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[1]
Neither the Carians nor any Greeks who dwell in this country did any thing notable before they were all enslaved by Harpagus.
Neither the Carians nor any Greeks who dwell in this country did any thing notable before they were all enslaved by Harpagus.
[2] Among those who inhabit it are certain
Cnidians, colonists from
Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe
Lacedaemon
. Their country (it is called the
Triopion) lies between the sea and that part of the peninsula which belongs to
Bubassus, and all but a small part of the
Cnidian territory is washed by the sea
[3] (for it is bounded on the north by the gulf of
Ceramicus, and on the south by the sea off
Nisos Symi [27.833,36.583] (island), Sporades, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe
Syme
and
Rhodes [28,36.166] (island), Sporades, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe
Rhodes
). Now while
Harpagus was conquering
Ionia (region (general)), Europe
Ionia
, the
Cnidians dug a trench across this little space, which is about two-thirds of a mile wide, in order that their country might be an island. So they brought it all within the entrenchment; for the frontier between the
Cnidian country and the mainland is on the isthmus across which they dug.
[4] Many of them were at this work; and seeing that the workers were injured when breaking stones more often and less naturally than usual, some in other ways, but most in the eyes, the
Cnidians sent envoys to
Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus)
Delphi
to inquire what it was that opposed them.
[5] Then, as they themselves say, the priestess gave them this answer in iambic verse:
“Do not wall or trench the isthmus:
Zeus would have given you an island, if he had wanted to.”
[6] At this answer from the priestess, the
Cnidians stopped their digging, and when
Harpagus came against them with his army they surrendered to him without resistance.
Histories. Herodotus. ed. A.D. Godley. Cambridge. 1920-1925.
Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.
Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.