Θεσπρωτῶν καὶ Μολοσσῶν μετὰ τὸν κατακλυσμὸν ἱστοροῦσι Φαέθοντα βασιλεῦσαι πρῶτον, ἕνα τῶν μετὰ Πελασγοῦ παραγενομένων εἰς τὴν Ἤπειρον ἔνιοι δὲ Δευκαλίωνα καὶ Πύρραν εἱσαμένους τὸ περὶ Δωδώνην ἱερὸν αὐτόθι κατοικεῖν ἐν Μολοσσοῖς.
Historians tell us that the first king of the Thesprotians and Molossians after the flood was Phaethon, one of those who came into Epeirus with Pelasgus; but some say that Deucalion and Pyrrha established the sanctuary at Dodona and dwelt there among the Molossians.
χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον Νεοπτόλεμος ὁ Ἀχιλλέως λαὸν ἀγαγὼν αὐτός τε τὴν χώραν κατέσχε καὶ διαδοχὴν βασιλέων ἀφʼ αὑτοῦ κατέλιπε, Πυρρίδας ἐπικαλουμένους· καὶ γὰρ αὐτῷ Πύρρος ἦν παιδικὸν ἐπωνύμιον. καὶ τῶν γνησίων παίδων ἐκ Λανάσσης τῆς Κλεοδαίου τοῦ Ὕλλου γενομένων ἕνα Πύρρον ὠνόμασεν. ἐκ τούτου δὲ καὶ Ἀχιλλεὺς ἐν Ἠπείρῳ τιμὰς ἰσοθέους ἔσχεν, Ἄσπετος ἐπιχωρίῳ φωνῇ προσαγορευόμενος.
In after time, however, Neoptolemus the son of Achilles, bringing a people with him, got possession of the country for himself, and left a line of kings descending from him. These were called after him Pyrrhidae; for he had the surname of Pyrrhus in his boyhood, and of his legitimate children by Lanassa, the daughter of Cleodaeus the son of Hyllus, one was named by him Pyrrhus. Consequently Achilles also obtained divine honours in Epeirus, under the native name of Aspetus.
μετὰ δὲ τοὺς πρώτους, τῶν διὰ μέσου βασιλέων ἐκβαρβαρωθέντων καὶ γενομένων τῇ τε δυνάμει καὶ τοῖς βίοις ἀμαυροτέρων, Θαρρύπαν πρῶτον ἱστοροῦσιν Ἑλληνικοῖς ἔθεσι καὶ γράμμασι καὶ νόμοις φιλανθρώποις διακοσμήσαντα τὰς πόλεις ὀνομαστὸν γενέσθαι, Θαρρύπου δὲ Ἀλκέτας υἱὸς ἦν, Ἀλκέτα δὲ Ἀρύβας, Ἀρύβου δὲ καὶ Τρῳάδος Αἰακίδης.
But the kings who followed in this line soon lapsed into barbarism and became quite obscure, both in their power and in their lives, and it was Tharrhypas, historians say, who first introduced Greek customs and letters and regulated his cities by humane laws, thereby acquiring for himself a name. Alcetas was a son of Tharrhypas, Arybas of Alcetas, and of Arybas and Troas, Aeacides.
οὗτος ἔγημε τὴν Μένωνος τοῦ Θεσσαλοῦ θυγατέρα Φθίαν, ἀνδρὸς εὐδοκίμου περὶ τὸν Λαμιακὸν πόλεμον γενομένου καὶ μέγιστον ἀξίωμα τῶν συμμάχων μετὰ Λεωσθένην λαβόντος. ἐκ δὲ τῆς Φθίας τῷ Αἰακίδῃ γίνονται θυγατέρες Δηιδάμεια καὶ Τρῳάς, υἱὸς δὲ Πύρρος.
He married Phthia, the daughter of Menon the Thessalian, a man who won high repute at the time of the Lamian war and acquired the highest authority among the confederates after Leosthenes. Phthia bore to Aeacides two daughters, Deïdameia and Troas, and a son, Pyrrhus.
