ὡς φατέ, οὐ προσήκοντα νῦν ἐπεδείξατε, ἃ δὲ ἡ φύσις αἰεὶ ἐβούλετο, ἐξηλέγχθη ἐς τὸ ἀληθές: μετὰ γὰρ Ἀθηναίων ἄδικον ὁδὸν ἰόντων ἐχωρήσατε. ‘τὰ μὲν οὖν ἐς τὸν ἡμέτερόν τε ἀκούσιον μηδισμὸν καὶ τὸν ὑμέτερον ἑκούσιον ἀττικισμὸν τοιαῦτα ἀποφαίνομεν: ^3.65 ἃ δὲ τελευταῖά φατε ἀδικηθῆναι, παρανόμως γὰρ ἐλθεῖν ἡμᾶς ἐν σπονδαῖς καὶ ἱερομηνίᾳ ἐπὶ τὴν ὑμετέραν πόλιν, οὐ νομίζομεν οὐδ’ ἐν τούτοις ὑμῶν μᾶλλον ἁμαρτεῖν. εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἡμεῖς αὐτοὶ πρός τε τὴν πόλιν ἐλθόντες ἐμαχόμεθα καὶ τὴν γῆν ἐδῃοῦμεν ὡς πολέμιοι, ἀδικοῦμεν: εἰ δὲ ἄνδρες ὑμῶν οἱ πρῶτοι καὶ χρήμασι καὶ γένει, βουλόμενοι τῆς μὲν ἔξω ξυμμαχίας ὑμᾶς παῦσαι, ἐς δὲ τὰ κοινὰ τῶν πάντων Βοιωτῶν πάτρια καταστῆσαι, ἐπεκαλέσαντο ἑκόντες, τί ἀδικοῦμεν; οἱ γὰρ ἄγοντες παρανομοῦσι μᾶλλον τῶν ἑπομένων. ἀλλ’ οὔτ’ ἐκεῖνοι, ὡς ἡμεῖς κρίνομεν, οὔτε ἡμεῖς: πολῖται δὲ ὄντες ὥσπερ ὑμεῖς καὶ πλείω παραβαλλόμενοι, τὸ ἑαυτῶν τεῖχος ἀνοίξαντες καὶ ἐς τὴν αὑτῶν πόλιν φιλίως, οὐ πολεμίως κομίσαντες ἐβούλοντο τούς τε ὑμῶν χείρους μηκέτι μᾶλλον γενέσθαι τούς τε ἀμείνους τὰ ἄξια ἔχειν, σωφρονισταὶ ὄντες τῆς γνώμης καὶ τῶν σωμάτων τὴν πόλιν οὐκ ἀλλοτριοῦντες ἀλλ’ ἐς τὴν ξυγγένειαν οἰκειοῦντες, ἐχθροὺς οὐδενὶ καθιστάντες, ἅπασι δ᾽ ὁμοίως ἐνσπόνδους. ^3.66 τεκμήριον δὲ ὡς οὐ πολεμίως ἐπράσσομεν: οὔτε γὰρ ἠδικήσαμεν οὐδένα, προείπομέν τε τὸν βουλόμενον κατὰ τὰ τῶν πάντων Βοιωτῶν πάτρια πολιτεύειν ἰέναι πρὸς ἡμᾶς. καὶ ὑμεῖς ἄσμενοι χωρήσαντες καὶ ξύμβασιν ποιησάμενοι τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἡσυχάζετε, ὕστερον δὲ κατανοήσαντες ἡμᾶς ὀλίγους ὄντας, εἰ ἄρα καὶ ἐδοκοῦμέν τι ἀνεπιεικέστερον πρᾶξαι οὐ μετὰ τοῦ πλήθους ὑμῶν ἐσελθόντες, τὰ μὲν ὁμοῖα οὐκ ἀνταπέδοτε ἡμῖν, μήτε νεωτερίσαι ἔργῳ λόγοις τε πείθειν ὥστε ἐξελθεῖν, ἐπιθέμενοι δὲ παρὰ τὴν ξύμβασιν, οὓς μὲν ἐν χερσὶν ἀπεκτείνατε, οὐχ ὁμοίως ἀλγοῦμεν ʽκατὰ νόμον γὰρ δή τινα ἔπασχον̓, οὓς δὲ χεῖρας προϊσχομένους καὶ ζωγρήσαντες ὑποσχόμενοί τε ἡμῖν ὕστερον μὴ κτενεῖν παρανόμως διεφθείρατε, πῶς οὐ δεινὰ εἴργασθε; καὶ ταῦτα τρεῖς ἀδικίας ἐν ὀλίγῳ πράξαντες, τήν τε λυθεῖσαν ὁμολογίαν καὶ τῶν ἀνδρῶν τὸν ὕστερον θάνατον καὶ τὴν περὶ αὐτῶν ἡμῖν μὴ κτενεῖν ψευσθεῖσαν ὑπόσχεσιν, ἢν τὰ ἐν τοῖς ἀγροῖς ὑμῖν μὴ ἀδικῶμεν, ὅμως φατὲ ἡμᾶς παρανομῆσαι καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀξιοῦτε μὴ ἀντιδοῦναι δίκην. οὔκ, ἤν γε οὗτοι τὰ ὀρθὰ γιγνώσκωσιν: πάντων δὲ αὐτῶν ἕνεκα κολασθήσεσθε. ^3.67 ‘καὶ ταῦτα, ὦ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, τούτου ἕνεκα ἐπεξήλθομεν καὶ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν καὶ ἡμῶν, ἵνα ὑμεῖς μὲν εἰδῆτε δικαίως αὐτῶν καταγνωσόμενοι, ἡμεῖς δὲ ἔτι ὁσιώτερον τετιμωρημένοι. καὶ μὴ παλαιὰς ἀρετάς, εἴ τις ἄρα καὶ ἐγένετο, ἀκούοντες ἐπικλασθῆτε, ἃς χρὴ τοῖς μὲν ἀδικουμένοις ἐπικούρους εἶναι, τοῖς δὲ αἰσχρόν τι δρῶσι διπλασίας ζημίας, ὅτι οὐκ ἐκ προσηκόντων ἁμαρτάνουσιν. μηδὲ ὀλοφυρμῷ καὶ οἴκτῳ ὠφελείσθων, πατέρων τε τάφους τῶν ὑμετέρων ἐπιβοώμενοι καὶ τὴν σφετέραν ἐρημίαν. καὶ γὰρ ἡμεῖς ἀνταποφαίνομεν πολλῷ δεινότερα παθοῦσαν τὴν ὑπὸ τούτων ἡλικίαν ἡμῶν διεφθαρμένην, ὧν πατέρες οἱ μὲν πρὸς ὑμᾶς τὴν Βοιωτίαν ἄγοντες ἀπέθανον ἐν Κορωνείᾳ, οἱ δὲ πρεσβῦται λελειμμένοι καὶ οἰκίαι ἐρῆμοι πολλῷ δικαιοτέραν ὑμῶν ἱκετείαν ποιοῦνται τούσδε τιμωρήσασθαι. οἴκτου τε ἀξιώτεροι τυγχάνειν οἱ ἀπρεπές τι πάσχοντες τῶν ἀνθρώπων, οἱ δὲ δικαίως, ὥσπερ οἵδε, τὰ ἐναντία ἐπίχαρτοι εἶναι. καὶ τὴν νῦν ἐρημίαν δι’ ἑαυτοὺς ἔχουσιν: τοὺς γὰρ ἀμείνους ξυμμάχους ἑκόντες ἀπεώσαντο. παρενόμησάν τε οὐ προπαθόντες ὑφ’ ἡμῶν, μίσει δὲ πλέον ἢ δίκῃ κρίναντες καὶ οὐκ ἀνταποδόντες νῦν τὴν ἴσην τιμωρίαν: ἔννομα γὰρ πείσονται καὶ οὐχὶ ἐκ μάχης χεῖρας προϊσχόμενοι, ὥσπερ φασίν, ἀλλ’ ἀπὸ ξυμβάσεως ἐς δίκην σφᾶς αὐτοὺς παραδόντες. ἀμύνατε οὖν, ὦ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, καὶ τῷ τῶν Ἑλλήνων νόμῳ ὑπὸ τῶνδε παραβαθέντι, καὶ ἡμῖν ἄνομα παθοῦσιν ἀνταπόδοτε χάριν δικαίαν ὧν πρόθυμοι γεγενήμεθα, καὶ μὴ τοῖς τῶνδε λόγοις περιωσθῶμεν ἐν ὑμῖν, ποιήσατε δὲ τοῖς Ἕλλησι παράδειγμα οὐ λόγων τοὺς ἀγῶνας προθήσοντες ἀλλ’ ἔργων, ὧν ἀγαθῶν μὲν ὄντων βραχεῖα ἡ ἀπαγγελία ἀρκεῖ, ἁμαρτανομένων δὲ λόγοι ἔπεσι κοσμηθέντες προκαλύμματα γίγνονται. ἀλλ’ ἢν οἱ ἡγεμόνες, ὥσπερ νῦν ὑμεῖς, κεφαλαιώσαντες πρὸς τοὺς ξύμπαντας διαγνώμας ποιήσησθε, ἧσσόν τις ἐπ’ ἀδίκοις ἔργοις λόγους καλοὺς ζητήσει.’

