Jean-Léon Gérôme, King Candaules (1859)
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Herodotus, Histories 1.64.3 · 1.64.3

Tyrant of Athens

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καὶ Πεισίστρατος μὲν ἐτυράννευε Ἀθηνέων, Ἀθηναίων δὲ οἳ μὲν ἐν τῇ μάχη ἐπεπτώκεσαν, οἳ δὲ αὐτῶν μετʼ Ἀλκμεωνιδέων ἔφευγον ἐκ τῆς οἰκηίης.

And so Pisistratus was tyrant of the Athenians; and of the Athenians, some had fallen in the battle, others of them had fled into exile with the Alcmaeonidae from their native land.

Word by word

καὶkaìandΠεισίστρατοςPeisístratosPisistratusμὲνmèn—ἐτυράννευεetyránneueruled as tyrantἈθηνέωνAthēnéōnof the Athenians,ἈθηναίωνAthēnaíōnthe Atheniansδὲdèandοἳhoìsomeμὲνmèn—ἐνeninτῇtêitheμάχηmáchēbattleἐπεπτώκεσανepeptṓkesanhad fallen,οἳhoìothersδὲdè—αὐτῶνautônof themμετʼmetʼwithἈλκμεωνιδέωνAlkmeōnidéōnthe Alcmaeonidaeἔφευγονépheugonfled into exileἐκekfromτῆςtêstheirοἰκηίηςoikēíēsnative land.

The setting

Herodotus sums up the outcome: Pisistratus ruling, and the losing side scattered or dead.

A note on this passage

One sentence carries the whole cost of the day: etyranneue, "he ruled as tyrant," set flatly against two fates for the men he beat. Some, Herodotus says, epeptōkesan, "had fallen," a pluperfect that puts their deaths before the sentence even starts, already finished business by the time the story catches up to them.

The others go ek tēs oikēiēs, "from what was their own," Herodotus's quiet way of saying "homeland" without using the word itself, as if exile means losing what is yours rather than simply leaving a place. They go with the Alkmeōnideōn, the Alcmaeonidae, a family name that will outlast this defeat: three decades on, this same household helps bring the tyranny down for good.

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Herodotus, Histories 1.64.3 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/herodotus/1.64.3/