The histories of Herodotus;

26o HERODOTUS—BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [154-156
him in anything he should desire. When he had bound him
by oath he delivered his daughter to him, and commanded him
to take her away, and throw her into the sea. But Themison,
grieved at the deceitfulness of the oath, broke off the compact
of friendship, and did as follows : Having taken the damsel
with him, he set sail ; and when he was in the open sea, for
the purpose of absolving himself from the oath imposed by
Etearchus, he bound her round with ropes, and let her down
into the sea; then having drawn her up again, he departed
for Thera. After that Polymnestus, a man of distinction
among the Theraeans, took Phronima for his concubine, and
after some time he had a son by her, who had an impediment
in his speech and lisped, to whom the name of Battus was
given, as both the Theraeans and Cyrenaeans say; but, as I
am of opinion, some other name ; and it was afterward changed
to Battus when he arrived in Libya, deriving that name both
from the oracle pronounced to him at Delphi and from the
rank to which he attained. For the Libyans call a king Battus,
and for this reason I think that the Pythian, when delivering
the oracle, addressed him in the Libyan tongue, knowing that
he would be a king in Libya. For when he had reached man's
estate he came to Delphi about his voice ; and to his inquiries
the Pythian gave the following answer : " Battus, you
are come about your voice; King Phoebus Apollo sends you
to found a colony in Libya, abounding in sheep." As if she
had said in the Grecian language, " O king, you are come
about your voice." He answered as follows : " O king, I
came indeed to consult you about my voice, but you give me
an answer as to other impossible things, bidding me colonize
Libya: with what power? with what force?" By saying this
he did not persuade the Pythian to give him any other answer;
and as she was repeating the same response as before,
he in the meanwhile left her and returned to Thera. After
this Battus himself and the other Theraeans fell anew into
troubles ; but the Theraeans, not knowing whence their misfortunes
came, sent to Delphi to inquire concerning their present
sufferings. The Pythian answered that it would fare better
with them when with Battus they had founded Cyrene in
Libya. Upon this the Theraeans despatched Battus with two
fifty-oared galleys. But these having sailed to Libya, for they
had nothing else that they could do, returned back to Thera;
the Theraeans, however, beat them off as they drew to shore,
and would not suffer them to approach the land, but commanded
them to sail back again. Thus compelled, they sailed
back again, and settled in an island that lies off Libya, whose