ἐπεὶ δὲ στασιάσαντες οἱ Μολοσσοὶ καὶ τὸν Αἰακίδην ἐκβαλόντες ἐπηγάγοντο τοὺς Νεοπτολέμου παῖδας, οἱ μὲν φίλοι τοῦ Αἰακίδου διεφθάρησαν καταληφθέντες, τὸν δὲ Πύρρον ἔτι νήπιον ὄντα καὶ ζητούμενον ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων ἐκκλέψαντες οἱ περὶ Ἀνδροκλείδην καὶ Ἄγγελον ἔφευγον, οἰκέτας ὀλίγους καὶ γύναια τιθηνούμενα τὸ παιδίον ἀναγκαίως ἐφελκόμενοι.
But factions arose among the Molossians, and expelling Aeacides they brought into power the sons of Neoptolemus. The friends of Aeacides were then seized and put to death, but Pyrrhus, who was still a babe and was sought for by the enemy, was stolen away by Androcleides and Angelus, who took to flight. However, they were obliged to take along with them a few servants, and women for the nursing of the child,
καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τῆς φυγῆς αὐτοῖς γινομένης δυσέργου καὶ βραδείας καταλαμβανόμενοι τὸ μὲν παιδίον ἐγχειρίζουσιν Ἀνδροκλείωνι καὶ Ἱππίᾳ καὶ Νεάνδρῳ, νεανίσκοις οὖσι πιστοῖς καὶ ῥωμαλέοις, ἀνὰ κράτος φεύγειν καὶ Μεγάρων ἔχεσθαι χωρίου Μακεδονικοῦ προστάξαντες, αὐτοὶ δὲ τὰ μὲν δεόμενοι, τὰ δὲ ἀπομαχόμενοι τοῖς διώκουσιν ἐμποδὼν ἦσαν ἄχρι δείλης ὀψίας.
and on this account their flight was laborious and slow and they were overtaken. They therefore entrusted the child to Androcleion, Hippias, and Neander, sturdy and trusty young men, with orders to fly with all their might and make for Megara, a Macedonian town; while they themselves, partly by entreaties and partly by fighting, stayed the course of the pursuers until late in the evening.
ἀποτραπομένων δὲ μόλις ἐκείνων μετέθεον τοὺς τὸν Πύρρον κομίζοντας, ἤδη δὲ τοῦ ἡλίου καταδεδυκότος ἐγγὺς γενόμενοι τῆς ἐλπίδος ἐξαίφνης ἀπεκόπησαν, ἐντυχόντες τῷ παρὰ τὴν πόλιν παραρρέοντι ποταμῷ, χαλεπῷ μὲν ὀφθῆναι καὶ ἀγρίῳ, πειρωμένοις δὲ διαβαίνειν παντάπασιν ἀπορωτάτῳ. πολύ τε γὰρ ἐξέπιπτε ῥεῦμα καὶ θολερὸν ὄμβρων ἐπιγενομένων, καὶ τὸ σκότος ἐποίει πάντα φοβερώτερα.
After these had at last been driven back, they hastened to join the men who were carrying Pyrrhus. The sun had already set and they were near their hoped-for refuge, when suddenly they found themselves cut off from it by the river which flowed past the city. This had a forbidding and savage look, and when they tried to cross it, proved altogether impassable. For its current was greatly swollen and violent from rains that had fallen, and the darkness made everything more formidable.
