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Herodotus, Histories 1.86.4 · 1.86.4

An answer no one understands

καὶ τὸν Κῦρον ἀκούσαντα κελεῦσαι τοὺς ἑρμηνέας ἐπειρέσθαι τὸν Κροῖσον τίνα τοῦτον ἐπικαλέοιτο, καὶ τοὺς προσελθόντας ἐπειρωτᾶν· Κροῖσον δὲ τέως μὲν σιγὴν ἔχειν εἰρωτώμενον, μετὰ δὲ ὡς ἠναγκάζετο, εἰπεῖν
Croesus — Τὸν ἂν ἐγὼ πᾶσι τυράννοισι προετίμησα μεγάλων χρημάτων ἐς λόγους ἐλθεῖν. ὡς δέ σφι ἄσημα ἔφραζε, πάλιν ἐπειρώτων τὰ λεγόμενα.

And when Cyrus heard this, he ordered the interpreters to ask Croesus whom he was calling on, and they came up and asked him. But Croesus, for a while, kept silence though questioned; but afterward, when he was pressed, he said: "Him whom I would have preferred, before all tyrants, at the cost of great wealth, to come to conference with." And when he told them unclear things, they asked again what he was saying.

Word by word

καὶkaìAndτὸνtòn—ΚῦρονKŷronCyrusἀκούσανταakoúsantaheardκελεῦσαιkeleûsaiorderedτοὺςtoùstheἑρμηνέαςhermēnéasinterpretersἐπειρέσθαιepeirésthaito askτὸνtòn—ΚροῖσονKroîsonCroesusτίναtínawhomτοῦτονtoûtonthis manἐπικαλέοιτοepikaléoitowas calling on,καὶkaìandτοὺςtoùstheyπροσελθόνταςproselthóntascame upἐπειρωτᾶνepeirōtânasked·ΚροῖσονKroîsonCroesusδὲdèButτέωςtéōsfor a whileμὲνmèn—σιγὴνsigḕnsilentἔχεινécheinkeptεἰρωτώμενονeirōtṓmenonthough questioned,μετὰmetà—δὲdèandὡςhōswhenἠναγκάζετοēnankázetohe was pressed,εἰπεῖνeipeînsaid

Croesus

ΤὸνTònHim whomἂνàn—ἐγὼegṑIπᾶσιpâsiallτυράννοισιtyránnoisityrantsπροετίμησαproetímēsawould have preferredμεγάλωνmegálōngreatχρημάτωνchrēmátōnwealthἐςestoλόγουςlógousconferenceἐλθεῖνeltheînto come.ὡςhōsWhenδέdé—σφιsphithemἄσημαásēmaunclear thingsἔφραζεéphrazetold,πάλινpálinagainἐπειρώτωνepeirṓtōnaskedτὰtàwhatλεγόμεναlegómenahe was saying.

The setting

Cyrus has interpreters ask whom Croesus is calling on. Croesus is silent at first, then, pressed, gives a riddling half-answer.

A note on this passage

Croesus says nothing at first, sigēn echein, "he kept silence," even while being pressed with questions, and the silence itself is part of the scene: a king about to burn, refusing to explain a single cry of a stranger's name to the men who hold his life in their hands. When he finally speaks, under compulsion, ēnankazeto, "he was being forced," what comes out of him is a riddle rather than an answer, naming no one, describing only a hypothetical trade he would have made with every tyrant alive for one conversation.

Herodotus is careful to put hermēneas, "interpreters," into the scene, a detail that matters: Cyrus and Croesus do not share a language, and the exchange about Solon's name has to cross that gap twice, once into Persian and once, when Croesus will not explain himself clearly, back out again. The men call his answer asēma, "without a sign," the same family of word Herodotus uses elsewhere for the obscure, double-edged language of oracles. Croesus, at the edge of death, has started talking the way the gods talk, and his captors cannot make sense of him.

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Herodotus, Histories 1.86.4 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/herodotus/1.86.4/