Arion · lines 16–23
In full costume, Arion sings his last song from the stern and leaps into the sea; a dolphin, so the story goes, carries him to Taenarum · Tales from Herodotus · GCSE Greek · OCR J292/02
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SubjectObjectVerbGenitiveDativePrepositionConjunction
Greek
English
16οἱ δέ, εἰσῆλθε γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἡδονὴ εἰ μέλλοιεν ἀκούσεσθαι
17τοῦ ἀρίστου ἀνθρώπων ἀοιδοῦ, ἀνεχώρησαν ἐκ τῆς
18πρύμνης εἰς μέσην ναῦν.
The sailors, for the prospect of hearing the finest singer alive filled them with pleasure, left the stern and moved amidships.
18ὁ δέ, ἐνδύς τε πᾶσαν τὴν σκευὴν
19καὶ λαβὼν τὴν κιθάραν, στὰς ἐν τοῖς ἑδωλίοις διεξῆλθε
20νόμον τὸν ὄρθιον·
Arion put on his full costume, picked up his cithara and, standing on the stern-deck, sang the high-pitched strain all the way through.
20τελευτῶντος δὲ τοῦ νόμου ἔρριψεν εἰς
21τὴν θάλατταν ἑαυτὸν ὡς εἶχε σὺν τῇ σκευῇ πάσῃ.
As the song came to an end, he hurled himself overboard as he was, costume and all.
22καὶ οἱ μὲν ἀπέπλεον εἰς Κόρινθον· τὸν δὲ Ἀρίονα
23δελφίς, ὡς λέγουσι, ὑπολαβὼν ἐξήνεγκεν ἐπὶ Ταίναρον.
The sailors sailed on to Corinth; but Arion, so the story goes, was taken up by a dolphin and carried ashore at Taenarum.
Style notes this section · 15Word order · 1Repetition and structure · 4Word choice · 5Imagery and tone · 3Grammar · 2
16, 18
οἱ δέ … ὁ δέContrast
they … he
The narrative switches from the crew (οἱ δέ) to Arion (ὁ δέ), setting the eager audience against the lone performer.
16
εἰσῆλθε γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἡδονὴIrony
for pleasure filled them
The would-be murderers are filled with pleasure at the thought of a concert. Their delight in his music sits uneasily beside their plan to kill him.
17
τοῦ ἀρίστου ἀνθρώπων ἀοιδοῦSuperlative
the best singer in the world
"The best singer of all mankind": even the crew recognise Arion's greatness, which makes their plan all the more shocking.
17–18
ἀνεχώρησαν ἐκ τῆς πρύμνης εἰς μέσην ναῦνVivid detail
they withdrew from the stern amidships
The crew move away from the stern, leaving it clear like a stage with its audience in front. The reader can picture the scene.
18–19
ἐνδύς … λαβὼν … στὰςTricolon
putting on … taking up … standing
Three participles show Arion's preparation step by step: dressing, taking his cithara, taking his place. The reader sees his calm professionalism.
18
πᾶσαν τὴν σκευὴνEmphasis
all his finery
"All his finery": Arion leaves nothing out, which stresses his dignity and his pride in his art.
18, 21
πᾶσαν τὴν σκευὴν … τῇ σκευῇ πάσῃPolyptoton
all his finery … all his finery
The phrase returns in a different case and in reverse order, so the costume frames the whole performance from start to finish.
19
διεξῆλθεWord choice
he sang right through
The compound verb means he went right through the song from start to finish. He does not cut his performance short, even with death waiting.
20
τελευτῶντος δὲ τοῦ νόμουTense
as the song was ending
The present participle means "as the song was ending": he leaps while the last notes are still sounding, with no pause at all.
20
ἔρριψεν … ἑαυτὸνVivid detail
he hurled himself
ἔρριψεν is a violent verb, "hurled", and it comes before its object. The leap is sudden and dramatic.
21
ὡς εἶχε σὺν τῇ σκευῇ πάσῃForeshadowing
just as he was, costume and all
Arion jumps still wearing his costume. This detail will prove his story when he reappears in it in line 31.
22
οἱ μὲν … τὸν δὲ ἈρίοναContrast (μέν ... δέ)
they … but Arion
The crew sail calmly on to Corinth while Arion's fate takes a miraculous turn. The balanced construction sets the two outcomes side by side.
