Greece -- History -- To 146 B.C.; History, Ancient
"'Glaucos, thou, Epikydes' son, yea, this for the moment,
This, to conquer their word by an oath and to rob, is more gainful.
Swear, since the lot of death waits also for him who swears truly.
But know thou that Oath has a son, one nameless and handless and
footless, Yet without feet he pursues, without hands he seizes, and
wholly He shall destroy the race and the house of the man who offendeth.
But for the man who swears truly his race is the better hereafter.'
Having heard this Glaucos entreated that the god would pardon him for
that which he had said, but the prophetess said that to make trial of
the god and to do the deed were things equivalent. (d) Glaucos then,
having sent for the Milesians, gave back to them the money: but the
reason for which, O Athenians, I set forth to relate to you this story,
shall now be told. At the present time there is no descendant of Glaucos
existing, nor any hearth which is esteemed to be that of Glaucos, but he
has been utterly destroyed and rooted up out of Sparta. Thus it is
good not even to entertain a thought about a deposit other than that of
restoring it, when they who made it ask for it again."
87. When Leotychides had thus spoken, since not even so were the
Athenians willing to listen to him, he departed back; and the Eginetans,
before paying the penalty for their former wrongs wherein they
did outrage to the Athenians to please the Thebans, 77 acted as
follows:--complaining of the conduct of the Athenians and thinking that
they were being wronged, they made preparations to avenge themselves
upon the Athenians; and since the Athenians were celebrating a
four-yearly festival 78 at Sunion, they lay in wait for the sacred ship
which was sent to it and took it, the vessel being full of men who were
the first among the Athenians; and having taken it they laid the men in
bonds..
88. The Athenians after they had suffered this wrong from the Eginetans
no longer delayed to contrive all things possible to their hurt.
And there was 79 in Egina a man of repute, one Nicodromos the son of
Cnithos: 80 this man had cause of complaint against the Eginetans for
having before this driven him forth out of the island; and hearing now
that the Athenians had resolved to do mischief to the Eginetans, he
agreed with the Athenians to deliver up Egina to them, telling them on
what day he would make his attempt and by what day it would be necessary
for them to come to his assistance..
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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