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Herodotus, Histories 1.32.1 · 1.32.1

"The divine is wholly jealous"

Herodotus — Σόλων μὲν δὴ εὐδαιμονίης δευτερεῖα ἔνεμε τούτοισι, Κροῖσος δὲ σπερχθεὶς εἶπε
Croesus — ὦ ξεῖνε Ἀθηναῖε, ἡ δʼ ἡμετέρη εὐδαιμονίη οὕτω τοι ἀπέρριπται ἐς τὸ μηδὲν ὥστε οὐδὲ ἰδιωτέων ἀνδρῶν ἀξίους ἡμέας ἐποίησας;
Herodotus — ὁ δὲ εἶπε
Solon — ὦ Κροῖσε, ἐπιστάμενόν με τὸ θεῖον πᾶν ἐὸν φθονερόν τε καὶ ταραχῶδες ἐπειρωτᾷς ἀνθρωπηίων πρηγμάτων πέρι.

So Solon awarded the second prize for happiness to these; but Croesus, angered, said: "Stranger from Athens, is my happiness so thrown away as nothing that you have not made me equal even to private men?" He said: "Croesus, you ask me about human affairs, me, who know that the divine is wholly jealous and loves to trouble us."

Word by word

Herodotus

ΣόλωνSólōnSolonμὲνmèn—δὴdḕsoεὐδαιμονίηςeudaimoníēsfor happinessδευτερεῖαdeutereîathe second prizeἔνεμεénemeawardedτούτοισιtoútoisito these,ΚροῖσοςKroîsosCroesusδὲdèbutσπερχθεὶςsperchtheìsangeredεἶπεeîpesaid

Croesus

ὦô—ξεῖνεxeînestrangerἈθηναῖεAthēnaîefrom Athens,ἡhē—δʼdʼ—ἡμετέρηhēmetérēmyεὐδαιμονίηeudaimoníēhappinessοὕτωhoútōsoτοιtoi—ἀπέρριπταιapérriptaithrown awayἐςesasτὸtò—μηδὲνmēdènnothingὥστεhṓstethatοὐδὲoudènot evenἰδιωτέωνidiōtéōnprivateἀνδρῶνandrônmenἀξίουςaxíousequal toἡμέαςhēméasmeἐποίησαςepoíēsasmade;

Herodotus

ὁhoheδὲdè—εἶπεeîpesaid

Solon

ὦôOΚροῖσεKroîseCroesus,ἐπιστάμενόνepistámenónwho knowμεmemeτὸtòtheθεῖονtheîondivineπᾶνpânwhollyἐὸνeònisφθονερόνphthonerónjealousτεte—καὶkaìandταραχῶδεςtarachôdestroublesomeἐπειρωτᾷςepeirōtâisyou askἀνθρωπηίωνanthrōpēíōnhumanπρηγμάτωνprēgmátōnaffairsπέριpériabout.

The setting

Croesus has been ranked below an Athenian citizen and two Argive boys. He loses his temper.

A note on this passage

Croesus changes his word. He had asked about olbos, blessedness; now, stung, he speaks of "our eudaimoniē," his happiness, as if it were one more thing in the treasury that Solon has tossed on the floor. And he cannot bear to be ranked below idiōtai, "private men," people with no office. Idiōtēs is the ancestor of English "idiot": first a private person, then a layman, then a fool. To a king it is the bottom of the scale.

Solon's reply names the theology under the whole conversation: to theion pan eon phthoneron te kai tarachōdes, "the divine is altogether envious and fond of upheaval." This is the phthonos theōn, the "envy of the gods," that Herodotus returns to throughout the Histories. It is less a portrait of petty gods than a law of balance: whatever rises too high draws a correction. Croesus is asking the one man at his court who believes that about the one thing he is proudest of.

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Herodotus, Histories 1.32.1 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/herodotus/1.32.1/