ἐπεὶ δὲ μακρόν τινα καὶ δυσχερῆ πόλεμον οἱ ἐν ἄστει περὶ τῆς Σαλαμινίων νήσου Μεγαρεῦσι πολεμοῦντες ἐξέκαμον, καὶ νόμον ἔθεντο μήτε γράψαι τινὰ μήτʼ εἰπεῖν αὖθις ὡς χρὴ τὴν πόλιν ἀντιποιεῖσθαι τῆς Σαλαμῖνος, ἢ θανάτῳ ζημιοῦσθαι, βαρέως φέρων τὴν ἀδοξίαν ὁ Σόλων, καὶ τῶν νέων ὁρῶν πολλοὺς δεομένους ἀρχῆς ἐπὶ τὸν πὸλεμον, αὐτοὺς δὲ μὴ θαρροῦντας ἄρξασθαι διὰ τὸν νόμον, ἐσκήψατο μὲν ἔκστασιν τῶν λογισμῶν,
Once when the Athenians were tired out with a war which they were waging against the Megarians for the island of Salamis, they made a law that no one in future, on pain of death, should move, in writing or orally, that the city take up its contention for Salamis. Solon could not endure the disgrace of this, and when he saw that many of the young men wanted steps taken to bring on the war, but did not dare to take those steps themselves on account of the law, he pretended to be out of his head,
καὶ λόγος εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας διεδόθη παρακινητικῶς ἔχειν αὐτόν, ἐλεγεῖα δὲ κρύφα συνθεὶς καὶ μελετήσας ὥστε λέγειν ἀπὸ στόματος, ἐξεπήδησεν εἰς τὴν ἀγορὰν ἄφνω πιλίδιον περιθέμενος. ὄχλου δὲ πολλοῦ συνδραμόντος ἀναβὰς ἐπὶ τὸν τοῦ κήρυκος λίθον ἐν ᾠδῇ διεξῆλθε τὴν ἐλεγείαν, ἧς ἐστιν ἀρχή· αὐτὸς κῆρυξ ἦλθον ἀφʼ ἱμερτῆς Σαλαμῖνος, / κόσμον ἐπέων ᾠδὴν ἀντʼ ἀγορῆς θέμενος. /
and a report was given out to the city by his family that he showed signs of madness. He then secretly composed some elegiac verses, and after rehearsing them so that he could say them by rote, he sallied out into the market-place of a sudden, with a cap upon his head. After a large crowd had collected there, he got upon the herald’s stone and recited the poem which begins:— Behold in me a herald come from lovely Salamis, / With a song in ordered verse instead of a harangue. /
τοῦτο τὸ ποίημα Σαλαμὶς ἐπιγέγραπται καὶ στίχων ἑκατόν ἐστι, χαριέντως πάνυ πεποιημένον. τότε δὲ ᾀσθέντος αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν φίλων τοῦ Σόλωνος ἀρξαμένων ἐπαινεῖν, μάλιστα δὲ τοῦ Πεισιστράτου τοῖς πολίταις ἐγκελευομένου καὶ παρορμῶντος πεισθῆναι τῷ λέγοντι, λύσαντες τὸν νόμον αὖθις ἥπτοντο τοῦ πολέμου, προστησάμενοι τὸν Σόλωνα.
This poem is entitled Salamis, and contains a hundred very graceful verses. When Solon had sung it, his friends began to praise him, and Peisistratus in particular urged and incited the citizens to obey his words. They therefore repealed the law and renewed the war, putting Solon in command of it.
τὰ μὲν οὖν δημώδη τῶν λεγομένων τοιαῦτʼ ἐστίν, ὅτι πλεύσας ἐπὶ Κωλιάδα μετὰ τοῦ Πεισιστράτου, καὶ καταλαβὼν αὐτόθι πάσας τὰς γυναῖκας τῇ Δήμητρι τὴν πάτριον θυσίαν ἐπιτελούσας, ἔπεμψεν ἄνδρα πιστὸν εἰς Σαλαμῖνα προσποιούμενον αὐτόμολον εἶναι, κελεύοντα τοὺς Μεγαρεῖς, εἰ βούλονται τῶν Ἀθηναίων τὰς πρώτας λαβεῖν γυναῖκας, ἐπὶ Κωλιάδα μετʼ αὐτοῦ πλεῖν τὴν ταχίστην.
The popular account of his campaign is as follows. Having sailed to Cape Colias with Peisistratus, he found all the women of the city there, performing the customary sacrifice to Demeter. He therefore sent a trusty man to Salamis, who pretended to be a deserter, and bade the Megarians, if they wished to capture the principal women of Athens, to sail to Colias with him as fast as they could.
