Herodotus, The Histories (ed. A. D. Godley)

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LXXVIII. This was how Croesus reasoned. Meanwhile, snakes began to swarm in the outer part of the city; and when they appeared the horses, leaving their accustomed pasture, devoured them. When Croesus saw this he thought it a portent, and so it was. [2] He at once sent to the homes of the Telmessian interpreters,¹ to inquire concerning it; but though his messengers came and learned from the Telmessians what the portent meant, they could not bring back word to Croesus, for he was a prisoner before they could make their voyage back to Sardis. [3] Nonetheless, this was the judgment of the Telmessians: that Croesus must expect a foreign army to attack his country, and that when it came, it would subjugate the inhabitants of the land: for the snake, they said, was the offspring of the land, but the horse was an enemy and a foreigner. This was the answer which the Telmessians gave Croesus, knowing as yet nothing of the fate of Sardis and of the king himself; but when they gave it, Croesus was already taken.

¹ These were a caste of priests of Apollo at Telmessus or Telmissus in Lycia. tôn exêgêteôn Telmêsseôn is contrary to Greek usage, exêgêtês being a substantive: Stein suggests that the true reading may be Telmêsseôn tôn exêgêteôn.

Further comments from W. W. How, J. Wells, A Commentary on Herodotus:
book 1 (general note)
book 1 (general note)
book 1, chapter 78 (general note)
book 1, chapter 78, section 2 (general note)
book 1, chapter 78, section 3: allothroon

Cross references from Perseus Encyclopedia:
herodotus-3 [Herodotus and Homer (3)]

Cross references from Raphael Kühner, Friedrich Blass, Ausführliche Grammatik der Griechischen Sprache (ed. Ildar Ibraguimov):
118 [Bemerkungen über die Kasusendungen.]

Cross references from Raphael Kühner, Bernhard Gerth, Ausführliche Grammatik der griechischen Sprache (ed. Ildar Ibraguimov):
555 [Kasus des Relativs. — Attraktion oder Assimilation des Kasus.]

Cross references from William Watson Goodwin, Syntax of the Moods and Tenses of the Greek Verb:
651 [prin ê, proteron ê, and paros, in the sense of prin.]

This text is based on the following book(s):
Herodotus, with an English translation by A. D. Godley. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1920.
OCLC: 1610641
ISBN: 0674991303, 0674991311, 0674991338, 0674991346

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