^3.60 Such were the words of the Plataeans. The Thebans, afraid that the Lacedaemonians might be moved by what they had heard, came forward and said that they too desired to address them, since the Plataeans had, against their wish, been allowed to speak at length instead of being confined to a simple answer to the question. Leave being granted, the Thebans spoke as follows:—, ^3.61 ‘We should never have asked to make this speech if the Plataeans on their side had contented themselves with shortly answering the question, and had not turned round and made charges against us, coupled with a long defence of themselves upon matters outside the present inquiry and not even the subject of accusation, and with praise of what no one finds fault with. However, since they have done so, we must answer their charges and refute their self-praise, in order that neither our bad name nor their good may help them, but that you may hear the real truth on both points, and so decide. The origin of our quarrel was this. We settled Plataea some time after the rest of Boeotia, together with other places out of which we had driven the mixed population. The Plataeans not choosing to recognize our supremacy, as had been first arranged, but separating themselves from the rest of the Boeotians, and proving traitors to their nationality, we used compulsion; upon which they went over to the Athenians, and with them did us much harm, for which we retaliated. ^3.62 Next, when the barbarian invaded Hellas, they say that they were the only Boeotians who did not Medise; and this is where they most glorify themselves and abuse us. We say that if they did not Medise, it was because the Athenians did not do so either; just as afterwards when the Athenians attacked the Hellenes they, the Plataeans, were again the only Boeotians who Atticized. And yet consider the forms of our respective governments when we so acted. Our city at that juncture had neither an oligarchical constitution in which all the nobles enjoyed equal rights nor a democracy, but that which is most opposed to law and good government and nearest a tyranny—the rule of a close cabal. These, hoping to strengthen their individual power by the success of the Mede, kept down by force the people, and brought him into the town. The city as a whole was not its own mistress when it so acted, and ought not to be reproached for the errors that it committed while deprived of its constitution. Examine only how we acted after the departure of the Mede and the recovery of the constitution; when the Athenians attacked the rest of Hellas and endeavored to subjugate our country, of the greater part of which faction had already made them masters. Did not we fight and conquer at Coronea and liberate Boeotia, and do we not now actively contribute to the liberation of the rest, providing horses to the cause and a force unequalled by that of any other state in the confederacy? ^3.63 Let this suffice to excuse us for our Medism. We will now endeavor to show that you have injured the Hellenes more than we, and are more deserving of condign punishment. It was in defence against us, say you, that you became allies and citizens of Athens . If so, you ought only to have called in the Athenians against us, instead of joining them in attacking others: it was open to you to do this if you ever felt that they were leading you where you did not wish to follow, as Lacedaemon was already your ally against the Mede, as you so much insist; and this was surely sufficient to keep us off, and above all to allow you to deliberate in security. Nevertheless, of your own choice and without compulsion you chose to throw your lot in with Athens . And you say that it had been base for you to betray your benefactors; but it was surely far baser and more iniquitous to sacrifice the whole body of the Hellenes, your fellow-confederates, who were liberating Hellas, than the Athenians only, who were enslaving it. The return that you made them was therefore neither equal nor honorable, since you called them in, as you say, because you were being oppressed yourselves, and then became their accomplices in oppressing others; although baseness rather consists in not returning like for like than in not returning what is justly due but must be unjustly paid. ^3.64 Meanwhile, after thus plainly showing that it was not for the sake of the Hellenes that you alone then did not Medise, but because the Athenians did not do so either, and you wished to side with them and to be against the rest; you now claim the benefit of good deeds done to please your neighbors. This cannot be admitted: you chose the Athenians, and with them you must stand or fall. Nor can you plead the league then made and claim that it should now protect you. You abandoned that league, and offended against it by helping instead of hindering the subjugation of the Aeginetans and others of its members, and that not under compulsion, but while in enjoyment of the same institutions that you enjoy to the present hour, and no one forcing you as in our case. Lastly, an invitation was addressed to you before you were blockaded to be neutral and join neither party: this you did not accept. Who then merit the detestation of the Hellenes more justly than you, you who sought their ruin under the mask of honor? The former virtues that you allege you now show not to be proper to your character; the real bent of your nature has been at length damningly proved: when the Athenians took the path of injustice you followed them. of our unwilling Medism and your willful Atticizing this then is our explanation. ^3.65 The last wrong of which you complain consists in our having, as you say, lawlessly invaded your town in time of peace and festival. Here again we cannot think that we were more in fault than yourselves. If of our own proper motion we made an armed attack upon your city and ravaged your territory, we are guilty; but if the first men among you in estate and family, wishing to put an end to the foreign connection and to restore you to the common Boeotian country, of their own free will invited us, wherein is our crime? Where wrong is done, those who lead, as you say, are more to blame than those who follow. Not that, in our judgment, wrong was done either by them or by us. Citizens like yourselves, and with more at stake than you, they opened their own walls and introduced us into their own city, not as foes but as friends, to prevent the bad among you from becoming worse; to give honest men their due; to reform principles without attacking persons, since you were not to be banished from your city, but brought home to your kindred, nor to be made enemies to any, but friends alike to all. ^3.66 That our intention was not hostile is proved by our behavior. We did no harm to any one, but publicly invited those who wished to live under a national, Boeotian government to come over to us; which at first you gladly did, and made an agreement with us and remained tranquil, until you became aware of the smallness of our numbers. Now it is possible that there may have been something not quite fair in our entering without the consent of your commons. At any rate you did not repay us in kind. Instead of refraining, as we had done, from violence, and inducing us to retire by negotiation, you fell upon us in violation of your agreement, and slew some of us in fight, of which we do not so much complain, for in that there was a certain justice; but others who held out their hands and received quarter, and whose lives you subsequently promised us, you lawlessly butchered. If this was not abominable, what is? And after these three crimes committed one after the other—the violation of your agreement, the murder of the men afterwards, and the lying breach of your promise not to kill them, if we refrained from injuring your property in the country—you still affirm that we are the criminals and yourselves pretend to escape justice. Not so, if these your judges decide aright, but you will be punished for all together. " ^3.67 Such, Lacedaemonians, are the facts. We have gone into them at some length both on your account and on our own, that you may feel that you will justly condemn the prisoners, and we, that we have given an additional sanction to our vengeance. We would also prevent you from being melted by hearing of their past virtues, if any such they had: these may be fairly appealed to by the victims of injustice, but only aggravate the guilt of criminals, since they offend against their better nature. Nor let them gain anything by crying and wailing, by calling upon your fathers tombs and their own desolate condition. Against this we point to the far more dreadful fate of our youth, butchered at their hands; the fathers of whom either fell at Coronea, bringing Boeotia over to you, or seated, forlorn old men by desolate hearths, who with far more reason implore your justice upon the prisoners. The pity which they appeal to is rather due to men who suffer unworthily; those who suffer justly as they do, are on the contrary subjects for triumph. For their present desolate condition they have themselves to blame, since they willfully rejected the better alliance. Their lawless act was not provoked by any action of ours; hate, not justice, inspired their decision; and even now the satisfaction which they afford us is not adequate; they will suffer by a legal sentence, not as they pretend as suppliants asking for quarter in battle, but as prisoners who have surrendered upon agreement to take their trial. Vindicate, therefore, Lacedaemonians, the Hellenic law which they have broken; and to us, the victims of its violation, grant the reward merited by our zeal. Nor let us be supplanted in your favour by their harangues, but offer an example to the Hellenes, that the contests to which you invite them are of deeds, not words: good deeds can be shortly stated, but where wrong is done a wealth of language is needed to veil its deformity. However, if leading powers were to do what you are now doing, and putting one short question all alike were to decide accordingly, men would be less tempted to seek fine phrases to cover bad actions.’"