ὡς δὲ πεισθέντες οἱ Μεγαρεῖς ἄνδρας ἐξέπεμψαν ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ καὶ κατεῖδεν ὁ Σόλων τὸ πλοῖον ἐλαυνόμενον ἀπὸ τῆς νήσου, τὰς μὲν γυναῖκας ἐκποδὼν ἀπελθεῖν ἐκέλευσε, τῶν δὲ νεωτέρων τοὺς μηδέπω γενειῶντας ἐνδύμασι καὶ μίτραις καὶ ὑποδήμασι τοῖς ἐκείνων σκευασαμένους καὶ λαβόντας ἐγχειρίδια κρυπτὰ παίζειν καὶ χορεύειν προσέταξε πρὸς τῇ θαλάσσῃ, μέχρις ἂν ἀποβῶσιν οἱ πολέμιοι καὶ γένηται τὸ πλοῖον ὑποχείριον.
The Megarians were persuaded by him, and sent off some men in his ship. But when Solon saw the vessel sailing back from the island, he ordered the women to withdraw, and directed those of the younger men who were still beardless, arraying themselves in the garments, head-bands, and sandals which the women had worn, and carrying concealed daggers, to sport and dance on the sea shore until the enemy had disembarked and the vessel was in their power.
οὕτω δὴ τούτων πραττομένων, ὑπαχθέντες οἱ Μεγαρεῖς τῇ ὄψει καὶ προσμίξαντες ἐγγύς, ἐξεπήδων ὡς ἐπὶ γυναῖκας, ἁμιλλώμενοι πρὸς ἀλλήλους, ὥστε μηδένα διαφυγεῖν, ἀλλὰ πάντας ἀπολέσθαι, καὶ τὴν νῆσον ἐπιπλεύσαντας εὐθὺς ἔχειν τοὺς Ἀθηναίους.
This being done as he directed, the Megarians were lured on by what they saw, beached their vessel, and leapt out to attack women, as they supposed, vying with one another in speed. The result was that not a man of them escaped, but all were slain, and the Athenians at once set sail and took possession of the island.
ἄλλοι δέ φασιν οὐ τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον γενέσθαι τὴν κατάληψιν, ἀλλὰ πρῶτον μὲν αὐτῷ τὸν ἐν Δελφοῖς θεὸν χρῆσαι· ἀρχηγοὺς χώρας θυσίαις ἥρωας ἐνοίκους / ἵλασο, τοὺς κόλποις Ἀσωπιὰς ἀμφικαλύπτει, / οἳ φθίμενοι δέρκονται ἐς ἠέλιον δύνοντα· / τὸν δὲ Σόλωνα διαπλεύσαντα νυκτὸς εἰς τὴν νῆσον ἐντεμεῖν σφάγια Περιφήμῳ καὶ Κυχρεῖ τοῖς ἥρωσιν.
Others, however, say that the island was not taken in his way, but that Solon first received this oracle from the god at Delphi:— The tutelary heroes of the land where once they lived, with sacred rites / Propitiate, whom the Asopian plain now hides in its bosom; / There they lie buried with their faces toward the setting sun. / Thereupon Solon sailed by night to the island and made sacrifices to the heroes Periphemus and Cychreus.
εἶτα παρὰ τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἐθελοντὰς λαβεῖν πεντακοσίους, δόγματος γενομένου τούτους, ἄν κατασχῶσι τὴν νῆσον, κυρίους εἶναι τοῦ πολιτεύματος. ἀναχθέντα δὲ συχναῖς ἁλιάσιν ἅμα τριακοντόρου συμπαραπλεούσης ὑφορμίσασθαι τῇ Σαλαμῖνι κατὰ χηλήν τινα πρὸς τὴν Εὔβοιαν ἀποβλέπουσαν. πυθομένους δὲ τοὺς ἐν Σαλαμῖνι Μεγαρεῖς ἔκ τινος φήμης οὐδὲν βέβαιον, αὐτοὺς μὲν εἰς τὰ ὅπλα θορυβουμένους βαδίζειν, ναῦν δʼ ἀποστεῖλαι κατασκεψομένην τῶν πολεμίων·
Then he took five hundred Athenian volunteers, a decree having been made that these should be supreme in the government of the island if they took it, and setting sail with a number of fishing boats convoyed by a thirty-oared ship, he anchored off the island of Salamis, at a point of land looking towards Euboea. But the Megarians in the city of Salamis, hearing only an uncertain report of what had happened, armed themselves hurriedly and set out for the place, at the same time dispatching a ship to spy out the enemy.
