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Herodotus, Histories 1.32.3 · 1.32.3

Counting the days

Solon — οὗτοι ἐόντες ἐνιαυτοὶ ἑβδομήκοντα παρέχονται ἡμέρας διηκοσίας καὶ πεντακισχιλίας καὶ δισμυρίας, ἐμβολίμου μηνὸς μὴ γινομένου· εἰ δὲ δὴ ἐθελήσει τοὔτερον τῶν ἐτέων μηνὶ μακρότερον γίνεσθαι, ἵνα δὴ αἱ ὧραι συμβαίνωσι παραγινόμεναι ἐς τὸ δέον, μῆνες μὲν παρὰ τὰ ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτεα οἱ ἐμβόλιμοι γίνονται τριήκοντα πέντε, ἡμέραι δὲ ἐκ τῶν μηνῶν τούτων χίλιαι πεντήκοντα.

"These seventy years make up twenty-five thousand two hundred days, if no leap month is added. But if every other year is to be made a month longer, so that the seasons come round at the right time, the leap months in the seventy years come to thirty-five, and the days from these months to a thousand and fifty."

Word by word

Solon

οὗτοιhoûtoitheseἐόντεςeóntesin allἐνιαυτοὶeniautoìyearsἑβδομήκονταhebdomḗkontaseventyπαρέχονταιparéchontaimake upἡμέραςhēmérasdaysδιηκοσίαςdiēkosíastwo hundredκαὶkaìandπεντακισχιλίαςpentakischilíasfive thousandκαὶkaìandδισμυρίαςdismyríastwenty thousand,ἐμβολίμουembolímouleapμηνὸςmēnòsmonthμὴmḕnoγινομένουginoménouis added·εἰeiifδὲdèbutδὴdḕ—ἐθελήσειethelḗseiis to beτοὔτερονtoúteronevery otherτῶνtôn—ἐτέωνetéōnyearμηνὶmēnìa monthμακρότερονmakróteronlongerγίνεσθαιgínesthaimade,ἵναhínaso thatδὴdḕ—αἱhaitheὧραιhôraiseasonsσυμβαίνωσιsymbaínōsicome roundπαραγινόμεναιparaginómenaidulyἐςesatτὸtòtheδέονdéonright time,μῆνεςmênesmonthsμὲνmèn—παρὰparàinτὰtàtheἑβδομήκονταhebdomḗkontaseventyἔτεαéteayearsοἱhoitheἐμβόλιμοιembólimoileapγίνονταιgínontaicome toτριήκονταtriḗkontathirtyπέντεpéntefive,ἡμέραιhēméraidaysδὲdèandἐκekfromτῶνtôn—μηνῶνmēnônmonthsτούτωνtoútōntheseχίλιαιchíliaia thousandπεντήκονταpentḗkontafifty.

The setting

Solon turns a lifetime into a sum of days.

A note on this passage

In the middle of a conversation about happiness, Solon does sums. Seventy years of 360 days make 25,200; add a leap month every other year to keep the calendar in step with the seasons, and you get thirty-five extra months, 1,050 more days. Greek calendars really did run on months of about thirty days, with a month inserted from time to time to keep the festivals in their seasons.

The arithmetic overshoots. Inserting a month every other year adds too much, and seventy real years come to about 25,570 days, not the 26,250 Solon will reach in the next sentence. But the point is not accuracy. By turning a life into tens of thousands of separate days, Solon makes a king think about each one as a separate throw of the dice.

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Herodotus, Histories 1.32.3 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/herodotus/1.32.3/