ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑΙ

Herodotus, Histories 1.29.1 · 1.29.1

The wise men come to Sardis

ἀπικνέονται ἐς Σάρδις ἀκμαζούσας πλούτῳ ἄλλοι τε οἱ πάντες ἐκ τῆς Ἑλλάδος σοφισταί, οἳ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον ἐτύγχανον ἐόντες, ὡς ἕκαστος αὐτῶν ἀπικνέοιτο, καὶ δὴ καὶ Σόλων ἀνὴρ Ἀθηναῖος, ὃς Ἀθηναίοισι νόμους κελεύσασι ποιήσας ἀπεδήμησε ἔτεα δέκα κατὰ θεωρίης πρόφασιν ἐκπλώσας, ἵνα δὴ μή τινα τῶν νόμων ἀναγκασθῇ, λῦσαι τῶν ἔθετο.

To Sardis, then at the height of its wealth, came all the other wise men of Greece who were living then, each as he could come; and among them Solon, an Athenian, who had made laws for the Athenians at their request and then went abroad for ten years, sailing off on the pretext of seeing the world, so that he would not be forced to repeal any of the laws he had made.

Word by word

ἀπικνέονταιapiknéontaithere cameἐςestoΣάρδιςSárdisSardisἀκμαζούσαςakmazoúsasat its heightπλούτῳploútōiwealthἄλλοιálloithe otherτεte—οἱhoi—πάντεςpántesallἐκekofτῆςtês—ἙλλάδοςHelládosGreeceσοφισταίsophistaíwise men,οἳhoìwhoτοῦτονtoûtonthatτὸνtòn—χρόνονchrónontimeἐτύγχανονetýnchanonhappenedἐόντεςeóntesto be living,ὡςhōsasἕκαστοςhékastoseachαὐτῶνautônof themἀπικνέοιτοapiknéoitocould come,καὶkaìandδὴdḕin particularκαὶkaì—ΣόλωνSólōnSolonἀνὴρanḕra manἈθηναῖοςAthēnaîosof Athens,ὃςhòswhoἈθηναίοισιAthēnaíoisifor the Atheniansνόμουςnómouslawsκελεύσασιkeleúsasiat their requestποιήσαςpoiḗsashad madeἀπεδήμησεapedḗmēsewent abroadἔτεαéteayearsδέκαdékatenκατὰkatàonθεωρίηςtheōríēsseeing the worldπρόφασινpróphasinthe pretextἐκπλώσαςekplṓsassailing off,ἵναhínaso thatδὴdḕ—μήmḗnotτιναtinaanyτῶνtônof theνόμωνnómōnlawsἀναγκασθῇanankasthêibe forced,λῦσαιlŷsaito repealτῶνtônwhichἔθετοéthetohad made.

The setting

Croesus has conquered the Greek cities of Asia and most of the peoples west of the river Halys. The sentence runs on from the end of 1.28: "when these had been subdued and Croesus had added them to the Lydians…"

A note on this passage

Sardis at its height pulls in pantes ek tēs Hellados sophistai, "all the wise men of Greece." The word is sophistēs, and it is a compliment here: a man of sophia, skill and wisdom, a poet or lawgiver or sage. The sneer in "sophist," a clever arguer who charges fees, came later, largely from Plato. Herodotus is picturing something like a court of the learned, gathered around the richest man in the world.

Solon comes on a prophasis, a stated reason, and Herodotus tells us the real one straight after. The stated reason is theōriē, travelling to see the world: festivals, oracles, foreign cities. It is the word that became "theory," and it is also a fair description of what Herodotus himself did. The real reason is that the Athenians had sworn to keep his laws for ten years, and a lawgiver who stayed would be pestered to change them.

Read the full commentary — and tap any word for its dictionary entry — in the interlinear reader.

Open Herodotus, Histories 1.29.1 in the full reader

Always open passages in the reader

From the Great Library

You are reading a page of the Herodotus, Histories — the whole book is free in our interlinear reader.

The Great Library Project presses the classics in their original languages, glossed word by word — free to read, always. Browse the whole library.

Also on our shelves:

❦

Herodotus, Histories 1.29.1 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/herodotus/1.29.1/