^2.2.19 Now when Theramenes and the other ambassadors were at Sellasia and, on being asked with what proposals they had come, replied that they had full power to treat for peace, the ephors thereupon gave orders to summon them to Lacedaemon. When they arrived, the ephors called an assembly, at which the Corinthians and Thebans in particular, though many other Greeks agreed with them, opposed making a treaty with the Athenians and favoured destroying their city.
^3.5.1 But now Tithraustes, who thought he had found out that Agesilaus despised the power of the King and did not in the least intend to depart from Asia, but rather had great hopes that he would overcome the King, being perplexed to know how to deal with the situation, sent Timocrates the Rhodian to Greece, giving him gold to the value of fifty talents of silver, and bade him undertake, on receipt of the surest pledges, to give this money to the leaders in the various states on condition that they 395 B.C. should make war upon the Lacedaemonians. So Timocrates went and gave his money, at Thebes to Androcleidas, Ismenias, and Galaxidorus; at Corinth to Timolaus and Polyanthes; and at Argos to Cylon and his followers.
^6.3.4 Men of Lacedaemon, as regards the position I hold as your diplomatic agent, I am not the only member of our family who has held it, but my father’s father received it from his father and handed 371 B.C. it on to his descendants; and I also wish to make clear to you how highly esteemed we have been by our own state. For whenever there is war she chooses us as generals, and whenever she becomes desirous of tranquillity she sends us out as peacemakers. I, for example, have twice before now come here to treat for a termination of war, and on both these embassies I succeeded in achieving peace both for you and for ourselves; now for a third time I am come, and it is now, I believe, that with greater justice than ever before I should obtain a reconciliation between us. ^6.3.5 For I see that you do not think one way and we another, but that you as well as we are distressed over the destruction of Plataea and Thespiae. How, then, is it not fitting that men who hold the same views should be friends of one another rather than enemies? Again, it is certainly the part of wise men not to undertake war even if they should have differences, if they be slight; but if, in fact, we should actually find ourselves in complete agreement, should we not be astounding fools not to make peace? ^6.3.6 The right course, indeed, would have been for us not to take up arms against one another in the beginning, since the tradition is that the first strangers to whom Triptolemus, Triptolemus of Eleusis had, according to the legend, carried from Attica throughout Greece both the cult of Demeter and the knowledge of her art — agriculture. Heracles was the traditional ancestor of the Spartan kings (cp. III. iii.) while the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, were putative sons of Tyndareus of Sparta. our ancestor, revealed the mystic rites of Demeter and Core were Heracles, your state’s founder, and the Dioscuri, your citizens; and, further, that it was upon Peloponnesus that he first bestowed the seed of Demeter’s fruit. How, then, can it be right, 371 B.C. either that you should ever come to destroy the fruit of those very men from whom you received the seed, or that we should not desire those very men, to whom we gave the seed, to obtain the greatest possible abundance of food? But if it is indeed ordered of the gods that wars should come among men, then we ought to begin war as tardily as we can, and, when it has come, to bring it to an end as speedily as possible. ^6.3.7 After him Autocles, who had the reputation of being a very incisive orator, spoke as follows: Men of Lacedaemon, that what I am about to say will not be said to your pleasure, I am not unaware; but it seems to me that men who desire the friendship which they may establish to endure for the longest possible time, ought to point out to one another the causes of their wars. Now you always say, The cities must be independent, but you are yourselves the greatest obstacle in the way of their independence. For the first stipulation you make with your allied cities is this, that they follow wherever you may lead. And yet how is this consistent with independence? ^6.3.8 And you make for yourselves enemies without taking counsel with your allies, and against those enemies you lead them; so that frequently they who are said to be independent are compelled to take the field against men most friendly to themselves. Furthermore — and there can be nothing in the world more opposed to independence — you establish governments of ten here and governments of thirty there; and in the case of these rulers your care is, not that they shall rule according to law, but that they shall be able to hold possession of their cities by force. So that you manifestly take pleasure in despotisms rather 371 B.C. than in free governments. ^6.3.9 Again, when the King directed that the cities be independent, you showed yourselves strongly of the opinion that if the Thebans did not allow each one of their cities, not only to rule itself, but also to live under whatever laws it chose, they would not be acting in accordance with the King’s writing; but when you had seized the Cadmea, you did not permit even the Thebans themselves to be independent. The right thing, however, is that those who are going to be friends should not insist upon obtaining their full rights from others, and then show themselves disposed to grasp the most they can. ^6.3.10 By these words he caused silence on the part of all, while at the same time he gave pleasure to those who were angry with the Lacedaemonians. After him Callistratus said: Men of Lacedaemon, that mistakes have not been made, both on our side and on yours, I for one do not think I could assert; but I do not hold to the opinion that one ought never again to have any dealings with people who make mistakes. For I see that no one in the world remains always free from error. And it seems to me that through making mistakes men sometimes become even easier to deal with, especially if they have incurred punishment in consequence of their mistakes, as we have. ^6.3.11 In your own case, also, I see that sometimes many reverses result from the things you have done with too little judgment, among which was, in fact, the seizure of the Cadmea in Thebes; now, at any rate, the cities which you were eager to make independent have all, in consequence of the wrong done to the Thebans, fallen again under their power. Hence I hope that now, when we have been 371 B.C. taught that to seek selfish advantage is unprofitable, we shall again be reasonable in our friendship with each other. ^6.3.12 Now touching the slanderous allegations of certain people who wish to defeat the peace, to the effect that we have come here, not because we desire friendship, but rather because we fear that Antalcidas may arrive with money from the King, consider how foolishly they are talking. For the King directed, as you know, that all the cities in Greece were to be independent; why then should we, who agree with the King in both word and deed, be afraid of him? Or does anyone imagine that the King prefers to spend money and make others great, rather than, without expense, to have those things accomplished for him which he judged to be best? ^6.3.13 So much for that. Why, then, have we come? That it surely is not because we are in straits, you could discover, if you please, by looking at the situation by sea or, if you please, at the situation by land at the present time. What, then, is the reason? Manifestly that some of our allies are doing what is not pleasing to us. And perhaps we also should like to show you the gratitude we rightly conceived toward you because you preserved us. At the close of the Peloponnesian war the Lacedaemonians rejected the proposal urged by many of their allies, that Athens should be destroyed.cp. II. ii. 19, 20. ^6.3.14 Furthermore, to mention also the matter of expediency, there are, of course, among all the cities of Greece, some that take your side and others that take ours, and in each single city some people favour the Lacedaemonians and others the Athenians. If, therefore, we should become friends, from what quarter could 371 B.C. we with reason expect any trouble? For who could prove strong enough to vex us by land if you were our friends? And who could do you any harm by sea if we were favourably inclined toward you? ^6.3.15 Moreover, we all know that wars are forever breaking out and being concluded, and that we — if not now, still at some future time — shall desire peace again. Why, then, should we wait for the time when we shall have become exhausted by a multitude of ills, and not rather conclude peace as quickly as possible before anything irremediable happens? ^6.3.16 Again, I for my part do not commend those men who, when they have become competitors in the games and have already been victorious many times and enjoy fame, are so fond of contest that they do not stop until they are defeated and so end their athletic training; nor on the other hand do I commend those dicers who, if they win one success, throw for double stakes, for I see that the majority of such people become utterly impoverished. ^6.3.17 We, then, seeing these things, ought never to engage in a contest of such a sort that we shall either win all or lose all, but ought rather to become friends of one another while we are still strong and successful. For thus we through you, and you through us, could play even a greater part in Greece than in times gone by.
^6.5.33 When the Athenians heard of all these things, they 370 B.C. were in a state of concern as to what they should do in regard to the Lacedaemonians, and by resolution of the Senate they called a meeting of the Assembly. Now it chanced that there were present ambassadors of the Lacedaemonians and of the allies who still remained to them. Wherefore the Lacedaemonians spoke — Aracus, Ocyllus, Pharax, Etymocles, and Olontheus — almost all of them saying much the same things. They reminded the Athenians that from all time the two peoples had stood by one another in the most important crises for good ends; for they on their side, they said, had aided in expelling the tyrants The house of the Peisistratidae, in 511 B.C. from Athens, while the Athenians, on the other hand, gave them zealous assistance at the time when they were hard pressed by the Messenians. In the so-called Third Messenian War, 464-455 B.C. ^6.5.34 They also described all the blessings which were enjoyed at the time when both peoples were acting in union, recalling how they had together driven the barbarian back, recalling likewise how the Athenians had been chosen by the Greeks as leaders of the fleet and custodians of the common funds, Referring to the formation of the Confederacy of Delos, 477 B.C. the Lacedaemonians supporting this choice, while they had themselves been selected by the common consent of all the Greeks as leaders by land, the Athenians in their turn supporting this selection. ^6.5.35 And one of them even said something like this: But if you and we, gentlemen, come to agreement, there is hope now that the Thebans will be decimated, as the old saying has it. The Athenians, however, were not very much inclined to accept all this, and a murmur went round to the effect that this is what they say now, but in the time when 370 B.C. they were prosperous they were hostile to us. The weightiest of the arguments urged by the Lacedaemonians seemed to their hearers to be, that at the time when they subdued the Athenians, though the Thebans wanted to destroy Athens utterly, it was they who had prevented it. ^6.5.36 Most stress was laid, however, upon the consideration that the Athenians were required by their oaths to come to their assistance; for it was not because the Lacedaemonians had done wrong that the Arcadians and those with them were making an expedition against them, but rather because they had gone to the aid of the Tegeans for the reason that the Mantineans, in violation of their oaths, had taken the field against them. At these words an uproar again ran through the Assembly; for some said that the Mantineans had done right in avenging the followers of Proxenus who had been slain by the followers of Stasippus, while others said that they were in the wrong because they had taken up arms against the Tegeans. ^6.5.37 While the Assembly itself was trying to determine these matters, Cleiteles, a Corinthian, arose and spoke as follows: Men of Athens, it is perhaps a disputed point who began the wrong-doing; but as for us, can anyone accuse us of having, at any time since peace was concluded, either made a campaign against any city, or taken anyone’s property, or laid waste another’s land? Yet, nevertheless, the Thebans have come into our country, and have cut down trees, and burned down houses, and seized property and cattle. If, therefore, you do not aid us, who are so manifestly wronged, will you not surely be acting in violation of your oaths? They were the same oaths, you remember, that you yourselves took care to 370 B.C. have all of us swear to all of you. Thereupon the Athenians shouted their approval, saying that Cleiteles had spoken to the point and fairly. ^6.5.38 Then Procles, a Phliasian, arose after Cleiteles and said: Men of Athens, it is clear to everyone, I imagine, that you are the first against whom the Thebans would march if the Lacedaemonians were got out of the way; for they think that you are the only people in Greece who would stand in the way of their becoming rulers of the Greeks. ^6.5.39 If this is so, I, for my part, believe that if you undertake a campaign, you would not be giving aid to the Lacedaemonians so much as to your own selves. For to have the Thebans, who are unfriendly to you and dwell on your borders, become leaders of the Greeks, would prove much more grievous to you, I think, than when you had your antagonists far away. Furthermore, you would aid yourselves with more profit if you should do so while there are still people who would fight on your side, than if they should perish first and you should then be compelled to enter by yourselves upon a decisive struggle with the Thebans. ^6.5.40 Now if any are fearful that in case the Lacedaemonians escape this time, they may again in the future cause you trouble, take thought of this, that it is not those whom one benefits, but those whom one injures, of whom one has to fear that they may some day attain great power. And you should bear in mind this likewise, that it is meet both for individuals and for states to acquire a goodly store in the days when they are strongest, in order that, if some day they become powerless, they may draw upon their previous labours for succour. ^6.5.41 So to you 370 B.C. has now been offered by some god an opportunity, in case you aid the Lacedaemonians in their need, of acquiring them for all time as friends who will plead no excuses. For it is not in the presence of only a few witnesses, as it seems to me, that they would now receive benefit at your hands, but the gods will know of this, who see all things both now and for ever, and both your allies and your enemies know also what is taking place, and the whole world of Greeks and barbarians besides. For to none of them all is it a matter of indifference. ^6.5.42 Therefore, if the Lacedaemonians should show themselves base in their dealings with you, who would ever again become devoted to them? But it is fair to expect that they will prove good rather than base men, for if any people in the world seem consistently to have striven for commendation and to have abstained from deeds of shame, it is truly they. Besides all this, take thought of the following considerations likewise. ^6.5.43 If ever again danger should come to Greece from barbarians, whom would you trust more than the Lacedaemonians? Whom would you more gladly make your comrades in the ranks than these, whose countrymen, posted at Thermopylae, chose every man to die fighting rather than to live and admit the barbarian to Greece? Therefore, both because they proved themselves brave men along with you, and because there is hope that they will so prove themselves again, is it not surely right that you and we alike should show all good-will toward them? ^6.5.44 It is also worth while to show the Lacedaemonians good-will for the sake of the allies who are present with them. For be well assured that those who remain faithful to them in their misfortunes are 370 B.C. the very men who would be ashamed if they did not make due requital to you. And if we who are willing to share the peril with them seem to be small states, reflect that if your state is added to our number, we who aid them shall no longer be small states. ^6.5.45 In former days, men of Athens, I used from hearsay to admire this state of yours, for I heard that all who were wronged and all who were fearful fled hither for refuge, and here found assistance; now I no longer hear, but with my own eyes at this moment see the Lacedaemonians, those most famous men, and their most loyal friends appearing in your state and in their turn requesting you to assist them. ^6.5.46 I see also the Thebans, who then See 35 above, and cp. note on iii. 13. did not succeed in persuading the Lacedaemonians to enslave you, now requesting you to allow those who saved you to perish. It is truly a noble deed that is told of your ancestors, when they did not suffer those Argives who died at the Cadmea to go unburied; After the defeat of the legendary expedition of the Seven against Thebes it was only the intervention of the Athenians which compelled the Thebans to permit the burial of the enemy’s dead. but you would achieve a far nobler deed if you did not suffer those Lacedaemonians who still live either to incur insult or to perish. ^6.5.47 And while that other deed was also noble, when you checked the insolence of Eurystheus and preserved the sons of Heracles, The sons of Heracles, driven from Peloponnesus by Eurystheus, found protection and aid at Athens. would it not surely be an even nobler one if you saved from perishing, not merely the founders, but the whole state as well? And noblest of all deeds if, after the Lacedaemonians saved you then by a 370 B.C. vote, void of danger, you shall aid them now with arms and at the risk of your lives. ^6.5.48 Again, when even we, who by word urge you to aid brave men, are proud of doing so, it would manifestly be generous of you, who are able to aid by act, if, after being many times both friends and enemies of the Lacedaemonians, you should recall, not the harm you have suffered at their hands, but rather the favours which you have, received, and should render them requital, not in behalf of yourselves alone, but also in behalf of all Greece, because in her behalf they proved themselves brave men. ^6.5.49 After this the Athenians deliberated, and they would not endure to listen to those who spoke on the other side, but voted to go to the aid of the Lacedaemonians in full force, and chose Iphicrates as general. And when his sacrifices had proved favourable and he had issued orders to his men to dine in the Academy, cp. II. ii. 8. many, it is said, went thither ahead of Iphicrates himself. After this Iphicrates led the way and they followed, believing that he would lead them to some noble achievement. And when, after arriving in Corinth, he delayed there for some days, they at once began to censure him, for the first time, for this delay; then when he at length marched them forth, they eagerly followed wherever he led the way, and eagerly attacked any stronghold against which he brought them.