ἧς ἐγγὺς ἐλθούσης κρατῆσαι τὸν Σόλωνα καὶ καθεῖρξαι τοὺς Μεγαρεῖς. ἐμβιβάσαι δὲ τῶν Ἀθηναίων τοὺς κρατίστους κελεύσαντα πλεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν, ὡς ἂν ἐνδέχηται μάλιστα κρύπτοντας ἑαυτούς· ἅμα δὲ τοὺς ἄλλους Ἀθηναιους ἀναλαβόντα πεζῇ συμφέρεσθαι τοῖς Μεγαρεῦσι· καὶ τῆς μάχης ἔτι συνεστώσης φθάσαι τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς νεὼς καταλαβόντας τὴν πόλιν.
This ship came near and was captured by Solon, who put her crew in confinement. Then he manned her with the best of his Athenians, and ordered them to sail against the city, keeping themselves as much concealed as was feasible. At the same time, with the rest of his Athenians, he engaged the Megarians on land, and while the fight was still raging the crew of the ship succeeded in capturing the city.
ἔοικε δὲ τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳ καὶ τὰ δρώμενα μαρτυρεῖν. ναῦς γάρ τις Ἀττικὴ προσέπλει σιωπῇ τὸ πρῶτον, εἶτα κραυγῇ καὶ ἀλαλαγμῷ προσφερομένων εἷς ἀνήρ ἔνοπλος ἐξαλλόμενος μετὰ βοῆς ἔθει πρὸς ἄκρον τὸ Σκιράδιον ἐκ γῆς προσφερομένοις. πλησίον δὲ τοῦ Ἐνυαλίου τὸ ἱερόν ἐστιν ἱδρυσαμένου Σόλωνος. ἐνίκησε γὰρ τοὺς Μεγαρέας, καὶ ὅσοι μὴ διεφθάρησαν ἐν τῇ μάχῃ, πάντας ὑποσπόνδους ἀφῆκεν.
Now there seems to be a confirmation of this story in certain ceremonies afterwards established. Namely, an Attic ship would approach the island in silence at first, then its crew would make an onset with shouts and cries, and one man in full armour would leap out with a shout of triumph and run to the promontory of Sciradium to inform those who were attacking by land. Hard by that place is the temple of Enyalius which was erected by Solon. For he conquered the Megarians, and all who were not slain in the battle were released on parole.
οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ τῶν Μεγαρέων ἐπιμενόντων πολλὰ κακὰ καὶ δρῶντες ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ καὶ πάσχοντες, ἐποιήσαντο Λακεδαιμονίους διαλλακτὰς καὶ δικαστάς. οἱ μὲν οὖν πολλοὶ τῷ Σόλωνι συναγωνίσασθαι λέγουσι τὴν Ὁμήρου δόξαν· ἐμβαλόντα γὰρ αὐτὸν ἔπος εἰς νεῶν κατάλογον ἐπὶ τῆς δίκης ἀναγνῶναι· Αἴας δʼ ἐκ Σαλαμῖνος ἄγεν δυοκαίδεκα νῆας, / στῆσε δʼ ἄγων ἵνʼ Ἀθηναίων ἵσταντο φάλαγγες. /
Notwithstanding all this, the Megarians persisted in their opposition, and both sides inflicted and suffered many injuries in the war, so that finally they made the Lacedaemonians arbiters and judges of the strife. Accordingly, most writers say that the fame of Homer favoured the contention of Solon; for after himself inserting a verse into the Catalogue of Ships, he read the passage at the trial thus:— Ajax from Salamis brought twelve ships, / And bringing, stationed them near the Athenian hosts. /
αὐτοὶ δʼ Ἀθηναῖοι ταῦτα μὲν οἴονται φλυαρίαν εἶναι, τὸν δὲ Σόλωνά φασιν ἀποδεῖξαι τοῖς δικασταῖς ὅτι Φιλαῖος καὶ Εὐρυσάκης, Αἴαντος υἱοί, Ἀθήνησι πολιτείας μεταλαβόντες παρέδοσαν τὴν νῆσον αὐτοῖς, καὶ κατῴκησαν ὁ μὲν ἐν Βραυρῶνι τῆς Ἀττικῆς, ὁ δὲ ἐν Μελίτῃ· καὶ δῆμον ἐπώνυμον Φιλαίου τῶν Φιλαϊδῶν ἔχουσιν, ὅθεν ἦν Πεισίστρατος.
The Athenians themselves, however, think this an idle tale and say that Solon proved to the judges that Philaeus and Eurysaces, the sons of Ajax, became citizens of Athens, made over their island to them, and took up their residence in Attica, one at Brauron, and the other at Melite; and they have a township named after Philaeus, namely Philaidae, to which Peisistratus belonged.
