Histories

Herodotus

Herodotus. Godley, Alfred Denis, translator. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, Ltd., 1920-1925 (printing).

She replied in hexameter:

  1. You ask me for Arcadia [22.25,37.583] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Arcadia? You ask too much; I grant it not.
  2. There are many men in Arcadia [22.25,37.583] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Arcadia, eaters of acorns,
  3. Who will hinder you. But I grudge you not.
  4. I will give you Tegea [22.4,37.5] (Perseus) Tegea to beat with your feet in dancing,
  5. And its fair plain to measure with a rope.

When the Lacedaemonians heard the oracle reported, they left the other Arcadians alone and marched on Tegea [22.4,37.5] (Perseus) Tegea carrying chains, relying on the deceptive oracle. They were confident they would enslave the Tegeans, but they were defeated in battle.

Those taken alive were bound in the very chains they had brought with them, and they measured the Tegean plain with a rope[*](That is, mapping the land out for cultivation.) by working the fields. The chains in which they were bound were still preserved in my day, hanging up at the temple of Athena Alea.

In the previous war the Lacedaemonians continually fought unsuccessfully against the Tegeans, but in the time of Croesus and the kingship of Anaxandrides and Ariston in Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon the Spartans had gained the upper hand. This is how:

when they kept being defeated by the Tegeans, they sent ambassadors to Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi to ask which god they should propitiate to prevail against the Tegeans in war. The Pythia responded that they should bring back the bones of Orestes, son of Agamemnon.

When they were unable to discover Orestes' tomb, they sent once more to the god[*](th\n e)s qeo/n, explained as =th\n qeo\n o(do/n. th\n e)/nqeon(= the inspired one: after e)peirhsome/nous) would be an easy correction. But all MSS. have e)s qeo/n.) to ask where he was buried. The Pythia responded in hexameter to the messengers:

  1. There is a place Tegea [22.4,37.5] (Perseus) Tegea in the smooth plain of Arcadia [22.25,37.583] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Arcadia,
  2. Where two winds blow under strong compulsion.
  3. Blow lies upon blow, woe upon woe.
  4. There the life-giving earth covers the son of Agamemnon.
  5. Bring him back, and you shall be lord of Tegea [22.4,37.5] (Perseus) Tegea.