^4.1 At non Alcithoe Minyeias orgia censet, ^4.2 accipienda dei, sed adhuc temeraria Bacchum, ^4.3 progeniem negat esse Iovis, sociasque sorores, ^4.4 inpietatis habet. Festum celebrare sacerdos, ^4.6 pectora pelle tegi, crinales solvere vittas, ^4.7 serta coma, manibus frondentes sumere thyrsos, ^4.8 iusserat, et saevam laesi fore numinis iram, ^4.9 vaticinatus erat. Parent matresque nurusque, ^4.10 telasque calathosque infectaque pensa reponunt, ^4.11 turaque dant Bacchumque vocant Bromiumque Lyaeumque, ... Furtim illum primis Ino matertera cuuis, educat: inde datum nymphae Nyseides antris, occuluere suis lactisque alimenta dedere. inmunesque operum famulas dominasque suorum, ignigenamque satumque iterum solumque bimatrem: decolor extremo qua tingitur India Gange: “Placatus mitisque” rogant Ismenides “adsis,”, Dicta probant primamque iubent narrare sorores. obstrepuere sonis, et adunco tibia cornu, quod tu nec tenebras nec possis dicere lucem,

^4.1 Alcithoe, daughter of King Minyas, ^4.2 consents not to the orgies of the God; ^4.3 denies that Bacchus is the son of Jove, ^4.4 and her two sisters join her in that crime. ^4.6 keeping it sacred, had forbade all toil.—, ^4.7 And having draped their bosoms with wild skins, ^4.8 they loosed their long hair for the sacred wreaths, ^4.9 and took the leafy thyrsus in their hands;—,
^4.10 for so the priest commanded them. Austere,
^4.11 the wrath of Bacchus if his power be scorned.
^4.13 and putting by their wickers and their webs,
^4.14 dropt their unfinished toils to offer up,
^4.15 frankincense to the God; invoking him,
^4.16 with many names:—“O Bacchus! O Twice-born!
^4.17 O Fire-begot! Thou only child Twice-mothered!
^4.18 God of all those who plant the luscious grape!
^4.19 O Liber !” All these names and many more, ^4.20 for ages known—throughout the lands of Greece . ^4.22 and lo, thou art an ever-youthful boy, ^4.23 most beautiful of all the Gods of Heaven, ^4.24 mooth as a virgin when thy horns are hid.—, " ^4.25 The distant east to tawny India s clime,", ^4.26 where rolls remotest Ganges to the sea, ^4.27 was conquered by thy might.—O Most-revered! ^4.28 Thou didst destroy the doubting Pentheus, " ^4.29 and hurled the sailors bodies in the deep,", ^4.30 and smote Lycurgus, wielder of the ax. ^4.32 with showy harness.—Satyrs follow thee; ^4.33 and Bacchanals, and old Silenus, drunk, ^4.34 unsteady on his staff; jolting so rough, ^4.35 on his small back-bent ass; and all the way, ^4.36 resounds a youthful clamour; and the scream, ^4.37 of women! and the noise of tambourines! ^4.38 And the hollow cymbals! and the boxwood flutes,—, ^4.39 fitted with measured holes.—Thou art implored, ^4.40 by all Ismenian women to appear, ^4.41 peaceful and mild; and they perform thy rites.”,
^4.389 all unprotected from the chilly breeze, ^4.390 her hair dishevelled, tangled, unadorned, ^4.391 he sat unmoved upon the bare hard ground. " ^4.393 or haply by her own tears bitter brine;—", ^4.394 all other nourishment was naught to her.—, ^4.395 She never raised herself from the bare ground, ^4.396 though on the god her gaze was ever fixed;—, ^4.397 he turned her features towards him as he moved: ^4.398 they say that afterwhile her limbs took root, ^4.399 and fastened to the around. ^4.401 overspread her countece, that turned as pale, ^4.402 and bloodless as the dead; but here and there, ^4.403 a blushing tinge resolved in violet tint; ^4.404 and something like the blossom of that name, ^4.405 a flower concealed her face. Although a root, ^4.406 now holds her fast to earth, the Heliotrope, ^4.407 turns ever to the Sun, as if to prove, ^4.408 that all may change and love through all remain. ^4.409 Thus was the story ended. All were charmed, ^4.410 to hear recounted such mysterious deeds. ^4.411 While some were doubting whether such were true, ^4.412 others affirmed that to the living God, ^4.413 is nothing to restrain their wondrous works, ^4.414 though surely of the Gods, immortal, none, ^4.415 accorded Bacchus even thought or place.

^10.75 nascentem et patria Turnum consistere terra, ^10.76 cui Pilumnus avus, cui diva Venilia mater:

^10.75 to stay the Tyrian arms! What profits it, ^10.76 that he escaped the wasting plague of war

