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Herodotus, Histories 1.86.2 · 1.86.2

Cyrus builds a pyre

ὃ δὲ συννήσας πυρὴν μεγάλην ἀνεβίβασε ἐπʼ αὐτὴν τὸν Κροῖσόν τε ἐν πέδῃσι δεδεμένον καὶ δὶς ἑπτὰ Λυδῶν παρʼ αὐτὸν παῖδας, ἐν νόῳ ἔχων εἴτε δὴ ἀκροθίνια ταῦτα καταγιεῖν θεῶν ὅτεῳ δή, εἴτε καὶ εὐχὴν ἐπιτελέσαι θέλων, εἴτε καὶ πυθόμενος τὸν Κροῖσον εἶναι θεοσεβέα τοῦδε εἵνεκεν ἀνεβίβασε ἐπὶ τὴν πυρήν, βουλόμενος εἰδέναι εἴ τίς μιν δαιμόνων ῥύσεται τοῦ μὴ ζῶντα κατακαυθῆναι.

He, having piled up a great pyre, made Croesus go up onto it, bound in chains, with twice seven Lydian boys beside him, having in mind either to burn these as first-fruits to some god, whichever it might be, or wishing to fulfill a vow, or, having learned that Croesus was god-fearing, for this reason setting him on the pyre, wanting to know whether any of the gods would save him from being burned alive.

Word by word

ὃhòHeδὲdè—συννήσαςsynnḗsaspiled upπυρὴνpyrḕnpyreμεγάληνmegálēngreatἀνεβίβασεanebíbaseraisedἐπʼepʼontoαὐτὴνautḕnitτὸνtòn—ΚροῖσόνKroîsónCroesusτεte—ἐνeninπέδῃσιpédēisichainsδεδεμένονdedeménonboundκαὶkaìtogether withδὶςdìstwiceἑπτὰheptàsevenΛυδῶνLydônLydianπαρʼparʼbesideαὐτὸνautònhimπαῖδαςpaîdasboys,ἐνen—νόῳnóōimindἔχωνéchōnhavingεἴτεeíteeitherδὴdḕ—ἀκροθίνιαakrothíniafirst-fruitsταῦταtaûtatheseκαταγιεῖνkatagieînto burnθεῶνtheônto some godὅτεῳhóteōior otherδήdḗ—,εἴτεeíteorκαὶkaì—εὐχὴνeuchḕna vowἐπιτελέσαιepitelésaito fulfillθέλωνthélōnwishing,εἴτεeíteorκαὶkaì—πυθόμενοςpythómenoshaving learnedτὸνtòn—ΚροῖσονKroîsonCroesusεἶναιeînaiwasθεοσεβέαtheosebéagod-fearingτοῦδεtoûdethisεἵνεκενheínekenforἀνεβίβασεanebíbaseraisedἐπὶepìontoτὴνtḕntheπυρήνpyrḗnpyre,βουλόμενοςboulómenoswantingεἰδέναιeidénaito knowεἴeíwhetherτίςtísanyμινminhimδαιμόνωνdaimónōnof the godsῥύσεταιrhýsetaiwould saveτοῦtoûfromμὴmḕ—ζῶνταzôntaaliveκατακαυθῆναιkatakauthênaibeing burned.

The setting

Cyrus has Croesus and fourteen Lydian boys bound and set on a great pyre, perhaps as an offering, perhaps to fulfill a vow, or to see whether a god will save so pious a man.

A note on this passage

Herodotus gives Cyrus three separate motives and refuses to choose among them, laid out with the same word three times: eite, "whether," repeated for an offering to some god, a vow he wished to keep, and a test of whether Croesus's piety mattered to heaven. This is a habit readers meet again and again in the Histories, where the narrator reports what people might have intended without claiming to see inside their heads. It also keeps Cyrus from looking simply cruel: killing fourteen boys and a king is framed as religious business, a matter of ritual duty rather than spite, even while the scene is as brutal as anything in the book so far.

The detail dis hepta, "twice seven," for the fourteen Lydian boys echoes the fourteen years and fourteen days that closed the chapter before this one, as if Croesus's whole reign were being paid out again in bodies on the pyre. And the last clause, wanting to learn ei tis min daimonōn rhysetai, "whether some one of the divinities would save him," plants the question the next chapter answers: Herodotus is telling the reader exactly what to watch for, a king on fire and a silence from the sky that everyone in the scene is waiting to see broken.

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