Κῦρος
Kyros, Cyrus, Kurush
Translated by John Hyland9 May 2000Vetting: high5 revisions
Translation
[Note] that "because of the assessment of tribute, the Persians used to say that Dareios was a shop-keeper, Kambyses a master, and Kyros a father. The first, because he merchandised all things; the second, because he was harsh and arrogant; and the last, because he was kind and contrived good things for them."1
Greek original · Adler’s text
Κῦρος· ὅτι διὰ τὴν ἐπίταξιν τοῦ φόρου ἔλεγον οἱ Πέρσαι, ὡς Δαρεῖος μὲν ἦν κάπηλος, Καμβύσης δὲ δεσπότης, Κῦρος δὲ πατήρ. ὁ μέν, ὅτι ἐκαπήλευε πάντα τὰ πρήγματα· ὁ δὲ χαλεπός τε ἦν καὶ ὀλίγωρος· ὁ δέ, ὅτι ἤπιός τε καὶ ἀγαθά σφι τὰ ἐμηχανήσατο.
Betacode
*ku=ros: o(/ti dia\ th\n e)pi/tacin tou= fo/rou e)/legon oi( *pe/rsai, w(s *darei=os me\n h)=n ka/phlos, *kambu/shs de\ despo/ths, *ku=ros de\ path/r. o( me/n, o(/ti e)kaph/leue pa/nta ta\ prh/gmata: o( de\ xalepo/s te h)=n kai\ o)li/gwros: o( de/, o(/ti h)/pio/s te kai\ a)gaqa/ sfi ta\ e)mhxanh/sato.
Notes (1)
- 1A reasonably accurate quotation of Herodotus 3.89.3: see web address 1.
Kurush (Old Persian) -- Kyros to the Greeks (cf. kappa 2777) -- was the founder of the Persian empire and reigned c. 559 to 530 BCE. His son Kambujiya, or Kambyses (see also under kappa 2777), reigned from 530 to 522, and the usurper Darayavaush, Dareios I (delta 72, delta 73), who according to Herodotus first imposed tribute on the empire, from 522 to 486. ↩
References
Pierre Briant, Histoire de l'Empire Perse de Cyrus à Alexandre (Paris 1996), is the standard work on the Old Persian Empire.
External resources
- Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu
Linked from8 entries
- κ2749Κύρειον στράτευμαKyreian army, Cyrean army, army of CyrusIsocrates in the Panegyrikos utters [this phrase]. It is the [army] which went into the interior with Kyros against Xerxes, his own brother.
- κ2777ΚῦροςKyros, Cyrus, Kurash[Cyrus] the king is said to be the son of Cambyses the king of the Persians. This Cambyses [was] of the family of the Perseids, and the Perseids are named from Perseus; his mother was Mandane. Mandane was the daughter…
- μ783Μετεῖναιto let go, to ignore, to release[Meaning] to go among, pursue; to follow up. Herodotus [writes]: "he first impaled the magi who had persuaded him to let Cyrus go."
- π1078Περιβαλλομένουςappropriating, capturing, encompassing, surrounding, throwing around[Meaning them] apprehending. Xenophon [writes]: "the fit men he despatched -- some here, some there -- to plunder [sc. the countryside] and he ordered them, appropriating whatever anyone might encounter, to bring it to…
- π1111Περιεβάλοντοthey procured for themselves[Meaning] they additionally acquired. "The men overrunning the land procured for themselves much booty." And elsewhere: "Apollonius not only embraced the tomb of Leonidas the Spartan, amazed at the man [...]."
- π3122ΠυθαγόραςPythagorasof Ephesus. After having conspiratorially destroyed the regime called that of the Basilidae, he emerged as a very harsh tyrant. To the people and the [sc.] wider masses he seemed to be -- and was -- a source of…
- σ731ΣμέρδιςSmerdisA proper name.
- φ824Φύλακοςguard[This word occurs] in Herodotus: "at this [part] of the acropolis where no guard had been stationed."
Neighbouring entries
Revision history5 revisions · last 25 Mar 2013
- upgraded link — Catharine Roth
- Revised — David Whitehead
- x-refs; more keywords; cosmetics — David Whitehead
- cosmetics — David Whitehead
- Revised — Helma Dik
- Translated — John Hyland