^1.9.12 Βίας δὲ 3 -- ἐμνηστεύετο Πηρὼ τὴν Νηλέως· ὁ δὲ πολλῶν αὐτῷ μνηστευομένων τὴν θυγατέρα δώσειν ἔφη τῷ τὰς Φυλάκου 1 -- βόας κομίσαντι αὐτῷ. αὗται δὲ ἦσαν ἐν Φυλάκῃ, καὶ κύων ἐφύλασσεν αὐτὰς οὗ οὔτε ἄνθρωπος οὔτε θηρίον πέλας ἐλθεῖν ἠδύνατο. ταύτας ἀδυνατῶν Βίας τὰς βόας κλέψαι παρεκάλει τὸν ἀδελφὸν συλλαβέσθαι. Μελάμπους δὲ ὑπέσχετο, καὶ προεῖπεν ὅτι φωραθήσεται κλέπτων καὶ δεθεὶς ἐνιαυτὸν οὕτω τὰς βόας λήψεται. μετὰ δὲ τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν εἰς Φυλάκην ἀπῄει καί, καθάπερ προεῖπε, φωραθεὶς ἐπὶ τῇ κλοπῇ δέσμιος 2 -- ἐν οἰκήματι ἐφυλάσσετο. λειπομένου δὲ τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ βραχέος χρόνου, τῶν κατὰ τὸ κρυφαῖον 3 -- τῆς στέγης σκωλήκων ἀκούει, τοῦ μὲν ἐρωτῶντος πόσον ἤδη μέρος τοῦ δοκοῦ διαβέβρωται, τῶν δὲ ἀποκρινομένων 4 -- λοιπὸν ἐλάχιστον εἶναι. καὶ ταχέως ἐκέλευσεν αὑτὸν εἰς ἕτερον οἴκημα μεταγαγεῖν, γενομένου δὲ τούτου μετʼ οὐ πολὺ συνέπεσε τὸ οἴκημα. θαυμάσας δὲ Φύλακος, καὶ μαθὼν ὅτι ἐστὶ μάντις ἄριστος, λύσας παρεκάλεσεν εἰπεῖν ὅπως αὐτοῦ τῷ παιδὶ Ἰφίκλῳ παῖδες γένωνται. ὁ δὲ ὑπέσχετο ἐφʼ ᾧ τὰς βόας λήψεται. καὶ καταθύσας ταύρους δύο καὶ μελίσας τοὺς οἰωνοὺς προσεκαλέσατο· παραγενομένου δὲ αἰγυπιοῦ, παρὰ τούτου μανθάνει δὴ ὅτι Φύλακός ποτε κριοὺς τέμνων ἐπὶ τῶν αἰδοίων 5 -- παρὰ τῷ Ἰφίκλῳ τὴν μάχαιραν ᾑμαγμένην ἔτι κατέθετο, δείσαντος δὲ τοῦ παιδὸς καὶ φυγόντος αὖθις κατὰ τῆς ἱερᾶς δρυὸς αὐτὴν ἔπηξε, καὶ ταύτην ἀμφιτροχάσας 1 -- ἐκάλυψεν ὁ φλοιός. ἔλεγεν οὖν, εὑρεθείσης τῆς μαχαίρας εἰ ξύων τὸν ἰὸν ἐπὶ ἡμέρας δέκα Ἰφίκλῳ δῷ πιεῖν, παῖδα γεννήσειν. ταῦτα μαθὼν παρʼ αἰγυπιοῦ Μελάμπους τὴν μὲν μάχαιραν εὗρε, τῷ δὲ Ἰφίκλῳ τὸν ἰὸν ξύσας ἐπὶ ἡμέρας δέκα δέδωκε πιεῖν, καὶ παῖς αὐτῷ Ποδάρκης ἐγένετο. τὰς δὲ βόας εἰς Πύλον ἤλασε, καὶ τῷ ἀδελφῷ τὴν Νηλέως θυγατέρα λαβὼν ἔδωκε. καὶ μέχρι μέν τινος ἐν Μεσσήνῃ κατῴκει, ὡς δὲ τὰς ἐν Ἄργει γυναῖκας ἐξέμηνε Διόνυσος, ἐπὶ 2 -- μέρει τῆς 3 -- βασιλείας ἰασάμενος αὐτὰς ἐκεῖ μετὰ Βίαντος κατῴκησε. ^3.4.1 Κάδμος δὲ ἀποθανοῦσαν θάψας Τηλέφασσαν, ὑπὸ Θρακῶν ξενισθείς, ἦλθεν εἰς Δελφοὺς περὶ τῆς Εὐρώπης πυνθανόμενος. ὁ δὲ θεὸς εἶπε περὶ μὲν Εὐρώπης μὴ πολυπραγμονεῖν, χρῆσθαι δὲ καθοδηγῷ βοΐ, καὶ πόλιν κτίζειν ἔνθα ἂν αὕτη 1 -- πέσῃ καμοῦσα. τοιοῦτον λαβὼν χρησμὸν διὰ Φωκέων ἐπορεύετο, εἶτα βοῒ συντυχὼν ἐν τοῖς Πελάγοντος βουκολίοις ταύτῃ κατόπισθεν εἵπετο. ἡ δὲ διεξιοῦσα Βοιωτίαν ἐκλίθη, πόλις ἔνθα νῦν εἰσι Θῆβαι. 2 -- βουλόμενος δὲ Ἀθηνᾷ καταθῦσαι τὴν βοῦν, πέμπει τινὰς τῶν μεθʼ ἑαυτοῦ ληψομένους 3 -- ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀρείας κρήνης ὕδωρ· φρουρῶν δὲ τὴν κρήνην δράκων, ὃν ἐξ Ἄρεος εἶπόν τινες γεγονέναι, τοὺς πλείονας τῶν πεμφθέντων διέφθειρεν. ἀγανακτήσας δὲ Κάδμος κτείνει τὸν δράκοντα, καὶ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ὑποθεμένης τοὺς ὀδόντας αὐτοῦ σπείρει. τούτων δὲ σπαρέντων ἀνέτειλαν ἐκ γῆς ἄνδρες ἔνοπλοι, οὓς ἐκάλεσαν Σπαρτούς. οὗτοι δὲ ἀπέκτειναν ἀλλήλους, οἱ μὲν εἰς ἔριν ἀκούσιον 4 -- ἐλθόντες, οἱ δὲ ἀγνοοῦντες. Φερεκύδης δέ φησιν ὅτι Κάδμος, ἰδὼν ἐκ γῆς ἀναφυομένους ἄνδρας ἐνόπλους, ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς ἔβαλε 1 -- λίθους, οἱ δὲ ὑπʼ ἀλλήλων νομίζοντες βάλλεσθαι εἰς μάχην κατέστησαν. περιεσώθησαν δὲ πέντε, Ἐχίων Οὐδαῖος Χθονίος Ὑπερήνωρ Πέλωρος. 2 --, ^3.4.2 Κάδμος δὲ ἀνθʼ ὧν ἔκτεινεν ἀίδιον 3 -- ἐνιαυτὸν ἐθήτευσεν Ἄρει· ἦν δὲ ὁ ἐνιαυτὸς τότε ὀκτὼ ἔτη. μετὰ δὲ τὴν θητείαν Ἀθηνᾶ αὐτῷ τὴν βασιλείαν 4 -- κατεσκεύασε, Ζεὺς δὲ ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ γυναῖκα Ἁρμονίαν, Ἀφροδίτης καὶ Ἄρεος θυγατέρα. καὶ πάντες θεοὶ καταλιπόντες τὸν οὐρανόν, ἐν τῇ Καδμείᾳ τὸν γάμον εὐωχούμενοι καθύμνησαν. ἔδωκε δὲ αὐτῇ Κάδμος πέπλον καὶ τὸν ἡφαιστότευκτον ὅρμον, ὃν ὑπὸ Ἡφαίστου λέγουσί τινες δοθῆναι Κάδμῳ, Φερεκύδης δὲ ὑπὸ Εὐρώπης· ὃν παρὰ Διὸς αὐτὴν λαβεῖν. γίνονται δὲ Κάδμῳ θυγατέρες μὲν Αὐτονόη Ἰνὼ Σεμέλη Ἀγαυή, παῖς δὲ Πολύδωρος. Ἰνὼ μὲν οὖν Ἀθάμας ἔγημεν, Αὐτονόην δὲ Ἀρισταῖος, Ἀγαυὴν δὲ Ἐχίων. ^3.4.3 Σεμέλης δὲ Ζεὺς ἐρασθεὶς Ἥρας κρύφα συνευνάζεται. ἡ δὲ ἐξαπατηθεῖσα ὑπὸ Ἥρας, κατανεύσαντος αὐτῇ Διὸς πᾶν τὸ αἰτηθὲν ποιήσειν, αἰτεῖται τοιοῦτον αὐτὸν ἐλθεῖν οἷος ἦλθε μνηστευόμενος Ἥραν. Ζεὺς δὲ μὴ δυνάμενος ἀνανεῦσαι παραγίνεται εἰς τὸν θάλαμον αὐτῆς ἐφʼ ἅρματος ἀστραπαῖς ὁμοῦ καὶ βρονταῖς, καὶ κεραυνὸν ἵησιν. Σεμέλης δὲ διὰ τὸν φόβον ἐκλιπούσης, ἑξαμηνιαῖον τὸ βρέφος ἐξαμβλωθὲν ἐκ τοῦ πυρὸς ἁρπάσας ἐνέρραψε τῷ μηρῷ. ἀποθανούσης δὲ Σεμέλης, αἱ λοιπαὶ Κάδμου θυγατέρες διήνεγκαν λόγον, συνηυνῆσθαι θνητῷ τινι Σεμέλην καὶ καταψεύσασθαι Διός, καὶ ὅτι 1 -- διὰ τοῦτο ἐκεραυνώθη. κατὰ δὲ τὸν χρόνον τὸν καθήκοντα Διόνυσον γεννᾷ Ζεὺς λύσας τὰ ῥάμματα, καὶ δίδωσιν Ἑρμῇ. ὁ δὲ κομίζει πρὸς Ἰνὼ καὶ Ἀθάμαντα καὶ πείθει τρέφειν ὡς κόρην. ἀγανακτήσασα δὲ Ἥρα μανίαν αὐτοῖς ἐνέβαλε, καὶ Ἀθάμας μὲν τὸν πρεσβύτερον παῖδα Λέαρχον ὡς ἔλαφον θηρεύσας ἀπέκτεινεν, Ἰνὼ δὲ τὸν Μελικέρτην εἰς πεπυρωμένον λέβητα ῥίψασα, εἶτα βαστάσασα μετὰ νεκροῦ τοῦ παιδὸς ἥλατο κατὰ βυθοῦ. 1 -- καὶ Λευκοθέα μὲν αὐτὴν καλεῖται, Παλαίμων δὲ ὁ παῖς, οὕτως ὀνομασθέντες ὑπὸ τῶν πλεόντων· τοῖς χειμαζομένοις γὰρ βοηθοῦσιν. ἐτέθη δὲ ἐπὶ Μελικέρτῃ ὁ 2 -- ἀγὼν τῶν Ἰσθμίων, Σισύφου θέντος. Διόνυσον δὲ Ζεὺς εἰς ἔριφον ἀλλάξας τὸν Ἥρας θυμὸν ἔκλεψε, καὶ λαβὼν αὐτὸν Ἑρμῆς πρὸς νύμφας ἐκόμισεν ἐν Νύσῃ κατοικούσας τῆς Ἀσίας, ἃς ὕστερον Ζεὺς καταστερίσας ὠνόμασεν Ὑάδας. ^3.4.4 Αὐτονόης δὲ καὶ Ἀρισταίου παῖς Ἀκταίων ἐγένετο, ὃς τραφεὶς παρὰ Χείρωνι κυνηγὸς ἐδιδάχθη, καὶ ἔπειτα ὕστερον 1 -- ἐν τῷ Κιθαιρῶνι κατεβρώθη ὑπὸ τῶν ἰδίων κυνῶν. καὶ τοῦτον ἐτελεύτησε τὸν τρόπον, ὡς μὲν Ἀκουσίλαος λέγει, μηνίσαντος τοῦ Διὸς ὅτι ἐμνηστεύσατο Σεμέλην, ὡς δὲ οἱ πλείονες, ὅτι τὴν Ἄρτεμιν λουομένην εἶδε. καί φασι τὴν θεὸν παραχρῆμα αὐτοῦ τὴν μορφὴν εἰς ἔλαφον ἀλλάξαι, καὶ τοῖς ἑπομένοις αὐτῷ πεντήκοντα κυσὶν ἐμβαλεῖν λύσσαν, ὑφʼ ὧν κατὰ ἄγνοιαν ἐβρώθη. ἀπολομένου 2 -- δὲ Ἀκταίωνος 3 -- οἱ κύνες ἐπιζητοῦντες τὸν δεσπότην κατωρύοντο, καὶ ζήτησιν ποιούμενοι παρεγένοντο ἐπὶ τὸ τοῦ Χείρωνος ἄντρον, ὃς εἴδωλον κατεσκεύασεν Ἀκταίωνος, ὃ καὶ τὴν λύπην αὐτῶν ἔπαυσε. τὰ 4 -- ὀνόματα τῶν Ἀκταίωνος κυνῶν ἐκ τῶν οὕτω δὴ νῦν καλὸν σῶμα περισταδόν, ἠύτε θῆρος, τοῦδε δάσαντο κύνες κρατεροί. πέλας † Ἄρκενα 5 -- πρώτη. μετὰ ταύτην ἄλκιμα τέκνα, Λυγκεὺς καὶ Βαλίος 1 -- πόδας αἰνετός, ἠδʼ Ἀμάρυνθος.— καὶ τούτους ὀνομαστὶ διηνεκέως κατέλεξε· 2 -- καὶ τότε Ἀκταίων ἔθανεν Διὸς ἐννεσίῃσι. 3 -- πρῶτοι γὰρ μέλαν αἷμα πίον 4 -- σφετέροιο ἄνακτος Σπαρτός τʼ Ὤμαργός 5 -- τε Βορῆς τʼ αἰψηροκέλευθος. οὗτοι δʼ 6 --Ἀκταίου πρῶτοι φάγον αἷμα τʼ ἔλαψαν. 7 -- τοὺς δὲ μέτʼ ἄλλοι πάντες ἐπέσσυθεν 8 -- ἐμμεμαῶτες.— ἀργαλέων ὀδυνῶν ἄκος ἔμμεναι ἀνθρώποισιν . ^3.5.1 Διόνυσος δὲ εὑρετὴς ἀμπέλου γενόμενος, Ἥρας μανίαν αὐτῷ ἐμβαλούσης περιπλανᾶται Αἴγυπτόν τε καὶ Συρίαν. καὶ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον Πρωτεὺς αὐτὸν ὑποδέχεται βασιλεὺς Αἰγυπτίων, αὖθις δὲ εἰς Κύβελα τῆς Φρυγίας ἀφικνεῖται, κἀκεῖ καθαρθεὶς ὑπὸ Ῥέας καὶ τὰς τελετὰς ἐκμαθών, καὶ λαβὼν παρʼ ἐκείνης τὴν στολήν, ἐπὶ Ἰνδοὺς 1 -- διὰ τῆς Θράκης ἠπείγετο. Λυκοῦργος δὲ παῖς Δρύαντος, Ἠδωνῶν βασιλεύων, οἳ Στρυμόνα ποταμὸν παροικοῦσι, πρῶτος ὑβρίσας ἐξέβαλεν αὐτόν. καὶ Διόνυσος μὲν εἰς θάλασσαν πρὸς Θέτιν τὴν Νηρέως κατέφυγε, Βάκχαι δὲ ἐγένοντο αἰχμάλωτοι καὶ τὸ συνεπόμενον Σατύρων πλῆθος αὐτῷ. αὖθις δὲ αἱ Βάκχαι ἐλύθησαν ἐξαίφνης, Λυκούργῳ δὲ μανίαν ἐνεποίησε 2 -- Διόνυσος. ὁ δὲ μεμηνὼς Δρύαντα τὸν παῖδα, ἀμπέλου νομίζων κλῆμα κόπτειν, πελέκει πλήξας ἀπέκτεινε, καὶ ἀκρωτηριάσας αὐτὸν ἐσωφρόνησε. 1 -- τῆς δὲ γῆς ἀκάρπου μενούσης, ἔχρησεν ὁ θεὸς καρποφορήσειν αὐτήν, ἂν θανατωθῇ Λυκοῦργος. Ἠδωνοὶ δὲ ἀκούσαντες εἰς τὸ Παγγαῖον αὐτὸν ἀπαγαγόντες ὄρος ἔδησαν, κἀκεῖ κατὰ Διονύσου βούλησιν ὑπὸ ἵππων διαφθαρεὶς ἀπέθανε. ^3.5.2 διελθὼν δὲ Θρᾴκην καὶ τὴν Ἰνδικὴν ἅπασαν, στήλας ἐκεῖ στήσας 1 -- ἧκεν εἰς Θήβας, καὶ τὰς γυναῖκας ἠνάγκασε καταλιπούσας τὰς οἰκίας βακχεύειν ἐν τῷ Κιθαιρῶνι. Πενθεὺς δὲ γεννηθεὶς ἐξ Ἀγαυῆς Ἐχίονι, παρὰ Κάδμου εἰληφὼς τὴν βασιλείαν, διεκώλυε ταῦτα γίνεσθαι, καὶ παραγενόμενος εἰς Κιθαιρῶνα τῶν Βακχῶν κατάσκοπος ὑπὸ τῆς μητρὸς Ἀγαυῆς κατὰ μανίαν ἐμελίσθη· ἐνόμισε γὰρ αὐτὸν θηρίον εἶναι. δείξας δὲ Θηβαίοις ὅτι θεός ἐστιν, ἧκεν εἰς Ἄργος, κἀκεῖ 2 -- πάλιν οὐ τιμώντων αὐτὸν ἐξέμηνε τὰς γυναῖκας. αἱ δὲ ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι τοὺς ἐπιμαστιδίους ἔχουσαι 3 -- παῖδας τὰς σάρκας αὐτῶν ἐσιτοῦντο. ^3.5.3 βουλόμενος δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰκαρίας εἰς Νάξον διακομισθῆναι, Τυρρηνῶν λῃστρικὴν ἐμισθώσατο τριήρη. οἱ δὲ αὐτὸν ἐνθέμενοι Νάξον μὲν παρέπλεον, ἠπείγοντο δὲ εἰς τὴν Ἀσίαν ἀπεμπολήσοντες. ὁ δὲ τὸν μὲν ἱστὸν 4 -- καὶ τὰς κώπας ἐποίησεν ὄφεις, τὸ δὲ σκάφος ἔπλησε κισσοῦ καὶ βοῆς αὐλῶν· οἱ δὲ ἐμμανεῖς γενόμενοι κατὰ τῆς θαλάττης ἔφυγον καὶ ἐγένοντο δελφῖνες. ὣς δὲ 1 -- αὐτὸν θεὸν ἄνθρωποι ἐτίμων, ὁ δὲ ἀναγαγὼν ἐξ Ἅιδου τὴν μητέρα, καὶ προσαγορεύσας Θυώνην, μετʼ αὐτῆς εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀνῆλθεν.