καθʼ αὑτοὺς μὲν οὖν ἀπέγνωσαν ἐπιχειρεῖν παιδίον φερόμενοι καὶ γύναια τὰ τρέφοντα τὸ παιδίον, αἰσθόμενοι δὲ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων τινὰς ἐν τῷ πέραν ἑστῶτας ἐδέοντο συλλαβέσθαι πρὸς τὴν διάβασιν, καὶ τὸν Πύρρον ἀνεδείκνυσαν βοῶντες καὶ ἱκετεύοντες. οἱ δὲ οὐ κατήκουον διὰ τραχύτητα καὶ πάταγον τὸν ῥεύματος,
Accordingly, they gave up trying to cross unaided, since they were carrying the child and the women who cared for the child; and perceiving some of the people of the country standing on the further bank, they besought their help in crossing, and showed them Pyrrhus, with loud cries and supplications. But the people on the other side could not hear them for the turbulence and splashing of the stream,
ἀλλʼ ἦν διατριβὴ τῶν μὲν βοώντων, τῶν δὲ μὴ συνιέντων, ἄχρι τις ἐννοήσας καὶ περιελὼν δρυὸς φλοιὸν ἐνέγραψε πόρπῃ γράμματα φράζοντα τήν τε χρείαν καὶ τὴν τύχην τοῦ παιδός, εἶτα λίθῳ τὸν φλοιὸν περιελίξας καὶ χρησάμενος οἷον ἕρματι τῆς βολῆς ἀφῆκεν εἰς τὸ πέραν ἔνιοι δέ φασι σαυνίῳ περιπήξαντας ἀκοντίσαι τὸν φλοιόν.
and so there was delay, one party shouting what the other could not understand, until some one bethought himself of a better way. He stripped off a piece of bark from a tree and wrote thereon with a buckle-pin a message telling their need and the fortune of the child; then he wrapped the bark about a stone, which he used to give force to his cast, and threw it to the other side.
ὡς δ’ οὖν ἀνέγνωσαν οἱ πέραν τὰ γράμματα καὶ συνεῖδον τὴν ὀξύτητα τοῦ καιροῦ, κόπτοντες ξύλα καὶ πρὸς ἄλληλα συνδέοντες ἐπεραιοῦντο. καὶ κατὰ τύχην ὁ πρῶτος αὐτῶν περαιωθεὶς Ἀχιλλεὺς τοὔνομα τὸν Πύρρον ἐδέξατο· τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους ὡς ἔτυχον ἄλλοι διεκόμιζον.
Some say, however, that it was a javelin about which he wrapped the bark, and that he shot it across. Accordingly, when those on the other side had read the message and saw that no time was to be lost, they cut down trees, lashed them together, and made their way across. As chance would have it, the first of them to make his way across was named Achilles; he took Pyrrhus in his arms, and the rest of the fugitives were conveyed across by others in one way or another.
οὕτω δὲ σωθέντες καὶ φθάσαντες τὴν δίωξιν εἰς Ἰλλυριοὺς παρεγένοντο πρὸς Γλαυκίαν τὸν βασιλέα· καὶ καθεζόμενον εὑρόντες οἴκοι μετὰ τῆς γυναικὸς ἐν μέσῳ τὸ παιδίον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς κατέθεσαν, ὁ δὲ ἦν ἐπὶ γνώμης, Κάσανδρον δεδοικὼς ἐχθρὸν ὄντα τοῦ Αἰακίδου, καὶ σιωπὴν εἶχε πολὺν χρόνον βουλευόμενος.
Having thus outstripped their pursuers and reached a place of safety, the fugitives betook themselves to Glaucias the king of the Illyrians; and finding him sitting at home with his wife, they put the little child down on the floor before them. Then the king began to reflect. He was in fear of Cassander, who was an enemy of Aeacides, and held his peace a long time as he took counsel with himself.
ἐν τούτῳ δὲ ὁ Πύρρος ἀπʼ αὐτομάτου προσερπύσας καὶ λαβόμενος τοῦ ἱματίου ταῖς χερσὶ καὶ προσεξαναστὰς πρὸς τὰ γόνατα τοῦ Γλαυκίου γέλωτα πρῶτον, εἶτα οἶκτον παρέσχεν, ὥσπερ τις ἱκέτης ἐχόμενος καὶ δακρύων, ἔνιοι δέ φασιν οὐ τῷ Γλαυκίᾳ προσπεσεῖν αὐτόν, ἀλλὰ βωμοῦ θεῶν προσαψάμενον ἑστάναι πρὸς αὐτὸν περιβαλόντα τὰς χεῖρας, καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα τῷ Γλαυκίᾳ θεῖον φανῆναι.
