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Translated by G. Macaulay.
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50 pages - You are on Page 37
92. Thus they spoke; but the majority of the allies did not approve of their words. The rest however kept silence, but the Corinthian Socles[78] spoke as follows: (a) "Surely now the heaven shall be below the earth, and the earth raised up on high above the heaven, and men shall have their dwelling in the sea, and fishes shall have that habitation which men had before, seeing that ye, Lacedemonians, are doing away with free governments[79] and are preparing to bring back despotism again into our cities, than which there is no more unjust or more murderous thing among men. For if in truth this seems to you to be good, namely that the cities should be ruled by despots, do ye yourselves first set up a despot in your own State, and then endeavour to establish them also for others: but as it is, ye are acting unfairly towards your allies, seeing that ye have had no experience of despots yourselves and provide with the greatest care at Sparta that this may never come to pass. If however ye had had experience of it, as we have had, ye would be able to contribute juster opinions of it than at present. (b) For the established order of the Corinthian State was this:--the government was an oligarchy, and the oligarchs, who were called Bacchiadai, had control over the State and made marriages among themselves.[80] Now one of these men, named Amphion, had a daughter born to him who was lame, and her name was Labda. This daughter, since none of the Bacchiadai wished to marry her, was taken to wife by Aëtion the son of Echecrates, who was of the deme of Petra, but by original descent a Lapith and of the race of Caineus. Neither from this wife nor from another were children born to him, therefore he set out to Delphi to inquire about offspring; and as he entered, forthwith the prophetess addressed him in these lines:
"'Much to be honoured art thou, yet none doth render thee honour.[81] Labda conceives, and a rolling rock will she bear, which shall ruin Down on the heads of the kings, and with chastisement visit Corinthos.'
This answer given to Aëtion was by some means reported to the Bacchiadai, to whom the oracle which had come to Corinth before this was not intelligible, an oracle which had reference to the same thing as that of Aëtion and said thus:
"'An eagle conceives in the rocks[82] and shall bear a ravening lion, Strong and fierce to devour, who the knees of many shall loosen. Ponder this well in your minds, I bid you, Corinthians, whose dwelling Lies about fair Peirene's spring and in craggy Corinthos.'
78. So the name is given by the better class of MSS. Others, followed by most Editors, make it "Sosicles."
79. {isokratias}.
80. Lit. "gave and took (in marriage) from one another."
81. {Eetion, outis se tiei polutiton eonta}: the play upon {Eetion} and {tio} can hardly be rendered. The "rolling rock" in the next line is an allusion to Petra, the name of the deme.
82. {aietos en petresi kuei}, with a play upon the names {Eetion} ({Aeton}) and {Petre} again.
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