" ^1.9.12 Bias wooed Pero, daughter of Neleus. But as there were many suitors for his daughters hand, Neleus said that he would give her to him who should bring him the kine of Phylacus. These were in Phylace, and they were guarded by a dog which neither man nor beast could come near. Unable to steal these kine, Bias invited his brother to help him. Melampus promised to do so, and foretold that he should be detected in the act of stealing them, and that he should get the kine after being kept in bondage for a year. After making this promise he repaired to Phylace and, just as he had foretold, he was detected in the theft and kept a prisoner in a cell. When the year was nearly up, he heard the worms in the hidden part of the roof, one of them asking how much of the beam had been already gnawed through, and others answering that very little of it was left. At once he bade them transfer him to another cell, and not long after that had been done the cell fell in. Phylacus marvelled, and perceiving that he was an excellent soothsayer, he released him and invited him to say how his son Iphiclus might get children. Melampus promised to tell him, provided he got the kine. And having sacrificed two bulls and cut them in pieces he summoned the birds; and when a vulture came, he learned from it that once, when Phylacus was gelding rams, he laid down the knife, still bloody, beside Iphiclus, and that when the child was frightened and ran away, he stuck the knife on the sacred oak, and the bark encompassed the knife and hid it. He said, therefore, that if the knife were found, and he scraped off the rust, and gave it to Iphiclus to drink for ten days, he would beget a son. Having learned these things from the vulture, Melampus found the knife, scraped the rust, and gave it to Iphiclus for ten days to drink, and a son Podarces was born to him. But he drove the kine to Pylus, and having received the daughter of Neleus he gave her to his brother. For a time he continued to dwell in Messene, but when Dionysus drove the women of Argos mad, he healed them on condition of receiving part of the kingdom, and settled down there with Bias.",
^3.4.1 When Telephassa died, Cadmus buried her, and after being hospitably received by the Thracians he came to Delphi to inquire about Europa. The god told him not to trouble about Europa, but to be guided by a cow, and to found a city wherever she should fall down for weariness. After receiving such an oracle he journeyed through Phocis ; then falling in with a cow among the herds of Pelagon, he followed it behind. And after traversing Boeotia, it sank down where is now the city of Thebes . Wishing to sacrifice the cow to Athena, he sent some of his companions to draw water from the spring of Ares. But a dragon, which some said was the offspring of Ares, guarded the spring and destroyed most of those that were sent. In his indignation Cadmus killed the dragon, and by the advice of Athena sowed its teeth. When they were sown there rose from the ground armed men whom they called Sparti. These slew each other, some in a chance brawl, and some in ignorance. But Pherecydes says that when Cadmus saw armed men growing up out of the ground, he flung stones at them, and they, supposing that they were being pelted by each other, came to blows. However, five of them survived, Echion, Udaeus, Chthonius, Hyperenor, and Pelorus. ^3.4.2 But Cadmus, to atone for the slaughter, served Ares for an eternal year; and the year was then equivalent to eight years of our reckoning. After his servitude Athena procured for him the kingdom, and Zeus gave him to wife Harmonia, daughter of Aphrodite and Ares. And all the gods quitted the sky, and feasting in the Cadmea celebrated the marriage with hymns. Cadmus gave her a robe and the necklace wrought by Hephaestus, which some say was given to Cadmus by Hephaestus, but Pherecydes says that it was given by Europa, who had received it from Zeus. And to Cadmus were born daughters, Autonoe, Ino, Semele, Agave, and a son Polydorus. Ino was married to Athamas, Autonoe to Aristaeus, and Agave to Echion. ^3.4.3 But Zeus loved Semele and bedded with her unknown to Hera. Now Zeus had agreed to do for her whatever she asked, and deceived by Hera she asked that he would come to her as he came when he was wooing Hera. Unable to refuse, Zeus came to her bridal chamber in a chariot, with lightnings and thunderings, and launched a thunderbolt. But Semele expired of fright, and Zeus, snatching the sixth-month abortive child from the fire, sewed it in his thigh. On the death of Semele the other daughters of Cadmus spread a report that Semele had bedded with a mortal man, and had falsely accused Zeus, and that therefore she had been blasted by thunder. But at the proper time Zeus undid the stitches and gave birth to Dionysus, and entrusted him to Hermes. And he conveyed him to Ino and Athamas, and persuaded them to rear him as a girl. But Hera indigtly drove them mad, and Athamas hunted his elder son Learchus as a deer and killed him, and Ino threw Melicertes into a boiling cauldron, then carrying it with the dead child she sprang into the deep. And she herself is called Leucothea, and the boy is called Palaemon, such being the names they get from sailors; for they succour storm-tossed mariners. And the Isthmian games were instituted by Sisyphus in honor of Melicertes. But Zeus eluded the wrath of Hera by turning Dionysus into a kid, and Hermes took him and brought him to the nymphs who dwelt at Nysa in Asia, whom Zeus afterwards changed into stars and named them the Hyades. " ^3.4.4 Autonoe and Aristaeus had a son Actaeon, who was bred by Chiron to be a hunter and then afterwards was devoured on Cithaeron by his own dogs. He perished in that way, according to Acusilaus, because Zeus was angry at him for wooing Semele; but according to the more general opinion, it was because he saw Artemis bathing. And they say that the goddess at once transformed him into a deer, and drove mad the fifty dogs in his pack, which devoured him unwittingly. Actaeon being gone, the dogs sought their master howling lamentably, and in the search they came to the cave of Chiron, who fashioned an image of Actaeon, which soothed their grief. The names of Actaeons dogs from the . . So Now surrounding his fair body, as it were that of a beast, The strong dogs rent it. Near Arcena first. . . after her a mighty brood, Lynceus and Balius goodly-footed, and Amarynthus. — And these he enumerated continuously by name. And then Actaeon perished at the instigation of Zeus. For the first that drank their masters black blood Were Spartus and Omargus and Bores, the swift on the track. These first ate of Actaeon and lapped his blood. And after them others rushed on him eagerly . . To be a remedy for grievous pains to men. unknown", "
^3.5.1 Dionysus discovered the vine, and being driven mad by Hera he roamed about Egypt and Syria . At first he was received by Proteus, king of Egypt, but afterwards he arrived at Cybela in Phrygia . And there, after he had been purified by Rhea and learned the rites of initiation, he received from her the costume and hastened through Thrace against the Indians. But Lycurgus, son of Dryas, was king of the Edonians, who dwell beside the river Strymon, and he was the first who insulted and expelled him. Dionysus took refuge in the sea with Thetis, daughter of Nereus, and the Bacchanals were taken prisoners together with the multitude of Satyrs that attended him. But afterwards the Bacchanals were suddenly released, and Dionysus drove Lycurgus mad. And in his madness he struck his son Dryas dead with an axe, imagining that he was lopping a branch of a vine, and when he had cut off his sons extremities, he recovered his senses. But the land remaining barren, the god declared oracularly that it would bear fruit if Lycurgus were put to death. On hearing that, the Edonians led him to Mount Pangaeum and bound him, and there by the will of Dionysus he died, destroyed by horses.", ^3.5.2 Having traversed Thrace and the whole of India and set up pillars there, he came to Thebes, and forced the women to abandon their houses and rave in Bacchic frenzy on Cithaeron. But Pentheus, whom Agave bore to Echion, had succeeded Cadmus in the kingdom, and he attempted to put a stop to these proceedings. And coming to Cithaeron to spy on the Bacchanals, he was torn limb from limb by his mother Agave in a fit of madness; for she thought he was a wild beast. And having shown the Thebans that he was a god, Dionysus came to Argos, and there again, because they did not honor him, he drove the women mad, and they on the mountains devoured the flesh of the infants whom they carried at their breasts. ^3.5.3 And wishing to be ferried across from Icaria to Naxos he hired a pirate ship of Tyrrhenians. But when they had put him on board, they sailed past Naxos and made for Asia, intending to sell him. Howbeit, he turned the mast and oars into snakes, and filled the vessel with ivy and the sound of flutes. And the pirates went mad, and leaped into the sea, and were turned into dolphins. Thus men perceived that he was a god and honored him; and having brought up his mother from Hades and named her Thyone, he ascended up with her to heaven.