Meanwhile Pyrrhus, of his own accord, crept along the floor, clutched the king’s robe, and pulled himself on to his feet at the knees of Glaucias, who was moved at first to laughter, then to pity, as he saw the child clinging to his knees and weeping like a formal suppliant. Some say, however, that the child did not supplicate Glaucias, but caught hold of an altar of the gods and stood there with his arms thrown round it, and that Glaucias thought this a sign from Heaven.
διὸ καὶ παραυτίκα τὸν Πύρρον ἐνεχείρισε τῇ γυναικί, κελεύσας ἅμα τοῖς τέκνοις τρέφεσθαι, καὶ μικρὸν ὕστερον ἐξαιτουμένων τῶν πολεμίων, Κασάνδρου δὲ καὶ διακόσια τάλαντα διδόντος, οὐκ ἐξέδωκεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ γενόμενον δυοκαίδεκα ἐτῶν καταγαγὼν εἰς τὴν Ἤπειρον μετὰ δυνάμεως βασιλέα κατέστησεν.
Therefore he at once put Pyrrhus in the arms of his wife, bidding her rear him along with their children; and a little while after, when the child’s enemies demanded his surrender, and Cassander offered two hundred talents for him, Glaucias would not give him up, but after he had reached the age of twelve years, actually conducted him back into Epeirus with an armed force and set him upon the throne there.
ἦν δὲ ὁ Πύρρος τῇ μὲν ἰδέᾳ τοῦ προσώπου φοβερώτερον ἔχων ἢ σεμνότερον τὸ βασιλικόν, πολλοὺς δὲ ὀδόντας οὐκ εἶχεν, ἀλλʼ ἓν ὀστέον συνεχὲς ἦν ἄνωθεν, οἷον λεπταῖς ἀμυχαῖς τὰς διαφυὰς ὑπογεγραμμένον τῶν ὀδόντων. τοῖς δὲ σπληνιῶσιν ἐδόκει βοηθεῖν, ἀλεκτρυόνα θύων λευκόν, ὑπτίων τε κατακειμένων τῷ δεξιῷ ποδὶ πιέζων ἀτρέμα τὸ σπλάγχνον. οὐδεὶς δὲ ἦν πένης οὐδὲ ἄδοξος οὕτως ὥστε μὴ τυχεῖν τῆς ἰατρείας δεηθείς.
In the aspect of his countenance Pyrrhus had more of the terror than of the majesty of kingly power. He had not many teeth, but his upper jaw was one continuous bone, on which the usual intervals between the teeth were indicated by slight depressions. People of a splenetic habit believed that he cured their ailment; he would sacrifice a white cock, and, while the patient lay flat upon his back, would press gently with his right foot against the spleen. Nor was any one so obscure or poor as not to get this healing service from him if he asked it.
ἐλάμβανε δὲ καὶ τὸν ἀλεκτρυόνα θύσας, καὶ τὸ γέρας τοῦτο ἥδιστον ἦν αὐτῷ. λέγεται δὲ τοῦ ποδὸς ἐκείνου τὸν μείζονα δάκτυλον ἔχειν δύναμιν θείαν, ὥστε μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν τοῦ λοιποῦ σώματος κατακαέντος ἀπαθῆ καὶ ἄθικτον ὑπὸ τοῦ πυρὸς εὑρεθῆναι. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ὕστερον.
The king would also accept the cock after he had sacrificed it, and this honorarium was most pleasing to him. It is said, further, that the great toe of his right foot had a divine virtue, so that after the rest of his body had been consumed, this was found to be untouched and unharmed by the fire. These things, however, belong to a later period.
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