View:
By Section
[1]
As time went on, Periander, now grown past his prime and aware that he could no longer oversee and direct all his affairs, sent to +Corfu [19.916,39.633] (inhabited place), Corfu, Kerkira, Ionian Islands, Greece, Europe Corcyra inviting Lycophron to be sovereign; for he saw no hope in his eldest son, who seemed to him to be slow-witted.
As time went on, Periander, now grown past his prime and aware that he could no longer oversee and direct all his affairs, sent to +Corfu [19.916,39.633] (inhabited place), Corfu, Kerkira, Ionian Islands, Greece, Europe Corcyra inviting Lycophron to be sovereign; for he saw no hope in his eldest son, who seemed to him to be slow-witted.
[2]
Lycophron did not dignify the invitation with a reply. Then
Periander, pressing the young man, sent to him (as the next best way) his daughter, the boy's sister, thinking that he would listen to her.
[3] She came and said, “Child, would you want the power to fall to others, and our father's house destroyed, rather than to return and have it yourself? Come home and stop punishing yourself.
[4] Pride is an unhappy possession. Do not cure evil by evil. Many place the more becoming thing before the just; and many pursuing their mother's business have lost their father's. Power is a slippery thing; many want it, and our father is now old and past his prime; do not lose what is yours to others.”
[5] So she spoke communicating their father's inducements. But he answered that he would never come to
Corinth [22.9083,37.9083] (Perseus)
Corinth
as long as he knew his father was alive.
[6] When she brought this answer back,
Periander sent a third messenger, through whom he proposed that he should go to
+Corfu [19.916,39.633] (inhabited place), Corfu, Kerkira, Ionian Islands, Greece, Europe
Corcyra
, and that the boy should return to
Corinth [22.9083,37.9083] (Perseus)
Corinth
and be the heir of his power.
[7] The son consented to this;
Periander got ready to go to
+Corfu [19.916,39.633] (inhabited place), Corfu, Kerkira, Ionian Islands, Greece, Europe
Corcyra
and
Lycophron to go to
Corinth [22.9083,37.9083] (Perseus)
Corinth
; but when the
Corcyraeans learned of all these matters, they put the young man to death so that
Periander would not come to their country. It was for this that
Periander desired vengeance on the
Corcyraeans.
Histories. Herodotus. ed. A.D. Godley. Cambridge. 1920-1925.
Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.
Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.