Histories

I. 93, II. 35, etc.; in that case τά τε ἀλλα refers back to τὰ γενόμενα, though the verb ἐπολέμησαν derives its subject from the mention of Hellenes and Barbarians in the preceding clause. ↩

Many Editors have “with the Phoenicians,” on the authority of some inferior MSS. and of the Aldine edition. ↩

ἁρπαγῆς. ↩

“Thus or in some other particular way.” ↩

Συρίων, see ch. 72. Herodotus perhaps meant to distinguish Σύριοι from Σύροι, and to use the first name for the Cappadocians and the second for the people of Palestine, cp. II. 104; but they are naturally confused in the MSS. ↩

ἐξ ἐπιδρομῆς ἁρπαγή. ↩

τῆς ἀνοιγομένης θύρης, “the door that is opened.” ↩

Or “because she was ashamed.” ↩

Φοιτᾶν. ↩

ὑπεισδὺς: Stein adopts the conjecture ὑπεκδὺς, “slipping out of his hiding-place.” ↩

This last sentence is by many regarded as an interpolation. The line referred to is Οὔ μοι τὰ Γύγεω τοῦ πολυχρύσου μέλει. ↩

See V. 92. ↩

I.e. like other kings of Lydia who came after him. ↩

Κολοφῶνος τὸ ἀστυ, as opposed apparently to the acropolis, cp. VIII. 51. ↩

See ch. 73. ↩

ὁ καὶ ἐσβάλλων τηνικαῦτα ἐς τὴν Μιλησίην τὴυ στρατιήν: an allusion apparently to the invasions of the Milesian land at harvest time, which are described above. All the operations mentioned in the last chapter have been loosely described to Alyattes, and a correction is here added to inform the reader that they belong equally to his father. It will hardly mend matters much if we take ὁ Αυδός in ch. 17 to include both father and son. ↩

διδάξαντα. ↩

This name is applied by Herodotus to the southern part of the peninsula only. ↩

Tarentum. ↩

ἐν τοῖσι ἑσωλίοισι: properly “benches,” but probably here the raised deck at the stern. ↩

οὐ μέγα: many of the MSS. have μέγα. ↩

στάδιοι: furlongs of about 606 English feet. ↩

τῷ ἐπιλόγῳ. ↩

This list of nations is by some suspected as an interpolation; see Stein’s note on the passage. ↩

σοφισταί: cp. II. 49, and IV. 95. ↩

ἔθετο. ↩

ὀλβιώτατον. ↩

σταδίους. ↩

ῥώμηυ: many of the MSS. have γνώμην, “good disposition.” ↩

I.e. their mother: but some understand it to mean the goddess. ↩

ἐν τέλεϊ τούτῳ ἔσχοντο. ↩

ἀνόλβιοι. ↩

εὐτυχέες. ↩

ἄπηρος: the MSS. have ἄπειρος. ↩

αἰχμῇ σιδηρέῃ βληθέντα. ↩

“In the house of Croesus.” ↩

Ἐπίστιον. ↩

Ἐταιρήιον. ↩

συγγραψαμένους, i.e. have it written down by the πρφήτης (see VII. 111 and VIII. 37), who interpreted and put into regular verse the inspired utterances of the prophetess πρόμαντις. ↩

ἐς τò μέγαρον. ↩

οἷδα δ’ ἐγώ: oracles often have a word of connection such as δέ or ἀλλά at the beginning (cp. ch. 55, 174, etc.), which may indicate that they are part of a larger connected utterance. ↩

Cp. VII. 178 and IX. 91 (“I accept the omen.”) ↩

See VIII. 134. ↩

καὶ τοῦτον, i.e. Amphiaraos: many Editors retain the readings of the Aldine edition, καὶ τοῦτο, “that in this too he had found a true Oracle.” ↩

ἡμιπλίνθια, the plinth being supposed to be square. ↩

ἑξαπάλαιστα, the palm being about three inches, cp. II. 149. ↩

ἀπέφθου χρυσοῦ, “refined gold.” ↩

τρίτον ἡμιτάλαντον: the MSS. have τρία ἡμιτάλαντα, which has been corrected partly on the authority of Valla’s translation. ↩

“White gold.” ↩

Arranged evidently in stages, of which the highest consisted of the 4 half-plinths of pure gold, the second of 15 half-plinths, the third of 35, the fourth of 63, making 117 in all: see Stein’s note. ↩

ἕλκων σταθμὸν εἵνατον ἠμιτάλαντον καὶ ἔτι συώδεκα μνέας. The μνέα (mina) is 15.2 oz., and 60 of them go to a talent. ↩

ἐπὶ τοῦ προνηίου τῆς γωνίης, cp. VIII. 122: the use of ἐπί seems to suggest some kind of raised cornerstone upon which the offerings stood. ↩

The ἀμφορεύς is about 9 gallons. ↩

Cp. III. 41. ↩

περιρραντήρια. ↩

χεύματα, which some translate “jugs” or “bowls.” ↩

ὑμῖν, as if both Oracles were