Herodotus, Histories 1.31.4 · 1.31.4
The mother's prayer
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Solon — ἡ δὲ μήτηρ περιχαρὴς ἐοῦσα τῷ τε ἔργῳ καὶ τῇ φήμῃ, στᾶσα ἀντίον τοῦ ἀγάλματος εὔχετο Κλεόβι τε καὶ Βίτωνι τοῖσι ἑωυτῆς τέκνοισι, οἵ μιν ἐτίμησαν μεγάλως, τὴν θεὸν δοῦναι τὸ ἀνθρώπῳ τυχεῖν ἄριστον ἐστί.
"Their mother, overjoyed at the deed and at what was said, stood before the statue and prayed that for Cleobis and Biton, her own children, who had honoured her so greatly, the goddess would give whatever is best for a man to receive."
Word by word
The setting
The mother asks the goddess for the best gift there is.
A note on this passage
The mother's prayer is generous and, in a way she does not intend, precise. She does not ask for long life, wealth or glory for her sons. She stands before the <em>agalma</em>, the cult statue of Hera, and asks for <em>to anthrōpōi tychein ariston</em>, "whatever is best for a human being to get." She leaves the choice to the goddess.
Greek stories are full of prayers answered to the letter, and this is one of them. The reader who has just heard the god's verdict in the previous sentence already knows what "the best" will turn out to be. The mother does not. Herodotus lets her ask in joy, in front of the whole festival, for the gift that will take her sons.
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Herodotus, Histories 1.31.4 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/herodotus/1.31.4/