^19.1 οὕτω δὲ τοῦ ἀγῶνος δίχα συνεστῶτος πρῶτοι μὲν ἐώσαντο τοὺς Πέρσας οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι· καὶ τὸν Μαρδόνιον ἀνὴρ Σπαρτιάτης ὄνομα Ἀρίμνηστος ἀποκτίννυσι, λίθῳ τὴν κεφαλὴν πατάξας, ὥσπερ αὐτῷ προεσήμανε τὸ ἐν Ἀμφιάρεω μαντεῖον. ἔπεμψε γὰρ ἄνδρα Λυδὸν ἐνταῦθα, Κᾶρα δὲ ἕτερον εἰς Τροφωνίου ὁ ὁ bracketed in Sintenis 2 ; Blass reads εἰς τὸ Πτῷον ὁ with S, after Hercher, thus agreeing with Herodotus viii. 135. Μαρδόνιος· καὶ τοῦτον μὲν ὁ προφήτης Καρικῇ γλώσσῃ προσεῖπεν, ^19.2 ὁ δὲ Λυδὸς ἐν τῷ σηκῷ τοῦ Ἀμφιάρεω κατευνασθεὶς ἔδοξεν ὑπηρέτην τινὰ τοῦ θεοῦ παραστῆναι καὶ κελεύειν αὐτὸν ἀπιέναι, μὴ βουλομένου δὲ λίθον εἰς τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐμβαλεῖν μέγαν, ὥστε δόξαι πληγέντα τεθνάναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον· καὶ ταῦτα μὲν οὕτω γενέσθαι λέγεται. τοὺς δὲ φεύγοντας εἰς τὰ ξύλινα τείχη καθεῖρξαν. ὀλίγῳ δʼ ὕστερον Ἀθηναῖοι τοὺς Θηβαίους τρέπονται, τριακοσίους τοὺς ἐπιφανεστάτους καὶ πρώτους διαφθείραντες ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ μάχῃ.

^19.1 The contest thus begun in two places, the Lacedaemonians were first to repulse the Persians. Mardonius was slain by a man of Sparta named Arimnestus, who crushed his head with a stone, even as was foretold him by the oracle in the shrine of Amphiaraüs. Thither he had sent a Lydian man, and a Carian beside to the oracle of Trophonius. This latter the prophet actually addressed in the Carian tongue; " ^19.2 but the Lydian, on lying down in the precinct of Amphiaraüs, dreamed that an attendant of the god stood by his side and bade him be gone, and on his refusal, hurled a great stone upon his head, insomuch that he died from the blow (so ran the mans dream). These things are so reported. Furthermore, the Lacedaemonians shut the flying Persians up in their wooden stockade. Shortly after this it was that the Athenians routed the Thebans, after slaying three hundred, their most eminent leaders, in the actual battle."

^2.3 εἰκόνα δὲ πολὺ καλλίονα νομίζοντες εἶναι τῆς τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον ἀπομιμουμένης τὴν τὸ ἦθος καὶ τὸν τρόπον ἐμφανίζουσαν, ἀναληψόμεθα τῇ γραφῇ τῶν παραλλήλων βίων τὰς πράξεις τοῦ ἀνδρός, τἀληθῆ διεξιόντες. ἀρκεῖ γὰρ ἡ τῆς μνήμης χάρις· ἀληθοῦς δὲ μαρτυρίας οὐδʼ ἂν αὐτὸς ἐκεῖνος ἠξίωσε μισθὸν λαβεῖν ψευδῆ καὶ πεπλασμένην ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ διήγησιν. ^2.4 ὥσπερ γὰρ τοὺς τὰ καλὰ καὶ πολλὴν ἔχοντα χάριν εἴδη ζῳγραφοῦντας, ἂν προσῇ τι μικρὸν αὐτοῖς δυσχερές, ἀξιοῦμεν μήτε παραλιπεῖν τοῦτο τελέως μήτε ἐξακριβοῦν· τὸ μὲν γὰρ αἰσχράν, τὸ δʼ ἀνομοίαν παρέχεται τὴν ὄψιν· οὕτως, ἐπεὶ χαλεπόν ἐστι, μᾶλλον δʼ ἴσως ἀμήχανον, ἀμεμφῆ καὶ καθαρὸν ἀνδρὸς ἐπιδεῖξαι βίον, ἐν τοῖς καλοῖς ἀναπληρωτέον ὥσπερ ὁμοιότητα τὴν ἀλήθειαν.

^2.3 and since we believe that a portrait which reveals character and disposition is far more beauti­ful than one which merely copies form and feature, we shall incorporate this mans deeds into our parallel lives, )" onMouseOut="nd();">and we shall rehearse them truly. The mere mention of them is sufficient favour to show him; and as a return for his truthful testimony he himself surely would not deign to accept a false and garbled narrative of his career. " ^2.4 We demand of those who would paint fair and graceful features that, in case of any slight imperfection therein, they shall neither wholly omit it nor yet emphasise it, because the one course makes the portrait ugly and the other unlike its original. In like manner, since it is difficult, nay rather perhaps impossible, to represent a mans life as stainless and pure, 480in its fair chapters we must round out the truth into fullest semblance;"

συνέπραξε δὲ καὶ Ἀδράστῳ τὴν ἀναίρεσιν τῶν ὑπὸ τῇ Καδμείᾳ πεσόντων, οὐχ ὡς Εὐριπίδης ἐποίησεν ἐν τραγῳδίᾳ, μάχῃ τῶν Θηβαίων κρατήσας, ἀλλὰ πείσας καὶ σπεισάμενος· οὕτω γὰρ οἱ πλεῖστοι λέγουσι· Φιλόχορος δὲ καὶ σπονδὰς περὶ νεκρῶν ἀναιρέσεως γενέσθαι πρώτας ἐκείνας. ὅτι δὲ Ἡρακλῆς πρῶτος ἀπέδωκε νεκροὺς τοῖς πολεμίοις, ἐν τοῖς περὶ Ἡρακλέους γέγραπται. ταφαὶ δὲ τῶν μὲν πολλῶν ἐν Ἐλευθεραῖς δείκνυνται, τῶν δὲ ἡγεμόνων περὶ Ἐλευσῖνα, καὶ τοῦτο Θησέως Ἀδράστῳ χαρισαμένου. καταμαρτυροῦσι δὲ τῶν Εὐριπίδου Ἱκετίδων οἱ Αἰσχύλου Ἐλευσίνιοι, ἐν οἷς καὶ ταῦτα λέγων ὁ Θησεὺς πεποίηται.

