herodotus

acquainted with the oracles more exactly than any other man: but therest of the allies, who for a time had restrained themselves and keptsilence, when they heard Socles speak freely, gave utterance every oneof them to that which they felt, and adopted the opinion of theCorinthian envoy, adjuring the Lacedemonians not to do any violence toa city of Hellas.94. Thus was this brought to an end: and Hippias being dismissed fromthence had Anthemus offered to him by Amyntas king of the Macedoniansand Iolcos by the Thessalians. He however accepted neither of these,but retired again to Sigeion; which city Peisistratos had taken byforce of arms from the Mytilenians, and having got possession of it,had appointed his own natural son Hegesistratos, born of an Argivewoman, to be despot of it: he however did not without a struggle keeppossession of that which he received from Peisistratos; for theMytilenians and Athenians carried on war for a long time, having theirstrongholds respectively at Achilleion and at Sigeion, the one sidedemanding that the place be restored to them, and the Athenians on theother hand not admitting this demand, but proving by argument that theAiolians had no better claim to the territory of Ilion than they andthe rest of the Hellenes, as many as joined with Menelaos in exactingvengeance for the rape of Helen. 95. Now while these carried on thewar, besides many other things of various kinds which occurred in thebattles, once when a fight took place and the Athenians wereconquering, Alcaios the poet, taking to flight, escaped indeedhimself, but the Athenians retained possession of his arms and hungthem up on the walls of the temple of Athene which is at Sigeion.About this matter Alcaios composed a song and sent it to Mytilene,reporting therein his misadventure to one Melanippos, who was hisfriend. Finally Periander the son of Kypselos made peace between theAthenians and the Mytilenians,[87] for to him they referred the matteras arbitrator; and he made peace between them on the condition thateach should continue to occupy that territory which they thenpossessed. 96. Sigeion then in this matter had come under the rule ofthe Athenians. And when Hippias had returned to Asia from Lacedemon,he set everything in motion, stirring up enmity between the Atheniansand Artaphrenes, and using every means to secure that Athens shouldcome under the rule of himself and of Dareios. Hippias, I say, wasthus engaged; and the Athenians meanwhile hearing of these things sentenvoys to Sardis, and endeavoured to prevent the Persians fromfollowing the suggestions of the exiled Athenians. Artaphrenes howevercommanded them, if they desired to be preserved from ruin, to receiveHippias back again. This proposal the Athenians were not by any meansdisposed to accept when it was reported; and as they did not acceptthis, it became at once a commonly received opinion among them thatthey were enemies of the Persians.