ἔτι δὲ μᾶλλον ἐξελέγξαι τοὺς Μεγαρέας βουλόμενον ἰσχυρίσασθαι περὶ τῶν νεκρῶν ὡς οὐχ ὃν τρόπον ἐκεῖνοι θάπτουσι κεκηδευμένων, ἀλλʼ ὃν αὐτοί. θάπτουσι δὲ Μεγαπεῖς πρὸς ἕω τοὺς νεκροὺς στρέφοντες, Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ πρὸς ἑσπέραν. Ἡρέας δὲ ὁ Μεγαρεὺς ἐνιστάμενος λέγει καὶ Μεγαρεῖς πρὸς ἑσπέραν τετραμμένα τὰ σώματα τῶν νεκρῶν τιθέναι· καὶ μεῖζον ἔτι τούτου, μίαν ἕκαστον Ἀθηναίων ἔχειν θήκην, Μεγαρέων δὲ καὶ τρεῖς καὶ τέσσαρας ἐν μιᾷ κεῖσθαι.
They say, too, that Solon, wishing to refute the claims of the Megarians still further, made the point that the dead on the island of Salamis were not buried after the Megarian, but after the Athenian fashion. For the Megarians bury their dead facing the east, but the Athenians facing the west. However, Hereas the Megarian denies this, and says that the Megarians also turn the faces of their dead to the west. And what is still more important than this, he says that the Athenians use one tomb for each body, whereas the Megarians (like the early inhabitants of Salamis) place three or four bodies in one tomb.
τῷ μέντοι Σόλωνι καὶ Πυθικούς τινας βοηθῆσαι λέγουσι χρησμούς, ἐν οἷς ὁ θεὸς Ἰαονίαν τὴν Σαλαμῖνα προσηγόρευσε. ταύτην τὴν δίκην ἐδίκασαν Σπαρτιατῶν πέντε ἄνδρες, Κριτολαΐδας, Ἀμομφάρετος, Ὑψηχίδας, Ἀναξίλας, Κλεομένης.
However, they say that Solon was further supported by sundry Pythian oracles, in which the god spoke of Salamis as Ionian. This case was decided by five Spartans, Critolaidas, Amompharetus, Hypsechidas, Anaxilas, and Cleomenes.
ἤδη μὲν οὖν καὶ ἀπὸ τούτων ἔνδοξος ἦν ὁ Σόλων καὶ μέγας. ἐθαυμάσθη δὲ καὶ διεβοήθη μᾶλλον ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησιν εἰπὼν ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἱεροῦ τοῦ ἐν Δελφοῖς, ὡς χρὴ βοηθεῖν καὶ μὴ περιορᾶν Κιρραίους ὑβρίζοντας εἰς τὸ μαντεῖον, ἀλλὰ προσαμύνειν ὑπὲρ τοῦ θεοῦ Δελφοῖς. πεισθέντες γὰρ ὑπʼ ἐκείνου πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον ὥρμησαν οἱ Ἀμφικτύονες, ὡς ἄλλοι τε μαρτυροῦσι καὶ Ἀριστοτέλης ἐν τῇ τῶν Πυθιονικῶν ἀναγραφῇ Σόλωνι τὴν γνώμην ἀνατιθείς.
These events, then, presently made Solon famous and powerful. But he was even more admired and celebrated among the Greeks for what he said in behalf of the temple at Delphi, namely, that the Greeks must come to its relief, and not suffer the people of Cirrha to outrage the oracle, but aid the Delphians in maintaining the honor of the god. For it was by his persuasion that the Amphictyons undertook the war, as Aristotle, among others, testifies, in his list of the victors at the Pythian games, where he ascribes the measure to Solon.
οὐ μέντοι στρατηγὸς ἐπὶ τοῦτον ἀπεδείχθη τὸν πόλεμον, ὡς λέγειν φησὶν Ἕρμιππος Εὐάνθη τὸν Σάμιον· οὔτε γὰρ Αἰσχίνης ὁ ῥήτωρ τοῦτʼ εἴρηκεν, ἔν τε τοῖς Δελφῶν ὑπομνήμασιν Ἀλκμαίων, οὐ Σόλων, Ἀθηναίων στρατηγὸς ἀναγέγραπται.
He was not, however, appointed general for this war, as Evanthes the Samian says (according to Hermippus), for Aeschines the orator makes no such statement, and in the records of Delphi it is stated that Alcmaeon, and not Solon, commanded the Athenians.
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