23
δελφίςEmphatic position
a dolphin
The subject is held back until after Arion's name and then opens the line, so the rescuer arrives as a surprise.
23
ὡς λέγουσιNarrator's aside
so they say
Herodotus reports the miracle as something people say, without vouching for it himself. The reader is left to wonder how much to believe.
23
ὑπολαβὼν ἐξήνεγκεν ἐπὶ ΤαίναρονFast pace
took him up and carried him to Taenarum
The rescue is told in a handful of words, a sudden change of speed after the long build-up to the song.
Notes on the text 3
20
νόμον τὸν ὄρθιοννόμος
the high-pitched strain
Here νόμος means a musical "strain" or set piece for solo singer and cithara, not "law". The ὄρθιος νόμος was a piece pitched high and clear.
23
δελφίςThe dolphin
dolphin
Dolphins were associated with Apollo, patron of music, so a Greek audience would readily see divine help in the rescue of a great musician.
23
Ταίναρον, -ου, τόTaenarum
Cape Taenarum
The southernmost point of mainland Greece (modern Cape Matapan), at the tip of the middle prong of the Peloponnese, with a sanctuary of Poseidon. Corinth lay far to the north.
Questions to think about · 3
- Why do you think the sailors were happy to let Arion perform before he died?
- How does Herodotus slow the narrative down in lines 18–21, and why at this point?
- What is the effect of ὡς λέγουσι in line 23? Does it make the story more or less believable?
The Arion legend background
Arion came from Methymna, on the island of Lesbos, and was remembered as the greatest citharode (a singer who accompanied himself on the cithara) of the seventh century BC. Herodotus, who tells his story just before this passage, says that he was the first person known to have composed a dithyramb, a choral song in honour of Dionysus, to have given it a name and to have produced it at Corinth. Later Greeks regarded him as the man who turned the dithyramb into an organised art form, one of the roots of Athenian drama.
His rescue by a dolphin became one of the best-known stories of the ancient world. Herodotus ends his account by mentioning a small bronze figure of a man on a dolphin, dedicated by Arion at Taenarum, and the tale was retold by later writers such as Plutarch and pictured in Roman mosaics.
Vocabulary in this section · 48 wordsVocabulary tester
ὁ, ἡ, τό the; (with δέ) they
δέ and, but
εἰσέρχομαι come upon, come into
γάρ for
αὐτός, -ή, -ό him, her, it; self
ἡδονή, -ῆς, ἡ pleasure, joy
εἰ if
μέλλω be about to, be going to
ἀκούω (+ gen.) hear
ἄριστος, -η, -ον best
ἄνθρωπος, -ου, ὁ man, human being
ἀοιδός, -οῦ, ὁ singer
ἀναχωρέω withdraw, go back
ἐκ (+ gen.) out of, from
πρύμνα, -ης, ἡ stern
εἰς (+ acc.) into, to
μέσος, -η, -ον middle
ναῦς, νεώς, ἡ ship
ἐνδύω put on
τε … καί both … and
πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν all, every
σκευή, -ῆς, ἡ finery, costume
καί and
λαμβάνω take
κιθάρα, -ας, ἡ cithara, lyre
ἵστημι stand; (aorist) take one's stand
ἐν (+ dat.) in, on, at
ἑδώλιον, -ου, τό seat (on the stern deck)
διεξέρχομαι go through, perform
νόμος, -ου, ὁ strain, tune
ὄρθιος, -α, -ον high-pitched
τελευτάω finish, come to an end
ῥίπτω throw, hurl
θάλαττα, -ης, ἡ sea
ἑαυτόν, -ήν, -ό himself
ὡς as, just as
ἔχω have; (with an adverb) be
σύν (+ dat.) with
μέν on the one hand
ἀποπλέω sail away
Κόρινθος, -ου, ἡ Corinth
Ἀρίων, -ονος, ὁ Arion
δελφίς, -ῖνος, ὁ dolphin
λέγω say, speak
ὑπολαμβάνω take up, take on one's back
ἐκφέρω carry out, carry off
ἐπί (+ acc.) to, onto
Ταίναρον, -ου, τό Taenarum