NA>

NA>

^1.15.3 τελευταῖον δὲ τῆς γραφῆς εἰσιν οἱ μαχεσάμενοι Μαραθῶνι· Βοιωτῶν δὲ οἱ Πλάταιαν ἔχοντες καὶ ὅσον ἦν Ἀττικὸν ἴασιν ἐς χεῖρας τοῖς βαρβάροις. καὶ ταύτῃ μέν ἐστιν ἴσα τὰ παρʼ ἀμφοτέρων ἐς τὸ ἔργον· τὸ δὲ ἔσω τῆς μάχης φεύγοντές εἰσιν οἱ βάρβαροι καὶ ἐς τὸ ἕλος ὠθοῦντες ἀλλήλους, ἔσχαται δὲ τῆς γραφῆς νῆές τε αἱ Φοίνισσαι καὶ τῶν βαρβάρων τοὺς ἐσπίπτοντας ἐς ταύτας φονεύοντες οἱ Ἕλληνες. ἐνταῦθα καὶ Μαραθὼν γεγραμμένος ἐστὶν ἥρως, ἀφʼ οὗ τὸ πεδίον ὠνόμασται, καὶ Θησεὺς ἀνιόντι ἐκ γῆς εἰκασμένος Ἀθηνᾶ τε καὶ Ἡρακλῆς· Μαραθωνίοις γάρ, ὡς αὐτοὶ λέγουσιν, Ἡρακλῆς ἐνομίσθη θεὸς πρώτοις. τῶν μαχομένων δὲ δῆλοι μάλιστά εἰσιν ἐν τῇ γραφῇ Καλλίμαχός τε, ὃς Ἀθηναίοις πολεμαρχεῖν ᾕρητο, καὶ Μιλτιάδης τῶν στρατηγούντων, ἥρως τε Ἔχετλος καλούμενος, οὗ καὶ ὕστερον ποιήσομαι μνήμην. ^9.1.5 Θηβαῖοι δὲ ἀπέφαινον τήν τε εἰρήνην Λακεδαιμονίους εἶναι τοὺς πράξαντας καὶ ὕστερον παραβάντων ἐκείνων λελύσθαι καὶ ἅπασιν ἠξίουν τὰς σπονδάς. οὐκ ἀνύποπτα οὖν ἡγούμενοι οἱ Πλαταιεῖς τὰ ἐκ τῶν Θηβαίων διὰ φυλακῆς εἶχον ἰσχυρᾶς τὴν πόλιν· καὶ ἐς τοὺς ἀγρούς, ὁπόσοι ἀπωτέρω τοῦ ἄστεως ἦσαν, οὐδὲ ἐς τούτους ἀνὰ πᾶσαν ἤρχοντο τὴν ἡμέραν, ἀλλὰ— ἠπίσταντο γὰρ τοὺς Θηβαίους ὡς πανδημεὶ καὶ ἅμα ἐπὶ πλεῖστον εἰώθεσαν βουλεύεσθαι—παρεφύλασσον τὰς ἐκκλησίας αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐν τῷ τοσούτῳ καθʼ ἡσυχίαν ἐφεώρων τὰ ἑαυτῶν καὶ οἱ ἔσχατοι γεωργοῦντες. ^9.1.6 Νεοκλῆς δὲ ὃς τότε βοιωταρχῶν ἔτυχεν ἐν Θήβαις—οὐ γὰρ αὐτὸν οἱ Πλαταιεῖς ἐλελήθεσαν ἐπὶ τῇ τέχνῃ— προεῖπε τῶν Θηβαίων ἕκαστόν τέ τινα ἰέναι πρὸς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ὁμοῦ τοῖς ὅπλοις καὶ σφᾶς αὐτίκα οὐ τὴν εὐθεῖαν ἀπὸ τῶν Θηβῶν τὴν πεδιάδα, τὴν δὲ ἐπὶ Ὑσιῶν ἦγε πρὸς Ἐλευθερῶν τε καὶ τῆς Ἀττικῆς, ᾗ μηδὲ σκοπὸς ἐτέτακτο ὑπὸ τῶν Πλαταιέων· γενήσεσθαι δὲ περὶ τὰ τείχη περὶ μεσοῦσαν μάλιστα ἔμελλε τὴν ἡμέραν. ^9.1.7 Πλαταιεῖς δὲ ἄγειν Θηβαίους ἐκκλησίαν νομίζοντες ἐς τοὺς ἀγροὺς ἀποκεκλειμένοι τῶν πυλῶν ἦσαν· πρὸς δὲ τοὺς ἐγκαταληφθέντας ἐποιήσαντο οἱ Θηβαῖοι σπονδάς, ἀπελθεῖν σφᾶς πρὸ ἡλίου δύντος ἄνδρας μὲν σὺν ἑνί, γυναῖκας δὲ δύο ἱμάτια ἑκάστην ἔχουσαν. συνέβη τε ἐναντία τοῖς Πλαταιεῦσιν ἐν τῷ τότε ἡ τύχη ἢ ὡς ὑπὸ Ἀρχιδάμου καὶ Λακεδαιμονίων τὸ πρότερον ἥλωσαν· Λακεδαιμόνιοι μέν γʼ αὐτοὺς ἐξεπολιόρκησαν ἀπείργοντες διπλῷ τείχει μὴ ἐξελθεῖν τοῦ ἄστεως, Θηβαῖοι δὲ ἐν τῷ τότε ἀφελόμενοι μὴ ἐσελθεῖν σφᾶς ἐς τὸ τεῖχος. ^9.1.8 ἐγένετο δὲ ἡ ἅλωσις Πλαταίας ἡ δευτέρα μάχης μὲν τρίτῳ τῆς ἐν Λεύκτροις ἔτει πρότερον, Ἀστείου δὲ Ἀθήνῃσιν ἄρχοντος. καὶ ἡ μὲν πόλις ὑπὸ τῶν Θηβαίων καθῃρέθη πλὴν τὰ ἱερά, τοῖς δὲ Πλαταιεῦσιν ὁ τρόπος τῆς ἁλώσεως σωτηρίαν παρέσχεν ἐν ἴσῳ πᾶσιν· ἐκπεσόντας δὲ σφᾶς ἐδέξαντο αὖθις οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι. Φιλίππου δέ, ὡς ἐκράτησεν ἐν Χαιρωνείᾳ, φρουράν τε ἐσαγαγόντος ἐς Θήβας καὶ ἄλλα ἐπὶ καταλύσει τῶν Θηβαίων πράσσοντος, οὕτω καὶ οἱ Πλαταιεῖς ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ κατήχθησαν. ^9.19.4 ἑξῆς δὲ πόλεων ἐρείπιά ἐστιν Ἅρματος καὶ Μυκαλησσοῦ· καὶ τῇ μὲν τὸ ὄνομα ἐγένετο ἀφανισθέντος, ὡς οἱ Ταναγραῖοί φασιν, ἐνταῦθα Ἀμφιαράῳ τοῦ ἅρματος καὶ οὐχ ὅπου λέγουσιν οἱ Θηβαῖοι· Μυκαλησσὸν δὲ ὁμολογοῦσιν ὀνομασθῆναι, διότι ἡ βοῦς ἐνταῦθα ἐμυκήσατο ἡ Κάδμον καὶ τὸν σὺν αὐτῷ στρατὸν ἄγουσα ἐς Θήβας. ὅντινα δὲ τρόπον ἐγένετο ἡ Μυκαλησσὸς ἀνάστατος, τὰ ἐς Ἀθηναίους ἔχοντα ἐδήλωσέ μοι τοῦ λόγου.

^1.15.3 At the end of the painting are those who fought at Marathon; the Boeotians of Plataea and the Attic contingent are coming to blows with the foreigners. In this place neither side has the better, but the center of the fighting shows the foreigners in flight and pushing one another into the morass, while at the end of the painting are the Phoenician ships, and the Greeks killing the foreigners who are scrambling into them. Here is also a portrait of the hero Marathon, after whom the plain is named, of Theseus represented as coming up from the under-world, of Athena and of Heracles. The Marathonians, according to their own account, were the first to regard Heracles as a god. of the fighters the most conspicuous figures in the painting are Callimachus, who had been elected commander-in-chief by the Athenians, Miltiades, one of the generals, and a hero called Echetlus, of whom I shall make mention later.
^9.1.5 But the Thebans maintained that as the Lacedaemonians had themselves made the peace and then broken it, all alike, in their view, were freed from its terms. The Plataeans, therefore, looked upon the attitude of the Thebans with suspicion, and maintained strict watch over their city. They did not go either daily to the fields at some distance from the city, but, knowing that the Thebans were wont to conduct their assemblies with every voter present, and at the same time to prolong their discussions, they waited for their assemblies to be called, and then, even those whose farms lay farthest away, looked after their lands at their leisure. ^9.1.6 But Neocles, who was at the time Boeotarch at Thebes, not being unaware of the Plataean trick, proclaimed that every Theban should attend the assembly armed, and at once proceeded to lead them, not by the direct way from Thebes across the plain, but along the road to Hysiae in the direction of Eleutherae and Attica, where not even a scout had been placed by the Plataeans, being due to reach the walls about noon. ^9.1.7 The Plataeans, thinking that the Thebans were holding an assembly, were afield and cut off from their gates. With those caught within the city the Thebans came to terms, allowing them to depart before sundown, the men with one garment each, the women with two. What happened to the Plataeans on this occasion was the reverse of what happened to them formerly when they were taken by the Lacedaemonians under Archidamus. For the Lacedaemonians reduced them by preventing them from getting out of the city, building a double line of circumvallation; the Thebans on this occasion by preventing them from getting within their walls. ^9.1.8 The second capture of Plataea occurred two years before the battle of Leuctra, 373 B.C when Asteius was Archon at Athens . The Thebans destroyed all the city except the sanctuaries, but the method of its capture saved the lives of all the Plataeans alike, and on their expulsion they were again received by the Athenians. When Philip after his victory at Chaeroneia introduced a garrison into Thebes, one of the means he employed to bring the Thebans low was to restore the Plataeans to their homes.
^9.19.4 Adjoining are the ruins of the cities Harma (Chariot) and Mycalessus. The former got its name, according to the people of Tanagra, because the chariot of Amphiaraus disappeared here, and not where the Thebans say it did. Both peoples agree that Mycalessus was so named because the cow lowed (emykesato) here that was guiding Cadmus and his host to Thebes . How Mycalessus was laid waste I have related in that part of my history that deals with the Athenians. See Paus. 1.23.3 .